The Poetry Marathon

Hour 17: Interstate

The state of California

Is 1040 miles long

And most of that

Is nothing at all

 

Empty grassland

Grazing cattle

Sloping hills

Varying shades of yellow and brown

 

At eighty miles per hour

It is a blur

Several hours long

 

It is easy for a mind to wander

Lost in the endless waving grass

Grabbed only by the occasional landmark

Or a fellow lonely traveler

Courting death at 110 miles per hour

 

If you die in the in between,

Do you just keep driving forever?

If Dante saw the Interstate

Would he recognize Purgatory?

Prompt seventeen – Twin-toned Kaleidoscope

Prompt seventeen – Text prompt

Write a poem either titled or centred around a ‘Kaleidoscope’.

 

Twin-toned Kaleidoscope

At a little past six in the morning

I watch the sky dawning

with a fat yellow oval moon hanging bright.

The dark night trees begin to green,

apples emerge, those unseen

whilst branches had merged into the night.

 

Shades change in subtle splendour

Various blues and greens add colour

Dual tones of a kaleidoscope.

Each time I look up and out,

It’s a tad bit brighter, today does shout,

Brightness lightness brings me hope.

 

Then through the green on the treetop head

There glistens a shiny newish red

It’s September, the seasons are turning.

These three colours can wake me up

I go to refill stale teacup

While marvelling at this learning.

COTTON PAVEMENT – #16

Pigment of crimson explodes

dropping from fine hairs in hand

Water down water down

No rain in sight

A blistering sky reveals itself

above a wet cotton pavement

Kaleidoscope (prompt 17)

you place a heavy weapon in my hand
and do not flinch when I bring it down hard
when shards of ceramic glass and plastic
scatter about us in fractals

you turn the music up louder
and do not mind that it is not your taste
stacking more objects soon laid to waste
as I beat them smaller and smaller

you take turns passing off sledgehammer crowbar baseball bat
and do not judge when I swing and miss
when I release my pent up thrashing
in hopes it will stop snapping at you

you film me unhinged in slow motion split
like a broken tv screen
and do not fail to see the joy beneath
a kaleidoscope of energy

flecked with madness and destruction
void of intended function
my inner workings lay exposed and open
to learning healthy ways to cope

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Advice from a Flamingo

Because I love shrimp

my pinkness poignant

adds to the pigment

of my feathers.

Because I love Florida,

am the national bird of The Bahamas

I bathe in warm bodies of water.

Because my name is a mix of Spanish, Portuguese and Germanic suffixes

I’m a mixed breed.

Check out my long legs

I can stand on one for hours.

But, don’t piss me off

my black long beak does damage.

Don’t ever try me as a pet

try plastic there’s plenty imitations.

 

Hour 17: Kaleidoscope

 

Geometric rodeo of gem colored dreams

Twisting, dancing, transforming

Dazzling my innocent eyes

“Kaleidoscope Life”

 

You and I are part of this kaleidoscope life.

An arrangement of pattern within the palm of our hands,

Simultaneously connected towards each other.

Strangers across the street that I bump along the way,

Or some kids on the street playing.

Wondering what will happen next,

What situations connects the dots.

That drag my life towards other’s lives.

We are part of the balance.

Like taking random chances,

That affects you and me.

One day.

 

Text Prompt : Write a poem either titled or centered around a ‘Kaleidoscope’.

 

#POETRYMARATHON2023 #HOUR17 #24HRSCATEGORY

Hour 5: kaleidoscopic mind

When a thousand hammers beat a devastating rhythm
Shaking your squeamish, screaming innards to the core
When you are feeling lower than the underbelly of a snake
When no one remains whom you can count as your own
When the dice and cards are stacked against you
When the tide has turned entirely against you
When the world lies shattered in front of you
Like the broken pieces of multi-colored bangle pieces
Pick them up and build a kaleidoscope with them
Look through the lens at the shifting shapes of color
Girdle up your loins and march on long strides
Yours to conquer lies the entire rainbow universe!

Hour 17- Kaleidoscope of Summer

The summer is full of sunshine and making memories.
I wonder why it has to be so short.
I hear the distant sounds of thunder
I see flashes of lightning, hear their report.
I want to travel in the summer.
The summer is full of sunshine and making memories.
I pretend that I am rested.
I feel tired all the same.
I touch the days of summer.
I worry about when it will end.
I cry about the distance from my family.
The summer is full of sunshine and making memories.
I understand that I will be with them soon.
I say “Don’t forget that I love you!”
I dream of a time when the weather is cooler.
I try to remember this heat doesn’t last.
I hope to enjoy the kaleidoscope of summer.
The summer is full of sunshine and making memories.