The Poetry Marathon

Alive Too Long

A century, give or take a few, have come and gone

I can’t believe we’ve lived this long.

Another century, give or take a few, is yet to come

I sure hope I am gone, ‘cause I don’t want to live too long.

Color Blind to You

Purple grass waves in the gentle breeze

Violet leaves live on the tall tree

White laced ivy inter-twines

Dark blue skies are devine

Puffy clouds float by

This field of rye

Why can’t I

See you

Here

The Wall

I look down from atop the wall—I am overwhelmed

Fear paralyzes me—The challenge is too much

But I cannot stay here—Life moves along

Go says the voice in my head—My hands will not obey

Haiku

water splashes my face

ocean waves roll in from the storm

salty taste on my tongue

Hello,

My name is Oliver and I like writing poetry. This is my second year participating in the half marathon. I am looking forward to the challenge and seeing what others write.

Dry dirt road-air filter needs changed.

Two couplets organized in a quatrain each line having 5 or 8 syllables.

Holding on to me too tightly

Having you cling to me closely

Hoping you would let me breathe

Helping you not to tightly squeeze

He sticks closer to me than any human.

Doesn’t judge me and takes me for who

I am. Ready to play frisbee toss and walk

the farmer’s fields looking for deer paths.

I am the Alpha of the pack, he is the Beta,

but he pays no mind to that, except when

correction is needed. Bad breath and

slobbering tongue do not stand in the way.

He squats on the grass and does his

business and then expects me to clean up.

which I reluctantly do since he doesn’t

use a litter box or know how to flush.

He wakes me up at 2 or 3 or 4 AM whatever

suits his fancy. He doesn’t mind that I cant

go back to sleep. But lays back down in his

corner and drops in to canine slumber.

He can be a royal pain. But all in all

I would not trade him for all of the

gold in the world. Or for a cat either.

Inky dark night. Jewels in the heavens sparkle like diamonds in a necklace. The Seven Sisters wink seductively while trying to sit in Cassiopeia’s Chair. Orion chases Ursa Major and her cub when he stops to slake his thirst from the Big Dipper. Great Leo butts’ heads with fleecy Aries. Sirius the Dog Star is the glowing eye of Canis Major as she helps Orion track Ursa. Faint Polaris guides mariners to home port from the tail of the Little Dipper.

A new moon

A black palette rules the sky

Stars come out to play

Distant galaxies show off their faint pinprick lights through holes in the black curtain. Sagittarius points the way to the center of the Milky Way where star forming clusters give birth to baby stars from their nurseries and old stars blow up and die. In the middle lie the supermassive black holes that swallow all light in to their mighty maws and bend time and gravity to their will.

Are they our home

We are formed from their dust

Will we return.

The Last Leaf at Myrtle Beach

The last leaf at Myrtle Beach.

Holding on for who knows what.

His friends have all preceded him,

alone in the sand he lies.

He is unattached with no

commitments. Red with

embarrassment about his

predicament.

Waiting for the last wave

to carry him to his watery grave.

He leaves a shadow in the sand,

does the last leaf at Myrtle Beach.