The Poetry Marathon

First Post

I am Marina from Greece and I am so excited to found out about this marathon. It ‘s my first time in the marathon and I truly feel the vibes of this artistic community. I was ten years old when I found out that there is writing in life and from then I always write!!!  I believe Poetry is the hardest writing form because poems are living beings that live between our souls and our bodies.

Let’s the marathon begin!!!!!

The Unruly

I know where I want to go. At least I think I do.

These conversations with the page. But it’s out of my control.

You see, these words are not my own, and they tend to be unruly. Pulled and twisted as they are from the silence, where they want to be. left alone, in the dark. I think.

They like it where the potential is. Out here, I don’t think they like the abuse.

It’s not their fault, of course. They’ve been weighted in other peoples mouths. Someone else’s lip curling phoneme memories. Sneering and sliding the significance of histories.

So, they’ve learned to play tricks. Some bulging heavy and bursting out bloated, spilling upon on the page. Others gracefully elusive, as if lifting with dust motes before imperceptibly landing with precision where they want to be.

Dictionaries help. So does spelling. Yet don’t get bogged down by the rules. They won’t. You’re in their territory now.

There’s no travel-guide or how-to-book. Just the yarn and the weaving, and the sticks.

Here, use these.

They are useful

Last Minute Encouragement and Advice From Ingrid

Hi All!!! I am really happy to be back and I look forward to starting this poetic journey again with you at 9 am my time, tomorrow Saturday. Each year, it never fails that I forget how to respond to someone and then I forget to look where they might be responding to me… In case anyone else is having this problem, here is what I familiarized myself with today. Each post that appears on the Poetry Marathon site will have a comment section underneath said post/poem. After you comment and hit the button, it will appear in the comment section. You create your original post from the toolbar and from your own Dashboard but you can comment directly following each person’s post that will appear on this Poetry Marathon site. Prompts will also appear here. So, for the half and full marathon, you probably want to have a few tabs open and maybe even a few windows as I also like to have the Poetry Marathon fb group also open at the time and throughout the marathon. Likewise, I even like to have my acceptance email open in case I accidentally close and sign out of my Dashbooard. I hope this helps!

Thanks to Caitlin and Jacob for bringing us all together again, taking part and hosting the Poetry Marathon. And, thank you to all the other volunteers who keep this going. This is an amazing community of poets.  Good luck and have fun everyone!

The Poetry Marathon Is Almost Here!

Dear Poets,

For those participating in the Poetry Marathon, now is the time to make sure that you are ready. This means being comfortable using the technology, as well as having a plan for the day of the marathon, so that you have the best chance of succeeding without any major hiccups.

Here’s a quick checklist of things you should do to prepare:

1. Make sure you know how to post a poem in the Marathon. Once you’ve created your account, you will be able to log in to the dashboard here. Once you’ve reached the dashboard, click the button that says “Add New Post.” That will take you to the page where you can publish your poem to the site. Be sure to select “Private” if you don’t want the poem to be publicly visible. The poems will still be visible to other Marathoners.
2. Make sure you know when The Marathon is starting in your specific time zone. The full Marathon starts at exactly 9AM ET on June 26th. That works out to 6am PT and 1pm GMT. You’ll be expected to write and post one poem per hour, so make sure you know when to start, so that you can participate with everyone.
3. Make sure you have a plan in terms of the logistics, so that you can dedicate your time to writing. Make sure you have a plan for food, as well as potential interruptions.
4. If you haven’t yet done so, join the Facebook Group.  This is particularly valuable during the late-night hours of the marathon, when you may need an extra boost of camaraderie.

Also — keep in mind that we don’t expect anyone to comment on your poems during the Marathon. Comments on poems are encouraged a couple of days after the Marathon, once everyone has had a chance to rest and recover. When it is time to write the comments, please keep in mind that comments should be focused on positive feedback, and not on critiquing a piece.

If you’re in need of technical assistance, please ask on the Facebook Group and tag Jacob Jans, or by sending an email to poets@thepoetrymarathon.com. Keep in mind that we won’t be able to help once the Marathon starts. Ideally, you’ll have everything sorted out the day before.

— Jacob

Intro (Testing)

Hello all! I am a first-time half-marathoner in Michigan. I am posting to make sure I know how to do this when things get started tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it! Can anyone tell me how/where to set my posts so that only fellow marathoners can view them?

Another Year of Marathoning

This will be my 4th or 5th marathon and I am pumped. Over the years I have pushed out some really good poems, as well as some really not-so-good poems, but its a matter of accomplishment for me, not about perfection. To all the newcomers, welcome! To all the returning poets, welcome back! Looking forward to another exciting writing experience with my fellow poets! Thank you for allowing me to participate and share this journey with you all.

Christopher

http://https://youtu.be/8yTtE-B7NpM

Woman Poet

Hi! I am Ermelinda (shortened to Linda) from India. This is going to be my first poetry marathon and I am excited to be here. In April, I successfully participated in the Poem-a-Day Challenge. I also worked on a separate thread for NaNoWriMo writing  poems on alphabetical prompts. I hope to be able to have 24 new poems at the end of the Marathon.

Several of my poems saw online publication over the past year and a few were published in anthologies, the most recent being The Kali Project /Indian Women’s Voices.

I have self-published two books of Christian women-centric poetry. My Amazon author page link is: https://www.amazon.com/author/ermelindamakkimane

An Introduction

Hello, world!

Welcome to this quirky corner of the Internet, my personal Poetry Marathon page.  Thanks a bunch to the organisers for this wonderful opportunity, and I look forward to sharing some words with you during the marathon!

Much obliged,
E.J. Quinlan

It’s Not All About Me!

“In my little garden pretty” was the first line to the very first poem I ever wrote as a 7-year-old. I love words and making them work for me. Originally from Pennsylvania, I am a coal miner’s daughter. Now residing in Lakewood, Colorado, I happily write at a mile high. I am on sabbatical from a 5-year stint as an editor/writer for a Women’s Ministry monthly newsletter. I’m a professional editor and proofreader who has had several poems published in literary publications. When I was much younger, I aspired to be a baton twirler when I grew up. I partially fulfilled that dream by having fulfilling careers in the education world (middle school through university level) where I had to spin as fast as I could to keep up with the students and advancements in teaching!

My horse Morning Starr and my 18-year-old feral cat, Mewzette, occupy some of my time when I am not wordsmithing.

Intro – first time marathoner

Greetings! I’m Kim and have joined the Poetry Marathon this year for the first time. I’m looking forward to shaking up my writing and digging deep to retrieve the images, messages, and emotions locked deep in my soul so I can see them, massage them, and birth them into the world. This will be a labor of love–of words, craft, self, and aspiration. I appreciate any tips from those who have done this before. Thanks all and all the best to you in this endeavor!