The Poetry Marathon

All Will Be Well

My child boy now a grown man

or solidly between the two

helps an elderly couple load

their mulch in the back of their car

in the parking lot of Home Depot.

Me, 20 minutes away, sipping tea

and grading papers has no idea

that at the moment, the life I raised

saw another life in need and reached

out to extend his humanity.

The joy of this unseen convinces

me that we will be all right.

That maybe I am a good parent

for all of my trying

who knows when it comes down to it

until moments like this

and suddenly my blood courses

with a hope that just might save us all.

 

Hour Two

Poem 2 : A Tribute to Ogden Nash “Olives”

There is something about a Martini,*

It’s a bikini in a glass

Clear

much more than a demi-tasse

 

It would be nice to have one

While writing like a silly goose

Crisp

shaking my brain loose

 

Yes, there is nothing like it

Vermouth so dry

And that juniper juice

that makes me fly

 

It will enhance my humour

To a notable level of sophistication

Just like Dorothy Parker

no doubt of the causation

 

I will take my last mighty sip

But won’t be my last

I have a forty ouncer

yes, I’m going to have a blast

 

*taken from A Drink With Something In It Ogden Nash

Gooseboy

He is a SIFE

Give him a break

Let him slide from school for 8 months

After all, his family makes him move to other states for migrant work

Let him get credit for the Regents in NY

Let him pass even though he has failed for three quarters

and has not completed work

He is a SIFE

He deserves a free ride and the same credentials as those

who worked all year – Right?

He is a student with interrupted formal education

 

Clocks

Meaningless indicators of time

that seek to subjugate us to their will.

But we will not be subservient to

unseen forces trying to control our every move.

 

The free will granted to us will supersede

any constrictions they attempt to impose on us.

Because we’re alive

because we’re free

because we are infinite.

and no one can take that away from you.

 

I’m Making Waffles

Tonight I clean up
the kitchen
Tonight I wash
the dishes
Tonight I finish
the laundry
Tonight I vacuum
the floor
And in the morning
I’m making waffles

Tonight I pick up
the toys
Tonight I sweep
the floor
Tonight I organize
the desk
Tonight I read
the book
And in the morning
I’m making waffles

Tonight I do it all
the cleaning
Tonight I think of
tomorrow
Tonight I plan
ahead
Tonight I get tired
and sleep
And in the morning
I’m making waffles

Heaven

Coffee and Change

---

coffee with a splash of soy milk

just enough to change its color

cost $2.37

with 63 cents in change

six dimes and three pennies

that I scatter throughout my day

like the folks who leave kindness rocks

hidden in plain sight

six dimes and three pennies

for the ones looking for messages

love notes

from beyond the thin veil

in dimes and pennies

and other change

 

I put two dollar bills in the tip jar

a total of five dollars well spent

on coffee

and changing someone’s day

Hour 2-Before the Dawn

The sun is not quite ready to come up

The world is black

I hear the ocean out my window

I cannot see it

I trust the sound

It is soft, rolling, waning

Not tumultuous

Not violent

Just lazy, constant

The birds aren’t up yet

Except the one lone rooster

Somewhere

Breaking the quiet

The neighbors sleep

My husband makes old man noises

As he rustles about

The cat forages for food

His full bowl unsatisfactory

I type lonely words onto a blank screen

The joy of unseen things

And poetry

Hour 1, Prompt 1: Disquiet

I met myself 

in the quiet 

barren darkness

the suspended hollow

of time 

and eternity alone 

just me

and a ticking 

discontent mind

insisting that 

I was not

had not 

indeed

been

fine

 

I laid down

laid the whole of my body down

letting the curling tendrils of night thought

wrap around the ill-fitting body

that I could never quite

turn into a home

 

I relinquished my bones

to the feeding of tomorrow’s soil

Unexpected

The joy of unseen things

Inspire and scare,

Arrive without notice,

Pleasant or unlikeable,

Embrace it with sense,

They may bring surprises.

@maritzam-mejia – Hour 2