The Poetry Marathon

I am optimistic, hopeful that my endeavors are not all in vain

We can never truly predict an outcome, nothing comes with complete certainty

We are not promised nor owed anything

Yet we hope

We hope for things we desire, for best outcomes

Hope is like a wish with faith

I can wish upon a star and hope that it will come true

A wish with some faith but still uncertainty

Yet we hope

Every single day, for so many things

We hope for peace and comfort for ourselves and others

Like a prayer with no particular deity, just a shout into the universe

Regardless of all evidence to the contrary that our hopes are answered

Yet we hope

Because hope is a powerful thing, it inspires action

In ourselves and others, to try, to assist

Even a miracle needs a hand

Wishes are passive, hope is active

An active wish combined with faith

Now that can change the world

At least I hope

Alice had Wonderland

Dorothy ended up in Oz

Wendy escaped to Neverland

Yet they all decided to come back

Those magically, mysterious, marvelous worlds

Could not contain them

None of these lands could persuade them to abandon this world of reality

I wonder if they would feel the same today

I wonder if when they grew up to become women if they had regrets

Knowing what I know of this world and fantasy

I’d choose the magic, the mystery, the marvel over the mundane

Silence

The absence of sound

Stillness

The pause

So much lives in that pause that we take for granted

In this too loud, too fast, too much world

We forget the pause

The inhale

The exhale

The breath

The pause

That pause holds infinity

It says more than can be said in a lifetime

That moment

That second

That pause

Allows us to reflect and compose

To create meaning for all that is not

Silence

Running out of time

There is so much left undone

The clock does not stop

So much more to be

Minutes quickly become hours

Grains of sand slip through the hourglass

And I watch them slip away

Time just keeps running

Every night before I go to sleep I replay every mistake in my head

Hindsight is 20/20

All the should’ve, could’ve, would’ves on instant replay

What could I have done differently?

As if I had the power to change anything

Maybe if I was more of this or maybe if I was less of that

Maybe then you would’ve wanted me, maybe I could’ve made you stay

What was the right thing to say to stop you from walking away?

As if I had the power to change anything

I couldn’t change you, you couldn’t change me

Oh but I tried to change me

I twisted and contorted myself to try and fit into something that you could love

I bent myself into something I no longer recognized, someone I no longer was

It did not make you want me more, I could not be what you wanted

As if I had the power to change anything

Every night before I go to sleep I replay every mistake in my head 

Hindsight is 20/20 but it changes nothing

As if I had the power to change anything

The mist encircles me, envelopes me, consumes me

Oozes into every nook and cranny, into the very fiber of my being

Suffocating me, choking me, silencing me

This cold, bitter shroud

My Dearest Edgar,

What twisted thoughts corrupt your mind?

What ails your soul, also ails mine

Haunted voices fill your head

Visions of the macabre, dance of the dead

Your heart yearns for love long lost

I, too, have felt its cost

Kindred spirits, I feel your pain

Grief that renders you insane

Desiring what is nevermore

Quoth the raven above your door

An unkindness of ravens echoing the cries

This is the sound of when true love dies

Geometric rodeo of gem colored dreams

Twisting, dancing, transforming

Dazzling my innocent eyes

To Whom it May Concern,

I apologize- for everything

I apologize that the sun rose this morning

I apologize if it didn’t

I am so very sorry that your (fill in the blank) were too (fill in the blank)

I regret that the weather was too (fill in the blank)

I apologize for my apologies

I am sorry I say I am sorry for everything I have no need to be sorry for

I regret that I am never enough/always too much

Apologetically Yours ~

Bigfoot crashes your party, are you mad?

Hell no! I’m selling tickets!

Inviting a few more neighbors

Setting up a photo booth

Maybe do a karaoke duet of “Summer Nights”

Do you think he would be up for a keg stand?

I’m sure he’s got beer money, right?