The Poetry Marathon

10pm

When I was young,
there was a longing
in my soul
in my heart

You have called me
Colorado
And I don’t understand why
you have done so

Could it be the mountains?
sitting there majestically
waiting for me to discover
it’s hidden treasures

Could it be where i’m meant
to end up in life and settle
down?
I’m not sure

Ever since I was a child
you’ve called me
time and again
you’ve called

Time and corcumstances
have stood in my way
I’ve yet to get there
but still you call

You’re like the unanswered
cry of my heart that refuses to
be silenced

I’ll be there soon.

Hour 14, Prompt 14 – Apology to the Plant Kingdom

I apologize 

 

for my part in it

for when I was absorbed with myself

and I forgot to pay attention to you

for when I misused your generosity

and took more than was given

 

I apologize 

 

for any harm done to our relationship

if I have ever stepped on you

or placed you in a situation I knew you would not like

or blocked the sunlight from your face

or disrespected you in any way

 

I am sorry

You are very clear

Moving forward, I will listen

I will honor you

 

So, to those who take care of us

And to those who tend them now

And to those who tended them before

And to the hands that will tend them in the future

 

Thank you for your nourishment

Thank you for your protection

Thank you for your shade

Thank you for your love

Thank you for your healing

Thank you for your medicine

 

Ashe.

 

Inspired by Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, who writes — ‘In some Native languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us.’ Kimmerer is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

MARK 12:28-34 – Hour 14

MARK 12:28-34

“Reality outruns apprehension,” — Herman Melville

 

Your mother teaches what her mother taught

So McKenna quotes Melville and that itself is the interior

When I say these words to you— mother, father, teacher, God

I do not know what I mean

I know what I know, and I cannot

know what you know

so even in language we share only the ground beneath us

and even that reference shifts as we point at it

 

So I cannot know what you taste 

but I can be made to know your nourishment

So I cannot know what you see

but I can be made to know your delight

 

Or we can yet reduce even further

down to one long-form metaphor

and speak of the human infant yet to be born

rapidly differentiating each of their parts

bones, muscles, veins, each with purpose

 

the very last installation comes just before the big moment

when the nervous system connects together each of these parts

and teaches them to share their secrets with one another

for the greatest good of the whole being

 

Each of us is home to a million billion microbes.

Do you think they know they’re neighbors?

Do you think they go to war?

That must be, after all, what doctors are for.

 

Your difficult neighbors are a gift from God, my love.
What good is a vow without a challenge?

 

Macro = micro

my body or your body 

sacred as the body we share

one holy mind nurturing infinite consciousness

connected in an eternal net

one totality of heartmind soil

The Way Home

“The land knows you even when you are lost.” ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer

Rising with the sun, I give hommage to this day.

With the grass full of dew, I relish in the cool comfort as I garden, working the soil 
and working my soul at the same time.

I lay on the beach.
My belly nestled in the soft sand as I watch the waves roll in. 
A lone cry of a gull slices the solitude.

Almost, I have found my way home.

 

 

 

Puppet Master

You mechanically digested people’s insecurities,
Had your horns and serpent tongue piercing every single one.
You knew exactly what you wanted,
And you knew exactly how to get it.
You made swallowing a truth that was comprised of white lies look so easy,
Had them becoming butterflies that swept anyone off their feet.

You created a system that was so perfectly flawed,
It served you and your every need.
An oxymoron that baffled the intellects,
For not even, they dared to question,
The penmanship in your words.

Had jaws falling and heartrates raising at the sound of you,
You redefined love so that it would tailor fit any girl you said it to.
Made forever a private getaway in your heart,
Filled minds with false hope of eternity.
Where they stood facing you and said “I do”
But the only thing they did do,
Was exchange a beating heart for your broken.

The death of a soul almost filled your empty,
You created a chain of strings,
And you were the only one controlling the cute dolls on the other end.
A sadistic puppet master,
You pulled and tugged and toyed with them,
And when they were about to sever the ties.
You would whisper your undying love for them,
To the extent that you almost believed you loved someone,
Other than yourself.

~Baker

Take What You Need – hour 14, prompt 14

Please,

take what you need

don’t give in to greed

someone anywhere

down to one glass of milk there

drink what you need here

another, naught to wipe baby’s rear

take only what’s needed

warnings, be heeded

what if you, running about

find all H20 out

the last case, someone lifted

water filters, all gifted

what if agua, unfiltered

hazardous, muddled be

with unhealthy debris

I’m saying it clear

don’t take the last, dear

never waste anything

even trash can be turned

into treasure and rings

for someone in need

donate, do a good deed

give them half your share

if you dare

if you care

take only what you need.

-Sandra Johnson

(Inspired by the Robyn Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass quote: “Take only what you need.”)

 

Prompt 2: Recipe for Self-Love

Before you start on your journey within this kitchen, leak out the self-loathing. As a chef, we know more about what we’re comfortable with, we must experiment. Open Eyes, Open Mind, they say.

1. Journal
2. Voice – your voice
3. Dark Chocolate for the soul to taste
4. Hair – think of your roots, respect them, but don’t let them overwhelm you
5. Heart – Keep your heart in the moment, most of all

Conclusion: The World Needs You at the very core, honoring our roots but opening our hearts.

Self-Love has been fulfilled.

The Land Is The Mother We Need

I have always thought of nature as a mother
A mother who loves like no other
Someone who caresses when her child is weak
and plants a kiss in every cheek

The flora and fauna will always be
our “go to” friend who willingly
extends a hand when we are hurt
or hungry, weak and full of dirt

The land knows every beat of the heart
Will comfort will feed won’t let us apart
Won’t let her children go hungry,
make them happy and worry-free

Like a mother the land knows it all
We won’t say a thing won’t let a tear fall
Even without saying she knows when we’re sad
She will fight all demons will make us feel glad.

CROSSROADS

Puzzles –
In embellished clusters
With spiral webs of complex pathways
A dense mix of crossroads
In an exclusive jungle for the brave…
With brain task
Designed for smarties to unravel

The maze leaves tramps on merry-go-round endless turn
A voyage to nowhere…
Until time steely claws grabs their years into a wasteful banquet of nothingness

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS

Hour 14 (a haiku)

 

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS

 

Awesome volunteers

Giving their talent and time

We reap their kindness