The Poetry Marathon

Hour 6-2023: How can it be?

How can it be?

The earth is flat some say.

Is this what happens when we go off the grid?

Have we finally went over the deep end?

What do we truly know?

At least they made the claim!

Can we at least back it up with reason instead of calling teason!

Do we have an inextricable innate knowing?

I look at the shape of our moon, the way water puddles, how planets and organic objects like to congregate in shapes spherical in nature.

I’m partial to the circle yet that’s no excuse.

A personal preference or an inclination is not enough.

I like to wonder of what conclusion I would have if I did not attend school and how I could think out of the box no pun intended…

I’m ready to exit the ring.

Who knew this year my iced coconut coffee would coagulate into almost the prolific shape on our planet.

No not the hexagon.

A perfect pentagon.

Hour 2-2023: Ten Years Ago

Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago, I had a different mind, yet the same heart.

I knew not where I would be or that I would end up on the other side of the country to once again reunite with the four seasons.

I am always in awe of nature that too has not changed only intensified.

My love of music in concert has only grown stronger, like the pull to sea, it is where I feel the most at home.

Where all walks of life and ages come to be unabashedly free.

I am more open to the ways of the world and now I have included me.

I think I understood empathy naturally for others even too much so, yet this was the year I extended it to me.

I only felt sympathy for myself, and that we know is never good to feel sorry for yourself or anyone else because it is an indication detachment or unhealthy coping with challenge.

Hour (3) Three 2023: 20 Steps to Unlock the Heart

1. A project of the heart can be a chore.
2. Valentine’s Day is not about love.
3. Taste the sweetness of defeat.
4. I feel the sound of your heart.
5. ASH I heard someone spell out your name in four letters long in Port Townsend.
6. Love can be reduced to a day.
7. No, love cannot be reduced to a day.
8. Do you have the “rizz”, that special sauce, the “x” factor?
9. If the mind is willing, then the flesh must be weak.
10. Marriage for some is questionable, yet for the right person there is no question.
11. The divine universe of the mind is tied together inextricably.
12. Hands hold the meaning to one’s true desire to manifest.
13. Fly to me to the moon and float with me on the sea as we stare into the sky at the peak of midnight.
14. She is the Tigress and the tease only ready to please.
15. Soon we will reveal the mystery in due time when we are both free.
16. The prism is transparent solid body with two distinct triangular faces and end bases that has a body parallel to the vertical axis that intersect a horizontal axis reflecting rays of light.
17. I embody the light from within and without.
18. “La Dolce Vita” is where will share our bliss.
19. The seashell whispered it in my ear many years ago before you and I were introduced.
20. She echos in my ear only what you want me to hear, too shy to share, for she knows our connection.

I Survived the 2023 Poetry Marathon

The following images are part of the Poetry Marathon Tradition. They are for you to do with what you want, but they are often used as a way to celebrate your success. Full disclaimer, as per every year, two of them leans a little into dark humor.

The official list of everyone who completed the half marathon and the full marathon will be released in the next few days. Remember if you are not on the list it probably has more to do with our algorithm than with you, and please reach out so we can correct it.

The Celestial Kiss

The Celestial Kiss

 

planets collide

hearts

yours and mine

3 / Little Poetry Projects (Q-Tips)

Little Poetry Projects

 

Q-Tips are soft small clouds in a glass jar

but on bad days we smell the sulphur lightning

and hear thunder when we scrub our ears for wax.

“Can you taste the wax?” said Simon,

our cat.  “Yes” said one of us.  “No” said the others.

Simon has it all figured out now.  That poet,

he thinks, knows so little about what matters;

she’ll be one of the first to go.  Comme ci comme ça.

 

On good days we stroll the boardwalk at Boulevard Park

and I think of my Danish grandmother’s nickname

for me, which is a secret I tell nobody

although Simon knows it and under correct circumstances

he would talk.  We lie on the beach, collect rocks

with white rings.  It is good luck to throw them

at passing children and if one of us is ever strong

enough to hit a cloud we will control the rain forever.

 

H.O.P.E. – Hour 24

H – Helping others to overcome trials, challenges, disasters, and despair.

O – Overcoming prejudice to offer love and assistance to all, no matter their color or gender or sexual practices.

P – Promising to perform to the best of our abilities within our communities to support and nurture one another.

E – Everyone deserves love. Everyone deserves care. Everyone deserves assistance. Everyone needs HOPE.

There’s a million ways to say goodbye

There’s a million ways to say goodbye

 

A belt buckle embossed with a flower and vines,

large at the center, spindling out into nothingness

 

M&Ms with our faces stamped on them, colors

brightened by our smiles and doting wide eyes

 

A diamond cross necklace shining bright in the light,

another with engraved hearts glowing as one

 

A luggage tag that says With Love From Chicago,

paired with hope that reaches down to Nashville

Eden – Hour 23

Skies filled with white clouds
fluffy and untainted by gasses and crud
Brilliant sparks of radiant sunshine
piercing straight through

Azure waters gently lap the shore
pink sand free of debris and trash
River beds strewn with rocks
not plastic or paper hats

Forests grown so tall in the rich soil
branches extend tendrils of moss intertwine form bridges and
places for huge birds nests

A breeze so crisp and clear moves green leaves to sing in the wind
Some day I hope to see Mother Earth
back this way again

Pizza Pizza Hour 22

Pizza pizza we love pizza
Pizza here pizza there
Pizza everywhere
Even pizza in our hair

I like mine white in white
no red sauce on mine if you please
Most like salsa and mozzarella
Just white cheese for me is all I need

Keep your bacon and anchovies
heed no tomatoes or tomato seeds
Just plain cheese that is white all
over will do me proudly – see?