The Poetry Marathon

Children in the Rain

We dance in the rain, spinning in circles,
Our little canvas shoes splashing in the puddles that form along the patio.
We balance on the edging stones, laughing as raindrops burst on our upturned faces.
Our play dresses change color as they begin to stick to us and our ponytails droop.
There is laughter from the porch, offering melody to our overture.
We hold hands and skip in a circle until our wet hands pull apart
And we crash to the ground, exclaiming how fun that was.

Why?

Why would you celebrate not having to do things?

This sounds like a jamboree anthem for a benefits nation,

A Nanny state of higher consciousness,

A cult of antipathy.

Why would you celebrate losing the capacity to do things?

Is this a lullaby into passivity?

If I had a moonshadow following me,

I’d hope for more magic than an excuse to be lazy.

 

Hour 10- Random Prompt

In the city

nature is forced into a corner

plants separated two feet apart

 

man’s organized chaos

 

plants in pots

reaching towards the sun

warmth felt through glass

 

But sometimes

sometimes nature breaks through concrete

refusing to be tamed

Illuminate (Acrostic)

I can see it in the water:

Light that shines bright in mine eye;

Let if stay for the day

Until it sinks bellow the horizon,

May it flourish for now.

I can see it in the leaves:

Never to reach the other side,

Amazment as I stand in shade,

Thankful it shall be there

Every day of light.

 

6:00 PM Poem

Elizabeth Wingert

2020 – 10

They say we’re born,
We walk through life,
And then we die – alone.

Yet I am here,
Not on my own,
But always followed.

Always accompanied
By a name I did not choose,
By a shadow that does not
Portray me well,
A reflection that never
Feels true to heart.

And when those things
Feel too untrue
I have my words
For shield and comfort.

Poem Hour Ten

Moonshadow

Reflected in Moonshadow
You smile at me,
Reach a hand out towards me,
As I step over rocks and whirlpools,
A landscape as strange
As the surface of the Moon
In this quiet time
Between days,
Reflected in the shadow
Of a bright, full, heavy moon.
And I fill as bright and full,
Heavy with possibility,
With the future,
With the knowledge of you,
And me.

Poem 10

Niaevete can break cold hearts froze still.
I read knowing she never got her will.

I see now an orphan goes to survive
A body must live and be where it can.

I still see not how this once young pure face
Came swollen and swarmed by the hungry flies.

Francesca

Hour 10: I’m Lonelier Than the Moon

Seven years ago, I befriended the moon, 

I was young and empathy flew where it often shouldn’t have 

I wouldn’t have believed, if you told me then, 

I was lonelier than the moon, 

Why I was bolder, since I was younger, 

So I asked to befriend  the moon, 

I cited the distance, 

Oh, the grievance she must have, God was unfair 

Casting her away, while I was here

But my moon was kind, benevolent, 

Blind to my ignorance, 

She let me bask in the glory, 

Let me tell my story, 

Of how I vanquished evil isolation,

I could not have been alone, she was my consolation,

Ah youth, how I thrived in blind negation  

And swore on my honor and reputation, 

‘I befriended the moon’.  

Red Dawn

We are each of us, imprisoned

Here in this very room, each of us are being watched

Checked up on constantly

Our every action seen and catalogued

Kept on a list

We obey their rules

In the hope of receiving a reward

Or avoiding the list of those that dissent

Who’s on what list?

Are you one of the well behaved?

Are you?

Did you follow these rules?

Did you?

These arbitrary constructs!

Decided by another

Far more powerful than ourselves

An individual more in control of our lives

Than any nefarious Gestapo or Stazi

Shrouded in disbelief!

Indoctrinating our children!

The most complete network of control over human life

That the world has ever seen

With access to every home

Access to every room

Every Family in the world.

No lock can bar their path

And no door can prevent entry

All powerful

Terrible and terrifying

We may wish to resist but no one can

We can’t stop him

Evil personified

Santa Claus