The Poetry Marathon

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.

hour 12

skeletons tumble out of the closet anatomy class

Colorful

red

green

blue

purple

yellow

orange

going round and round.

layered and alone.

Now they are different.

Create anew.

 

Hour 17

pink tutu black tights

ballerina wants to fly

throws a mean side eye

 

 

Kaleidoscope of Feelings

Kaleidoscope of Feelings

 

My mood

turns

 

new edges

shapes and colors

suddenly appear

 

twist me ~ again

 

patterns fill up

more space

 

wind me ~ up some more

are you willing

to explore

 

a full gyration

pieces fall back

into place

Parallel Closet – Hour 12, Prompt 12

Parallel closet is hiding inside

the actual place my clothes reside

a spot where I escape and dream

write about other worlds I scheme.

 

When life is stressful and upset

my hidden space gives me a rest

sweet music plays from within

and my mind changes channels

of scenes and screens on walls.

 

Should I need any sleep

many pillows in a heap

all over the floor

also muffle my snore.

 

When I’m sick, it’s the best

tissues, humidifier, warm compress

and songs from my mama

while in fuzzy pajamas.

 

Closet opposite reality

also a better world would be

peace and love, and me

here now and never face

our old Earth’s ugly space.

 

– Sandra Johnson, 9-3-2023

Love of Indifferent

What was that –

So dark that

The sunshine can’t outshine it?

He wanted to smile,

but it was as hot as hell inside.

So, he stayed outside

thinking it was inside,

under the air condition.

Yes, no condition is permanent.

He wasn’t insane

But I’m pretty sure that he was in pain.

His love has had a heart of stone,

So, he prays hard.

For diamonds are the hardest-known minerals

Hour 17-Kaleidoscopes and Flamingoes

Pink Flamingos play games in my head.

Making a kaleidoscope

with their prancing.

Pink rainbows give way to multicolored ones.

Twirls of maybes and possibilities.

Swirl in cut out designs.

Images dance in modest regard.

Flamingos prancing and dancing in swirls

Kaleidoscopes full of imaginings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hour 15: Backwards Day

If I walked through my mirror

Imagine what would lie in wait

Everything just opposite

Of my life today

 

I would step through the frame

To see a bedroom free of clutter

A phone call coming in

From my loving, caring mother

 

My sisters in the living room

To help me choose an outfit

There’s a line of suitors out the door

I can count that high, but can’t pronounce it

 

I don’t need to go to work today

I already won the lottery

I work anyway, ‘cause I’m artist

They say a downright prodigy

 

I can do the things I love again

My body feels no pain

And every ounce of anguish

Has simply gone away