24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
The Firefly And The Moth
1/2 marathon poem #9
In the strange heat of an English summer
Where the firefly hides within a bottle
Safely glowing behind a glass bulb’s wall
In these trying times he’s out of trouble
In the strange heat of an English summer
Where the lazy moth flys with no mask
The firefly safe from his lethargy
And the lazy moth dies with a rasp.
(C) Scott Coe 2020
“Soy Un Perdedor”
They flew across the sky, but I couldnt so,
I remained in the branch.
They swimmed cross the sea, but I couldn’t so,
I remained on the shore
They lived on earth
I tried to ate some pills, I could so,
I reached hell before them.
Soy un perdedor – I’m a loser
Spring in cottage country
– a time of magic –
when nature comes to life after a long deep sleep.
Hundreds of fireflies twinkle
backlit by the river of pulsing stars stretched overhead.
The night air fills with the chirping, jingle bell chorus of peepers seeking out a mate.
The musty odour of humus and fresh scent of new growth fills my senses.
Shadowy shapes move through the tree-line
where predator and prey engage in a nightly fight to the finish.
Soon the stifling heat of summer will bring new sights and sounds
to draw me even more from winter’s lethargy
to awaken my senses to nature’s wonders surrounding me.
Daddy Dearest (Brandy Goodman Poem #10)
Mom said that he was great
While he was around,
But when they split up
He was nowhere to be found.
He’d come and go when it pleased him
And lied any other time
His priority wasn’t us,
He had a new family to find.
In walked another man,
She wanted us to have a father,
But when it comes down to it,
She really shouldn’t have bothered.
He was working all the time
Out on the road
And when he was home
Mostly he’d just explode.
Old Daddy Dearest
Made promises he’d rarely keep
And new Daddy Dearest
Beat Momma down at our feet.
There were several better men
Orbiting our life
But she didn’t want to be,
Anyone else’s cause of strife.
As the years passed his temper increased
And she thought of getting us away.
But anywhere we went
He’d find us in less than a day.
He’d show up and cause trouble
At times the police were called,
But she wouldn’t let them take him
She was caught between love and hate walls.
He drove everyone out of her life
And continued to beat her down.
After a while it became easier
Because no one came around.
She stuck with him so long
All her friends and family opted out
And we began to hate him
Of that there is no doubt.
Of all the men she could have picked,
She chose to pick the worst.
But at the start he pretended to be good
And she was in love with him at first.
Today it all still goes on
And she’s practically wasting away.
She sits around numbly
Praying today is her last day.
9/
halfway
I sat, crying
concussion brain reeling
feelings, feelings, feelings
halfway
up the steep saddle
between two smallish mountains
above Taylor Lake
halfway
you let me decide
to go on or just cry
Into army work.
boss will send your born body
army task will snag your body
take your body west,
hero
Your role, tiny, will meet
that bomb.
Hold your wing.
Hold that wind.
Wait.
Bear that acid.
When they wire that camp,
bomb time will come.
Lift bomb
lift then drop
fine city rage with fire.
Dial east,
aged city.
From your face, hide.
From your past, dust.
Did i tell you I was thinking of you today
As I can do is think of you
See the future
Our future
It’s so amazing
I am writing this so you know your place in my life
Without you
Was Nothing
Was wild
Looking for freedom
Trying to be me
Find me
Now
Sit up at night
Watching you sleep
No creepy act
Me envisioning our future
Wonder What people would say when they read this
Really don’t care
To be honest
Sounds like I am writing to my man
Really though
Just letting you know
My precious son
See amazing stuff happening
And mommy promise
To be in your corner
I love you
Please listen to Moonshadow by Cat Stevens (Here’s the handy Youtube link) and then write a poem as soon as the song ends.
Marna closed her eyes and found herself deep in a wintry wood
The naked tangled branches reaching as high as they could
The trees thirsted, their roots parched to the core
A magical drought had left them wanting for more
For a time when sun and joy were abundantly clear
When creatures frolicked and lived without fear
She felt a dark presence threatening the peace
A warlock’s curse that would never cease
Mind focused, she hunted for the hated source
And found him wandering atop his raven-black horse
With an enraged thought she sank deep into his mind
And threw him to the ground and struck him blind
With a cheer, the trees wiggled and sprouted green anew
And the forest sprang to life and a cool breeze blew through
It would never forget the day a young druid avenged it and see it free
Animals squealed joy, leaves rustled happy as far as eyes could see
By Ajanta Judd All Rights Reserved – 7am Australian EST
Prompt 9: Write a poem containing at least five of the following ten words. If you want it can include all ten words. If this prompt seems at all familiar, it is probably because we do it every year, just with different words.Heat/Cottage/Firefly/Bottle/Mask/Porridge/Zoom/Lethargy/Strange/
That mask you wear
behind whose your eyes do blindly stare
they seem to zoom into an empty place
where you live that strange existence
like a firefly trapped on a glued surface
succumbing to the inevitable.
The last time I saw you at the cottage
you were hovering on the treeline of insanity
an empty bourbon bottle on the floor
another one half full on the table
and lethargy filled the room
like a belly full up with the morning’s porridge.
I had tried to get through to you
to pierce the disquiet and pull you back
but all you did was mumble incoherently
punctured with a stony silence.
This time would I intervene?
How would that be?
Would it permanently sever us?
In the end I had decided to leave
and hope that you would survive to sit this one out.
Until next time..