Announcing the 2021 Poetry Marathon
The 2021 Poetry Marathon will be held on June the 26th. Official start time 9 AM ET. There is a second half marathon starting time at 9 PM ET.
The Poetry Marathon Anthology is Now Available
The 2020 Poetry Marathon is now available for purchase. In the US and Canada you can purchase it through Aer. Internationally you can find a copy through Amazon.
You can see the Amazon UK listing here.
The Amazon India link is here.
Thank you to everyone who contributed their wonderful work. Also a huge thank you to Shloka Shankar for her wonderful job editing and to Dexta Rodriguez for the wonderful cover art.
An email with the digital copy should be sent out shortly to contributors. If you do not receive it please send us an email at poets@thepoetrymarathon.com.
A 2021 Poetry Marathon is in the works, although the exact date is not determined, because right now we are scheduled to move in June. Final dates should be released in February 2021.
Stinguish
Suspended in the moment between dusk and morning light,
the relentless sun lies peacefully asleep under the sky.
The breaking dawn leaves shadows and takes away silhouettes,
so the faceless forms you painted will soon wake up and forget,
expressions sullen with regret.
The space between the striking match and matchbox finds the spark
The flame compels a memory of springtime meadowlarks
How innocent the fingertips of kids who play with fire;
How quick the flame will burn your funeral pyre
Don’t try to pick the roses from the briar.
As Water
Delicate.
The purple flowers along the stream
Shrivel under your step
The wind tearing at my hair makes it impossible to see the hillside path ahead. Soon enough the rain washes away the horizon. I am as water, rushed into the ocean with the stream.
Steadfast.
Our Ocean keeps breath in your lungs
Against all odds, you survive.
It’s a fantastic world; alien and beautiful. Time is not measured here, and everything seems to be a work of art; thoughtfully assembled, priceless and unique. It’s an impossible realm, yet so close to home for those who seek it . . .
Displaced,
You are carried back to shore. You wake up to the warmth of sun-dried rocks against your skin.
You step onto the unfamiliar land.
Everything you know, washed away . . .
Return.
Run back to the ocean, with your heart overflowing
Into a River of Joy, which you can follow to your destiny.
Majumdar, who led the review alongside film committee chair Marc Samuelson
Hailed as a “watershed moment for BAFTA” by chair Krishnendu Majumdar, the changes were unveiled Thursday following the conclusion of the primary phase of a comprehensive, eye-opening and, at times, painful seven-month internal and external review, launched in response to the controversy that erupted following the 2020 BAFTA Film nominations in January when all-white nominees made up the highest acting categories and therefore the director category did not include one female filmmaker.
The changes — considered the most important BAFTA has ever implemented — includes the introduction of a replacement longlist round in voting to realize greater diversity; increasing the nominations and making rule changes to many categories, including acting and directing; making film viewing compulsory for all voters in one round of voting; a big expansion of BAFTA’s voting members that targets those from under-represented groups; and pushing screenings onto a replacement digital platform.
“This may be a watershed moment for BAFTA. The Academy has never opened itself up like this before,” said Majumdar, who led the review alongside film committee chair Marc Samuelson and a specially formed steering group.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Majumdar described the changes as a “wholesale” and “interlocking,” claiming that they might make the Academy stronger. But he admitted that the discussions — which were had with quite 400 people from across the industry — had often been “incredibly uncomfortable” which he and Samuelson had “broken down and wept” on several occasions after hearing first-hand testimonies of how individual had been subjected to racism and discrimination. “I didn’t sleep one night,” he said.
Throughout the review, a good array of potential alterations to the BAFTA awards that would impact diversity levels were debated and discussed, including quota levels and even a category solely dedicated to female directors. But ultimately BAFTA said the choice was made to not tell voters what to vote for, but to vary the culture and make them more conscious of their responsibilities.
“I think the keynote is that we’re leveling the playing field,” said Majumdar. “That’s what people wanted, people didn’t need a guarantee of a quota in terms of diversity. they only wanted their work to be seen then judged on a more level playing field, so then there’s the chance and chance to be nominated.”
http://liinc.bme.columbia.edu/after-we-collided-watch-after-2-after-we-collided-2020-online-full-free-123movies
Prompt 9:Coffee
Good Morning!
Nothing like a cup of coffee
with cigarettes to start the day
The elegant taste of full flavor lingers
from my mouth then a swallow of hot
Frothy French vanilla.
A sense of delightfuliness
as the pain goes away.
Prompt 4: narrative
The Sweetest Thing
The sweetest thing that ever lived
Was high yellow girl,
born on August 23, 1979
With light brown eyes
And a beautiful smile.
Her smile lit up the sky and
every room she entered
Too tomboyish for the girls’ world at large
And too strong for the boys to wrath upon
To arrogant to be part of the crowd
Her shoulders strong as boulders
Pressed high among the clouds
Her long legs run wild with the wind
Breathe with long of jet black hair
The sweetest thing that ever lived
Was high yellow girl,
Born on August 23, 1979
Amongst the stars she shines
and like butterflies she camouflages
in her own skin.
Day dreaming about tomorrow
And in the wind she soars
Never afraid, fearless
She was the sweetest thing I ever known.
In fact the sweetest thing that ever lived.
Prompt 23: Doubt
Doubts
As the sun sets,
The inner blues
Slowly creep upon me
Anger surrounds me
Can’t sleep, can’t eat
Thoughts deceiving conjuring concept
As they toy with my mind
I sit wondering is it really worth it?
My life, my life
Deeply distress pain ignites
I’m counting every second, minute, hour
To free me, free me
Sweeter bitterness
As my remandt slowly paints itself
Suppressed mindless thoughts
Swallowed always by my tongue
My instrumental struggles
To free me from this mask
Prompt 17
The Weather
Hey nice tither
The weather nice and wither
Do your teeth grit and wither?
Like a rose grew and wither
Written like a song, prose verse and thither
I sang like Johnny Lang
And groove like Elvis
Bang! Bang! Daddy’s dead.
As prince guitar plays purple rain,
The rain pours upon the earth
Hey nice and thither
Is the weather nice and wither?
Like Amanda Pérez
Do you prayers go unanswered?
Does your mind wonder?
Is the question why circles around your mind
Still frozen icy cold,
Like a cold chill that runs up your back
Trembling can you take it?
Still invisible wandering
Oh, invisible me shan’t this death take heed
Or you just couldn’t have me
These legs and thighs
Hey nice and thither
Did you just grew old and wither?
Like an old maid
Like Johnny Lang I still sing
Till I make your back slang
Are you ridden of me?
This is the ghost that flies in the wind