The Poetry Marathon

Qualitative Data Collection ~ Research Evaluator hour 13

Qualitative Data Collection ~ Research Evaluator

re-search: to search and search again using what you have already searched
through, to see if there may be another way to interpret findings.

evaluation: to evaluate and balance each side of the picture with the other-side of the coin.
If this is true, might that also be true? or maybe not, if seen from another’s perspective.

what does the one on the other side of the fence have to say to the same question?
even if you heard this story 1,000 times, stay interested, engaged and see if there is a new light.

always keep a straight face and neutral tone. no leading the witness. yet remain friendly,
present and amicable, even as they tell you a personal horror story.

validate their feelings, so they feel safe, without agreement or commiseration.
assure them their barring their hearts and lives can benefit others, even as you know

funding is likely not available. or you heard this story 15-20 years ago, still without change.
in your own field know you are low person on the pay and respect scale

all the while knowing the high earners would have little to analyze without your data
collection. ever keeping the hope, someday the people will be heard, helped and validated

Unapproachable?, Hour Fourteen image prompt

Unapproachable?

The barriers are set in place,
I see no one,
and none see me . . .
well,
one,
but I don’t look up.

The phone is in front of my face,
I call no one,
and none call me . . .
well,
one,
but I don’t answer.

The hood is pulled down all around,
I hear no one,
and none hear me . . .
well,
one,
but prayers don’t count.

Do they?

Prompt #14 – picture

Against a wall

solid, sprawling,

people wait

patient from fatigue.

 

Hours go by. Days.

Still people wait.

Some talk, but don’t say what’s in their hearts.

Some walk next to the wall, but don’t try to climb.

 

How can this be?

I try to imagine a life of waiting.

A life where hearts are never opened

and walls are never scaled.

14 And then …

Not sad enough for poems

Love no one at this time

Have a cabin in the woods

Small dog sleeps beside me

Gray pickup has new tires

Windows facing so much green

Most bills paid up to date

No aches or pains that matter

Friends call to tell me tales

All my children own their homes

Every room is like a library

Grandchildren want to live here

Art supplies for the end of time

Favorite music played on command

Refrigerator has just enough food

No one here that complains to me

Waiting for the plot to thicken

and that’s a wrap!

5 years and 60 poems!
What an accomplishment!
Thanks Caitlin and Jacob for hosting, organizing, cheering us on. You’re the best 😍

Congrats to the halfers just finished and good luck to the second shift coming on.
To those courageous full marathoners, keep on writing on!

Hugs,

Anne

Let the light in

Have it shine all over you

for the world to see.

Because maybe then things won’t seem so life or death;

maybe it’ll all finally coalesce

& you can stop finding the solutions to your adversity

at the bottom of a jack & coke.

Clause Zits (Hour 12)

Enclosed. Never me.

I do not have a closet.

I have a clause set.

I set clauses because closets can be clogging-up our process.

Or our progress can be compromised by counter claims and crosses.

No need for closets, only secret Santa clauses,

Be free and just be, never shut-in your prowess.

Dreams may end up with mothballs and cobwebs,

And ourselves made to hang in old suits in closets.

I cannot be hid in closets.

I am spotting hidden clauses.

I will never hide my gains,

Just to not remind your losses.

Burning everybody’s closets.

the body #2023poetrymarathon #prompthour14

What should we do with the body

After the vultures have gone

Poked, prodded and abandoned

Of all dignity shorn.

The crematoriums are bursting

The pyres have all been lit

They fill the graves and rivers

Hoping the gods do their bit

(Where do the gods go, then

Those to whom you pray

What can we do with the bodies

That burden us today?)

 

I thought I’d say a few words

Mumbled in my head

You sought to drown your grief

In speechlessness instead

We’ve finally become immune

To Death, breathless and bawdy

We look but do not – cannot – see

Because we know not the body

(Where do the gods go, then

Those to whom you pray

What can we do with the bodies

That burden us today?)

 

We sigh and shake our heads

We protest to alleviate pain

We drown desperation in scotch and ice

And talk of how much it rains.

The petrichor returns each morning

Masking the stench of decay

But what shall we do with that body

That refuses to go away?

Hour 7

I’m hoping to catch up soon!

 

Hour 7

 

The best poems are almost the ones without words

A ceiling that had glow in the dark stars

But they forgot one before painting over it

The flowers growing in cracks of the sidewalk

The art of carving God’s hand reaching out to Adam

Onto a pink eraser to be a stamp

They way your lovers hand feels in yours

#Prompt 14 – 2023

No Escape

Away from the madness
Yet still connected
To those that want to see you
And what you do
Your life lived in full view
Shared to give others a clue
As to the real me
The one you want them to see
Editing is the key
The perfect image
At the right time
Portraying a lifestyle so divine
That they can never compete

[inspired by the image]

 

Redacted …