24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
Hour 21
9/3/2023
“…By Any Other Name…”
The petals wither,
fall and shiver – as each stem
begins to slumber.
Come tomorrow will awake
and dance with their life anew.
Each garden echoes
movement and song as birds preen,
and mates abound.
Their warbling throats fill the grounds.
The vibrant hues soon beguile.
Chris
(C) Chris Twyford 9/3/2023
She’s singing again
why can’t she understand me?
I know the others need her, three
but more so do I
so I get louder, why?
But need is in order
please pick me up
I’m more important
ah, I like that song
calm down, not for long
and that elephant sound
my screams, they will drown
goodie, my turn
a bottle, I earn
and her smiling face
my yells are erased
a cuddle or two
a whispered coo
rocking, swaying
I forget why
I cried.
– Sandra Johnson, 9-3-2023
Grape Jelly
My favorite lunch was peanut butter
and jelly on white or whole wheat
with the crust cut off and cut on a diagonal
or I wouldn’t eat it. Crunchy or smooth
peanut butter, I vacillated between them.
Grape jelly. Not strawberry or raspberry
or orange marmalade that I still dislike,
and the only butter was peanut butter.
Grape jelly, like I put on white rice
and still do, though I don’t know why,
maybe because rice is sticky like
Nana’s farina and she always put
a spoonful of grape into the middle
and let me mix it up. I didn’t always
eat it but I liked it.
Today, my favorite lunch is Goober’s,
the brilliant invention of peanut butter
and grape jelly in a jar; a spoon, no need
for bread or cutting crust or diagonal cuts.
Once, I bought strawberry Goober’s,
just once.
Some people put grape jelly in sauce
saying it cuts the acid from tomatoes
but I’ve never done it. I did find
a recipe for meatballs cooked in
grape jelly and ketchup, another favorite
growing up, a staple for hiding my peas
and drowning anything I didn’t like.
I’m going to make these meatballs,
my kind of simple. Frozen meatballs,
store bought ketchup and grape jelly.
Slow cook, serve hot over white rice.
Perfect pairings.
~ J R Turek Hour 18
ABILITY
I thought I could become a Mathematician
Till I came across Differentiability
I thought I could become a Chemist
Till I came across Malleability
I thought I could become a cook
Till I came across palatability
I thought I could be a gymnast
Till I learnt about flexibility
I felt as if I was lost in the world
I seemed to be only focussing on my disability
Then God made me a mother
And taught me the importance of love and responsibility.
By
SHREYA SURAJ
Well, from now on y’all I’m just winging it
and like the late great Muhammad Ali
I’m gone bee stinging it.
I’ll be shuffling, and dancing,
and dope roping, trying
to get through this marathon
straight 24ing it.
I can do this I know I can
not like the little engine
that could saying “I think i can”
so fight is in me like the fist of
Joe Louis I’m gonna knock
this one out. The time is
counting down but
I’m not giving out.
hopefully someone
will read my little rhyme
and give appreciation to those
who are now out of time.
They’ve inspired me.
Stars
The inky abyss punctured by light from eons away
Looked the same by all who came before
We watched together, drawing our stories in the sky
Until the time comes that we reach for them.
Now, the world looks to them with hope,
Praying that another like us is out there.
Though other planets await us,
There will always only be one night sky of Earth.
Hour 6
One fine day
I went for a walk
There came a dog
And began to bark
I cried for help
But no-one was there
Suddenly appeared a Goblin
Who came from nowhere
He was a small fellow
With a long long beard
He began to ask
Whose cry he has heard
He looked at the dog
And then looked at me
“Why are you bothering him,
He belongs to me”
His face turned red
And he waved his hand
Suddenly appeared a stick
Which looked like magic wand
It was no wand
That I soon realised
He wipped me hard
Till I wept and cried
He was gone as he came
And my face was stained with tears
I used to dream of Goblins
But now they are my fears
Do you dear readers
Believe this story sad
Or do you by anyway
Think that I’ve gone mad
We met, loved, cared for, fought, hurt laughed cried but
Irreplaceable memories we etched
The happiness you lent me
That I hold debt
That can’t be returned completely
So let me cover you if it’s sunny,
Be your shade if it’s raining
And If you ever turn back time, lemme hold your hand like you held mine tightly.
To the cries make me a shoulder
With each smile, I am now witnessing you grow older
I may be weak but I promise I would shoulder you through every darkest day of your existence.
I’ll help you to heal yourself, Even if I can’t do it entirely.