The Poetry Marathon

Of all the things
That I could ask
A gift from you
My sweet lass

Your heart
A kiss
Eternal bliss
You at my side

My wife
My life
I owe to thee
Happiness undying
My Joanie Lee

You would have been 15, this coming December
Lost to natural things beyond my control
I hated myself so much that day I was called
I was to blame, she said
She, who was to be your mother

I dreamed of you often
Before and since
Your hair, straight and raven like your mothers
Cheeks full and soft
A smile that could melt the coldest of hearts
Your eyes; dark with lashes as long as mine

It’s been years since I dreamed of you last
Though you are never far from my thoughts
Every once in awhile
You’ll visit
As if to remind me
As if I’d ever forget
You

They named is Keyhole Rock
A formation thousands, maybe millions of years old
At certain times of the day, sunlight shines through
Revealing an inner chamber

But that chamber lasts for but a few moments
If you walk inside
You are met with
Some say a room of natural crystals
Precious and innumerable

There are others that say it is just a formation of rock
Naturally beautiful
But, just a rock formation
That looks “pretty” a couple times a day

I like to think there is more in there
Something of true substance
That can neither be coveted by hand
Or recalled in detail enough
To do it justice

Perhaps, it is a doorway
To another world?
Giving credence to its name
Keyhole Rock
As if, by walking through
You unlock something

Perhaps to the world?
Or to yourself?
Perhaps, one day, I’ll find out
One day

Soft cool sheets
Firm mattress
Pillows, cool and comforting
Ahh
Sleep
How you tease
How I succumb
If only for a minute or two
20, last time

I shall have you
And you, me
The world will have to do without me
After this

There’s a single street lamp
Across the way
It’s orange glow muted
Through the condensation covered front window
Of my house

Sometimes it’ll go out
Or will be out when I return
From a night out
Flicker, flicker, out

Despite how annoying that is
I still find it beautiful
Late at night
My house dark for the night
The amber orange glow
Permeating the night

There is beauty in nature
And all the creatures in it

They way they live
Hunting
Procreating
Surviving
Continuing
Against the odds

Humans
How so unlike their brethren in nature
Even amongst the apes
There is more solidarity
More community
Than in one nation

Some of us, it seems, has forgotten
What it is to struggle as a species
Against the very real fate of extinction
Too busy wiping itself out, I suppose

I have long believed it is in mans nature to destroy itself
No other species in the world
Has fought so hard against itself
For control of something that can never truly be controlled
Harnessed, perhaps, but even the tamest can go wild

e Pluribus
Unum
Of many
One

One day, we will remember
And exist as nature has intended
A single species, with all of it’s colorful variations
Striving together
Beautiful

I dressed as Quasimodo one year
Borrowed a port wine blouse from my aunt
Stuffed a pillow over my right shoulder under the blouse
Slapped some crude makeup and cigarette ash on my face
And into the night I crept…well, mostly just walked
I crept when we got close to a house or I came across a group of other
Imps of the night of All Hallows Eve

I had fun
I enjoyed creeping out the uninformed
And squealed in delight when I was recognized
I didn’t care for the store bought jobs
All plastic and whatnot
Absolute fire hazards

No
I was content to steal into the night
Of ghosts, witches, demons, and the odd G.I. Joe
Under guise of my own design
Known or unknown
It was a night to be me
If just for my own amusement

John Cusack’s film, Hi-Fidelity, is perhaps one of the best of his films
It centered on music and the way his character utilized it
To remember
To collate
To help navigate life

When I was younger
The mix tape and its creation
Was both art and spiritual
I’d spend hours combing the airwaves
Searching for that perfect song to fill the veins
Of polyester tape

Hitting pause at just the right moment
If you got through one side without a bit of commercial
You were legit
Both sides?
A master

If you were truly a connoisseur of music
You knew what songs went in what order
To get that right mix
Because it was more than just music
It was a retelling of who you are

It’s a lost these days

Well, it can be almost anything
To anyone
About anything
That’s the beauty of it
It is defined by it’s nature of having no one solid definition

It is the cat of human emotion
It can be fuzzy
It can be soft
It can have claws
It can have paws that knead the doughy experience
Making bread, as I’ve come to call it

I also liken it to a great river
That you come across
Not knowing where it begins
Not knowing where it ends
But braving it all the same

It is many things
And one thing
It is
Like the Force
Or perhaps it is the Force

I can not truly define it
Any better than one can define God
It is
Because it is
Whether you feel it or not

I’ve been on a flight three times in my life
When I was, maybe 2?
Spring break of 1997
October of 2012 following my separation

I don’t remember the first
But by account from my mother
I hated it
She pointed out the clouds
I instantly shut the blind

I had conviction, even then

My last flight was my return from Texas
After a month long stay with my Aunt in Gainesville
Even at 31, I was nervous as hell
The cabin was cramped
And despite my request, I was stuck by the window
I quietly debated asking to be moved
I ate my peanuts in silence

The takeoff was much like that of a roller coaster
I’m not fond of roller coasters
I cross the street anytime I approach one
Once in the air, I relaxed
Kind of
The upside of being in the window seat is you get good view
The downside is the view
At least, I thought so
At first

There are a lot of unnerving elements of flying in a 125 ton steel potential coffin
Powered by what, by comparison, could be likened to the over powered fans
They put in the entrance of the local big box store to dry the floors

Then there’re the sounds
*clank*
*rumble*
*whiiiiiine*
Excuse me sir, would you like to sign up for a credit card that offers frequent flyer miles
Even though you look like you never want to fly again?
*whiiiiiiiiine*

Then I look out the window, because something just doesn’t feel quite right
As a pedestrian, or rather, a terran
Flat isn’t just a descriptive, but an expectation
Why are we leaning back?
Why does it feel like we’re landing, but there’s still 2 hours left of the flight?
Where’s my complimentary bag of peanuts?

That’s right
I already ate them

The thing about flying
Is that despite the things I have just described to you
It is seldom thought of
The beauty of the cities of lights
That pass under you

Chicago, is no exception
There’s no image that exudes a multitude of emotion
Than that of a lit up city
At 30,000 ft