The Poetry Marathon

Looking Into the Void 

The edge is a tempting place

For me to go to scream,

Looking into the Void

I can scream about all the things

That I should somehow avoid.

The edge calls me forth,

The need to speak unto the void.

A eternity at my feet

With the wind pulling me

Towards the edge.

Who’s to Blame 

The age old question is asked

Again and again,

Who’s to blame,

What is the fault?

So much blame to be handed about,

Instead of accepting that we all

Have a hand in the end results,

Instead of handing out blame

Why not allow humanity

Room for mistakes?

About us draped the past

Please understand that we have always

Had the past wrapped around us,

Echoing the moments that we lived…

We wore it proudly because it made us

Into the people that we were,

Folding us like origami into individual selves…

Perhaps it was too heavy for some,

That cloak of memories,

But it still was a part

Of the way that

Humanity dressed.

Write a poem about someone or something you miss. The fact that you miss this person or thing can be mentioned in the poem or it can be left out.

Grandmother

By Patricia Harris

The stories you told

Grew imagination.

Love came

Unconditionally.

My mind focuses on the

Moments spent

Learning to read

Learning more about

Life’s stories.

In the night,

I wonder if all my stories

Will come together

To be your pride

In what you left behind.

Write a poem that contains a great deal of exaggeration. Everything else is up to you!!!

By Patricia Harris

Sleep,

Such a random loss,

Staring out of dry eyes

Who have been open for days too long.

Sleep,

Required for the brain

To function,

While I am struggling

Merely to be able

To remember my own name.

For the prompt this hour I want you to write a nature poem with a twist. I want you to write a poem about nature interacting with man made things. It could be about watching a beautiful eagle while standing in a strip mall parking lot, it could be about planting trees in a small city park, it could be about anything as long as it involves both the natural world and the un-natural one.

By Patricia Harris

Twenty roses  twined

Through the garden gate,

Shading the toolshed elegantly.

Flowers riotously growing

Uncontrolled,

Even the lawn

Needs mowed.

Nature’s miracle is best

When it is overgrown.

Write a poem set in space. The details are entirely up to you!

By Patricia Harris

Stars spred

In comet trails

Black holes sweeping

The milky way

Pulling out the

Extra stuff thrown loose

From random

Star stuff

Write a poem to go with one of the following five titles:

At the Circus

Table for Two

Cloud Mountain

Evening Fog

Tea

Table for two

By Patricia Harris

Cozy,  intimate,

A space for just you and I.

Allowing us to forget,

That the world surrounds.

Holding us to the rules

Of society around

The table for two

Where we stand.

Each year I write one prompt devoted to a cliché topic, previously these prompts have been focused on love, death, and angst.

This year the challenge is to write a poem about loss that is not cliché.

Respect

By Patricia Harris

Alone,  I trusted,

Unconditional acceptance

Of the idea that we were

Always meant for

Eternity…

Betrayal of my trust,

Pretending that it was right

That you are true

Before I knew that you

Were a figment

Of the imagination,

Through and through.

Write a persona poem from the perspective of a well known fictional character. You can choose any fictional character but here are a few names to get you thinking in the right direction: Dracula, King Arthur, Red Riding Hood, Katniss Everdeen, etc. . .

The Shoe Lady

By Patricia Harris

How many children

Can you fit in a shoe?

Currently mine holds

Twenty and two.

My pantry is bare,

No food any where.

No space for clothing

Just kids playing

Everywhere.