The Poetry Marathon

Where lies a feverish unbroken dream

Not here, in this twisted rowdy land

I cover my eyes to the howls and shrieks

Tugs on my body beg me to turn away

And listen to boresome tales from morons

Hungering for money for their shiny things

And eyes to see them bask in a vapid glow

I strain, push to exit the heaving mob

The fray threatens to drown passions

I hold them up, letting them light the way

So easy to give in to the bleating sheep

But I have promises to keep.

Last line from Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem.

Copyright 1923, © 1969 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc., renewed 1951, by Robert Frost.

 Reprinted with the permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

There’s never enough of you to go around,

I stare at you dripping down the stall,

Steam rising off a tired, sore body.

Drops plop and trickle down the drain.

I imagine distant cooler days ahead,

In my sweating, stinking summer daze.

A sigh as a shower head gives refuge,

Spraying my sticky skin with encouragement.

But patience evaporates with the truth,

That the sun will get the last laugh,=

Obsidia gazed longingly into a silver scrying pool
She eyed a man, her heart’s desire from a mushroom stool
With a smile, she let Amer the butterfly land on her hand
“Oh Amer, how can I win the fairest mortal in the land?”
As she spoke the stately prince rode his horse through the mystic forest unaware
“Oh yes, I could cast a spell and beguile him, but I want true love- that’s unfair!”
The butterfly fluttered its wings so fast that the fairy gasped
“How brilliant! But be human? That’s a spell I haven’t grasped.”
“Why, I’d need a flower from the mountain Jub-jub plant, that’s too far!”
The butterfly fluttered again and Obsidia eyes lit up like a star.
“But you and your friends, that’s too much for you to carry!”
With a buzz Amer dashed away, leaving fairy in romantic thoughts merry
Hours later she heard a rush of giant wings, a great eagle with a gift.
She could scarcely believe her eyes, that her friends delivered so swift!
The next day a young prince riding came upon a comely woman by a silky tree.
She offered food and drink. He was smitten. He didn’t notice something in his tea.
His mortal memory faded and together they lived happily in the forest
And Obisidia daily thanked her friend Amer and his butterfly chorus

“I see him always in a lonely street, in lonely rooms, puzzled but never quite defeated.”

Marlowe waited but his quarry never left the bookstore.
The dank night felt lonely and longer than ever before.
Two nickels rubbing together wouldn’t buy him lunch.
This crazy case was all based on a jealous wife’s hunch.
It was 2 a.m. on a quiet downtown Santa Monica street.
The time and place you’d only see seedy strangers meet.
The shamus walked around back. For once, he was puzzled.
No exit. Where did the man go? He was truly befuddled.
Direct was always best. He knocked on the front door.
A voice rang out, a deep male voice with a throaty roar.
“Get lost! Scam I tell you! Don’t want any. Damn it, It’s late.”
“Tell John I have a message from his wife, I’m willing to wait.”
A pause and then a click as the door swung to let me in.
Marlowe spied a long hallway leading to rooms with a quite noisy din.
A shadow stepped out with a gun pointed at his chest.
“What do you know about my wife? You’re an unwanted guest.”
He smiled. Gun or not he was never defeated.
“She’s worried, she thinks you’ve cheated.”
A laugh from the big goon. “Nuts, I’ve done no such thing.”
“Get out of here before I put your arm in a sling.”
I nodded at the noise behind him, down the mysterious hall
He smiled. “Got to pay off some gambling debt’s, that’s all.”

Thunder shook the horizon in the land of Nin
As the Hoboken waited for the storm to begin
The stocky grassland race hoped for a prophetic child
A starling being with gift to tame great beasts in the wild
As an adult he’d regain their homeland lost long ago
To the cruel Kek-mim raiders from the Forgotten Snow
Cities and loved ones left encased forever in ice
For their resistance, they paid a terrible price
But the young one would mend a painful past
Ears perked as due north they heard a blast
The motley group shuffled hurriedly forward
And arrived to hear cries from a great orchard
A Hoboken baby screamed, from tiny blankets born
Stuffed inside a tree trunk, by lightning shorn
Matronly hands clutched the boy as all danced and chattered
So much lost through the years, now justice was all that mattered.

Marna closed her eyes and found herself deep in a wintry wood
The naked tangled branches reaching as high as they could
The trees thirsted, their roots parched to the core
A magical drought had left them wanting for more
For a time when sun and joy were abundantly clear
When creatures frolicked and lived without fear
She felt a dark presence threatening the peace
A warlock’s curse that would never cease
Mind focused, she hunted for the hated source
And found him wandering atop his raven-black horse
With an enraged thought she sank deep into his mind
And threw him to the ground and struck him blind
With a cheer, the trees wiggled and sprouted green anew
And the forest sprang to life and a cool breeze blew through
It would never forget the day a young druid avenged it and see it free
Animals squealed joy, leaves rustled happy as far as eyes could see

Angela skipped along the forest path chasing another firefly to put in her bottle blue
She thought it strange when she spied smoke coming from the treeline she thought she knew
With her binoculars, she could zoom and spied a humble cottage belching blackless over the hill.
So she followed the smoke until she found the hut. A scary black mask hung over the door gave her a chill.
Inside she found a table with three bowls of porridge still steaming with heat
She was so hungry, it’d been hours since she’d had something good to eat.
She cleaned the bowls and found herself overcome with lethargy so strong.
That she didn’t notice three beers returning to check out what was wrong.
With a roar, they grabbed the sleepy brat and with a gulp had a quick snack.
So next time, turn away when you see a cottage puffing from its smoke stack.

A tiger! Yes, a tiger! I saw it running from an explosive forest fire.
Flames engulfed trees fir and round, snowy branches and all couldn’t escape its ire.
A voice shouted “Can you help me?”, I turned to see a waving ghost and couldn’t believe my eyes.
It reached for me and I screamed and ran to the left then right but I could still hear its cries.

Their cackles resounded in the nightish moonlight glare
Black cats slinked in the dark, feral eyes to stare
Tonight was a special day of the new baneful season
Time to boil a malignant witches brew spiteful beyond reason
A drop of mandrake, touch of garlic, slice of human finger
Crow’s foot, eel eyes and ghoul’s blood for a taste to linger
This was an event to avenge all the witches who were lost
To mortal mobs screaming and hunting for witches to accost
Tonight their will would be done and a spell would be cast
To take the firstborn from them and make new witches at last

Ah the richness wafting by my nose, food and drink springing me to my toes
Echos of lively chatter, so many deep and profound thoughts to pose
Hugged by a cool spring breeze to tickle hairs on our arms
Such laughter, remembering days past and simple childish charms
Hands pressing a brush down a canvas splashed with memories in color
Children running past playing hide and seek as they holler
Ocean rumbles to remind us of a force vastly more powerful than us
Reminders of better days to come – enjoy the now and spurn the fuss