The Poetry Marathon

Hour 10 – Etheria (image prompt)

When we turn 20 we begin to feel something.

A feeling stronger than the rest.

It starts small in the chest,

A pulse, vibration, a flash

It gets bigger, fast for some

Growing and overwhelming

All the rest.

Most get light, positive colors

Yellow joy, pink affection,

Lavender love and gorgeous sunny happiness

Their lives are set, they can give

Their positivity to others

I guess I’m not so lucky

Heavy and dark with vibrations

of blue.

I’m depression incarnate,

Sadness and pain

Melancholic and yet

while my prospects are bleak

It feels right.

Not all darkness is bad

But I could still fail

to make a living.

Why would someone need sadness?

 

(To be continued)

Medication Sedation

We as a society

have become congenial

with the use of prescription drugs.

 

Some popping pills for cheap thrills

becoming addicted in the process

to the high it gives.

 

The youth mixing codeine, soft drinks and candy

because their favorite celebrity says it’ll make

them feel magnificent.

 

Doctors selling their Hippocratic oath

” To First do no Harm” away for the right

price it’s a wonder how they sleep at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dawn of a queen

princess, spoiled by the love

of someone so ruthless

he’d shield you from any pain

you fall, are lost without him

and maybe that was never his intention

and maybe it was, there is no telling now

but you, you need to keep going

no matter the motive, you are broken now

and have to start rebuilding

maybe not a kingdom

maybe nothing more than

a tent for now

a place so close to the stars you will not feel trapped again

a place with walls so flimsy you will never

have trouble breaking free to run

there is no greater purpose than

rebuilding yourself bit by bit

grief may be a solid foundation but it is not hope

pain may promise duration but it is not joy

learn to trust one person to learn

to trust yourself for the first time

learn to rise again

you may be developing calluses

but at least your hands don’t waver anymore

you may be wielding the very knives

he forbade you to touch for fear of injuring yourself

but at least next time the world won’t find you helpless

you make the journey from title to truth step by step

from a princess by name

to a queen by choice

you rise

Prompts Hour Eleven

Text prompt

Write a poem using at least 5 of the following 10 words/phrases.

Forest Ranger

Skyscaper

Periwinkle

sourdough

Cloud

needle

gumboots

beat

spread

storefront

Image prompt

21~8

Not hungry

for breakfast food

of green.

I am not Sam.

It would seem…

NORMAL NO MORE

Normal is like a thing in the past
With all the things happening like a blast
All changed everything was different
And all of this happen in the current

But with all the negative events happening
There are things that are surely flattering
The earth breathed and rested for a while
She was cleansed widely mile after mile

People stayed indoors pollution was less
Factories shut down there was only less mess
The scare that transpired made our home so refreshed
Its a scare yes it is but some issues were addressed

Normal no more yes this is true
But it gave our world a different hue
We wish to return to the things that used to
When we do then for sure we will have a new view

Brightest Hour, Darkest Day (Half Marathon Hour 11)

Michellia Wilson
Poetry Marathon Hour 11 (2021)

 

BRIGHTEST HOUR, DARKEST DAY

In the brightest hour
of my darkest day,
I find the fire lit up white,
crackling with heat –

I dare you to tell me
to walk on that fire,
to step beyond the boundaries,
to relinquish myself
to the other side;

I dare you to sing a tune,
to keep the beat,
pounding ancient drums
against a spring sunset –

I dare you to cross the threshold,
take a look at what keeps
my heart held captive
in a restless dance of spirit;

I dare you to try and extinguish
the intense light,
of the brightest hour
of my darkest day.

Christmas Thoughts

lights glowing throughout the night
the air feels warm, even at ten below
as the snow cascades down
together we’ll treasure this time,
a gift that may not always be around

we sit by the warm crackling fire,
reading and sharing in the gifts
that are found in this life

(Poem 10 of Half Marathon)

Jueju-a Chinese style of poetry

Two couplets organized in a quatrain each line having 5 or 8 syllables.

 

Holding on to me too tightly

Having you cling to me closely

Hoping you would let me breathe

Helping you not to tightly squeeze

Prompt Ten

New Year’s Day, 2021

Still sequestered
no hope on the horizon –
like living in the Yukon
in the deep of winter

night bleeds into days
and days
and days

two
hundred
and
seventy
five
days

of zooming into other
people’s homes –
virtual embraces

outside –
the half-masked smiles
of strangers

sanity, barely threading
its way through our minds
barely hanging on
barely breathing

but

July promises possibilities,
a summer festival –
a veritable feast for those
hungry for contact

forage on from the
summer solstice
of the Yukon’s
midnight sun –
banish darkness
to the outer realms

touch hope
again, and again
and again
to be sure
it’s real

‘Should old acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind…’

(Cristy Watson, 2021)