The Poetry Marathon

Allow your demons to help you.

they can, if you let them in.

they are banging at the door,

and that noise,

that fear

ends when you

open the door.

fear not,

breathe.

realize,

you are here.

I am alone

acting like I’m done acting.

i feel like dancing,

I am in the park surrounded by people.

i bob my head

i rock my body gently.

i smile as my body dances softly.

because I am here with them,

and they are here with me.

the contradiction of soft dancing

and feeling seen

watched

judged

loved

is what reminds me I am human.

i dance like people are watching.

because when I dance,

people turn to look.

when I smile, people notice.

and that’s okay.

i get to bob my head,

and tap my feet

and sit on my blanket

and smile.

Sometimes life itself is too much. In these moments, and allow myself to do the next right thing.

I wash a dish.

I clean my place.

I take a nap.

I give thanks.

Tyra taught me Smize

now it’s the only way I show you

the smile

trapped

between fabric and face.

I smile behind my mask

I pray the energy reaches you.

I laugh and giggle inside my bubble of breath.

The Mona Lisa lives behind 5 inches of face covering.

The ability to be vulnerable is the ability to live.

not only to thrive, but to survive.

a dog knows that it must be vulnerable, yet people seem to equate vulnerability with shame.

eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom

are all acts of vulnerability in the wild.

humans are no different.

love, being loved, giving and receiving love,

are also acts of vulnerability

necessary for survival.

I thought it would be nice

to sit and write a poem in gramercy park.

I approached the gate: closed. Locked.

excuse me ma’am , I asked the lady with her dog.

what time does the park open?

oh it’s always closed, she replied. You need a key to get in.

so here I sit, at the corner of gramercy park south and Irving Plaza

on a stoop.

The park sits beautiful and empty,

but the birds fly in and out.

the birds, the squirrels, the butterflies and moths,

require no key to enter gramercy park.

locks and keys are a human thing.

rather than wishing I had the key to gramercy park,

I sit and watch the birds fly.

Hi, everyone! I am honored to participate in the poetry marathon. I feel a bit breathless as I imagine what it will feel like to produce one poem each hour for 24 hours. I know it is a challenge and a feat to complete such a marathon, and I am looking forward to doing it myself! Once the marathon is over, I will have twenty-four lovely (or messy) poems. I write poetry regularly, and I know this is an opportunity to strengthen my skills.

I am most excited to see what I unearth within myself. Each poem I write is a doorway to a piece of my soul, and I feel I will go to a place where I have yet to visit within my self.

Best luck to all participants!

– Pearl