The Poetry Marathon

The Bitter Beauty of Winter (half marathon hour 6

Michellia Wilson
Poetry Half Marathon Hour 6 (2021)

 

The Bitter Beauty of Winter

The pond is frozen over,
with snow covering it’s surface.
The beauty of winter comes
with a price.
The fish are moving slowly
beneath the sheet of ice –
the squirrels are hiding someplace –
feeding on their summer stash,
and then there are the birds –
hungry, trying to find something to eat
as they peck through the cold crystals.
The pristine blanket –
shrinking my pupils in it’s brightness;
this is the epitome of winter in all her glory.

7071 – A message

7071 – A message

 

In 7071, a young couple moved to a new home.

Exploring the backyard it was obvious it needed,

Care and attention to relive its former blossom.

They started digging at the back fence,

Breaking ground and a few feet down, they found a bottle.

 

It looked old and stained but they could see white paper inside.

They thought whoever buried it was clever.

The bottle was glass and made of silicon,

therefore it wouldn’t rot and hurt the environment.

 

The note read:

 

Poetry helped me survive the dreaded and unknown Covid-19

Only my words and memories distracted my fragile mind

Each time I felt a struggle, I kept pen and paper near by

The struggle was real, lack of leadership from government caused chaos

Rightly people were scared of the unknown. We pulled though.

You don’t have to, but, can I recommend Poetry?

 

P.s You never know what your words might mean to someone oneday. I know Poetry isn’t for everyone but even if you just write for yourself then you may find it helpful as a coping mechanism

 

Kind Regards

 

Brian

P.p.s Your words are worth writing.

Prompt Hour Six

Text Prompt

Write a poem about walking without ever using the world walking in it.

Or

Listen to the song at the link and write with it playing, or after it has played.

Second prompt contributed by Bhasha Dwivedi.

Image Prompt

Epic Find Life on Rewind

A new abode
A new adventure
A bed of flowers
A backyard full of dreams
Tilling the ground
For spring blossoms bloom
An epic find
A capsule lost in time
A merchant marine
Who lost his life
While looking for love
He left behind
A beautiful maiden
Hair like straw
Eyes like the ocean blue
Never got the chance to say
Darling, I love you

Rebelí

5.

“Heilige einsamkeit (sacred solitude)” – Rilke

I came back for surgery and silence
I reach for you over miles
I wake to darkness behind blackout curtains
And it’s still dark where you are
I came home to find it was not home
A knowing I’d sung when I left
But could not hear over the din
Of the doubts well worn into grey matter
I came here to find my insides
To this chair on a coffee shop patio
With the murmur of conversation
And the whoosh of cars when the light goes green
I move in two weeks to make a new home
For my skin disease and my inner world
and the music I’ll make in between

Prompt Five (stretching to make this one fit the theme of my retirement and next steps)

Inspiration in the Peonies

Time-capsule – uprooted with dandelions, clover, and thistle –
lifting the cap as if twisting the cork on a bottle of champagne

Ripples along the flesh – a letter – like finding a bottle
washed up along the shores of Kye Bay

‘Dear Future Self,’ it begins – the first line resonating, wrenches
in the heart; rustlings of memory and hope

(the way you would start your keepsake)

‘I’m sorry for the lost time – the possibilities not pursued
the dreams dashed against the rocks; fear gripped

too many of my steps, and I floundered, forever stuck
in this place; this space… wishing.

If you find this: SING widely, DANCE freely, WRITE lavishly,
SPEAK wisely and open doors – walk through them fiercely –

grow yourself like glacier lilies, mountain heather and artic lupine:
make yourself a bouquet to daily grace your table.

Thrive, thrive, thrive and do not go gently.’

(Cristy Watson, 2021)

5 The cycle continues

Ow! I tripped over the corner

of a metal object, raised a foot from the ground.

“What is this?” as I dug with my hands

and a rusted,  rustic metal chest, I found.

 

Inside a skeletal bones of an unknown unusual bird.

A message chiseled in stone as I move my hands as if a braile.

My heart pounding as a read a fearful tale.

 

Death of humans

of an epic proportion.

The animal caused a pandemic

which nearly led to human decimation.

 

A hundred years ago and the cycle continues!

 

 

Time capsule #thepoetrymarathon #prompthourfive

6th Hour – A Bridge

Your path is clear
Solid wood planks and rails
Stretch out before you
Bridging a deep chasm

Insects hum around yoy
Birds call soft warnings
A brook babbles far below
Your path is clear

You have a destination
Nothing to fear
An abundance if hope with
Solid wood planks and rail

Whispering softly
Flora surrounda you
Their leafy green shad3
Stretch out before you

Just one sample
Of your life challenges
Trust yourself, and the way
Bridging a deep chasm

Poem 5

warm air
feeds a wretched mind
longing for better
as rain greets the day

(Poem 5 of Half Marathon)