The Poetry Marathon

Marathon 2020!

The ecstacy of fantasy
Echoes…
As I trudge against the tide
In this virtual marathon
Racing with the athletic passion of a gold medalist
Fellow wordsmiths on this lane
Running with venal darts and pleasurable verses
Fusing creative fibres parabolically
With spices of metaphors and innuendos
The aesthetics of your art reeks with elegance
The eloquence of your compelling lexis
affirms your exotic charm with words…
Let’s enjoy the sail…
We are all winners in this marathon of enthralling versification!

2020 Hour 2: Recipe for my psyche

#1: Fear

#2: Self-awareness

#3: Protective Gear

#4: Plan

#5: Survival

Fear starts the clock

Fear of the unknown

The persistent drag

Of self-awareness, always on the outside

Looking in but from a distance

Seeing myself from way too high up.

Fear of being seen-

How do I cover myself

To ward off whatever

Or whoever is coming?

Add protective gear at all times,

The contingency wardrobe conceived to conceal.

And plan, always plan

Fear being caught unprepared

Never without an umbrella,

For whatever the weather

Even the hint of rain

Or the downpour of sudden human interaction

Will not be unanticipated.

Go through the day, get through the day

Survive the self-directed stress of all the planning

That went into that one foray

Outside the calm.

 

PARADISE

PARADISE

 An untimely beauty with soft dark skin.

She walks with the confidence of a queen strolling along the gold path laid before her.

Wearing exquisite cloths crafted by the most conscious designers of her village.

Her hair is golden with coils shining like crystals in the sun.

Watching her children play and laugh at the elephants and giraffes.

 

She bends down to place her hands in the soil to connect to the vibrations of the earth.

A smile graces her face as the merchants surround her with jewels, stones, and sage.

The horizon blends into the green ocean as the seagulls dive elegantly below the surface.

Music begins to play in the distance.

The drums and flutes harmonize as her hips begin to join the rhythm of the waves.

The breeze overtakes her the wind wraps its arms around her fragile body and carries her closer towards

the beat.

 

Her people are waiting and watching in awe as she moves through the crowd.

Smiling and rejoicing the harvest was graced with abundance.

Her children grab the maracas and the celebration is magnified.

A peace settles over everyone as the flutes begin to play a soothing frequency.

This is my home, this is paradise.  

Poem #2 – Recipe for Change – RedStar

Recipe for Change

1. One cup of pure desire;
2. One cup of commitment;
3. One seed of mustard faith (more, when available).
4. One cup of undiluted focus;
5. One cup of humility and patience;
6. One seed of mustard faith (more, when available).

*** Be sure your cup is full of desire of the highest quality; substitutes do not work well.

Blend commitment with desire until they begin to bond.  As the mixture begins to stiffen, roll in the seed of faith and continue blending until the components are fully bonded, like cement.  This will form the foundation of the change.

Infuse the focus with the humility and patience and spread it generously.

Small changes can be baked at high heat.  Larger changes should be baked at medium heat to avoid caving in the middle.

 

Petri at his Wreath

Petri at his Wreath

By Sandy Lender

 

Some bright bauble round

Reflects your eyes’ perfect shine

Excited for Christmas day

And the wreath with which you play

Darting through the opening

Dancing, squeaking, fluttering

A glance to me then swing back through

Beads of red in strings of green

The loveliest thing I’ve ever seen

Is you

Excited on Christmas day

Recipe for an Ideal Lover

1. Listen
2. Hunting
3. Dodge
4. Duck
5. Wood

The following is the recipe for finding an ideal lover.

Follow the rules. Keep it close and you may just about find your ideal lover.

It is a difficult task to find an ideal lover.

However, if you insist on finding an ideal lover, you will not find her.

To find her, you would need to mix a large dose of listening to win her.

Let her simmer for a few minutes and pour your love all over her.

Go on a hunting spree to spice up your romance. Otherwise; it will grow cold and lose her taste.

Add a bowlful of dodge and duck. Your vow of silence should be enough to whet her appetite.

Add a spoonful of oil of perseverance and let it run all the way down to cover the soup.

Always bring home some wood to heat the oven and then sit at the table to enjoy your romance.

Hour 2: Spiral Recipe

Ingredients:

1. spirals
2. garden
3. dive
4. waterfall
5. gratitude

I plant spirals everywhere I go.

A garden full of climbing vines,

thoughts that turn and tumble

round the purpose of the moment,

finding all the nooks and crannies

where they can scatter past

appointed tasks, diving

quick as minnows swirling

in a stream,

silver-flashing gone

through waterfalls of inspiration.

I plant spirals and wait

in gratitude.

Recipe Poem: How to stay married

Ingredients needed

Anchor (staying power)

Eraser (forgiveness)

Yoga instructor (maintaining flexibility)

Prayer shawl (you will pray,  a lot)

Writing time (makes all the rest work better)

The main ingredient for this recipe is the anchor,  the staying power.  It must be added at each stage of the recipe.  If not the others will not work as well.

The eraser will be used as needed.  Erase any unwanted additives that come along and give a bitter taste.

Your yoga instructor should be utilized often.. you have to remain flexible and able to handle situations that arise.  If you are not your anchor will not hold and the eraser will fall behind the sofa and you won’t be able to reach it.

Keep your prayer shawl handy for quick additions when it seems that nothing is working as it should.  Pray.  Prayer works in every situation.

And then make time to write. It brings all the other ingredients together and makes them work.    It will remind you life can be edited.  Grab the eraser and edit.  It will also remind you that you are not perfect and make you much more flexible with someone else’s short comings.  It will also make you practice prayer,  because there will always be that one line that will not come when you want it.  It will also anchor you to the world around you and in you and you will feel safe enough to stay.

When all of these things are working together.  You can stay married and it will be a beautiful journey.

41 years and counting.  🙂

 

 

 

Prompt #2: Recipe for a non-food item

Recipe for balance in the time of plague

 

1. Four and twenty birds…

not only rusty blackbirds, but blue

jays and cardinals and goldfinches

the small house finch with his cherry

hood, the cocksure mocker with his flick

of tail.

 

2. Next grate the lemon fragrance of four

’o’clocks, magenta blossoms, silvery

perfume. Infuse the morning light below

before combining with birds.

 

3. Gild thickly with infused sunlight

as light as the clear post-dawn air.

Incorporate birds, sunlight, and fragrance

gently, so that birds still flutter then perch.

 

4. Sprinkle heavily with the stolen songs

of crow and raven, covered by mockingbird.

Let notes sift between birds, while mixture thickens.

Admixture should be cool and slightly sweet.

 

5. Finally, spritz lightly with the sound of birds

bathing, four fledgling starlings clustered in a bowl

of cool water. Once done, allow recipe to bloom

in the bowl of morning. Balance done in minutes.

 

 

 

Please love me

⇐I have watched you from a distance

I have loved you from that same distance

My heart cries out for your love

Cries out for your touch, your caress

I see you with others and I cringe

I see you love others and I flinch

Please love me too

I need to be loved by you

I need you to look at me with that peculiar glint in your eye

That look of affection you give others

Please love me

Please set my heart afire

Set me aglow

Set me a lit

Please love Me

As a woman longs to be loved

Love me as one you’ll cherish, forever

Please love me