The Poetry Marathon

Poetry Marathon Sign Up Update

Sign up is still open for the 2019 Poetry Marathon! You can sign up here. Sign up will only be open til 9 PM on the 23rd.

We’ve had a lot of people sign up for the poetry marathon this year. Over 300 people and counting.

Right now about 50% have signed up for the half marathon – 12 poems in 12 hours, and 50% have signed up for the full marathon – 24 poems in 24 hours.

The marathon itself will start at 9 AM ET on the 27th of June and go till 9 AM on 28th. Half marathoners can start at 9 AM ET or 9 PM ET on the 27th.

This is an international event with participants from all around the globe. Generally 500 people attempt the marathon. You do not have to be a poet to participate. To find out how to convert your timezone go here.

To learn more go here. To sign up go here.

We will get back to applicants on a rolling basis. Most people who apply will be accepted. If you have not heard from us a week after applying please send us an email at poets@poetrymarathon.com. Please do not try and contact us through the FB page.

Well, Here We Are Again…

…it’s always such a pleasure.
Despite the many times I’ve tailed before.
Oh how I wrote and wrote,
Until I just stopped writing.
Gave up the fight, succumbed and simply started to snore.

I’m too old for all-nighters,
That’s what I’ve come to see
I’ve failed the full too often,
Now it’s just the half for me.

---

OK, that’s enough of that. Channel GLaDOS for too long and I start to itch. For this challenge, I need the focused determination of Chell, and the garrulousness of Wheatley. (Note to self: Don’t get those the wrong way round.)

I don’t know why Portal‘s on my mind so much at the moment, but since it is, I simply must call my final, 1 a.m. poem “Still Alive”. Or perhaps, “Still Awake”, assuming that I am. The Portal soundtrack (not the closing songs, the rest of it) is really excellent writing music, too.

Have I hit upon my theme for 2020? Between Portal, Portal 2, and Blue Sky (which I cannot recommend highly enough to Portal fans) I should easily have enough inspiration for 12 poems.

This post is approaching 200 words, and I still haven’t introduced myself. Then again, what else is there to say? If you’re familiar with Portal, you get the idea, and if you’re not then this post will make no sense to you — and neither will any of my poems. Sorry about that.

Introduction

Hi everyone!

I participated in the 2019 Poetry Half-Marathon last year and am doing so again this year. I found the exercise to be quite a kickstart to my creativity and look forward to getting that much needed boost again. I’m a teacher, so having something to pull me out of the distance-learning Covid19 insanity will be much appreciated. I haven’t seemed to get back into my groove since March. A few of my poems from the last half-marathon have been published, and one even got an award! If you’re interested in reading two of them, you can find them here: “To be a Mermaid” & “I Guess I Own a Cat Now”

I’m looking forward to seeing what this marathon brings me.

My Buddy

My furry buddy

is always funny

for a small bite

forelegs upright

and eyes alight.

He races hard

round our backyard

aside the fence

woofs at some friends

they answer back

more to talk smack

than warm yakety yak.

He’s always a dude

who senses a mood

curls up close by

when we sob or cry.

Always up for play

fetching toys all day

a game of kara-te

hands and paws touché

is a favorite – yay!

Lass and lord’s best friend-ling

his licks are never ending

wet muzzle love tending

tail wagging ever caring.

– Sandra Johnson, 6/14/20

The Rose.

Red, blooming

Pricks my hand when I touch

Beauty to my eyes when I see

Like the sun bright shinning

In it’s rays bright glowing.

Pink, black,orange

It comes in many coats

Painted in many colors

All of them, beautiful to the eye

But also with their thorns

Beautifully blooming.

 

 

Just Me

Hello New and those who aren’t…

This is like my fourth or fifth thon. (I’m a writer, not a mathematician.)

I garden at Garden Cumberland on FB.

I write at Se Johnson, Author on FB

I shoot stuff (with my camera) at Just Sarah, also on FB

I survived last year’s thon–barely–because of all the support from everyone. I was mid-chemo and exhausted. But, I wanted a catharsis, and Thon was it! Each event, I’ve made new friends. Tracy, Annie, Laurie, Mark, Joyce, Vincent…and so many more. As FB friends, some like my hobbies, my politics, my fight to find normal again. Some don’t.

But we all love our words.   Love our words.   Love words.   Love.

Be well. Write well. Love well.

Sarah

Self portrait

I’m messy, uptight.

Organized? Yeah right.

coffee and dining tables?

cluttered-ly

just like the rest of me.

Honestly, health is junky too.

like a carbohydrate zoo

hate to be trite,

but I am what I eat, right?

sugar and spice …

ain’t always nice.

But some things aren’t trashing

sit-ups, squats, face flushing

inches, body shrinking

albeit slowly.

My mind is a stress

from all this Covid mess

use some advice

and trash the rest.

As a teacher, for the littlest

I always give my best

they come out walking

and some a little babbling.

But art, it heals me

poetry fills a need, you see

just like this poem

my wounds that were open

now are a-closin’.

My therapy, it’s green

the smallest pets I’ve seen

anoles, there are many

they calm me visually

as they jump and fight lazily

take away my misery

and bring me joy daily.

-Sandra Johnson, 6/13/20

 

About Me

I’m an ENL/ELA teacher.  This past year, I taught Creative Writing which I enjoyed immensely, but I usually teach mostly Hispanic English Language Learners at low to transitioning levels.  I try to impart them a love of reading and writing to analyze and express themselves.

I have been writing poetry and prose since I was in my 20s.  I have had many short stories published as well as a book of poetry, ASPHALT SOUNDS by Fore Angels Press:  NY.  I am active in many writing associations in New York and have been published nationally and in Canada and Croatia.

Writing has come easy to me and has widened a journey of love and self awareness which I cherish.

I look forward to begin this poetry journey.

Preparation for the Poetry Marathon

This is my first participation in a challenging event. I have heard and I know it’s going to be a difficult one , in terms of your mental health, might take up your entire time, but I am up for it. I feel you should always test difficult waters and find out how far you can swim. There’s no preparation as such but yes small things like keeping myself awake hopefully and the love and support of my family and extended relatives and friends should keep me motivated and going. I would like to thank a beloved friend of mine who actually posted about this thing on my social feed, so that I could take part in it. And I hope I can keep all of you enthralled as well with my wonderful poems. This is the quote that I feel would resonate with many at this point of time so…I would just post it here and I go by this.

It’s very hard at the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually, you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.” – George Sheehan, runner and author

So no matter how strenuous you might feel, I think we all have it in us to give us a little push that will help us complete either the half or the full marathon.

Good luck everyone!

Professionally have I OD’d on OD ( organizational development ) for over a decade and more . Personally, I am all about making the mundane a wee bit more meaningful and of course a lot more fun in the process. In the course, of course, I very often fall flat on my face, but the joy of getting up makes it worth the “trip” !

Am quite an emotional wreck
which is synonymous with me being a Cancerian, so don’t take me too seriously; I try not to 🙂 on most of my sensible days. On “other” days, I have more than enough very very well meaning well wishers, who do that for me and land me safely back to earth !

What would I do without them I wonder ?
And then I pause, and I often ponder.
For all the times I haven’t let them be,
How on earth would they feel, they were saner than me?

Arguably and not so humbly yours…
Sunanda