The Poetry Marathon

An unequal world served as her beckoning,

It was an everyday battle for her every right,

She vowed to be a queen in the tyranny of the king.

Looking for passages and tunnels for hiding,

She moved silently in the cover of the night.

The unequal world served as her beckoning.

Knew when to attack and when to take a swing,

To come back and live for another fight,

She’d be a queen in the tyranny of the king.

She spent her time training and waiting, biding,

Taught herself lessons from a helpful knight.

The unequal world would surely cause her beckoning,

Paid her dues and hellfire she did bring,

The guards and the king froze at the sight.

She knew she’d be a queen in the tyranny of the king.

She christened herself Queen at her own crowning,

With the blessing of the universe under the starlight,

In an unequal world, which served as her beckoning,

She was the queen in a tyranny of the king.

Note: The poem is a ‘Villanelle’, which follows the following rhyme scheme: ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA; with Line 1 and 6, 12, 18 the same and Line 3 and 9, 15, 19 the same as well.

A badmouths B and C gets mad,

A is held accountable for everything A did

Not just today but of all the days before,

Of the mistakes and crimes of a person once was.

Mistakes you’ve learnt from and wounds you’ve healed,

You wouldn’t recognize your past self if you met them.

Who we are today is not a reflection of us yesterday.

It’s our past that makes us who we are,

That make us tick and make us dream.

We are but a collection of all our experiences,

Of all the people we’ve met and the things we’ve seen.

A person who gossips will gossip again,

A person who helped yesterday will help you again.

You don’t wipe your slate clean every single day,

You wake up from your bed expecting no different.

Who we are today is not a reflection of us yesterday.

If we want A to learn and grow, says D,

Shouldn’t we give A the chance to act differently?

But what if A doesn’t learn and is let off easy?

Should B suffer for A to learn?, says C.

I agree with both C and D, B says empathetically.

Yet we are both yesterday and tomorrow combined.

Who we are today is not a reflection of us yesterday.

Note: ‘The Bop’ form includes three stanzas: Stanza 1: 6 lines, stating the problem; Stanza 2: 8 lines, exploring the problem; Stanza 3: Success and failure of resolution is recorded. A refrain is used after every stanza.

Another Note: The poem is on cancel culture.

We stand holding hands shivering,

Look for love to save us,

We have spoken these words before,

Nothing left to discuss.

Can holding up an umbrella,

Save us from the blood rain,

Will it only keep it at bay,

The storm gives way to pain.

Note: The poem is a ballad. (Written in quatrains- abcb/abab; 1st and 3rd- Iambic tetrameter and 2nd and 4th- trimeter)

Another note: It had to be under 50 words and include the word umbrella

Bed under the sky,

Lying supine, opened eyes.

Patterns of the leaves,

Painting the azure with green,

Heaven was brought down for me.

Note: Tankas are written in the structure of 5,7,5,7,7 syllables respectively.

The peace that comes from the quiet nature,

Only beaten by the rush of cities,

The assurance that comes with the next day,

Being just as busy without a doubt.

The blinding streetlights make you feel so small,

Like you don’t matter as much as you think,

Can try to be whoever you want to,

Have the space to fall and get yourself up.

So many people call your home their home,

A feeling of being different but not,

A single thread connecting you to them,

Nothing more magical than a city…

Note: This is a blank verse, with each line following the iambic parameter.

I feel the night wind rush through my hair,

As I’m seated at a table,

My friends on both sides of me,

As she sings with passion,

“I want it that way”,

Tears in my eyes,

Contented,

I felt,

Joy.

Note: The above verse is a nonet.

When you’re handed a quest for you to pursue,

Do you hope that it’s elaborate and clear,

That detail all the actions that will ensue,

Or have no rules that you will have to adhere?

Would you want to be tailed and taken care of,

Protected in case you slip, a net waiting,

Or would you prefer blind trust than love,

Letting you slip and fall, always learning?

Do you like that you know everyone around,

Each of them a familiar face from yore,

Or do you like to be free from relations, unbound,

To find new people to hold and adore?

A map carto graphed with intense skill,

Or a blank canvas that is yours to fill?

1 Part of the workings of the universe,

2 Truly just a cog in the machine.

3 Perhaps it’s not so though,

4 Uniqueness trumping uniformity,

5 Revolutions having followed this cause.

6 A fight between obedience and,

7 Resistance to the laws of the world,

8 Either way, the question remains,

9 Do we have free will?

Note: The answer to the question asked in the last line is the title (Decode the number with the line number)

The sound is what caught her attention,

Pleasant, stark in the silence,

A cat’s contented purr.

She felt the cold breeze hit her,

The sharp sweet smell filled her nose,

Could almost taste it on her tongue.

The cats calmly eating pieces of their owner.

Note: The poem is a sevenling (Lines 1-3: Connected/ contrasting statements, or a list of three details, names or possibilities; 4-6: three elements; 7: Narrative summary/ punchline)

Other Note: The title is a play on the word ‘cat’ and the fact that the cat accelerated the decay process