The Poetry Marathon

Creature Comforts-Hour Fourteen

And of all the people I could have met, of all the people I could have loved,

I met you, this wonderful, beautiful soul that is you, and it is so great,

but there are times my heart breaks with the yawning distance, and though

I reach out, half-asleep, wanting your weight, your touch next to mine,

its’ sudden and sharp realizing loss that stuns me to sudden grief,

grief that wasn’t there, and you aren’t here yet. Come home to me,

Come home to me and love me deeply, silently, slowly.

Hour 14: Sonnet

I’ve created a picture, much too vivid,

Clear as day, there you stood,

Ready for a commitment,

To give all you could,

 

The picture lasted to long, it became a cinema,

It never flourished in into much,

Became a slight dilemma,

I could only see, never got close enough to touch,

 

It started to reoccur, I began to know the ending,

In search of the real thing,

God knows I’m tired of pretending,

I’m a queen, it’s only right I have a king,

 

Ruling side by side like a leg and a thing,

With a prince and princess like a biscuit on the side.

A Suitcase heart (Hour 13)

The sun rises,
so do I,
its time to leave it all,
worries,
mundane days,
my old house,
I am on my way.

Let me pack some lunch,
along some hope,
oh, and my heart too.

I’m Struggling – Hour 14

I struggle with [redacted]
I have so much of it to give
But it’s often wasted
On those who don’t want it
Am I [redacted] good enough?
For your attention
For your time
For your [redacted]
It’s foolish of me
To think anything could change
My brain needs [redacted]
My [redacted] needs replacing.

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.