The Poetry Marathon

Hour 16, Perfect 10

His other woman offers circuses;
I am his bread.
She will never nourish or sustain
as I do. Though she lures him
with her games, his hunger will bring him back.

Our children fall prey
to her charms as well,
her empty promises of entertainment
through long and lonely furtive nights
pull them from my arms.

He will do with her
what he cannot do with me,
shopping for perfect gifts for hours
with her feverish assistance,
needing just a single word to find them.

I will wait, for I am
far more sturdy than she.
My fragile rival will fall with the next
electrical storm, an EMP blast
will see her fade into the ether.

My flesh will survive
her dark and bloody bytes.
I, his first, am patient,
for I know her promised perfect 10
is a binary second to me.

My Angel (Prompt 16)

i was attracted to this majestic being,

i took no chances,

no probables,

i treated her liker the queen she was,

i feared to loose her,

for she was the one of the few good things in my life,

i couldn’t tell her i lo……,

wait, i like her,

a lot,

 

-Ropa

A Poem by Any Other Name (Poem 16)

When I wake up to a clean sink, I feel its fullness.

A quick phone call on the way home from work, “Did you eat?”

My daughter’s knock and muffled offering, “I made soup, There’s plenty.”

The last one out the studio door, “Thank you. I can’t tell you how I needed that.”

A Starbucks gift card at semester’s end with a note, “I learned so much from you.”

Taking a time out during the busy day to close my eyes, breathe and chant.

Asking for advice from my mentor, “Who is my client avatar? What can I offer?”

She says, “You are deeply humble, non-judgmental and compassionate.”

He always emails a good morning with a wish for a wonderful day–every day–

and he says he digs my hair, a hodgepodge of incoming gray and outgoing brown.

She winks from afar, a giggle on Instagram, a blue, violet, yellow, or blue heart.

My 9 year old great niece’s FaceTime every week, just because.

My sister’s generous gifts, her texts and memes of beautiful, powerful women,

saying, “These remind me of you and your daughters.”

My other sister’s cakes, soft voice, and tears, she never forgets to say the words.

Like the senile song on repeat he is, my father intones, “I’m so lucky to be with this family.”

My brother’s responsibility, a loan when I was down and out; it’s his way.

The wag of the tail, the light stroke on the cheek, the giant grin, fist bump, and kiss.

This is where I live–in the house of the heart–cracked, shattered, scored, and <3’d.

Hour 16: 16 hours

He whispers promises that neither of us hear, 

Safer, that his secrets always remain his, 

And mine dangling at the edge of my bed, where he lays

I melt, under his generous gaze,

For 16 hours of one lifetime, 

He belonged to me, 

For 16 hours, that could almost be a day, 

I modeled modest dreams of sand, in clay

And I pray, quietly, 

Oh how ardently, violently, passionately, 

Fate will tear him from me, I await patiently, 

For him to disguise his choices as fate, 

And mine as unfortunate 

As luck would have it, he left some dreams on my pillow, 

And no amount of rigorous washing could get the stains off, 

Now I sleep each night in his dreams

And he wanders sleepless, it seems

Well, now neither of us can sleep

16 Haiku: Morning Walk

on this morning walk

holding hands shows all the years

we’ve forgiven time

Love is You

Doing things I can’t do
Doing things I don’t want to do
Overcoming my fear
Just to do things with you

Going the miles extending patience
Face people overcoming shyness
Dancing the steps and other odd things
I never did in my existence

Waiting no matter how long
Loving no matter how hard
I will do anything for you
I will do anything because love is you.

Snake #8

I’m not here to hurt you
I can see you’re scared
I wish you knew that I am too
But our paths have to cross here
The skin you shed I will not step on
It was difficult for me too.

For my husband – Prompt 16, Hour 16

Your smile, your face, your eyes
The way you take care of yourself
The way you always try to help me,
Even when you can’t
This is what I crave.
Your touch, your smell
The look of your face after a shave
The way you laugh, the way you snore
This is what I appreciate when you’re gone.
Your sweet demeanor,
Your tight embrace,
I admire how you caress my face

If ever my words seem harsh
I’m sorry, dear, I have your best interests
At heart.
You fill me with glee and peace.

11pm – fifteen – no title

as i stand waiting as my fellow officers
are led into the room…
i contemplate – what does this mean?
how did i get here?
why did i say yes?
what would happen if i left now?
as i listen to the the obligation i am repeating,
answering the questions asked of me
as my duties are given to me
and as the crown is placed on my head
the full magnitude of what i have
said yes to begins to realize…
now as my year of service is complete
i am so glad i have done this…

I Wish I Could Fly – Hour 15

I’ve always wished I could fly
Soar above the clouds with my wings spread wide
In childhood dreams I would kick my feet together and float up and up
Watching as the world was shrinking below me

It’s different in an airplane
Your biggest concern is always where you’ll be sitting
Who or what will be to your left and right
Hoping you’ll be able to fall asleep at the right time and duration

But some things are the same
The excitement from racing down the runway and lifting off
Grasping onto the seat like you might fall off
The world below getting smaller like zooming out on Google Earth
And finding yourself above the soft, fluffy white clouds
Windows of opportunity to catch a glimpse of lands you’d never visit
The beautiful waves of sand dunes in the Middle Eastern desert
As I zoom from one end of the globe to the other
To visit my grandfather.