The Poetry Marathon

Bleary eyed I sit a-typing
plagued as every writer before me
has been with the writing
sitting up when sleep beckons
in her ghostly form
her sweet smile curves upward
and I am reminded of the cool
relief of her embrace and how
it feels to sink into
the mistiness of her fragrant form
to refill the need
of the mind
to seek the land
where stories are born
deep in our dreams
we swim the ether and course the waves
to wake in the warm sand of morning
the sun shining in our eyes
the keyboard at hand once again
the stories
the words
pouring forth
fresh baked from that special place
I need to go
As lady sleep is calling calling
I find myself faling falling
In the morning the words will come again
The words sitting in my head
All waiting to pour themselves out
As though they write themselves
Hold me now, sweet lady
I am ready for slumber
no more will I linger in the world
of the real
sweet lady calls me
willing I go

Wine Berries
VCS
Cordial crushed berries
Fresh off the vine
bright bits of summer
tang like pure wine
your leaves blow in the wind
revealing bounty under each bough
startling glimpses of red
faded to pink
through to
unripe
white
the future harvest that’s waiting
for its day in the sunlight
but for now their are plenty of ripe
handfuls of wine berries
my fingers stain red
thistles sting over eager
grasps
as the plants protect themselves
from the ravages of grazers like myself
gathering leaves to dry
for the panacea of summer health
they will bring to cold winter months
a praise for the berry
an early friend to humanity
and lifelong companion to one and all

Three
VCS

The hour has come
When it is darkest
And eyelids close
and all grows weary
Each hour is exponential to the last
only two more to go
one, two, three
Three in the morning
and three poems in a row

Gimmee
VCS

Copy of a copy of a copy
Spinning into a lack of cogent
Reality
There is no definition
Making out the lines
Has become foggy
More of a guessing game
Than anything advertised

None of us signed on for this
And there is more every day
We need space
We need originality
Instead of tightening ligatures
Of conformity

As the boundaries get tighter and tighter
The lyrics of the songs
Blur into one long litany
Of Gimmee Gimmee Gimmmee
There isn’t enough for everyone
To have everything they want

Not when they don’t want it really
Not anyhow
Once their fingers are on it
It’s tossed to the side
The next illusion chased

All to the litany of gimmee gimmee gimmee
It never gets
It only takes
The dance of the copy machine
All running around
Trying to look, act and talk the same
shaming anyone who dares to stand

gimmee gimmee gimmee
copy copy copy
you won’t ever get what you’re wanting
Not this way
this isn’t what we’re here for
None of us really want this anyway

The dance of nihilism continues
Every single day
Killing the pain with whatever comes
Up the nose, with a pill, in a vein on a VISA card
Gimmee gimmee gimmee
The copies fade more each day

I don’t recall
VCS

You don’t come to mind much anymore
I don’t recall your face
Your voice
That world has been exorcised
Excised
I am at peace with the clarity of my heart
And with how you vanished along with my own
Resurection

You tried to steal everything from me
You didn’t leave me even scraps
I was never angry about that
But I was confused and hurt
Now I have found gratitude
Because I don’t have to thank you
You have nothing to do with the good places
I’ve been at

This is a farewell
And it isn’t to only one
There are many of you
Living and dead who tried to take my life
With many justifications
Objectifications
Gratifications of yourselves

But now
I’ve forgotten your faces
And your voices
And even the feel of your skin
I don’t remember the way you smelled
Or the exact color of your hair
Or your eyes
I am happy to let those things
Like the rest of my pain
Float away
One the river of life
Turn my face into the new dawn
And feel only love once more

Wouda
VCS

Do you know the Wouda’s?
They live most any place
They can be both good or evil
A pleasure or a disgrace
Under the sea they creep like starfish
On land they hide
A secretive race

Do you know the Wouda?
You may have mistaken them for
Someone’s hand or a toy
But I assure you they are alive and well
They adapt to any situation
With alacrity and joy

Do you know the Wouda?
Not the Coulda, Shoulda or even Buddha?
But in fact the Wouda
Who creeps up in disguise
It is the helping hand you need
When all else seems lost

It isn’t a pixie, a gnome or a dwarf
It is the noble Wouda
And if you don’t know about them
I think its time you shoulda
because they’re the helpers we all need
The very special Wouda

Hovering There
VCS

Before you said I had
To leave this place
I had hoped it would be home
Even though I always knew
That would never be the way
It was meant to be

Because I was a foreigner
But you were out of this world
You were hovering there
In the dead of the night
And I was watching you
Thinking

This wasn’t at all right
I wished I was a kite
Because you sat below me
I could have caught the breeze
Drifted away through the park
Gotten out of your rank wind

But it didn’t happen that way
And you can’t change history
You told me I had to leave
And at first I said, ‘Okay’
But then I thought you’d gone
I came back

I shouldn’t have done that
The coming back I mean
The warning turned out to be a doozie
One of them there dooms
They’re all the rage
When the rage is on
And the rage is always on

You gotta heed those warnings
Even then it’s not always enough
Even then they still catch you out
Even then they’ll gun for you in the night

They tell you to get out
And shine lights in your face
Hovering in the night
Better listen to them
Boys and girls
There’s nothing else to do

They’re the ones who own this world
Even though they say they’re foreigners here
We’re just taking up space
While we’re waiting to say goodbye
When they say, ‘byebye’
It’s time to run and hide
Drag you to the velvet underground
They’ll take you for a ride

Hovering in the night
And you can’t change history
You told me I had to leave
But I came back
When I knew you were gunning for me

I had a cocky grin
I thought this was my world
Turns out it’s just the porch
to the velvet underground
And all the rest is hell

Blood and Diamonds
VCS

From the heart of our mother’s pain
They speak to us
Of all that’s been and all that is to come
Diamonds
Those bits of carbon
Crushed in the fist of pain
The agony that makes life
The agony that frees
Diamonds sparkling
They say it’s all a scam
The value of the diamond
They say that it’s bad because…
Blood diamonds

All diamonds are made of blood
The blood of the earth as she
Is contorted into new forms

How funny that we ignore the bloodstains
On the things we use every day
But feel self righteous for avoiding
Sullying our hands

Eat the meat but spare the fur
Shun the diamonds but burn the oil seeped in bloody war
Self righteous is a fun horse to ride so high!

They say a lot of things about diamonds
Somme I believe to be true
One is that it’s bad luck
To buy your own diamond
Unless it’s to claim the bad luck you’ve already had
And own your pain

Diamonds
The gift of a mission accomplished
A new life, things never to be the same
For some a Medal of Honor is bestowed
But for others a diamond better fits
to describe
the hardness of life
that’s given the razor sharp acumen
and strength of those who survive

It’s the rainbow of understanding
All the colors embraced in one
Fire in a Carat
Blood diamonds

Immune to all but the most delicate and skilled touch
Nothing touches the diamonds heart
Or can put out her fire
Sparkle sparkle
I used to say
As we shone the brass away
In a Cinderella life
Now I sparkle another way
Now I’ve earned my medals from lessons learned
Badges of honor
From the only mother
Who loved me most

I will wear my diamonds
As I wear my scars
Each a badge of honor
As my mother taught me

Authentic
VCS

Authentic in my pain
Authentic in my joy
Authentic in my love
It scares the evil away
When you pour your heart out
Every word

The anguish in your voice
Your love in your eyes
The delight of a birch bud
Glowing on your skin
It’s not the same
For frauds
When each lie accumulates in the
Blocks of caution
In their eyes
And being authentic
Hurts the world of betrayals

Authentic in my pain
Authentic in my joy
Authentic in my love
It scares the evil away
When you pour your heart out
Every word

I can’t be any other way
I can’t ever change
I can say my truth more kind
I can walk away
I don’t have to be cruel to be true
But I have to be true to each little cell
That pumps life into my body and soul
Because that is my spirit

Authentic in my pain
Authentic in my joy
Authentic in my love
It scares the evil away
When you pour your heart out
Every word

And that is me
Authentic in my pain
Watch my tears flow
My heart break and pour out
onto the floor
A thousand times the joy
Of the little things
And the big things too
That overwhelm and make me silent
In appreciation of all the beauty in the world
This is authentic

Authentic in my pain
Authentic in my joy
Authentic in my love
It scares the evil away
When you pour your heart out
Every word

Lots of times it hurts
It isn’t always pretty
It is always beautiful
Even when it’s hideous too
The blights are so much darker
The days are brighter too
My passion won’t let me
When my heart screams no no no

Authentic in my pain
Authentic in my joy
Authentic in my love
It scares the evil away
When you pour your heart out
Every word
Authentic in my pain
Authentic in my joy
Authentic in my love
It scares the evil away
When you pour your heart out
Every word

Draw Nearer
VCS

Sirens wailing, fires blazing
Draw nearer
Evacuation center
Smokey skies are burning
The sun’s on fire
The moon immersed in
A tidal pool of blood

Province burning, ‘copters whirling
Draw nearer
Breathe deep and try not to think
Of what could or could not be
It’s just about time
For the hot point in the year
Think carefully

Lakes are flooding, so many dying
Water and Air
Fire and Earth
All trade places
Nothing could be done about that perhaps
Not but you or me
But the rest!
We’re all caught up in it
Trees explode like roman candles
What started this?
One cigarette

Still too cool to put the flicker out
Instead of flash it out the window
Onto the tinder and broken land
You’re not above it all
No one is safe from any of this
Don’t think anyone is too good to
Be caught in the hell of flames
To lose your home or family
It happens every day

Sirens wailing, fires blazing,
Province burning, ‘copters whirling
Lakes are flooding, so many dying
Draw nearer
To a piece of sanity