The Poetry Marathon

Hour 2 Prompt 2

Christmas Angels on a Snowy Eve (inspired by Robert Frost)

Amid a winter’s walk profound

With starlight whisp’ring soft around

The moon stretched long her guiding light

Toward a peaceful, soothing sound

Angelic voices in the night

Led me toward a joyful sight

On dunes of bluelit, moonlit snow

My soul arose with fresh delight

Vibrato, allegretto started to grow

Purest voices tiding ebb and flow

Bringing my being to swaying and swing

‘round a celestial ring aglow

I wish to touch a gossamer wing

Wish permission for all I’m seeking

That with the angels I might sing

That with the angels I might sing

Gray (haiku) (from prompt 1, hour 1)

snowfall heavy cloud

slushes thickness polluted

under heavy cloud

Here’s my set-up for the morning. I gathered three beautiful ornaments for “inspiration” to get some Christmas poems cranked out during the marathon. I also grabbed the map of my fantasy world so I can generate some poems from the characters in my fantasy series if that mood strikes me. (Hopefully it will!) I’ve got apples washed and almonds there on the table but there’s “eat-this-fast” food in the fridge along with iced coffees to make refueling myself quick-n-easy. I’m ashamed of those water bottles, but they’re convenient and recyclable.

Now I just need to prep the pets’ “additional” food bowls so those will be easy to set in front of them Sunday morning when I’m exhausted and in the home-stretch… 😉

I hope everyone gets a good night’s rest and is ready for wild creativity this weekend! I’m excited to create alongside you!

Best wishes,

Sandy Lender

I might be insane, but the place I feel most at home is a world I made up over a couple decades of creative writing. Hmmm…

(for hour 24—prompt: the place I feel most at home; here’s a poem from the history of Onweald)

How the Ferweard Fair Straits Formed Between The Southlands

In the days when Ella joined Mahriket

And the gods could bask in her grace

The generous Goddess Katherine Fair

Voluntar’ly stepped down from her exalted place

Katherine sighed upon The Southlands’ war

Within her heart shook to breaking

Over decades of sons lost of mothers

And daughters who morn widowed queen

Katherine sought no champion to join her

With tones of love filled inflection

She bowed to ask Old Rothahn’s favor

Taking twelve centuries of perfection

To the city beyond the Freotho

Where she wove spells of such power

No man could withstand or behold

The princesses, goddess, felled palace tower

Fueled by her heart, fueled by her love

Her final act put all geasa in motion

The followers of Lorena and those of Lenora

The waves parsed in two, separated by ocean

(for hour 23—a “hearing” prompt from hour 16…coz cheese is good, but I wasn’t feeling it)

What Are the Chances?

Amid a crowded amphitheater

I become the only attendee

The only fan

For I close my eyes to the swell of the synthesizer

Under the vibrato of violins on stage

And gentle build of the snare

Somewhere beneath the note he holds

I’m lifted

Whether it’s his voice

Or the pulse of the bass

It carries me above any crowd sound

All I know is the music

I’m lost in the flow

The harmony and tender rise

Crescendo to rejoin a rhythm

That pumps my blood

To this new time signature

This new motion

Amid an airy amphitheater

Of only me

What’s left of me

Filling with chords and melody

(for hour 22—wake up prompt)

Familiar Pain

That blood in your urine is

A kidney stone

Surprise!

That inability to function is

A kidney stone

Surprise!

(for hour 21—from the say “yes” prompt of hour 15)

I should have said yes

Anger

I’d not seen that in my grandparents before

Too young to understand toxins and kidney function

It surprised me when Grandma snapped back at him

Fussiness did not become them

It didn’t make sense to me

Then she threatened to send him away

Away!

She turned to me

Out of all the people at the extended table

Where multiple family dinners had been fun,

Tender

Full of laughter

She turned to me and asked,

“Do you want your grandpa to come live with you?”

Shock

Surprise

Horror at the concept playing out before me

Logistics

Worry

What would my parents say if I gave permission without asking?

I looked to my grandfather’s tired face, his eyes red, looking to me with sadness

I sputtered, “Where would you sleep?”

Then he cast his eyes down

It was the wrong response

This woman I no longer recognized hooted as if she’d played the poisoned pawn

“See! Even your granddaughter doesn’t want you!”

Someone swooped in to save us, my grandpa and me

We locked eyes once again

Sorrow in sympathy

Logistics be damned, I should have said “yes”

(for hour 20—this is a blend! I wanted to do the 3-repeating-lines prompt from hour 3, so it’s mixed with the “walking at night” AND image prompts of hour 20…because typing poetry at this hour makes one giddy like that.)

Fetch Her the Star

Bianca requested of Bill merely one, still-bright star

Small enough to fit on the curio cabinet’s bottom shelf

(where light was needed most because Bill had bought a cabinet without LEDs)

Yet with enough mass to attract the Ladies Club members’ eyes

when they’d gather Tuesday evening to complete protest signs

She asked so little of him after 28 months of marriage

With all the time she saved Bill employing a local DBE to tend the lawn and pool, could he not take an hour for an errand?

Why did her simple petition require an argument,

tears to mar her facial and eye art,

and a snide remark about Gil-Estel?

(his references to fantasy films too often confused her to frustration)

She asked so little of him after 28 months of marriage

While Bianca strode to her private spa off the master bedroom where she could repair her eyes,

Bill collected his 32-month-old son’s favorite toy, and walked into a moonlit night

He pointed at the stars, asking, “which one do you think Mother would like?”

The child giggled; he understood more than the vapid woman they left behind

She asked too much of him after 112 weeks of marriage

(for hour 19—the image prompt of Arcana’s shore for Onweald)

Arcana’s Protection

Arcana Scheld arrived with a high tide off the Meredore

Spray from the ocean wet her face

And misted her eyes a faerie gray

Suitors flocked like seabirds

Pecking at her shawl

Offerings to a fresh maiden

Trite pleasantries

Gifts

Overtures of marriage

Odda Taiman put them all to shame

He alone ripped the Freotho Mountains apart for her

Shaped a castle from rock for her

Where the cliffs meet the shore, he named for her

And suitors scattered in fear of him

He cast a web of protection along Arcana’s harbor

And built the foundation of Onweald’s success because of her

Arcana Scheld brought a high tide off the Meredore

And the world was better for the love of her

(for hour 18—from the hour 11 image prompt)

Honeybees

Crafting questions to question my talent

(or lack thereof)

Vibrant colors could cover

inadequacies in technique

and mixing of medium

Buzzing bees bring a smile

reminding me

of dragonflies

checking a child’s coloring chart

way back when I was seven

Maybe my art’s not a complete loss

if I can fool the honeybees

into checking it out