The Poetry Marathon

Hour 3, Prompt 1: Worth It

I am playing hot potato again

turning my histories

over between veiny hands

always desiring 

something more delicious

and burning through a forest

of tastebuds,

old journals, and bridges 

that used to lead to familiar places

But, if it was easy, would it be an adventure?

 

Often

I have been a coarse red brick

Like the one my grandmother heaved

Through the window

Of the family car

And when my ex caught me 

Baring my teeth and banging

My head against a kitchen cabinet

I wanted instead to turn to dust

But, if it was easy, would it be as much of a lesson?

 

Perpetually 

defiant of my own density

in body and mind, I rebel 

and when I am sluggish 

I set my sights on greater altitudes

refusing to be limited by heat and the

melting of my wings as I make yet another attempt

At proving how far I can climb

to again throw myself into the searing sun

But, if it was easy, would it be as much fun?

 

All of this 

is merely the brief shadow 

of a thing in motion

and from a distance

my bumbling and missteps

are forgotten by all but me

and when I look back at myself 

through the telescope of infinitely loving eyes

all I can see is a star eager to expand

And if it was easy, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Prompts Hour Four

Text Prompt

Grab a book from your shelf. Read the last line in it. You have to use that line as the first or last line of your poem (with credit). If you don’t have any books near you load this page, and scan down till you find the right one.

Image Prompt

Emma’s Trigger

Emma lies curled at my feet
the sound of thunder and rain
a constant backdrop
after weeks of drought

Emma lies curled at my feet
birdsong and tires rolling on wet asphalt
a car horn bleeps assuring
doors are locked

Emma lies curled at my feet
the cat saunters by
stopping to sniff her paws
for anything new

Barely perceptible
the creak of the mailbox
Emma bolts upright
and runs barking for the door

[Prompt 3: Write a poem that repeats the same line three times, and then end on a variation of the repeated line.]

Prompt 3- There is beauty here

Watercolors, Crayons
Green or Purple over Black
I write a poem with my art and rarely look back

I was born with rhythms
Flowing through my brain
I make up tunes in my head
and flush them down the drain
its hard for me to remember things
the stress of life drives my car
Every-day I wake up
dreaming to live above my scars

Watercolors, Crayons
Green or Purple over Black
I write a poem with my art and rarely look back

The earth provided beauty
the sun, the moon, the rain
People provide hardships that reduce
you to your pain
Keep your feet moving forward
cause lack of movement wrecks your heart
disease can trickle in your home
and wreck your world apart

Watercolors, Crayons
Green or Purple over black
I write a poem with my art and rarely look back

I paint with watercolors
until the paper’s somewhat soaked
I grab a green or purple crayon
to stroke along
what was soaked

My art enters my heart space
invoking beauty that life denied
Uncaptured in most photographs
is the artist I am inside

The Sweet Scent of Rain (a double Haiku)

Subtle breeze whispers,

sunshine promise underneath,

rainbow peeking through.

 

Wind, faint hint of grass,

soft tinge of impending drops

to wash the air clean.

 

(I see you, fellow sinus and allergy sufferers! 🙂)

NOT LEAST

Thunder is booming above the tree canopy.
but I took an afternoon drive today.

The windmill around the corner needs repair,
but breakfast and lunch were excellent today.

There’s a corrupt judge in another country,
but we paid all our debts today.

We haven’t eaten out for fourteen months,
but no one died of COVID here today.

Sometimes I run out of usable words,
but the marathon is running well today.

Prompt 3 – Mr.Sun

The sun was aligned with us
It’s warmth was gentle, yet hot enough
To say hello

The sun was aligned with us
Illuminating it’s rays,
Charging our skin for black always looks good shining

The sun was aligned with us
The sun was aligned for us
Connectives of the divine.

Seldom included

The Exhaustive Guide to Dopamine and Magazines

does carefully curated pairings

for precise

target

audiences.

 

If you live in this zip code

that locals either gleefully or begrudgingly call

the oh-four,

You may be looking for the ideal edibles

to go along with the latest issue of Spin

and the Elton John live album you played

out by the pool when you were still

deciding on your major. Oh decades ago.

 

Who knew

there is a grouping called dopamine antagonists

used most frequently to treat psychosis?

I don’t follow the science but always read 

the side effects, seldom included 

in the magazine ads

as the worst case scenario.

 

The doorstep

I sat smoking and staring and blethering to myself while all that needed done was undone.

11th. hour

the 11th hour, sun not quite at its zenith
yet my life is past prime
once expected promise of fulfillment
has fallen from the vine
still able to climb the cliffs of circumstances
or press the fallen fruits into sweetness
aging gracefully, thick port sipped by fires embers