The Poetry Marathon

What is your name? – Hour 1

What Is Your Name?

You’re the longest relationship I’ve had, yet the strangest one there is. No one understands us, they forbid us to kiss in the eye of the public. When I speak of you, metal bracelets are wrapped around my wrists, confining. They take me away from you. They don’t understand, you and I.

I’ve known you a long time, your the friend I tell my worst dreams when I wake in the morning. We share our days and our nights, sometimes we can go for eternity it seems. You make me confused, the clock shows that time has moved. But I don’t feel it, I don’t feel anything. You take it all away, make me forget every time.

I’m so confused. So alone.

I hate you sometimes, don’t you know? You were my worst enemy, you were my best friend. You are my worst enemy, you are my best friend. Not much has changed, the game has stayed the same.

What’s your name?

They always ask when I speak of you so highly. But I can’t tell them, they never seem to think so fondly of you.

So while you are within me, I write words that I’ll never remember in two days when you have left me.

I can’t remember a time I was without you, I never do. I don’t want to. Your my best friend, I need. I can’t live without you.

I hate you, so damn much.

And yet, you’re my only true friend.

RECIPE FOR BECOMING A PSYCHIC – Hour 2

RECIPE FOR BECOMING A PSYCHIC

 

1. Books
2. Clouds
3. Trees
4. Childlike Curiosity
5. Suspension of Disbelief

 

       Marinate liberally in 1, preferably for many years early in life. This will be easier if you naturally gravitate towards the wildness of life, because you will unnerve your peers and thereby acquire very few friends to distract from your marinating. Intersperse intense marination with 2 and 3. Make sure you spend time walking, and sitting, in relationship with 2 and 3. Do not add 4 or 5 yet, you must develop your relationship with 2 and 3 first, for at least half as long as you marinated in 1. As you incorporate 2 and 3, as you sit and walk with them and deepen your relationship with them, you will begin to notice that they draw out the flavor and images of 1. This is when you should begin to incorporate 4. Allow 2 and 3 to call back to 1, and encourage this interplay, getting the first three ingredients thoroughly mixed together in 4.
       It may take you a long time, but eventually you will notice that 2 and 3 appear to add to your understanding of 1. They may even seem to shift and move in answer to your own thoughts. THIS is when you should VERY LIBERALLY apply 5. You will think you’re crazy. That’s OK. This world is insane, so if you’re sane in an insane world you’re actually already crazy anyways no matter what you do. And that means you’re free! Through 5 and 4, 2 and 3 will continue to collaborate with you. First it will be in brief conversations. If you continue to mix all of the ingredients together, they will lead you all the way back to the beginning, and you will generate a 1 of your very own (though you, of course, will know that 2 and 3 were indispensable in the process, so they are just as much the authors of these new 1s as you are.)

       *If ever you lose interest in continuing to marinate 1, go back to 4 and liberally apply.

       *If you gain the ability to converse with 2 and 3 but then lose it, go back to 5 by way of 4.

Recipe for a Peaceful World

Love

Justice

Shelter

Economic System

Opportunity & Education Mix

 

This recipe isn’t quick and easy like brownies, but it is certainly satisfying.

It is impossible to add too much Love. If you’re not sure you have enough, I have found that the more you stir it, the faster it grows. Be sure it’s natural, organic love, with no artificial ingredients like narcissism or manipulation. That kind will ruin the recipe. If you find you don’t have enough love on hand for the whole world, mix in some Respect. That’ll work, too.

Once you have adequate love, stir in Justice, applied equally and fairly to all.

Throw in a double handful of Opportunity and Education so that humans can sustain themselves through Work and can find fulfillment in their lives.

Add appropriate Shelter so humans can be adequately housed and kept safe from the elements.

Stir in an Economic System; be sure it’s the kind that works for everybody.

Bake in good weather and bad weather, easy times and hard times.

Guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.

Serves 7 billion.

 

 

 

Husband

A partnership formed together we build our present and future,
Laugh together.
Cry together.
Explore together.
Create together.
Be together.
Your calmness grounds us,
My fuel drives us forward,
Sometimes acquiring each other’s habits, good and bad,
Understanding each other in silence or not

#2

The remnants of you flow through my veins
and I can still see your smile—
Even though it faded forever last October.

I hope you know I am ok
and I am better than I was when you left me—
because the remnants of you
flow through my veins.

How to Find Contentment Prompt 2

How to Find Contentment 

 

Find a beach. A place where the waves 

race up on the shore and smoothe it. 

If you give them time the waves 

can do that for you, smoothe over 

the rough places of life, lull you. 

Hopefully you’ll find some clouds 

for the sky. They’ll dance over the sun 

and give you some shade during the day, 

but bring an umbrella or rent one 

if it’s that big a beach. Smaller beaches 

might be better, fewer people. 

Maybe you know of a “locals only” 

beach. Spend the day, play in the waves,

lay on your back, let the waves roll over 

you and see what’s hiding in the clouds, 

eat your lunch and drink lots of water. 

Always water. As the day goes by, 

feel the contentment flow into your body 

until even your fingernails and toenails

are content. As evening arrives, 

watch the clouds. Sometimes 

they call cloud buddies 

and will gather together to cry they are 

so happy in the sky watching you. 

If you’re truly lucky you can sit 

on the shore and watch the sun 

sink into the ocean and see 

in pinks, oranges, blues and purples 

explode over the sky. 

Tomorrow you can do it again. 

Found contentment?

 

20.06.27   8 a.m. MDT

(Hour 02) 11.30-12.30am. PROMPT, recipe poem

recipe for surviving the end of the world

1 cup awareness of surroundings
500g courage, finely diced
1-10 plans, of some sort (raw, half-baked, well fermented)
2 tablespoons willingness to take risks
at least 1 other person to help
more than your fair share luck (season to taste)

Preparation.
Pre-heat world
To uncomfortable level

Step 1.
Mix the awareness
of your surroundings
with some sort of plan
& the tablespoons
of risk. Stir gently
until mixture
is well combined
but not over worked

Step 2.
Baste your heart
your soul
your feet
your breath
with courage 

Add your helper person
if you have one
sifting till smooth

Step 3.
Sprinkle everything
liberally
with luck

Step 4.
Bake. Hide. Flee. Avoid. Run. Hide. Counterattack (perhaps). Hide.
Try not to despair.
Check frequently whether still alive. Repeat till free. Or dead.

Recipe for Sanity Amidst Heartbreak

Recipe for Sanity Amidst Heartbreak

 

1 heartful of courageous hope

Multiple Hours of patience

Some hours of tender care (include your favorite friends)

Three sources of solid information (from authority in this case, from others with similar experience; from credible internet sites)

Prayer, added as needed

• Sift the heartful of courageous hope into the bowl of trouble, being sure to sift out as much fear of the unknown as possible.
• Allow the hope to set for whatever hours necessary in rooms that are temperature controlled to be warmed by love, but not overly warmed by those who arrive in curiosity.
• Mixing in patience oh so gently, to offset the anxiety that often tries to occur — sort of like lumps trying to form in gravy.
• Stir in the tender care whether it is in person or delivered as kind encouragement, text messages, flowers, or sandwiches.
• Spread a dusting over it all of nice quality information, being careful to cover the entire surface.
• The amount of this last ingredient will be balanced by the size of the heartbreak.   Short-term heartbreaks can benefit from a few favorite prayers, while life-changing heartbreaks will require significantly more, maybe even the whole town contributing some of theirs.

Spoon into a dish that is large enough to handle the multiplying effect.   Bake in the oven of life until sanity is stronger than the heartbreak.

 

by Nancy Ann Smith,  Amherst, Ohio

June 27, 2020    Poetry Marathon

 

Recipe for Drafting a Poem

Recipe for Drafting a Poem

 

Total Cooking Time: about 2 days

 

1. one dollop of Daydream

 

2. two tablespoons of Reflection

 

3. a pound of Comparisons

 

4. several ounces of special seasoning: Music and Imagery

 

5. Thoroughly mix ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next day, toss into a Dutch oven, setting temperature on low. Let mixture cook slowly all day. Serve warm. Share with others. Enjoy!

Hour 1, Prompt 1 – Oh, Lorde

I met you when I was just 18

You were an adult and cities 

shook when you spoke

And I could not see you 

In your perfect, round ‘fro

And your queer, astute blackness

I could not yet see myself

 

Reminding me that poetry is not a luxury

That my life is not a luxury

But something carved

Something owed 

to those who need me 

To speak their daring truth

Always already lying in wait

 

My little candle was too short to burn

You grabbed an awl and stabbed me

Pushed a new wick into my soft wax

Sang to me of burning 

You smelled of mangoes and sweet things

And smirked while you did it

 

You, dear Audre, ruined me

By showing me the truth of

Just how powerful and dangerous 

And afraid I should be of nothing