The Poetry Marathon

Long Distance

Lock in the dates,
Count down the time,
And prepare to see your love
Once again.

Map out the route,
Plan all your stops,
And drive until you
Reach them.

Longing and
Road trips,
Flights and
Plans,
Just get to love
As quick as
You can.

Absence,
Makes us fond
But it causes wandering hearts
To move on.
And we break, each time
Because we grew tired
And lonely
In a relationship that
Spanned the globe.

The screen grew cold.
And the phone stops ringing,
When you give in.
So, rush, to your love
As fast as you can.

a place well known

Ink flows on the paper
  as the pen knows what to write
each stroke a new character
  the broken lines filling with tight
script that tells stories
  hip tales of heroes, their actions
throes of pain and glories
  I have no need for names or thought
for the pen knows all
  about their battles fought
My hand is but the vessel
  giving voice to the caper

The Cinderella Hour

It is normally midnight

When everything shuts down

If you’re in the club, this doesn’t happen til damn near two.

But not tonight.

That isn’t what happened at all.

I got all gussied up,

Over my face, I made an extreme fuss.

I put on these heels- the kind that demand sex in the bedroom

Whew. I’m telling you…

I looked like I had been hand dipped in sin.

And that’s when the police came in-

Silly me, I thought them a part of the show-

Imagined some Magic Mike type of action.

But that isn’t how this story was to go.

With very little discussion and thankfully no guns drawn-

Though of them, they had plenty-

They shut the place down and escorted everyone out.

And that is why, tonight-

The hour of which I must call it quits

Came at ten-

Where not a drop, not even one had entered my system.

Gaokao

GaoKao
Virginia Carraway Stark

If there was a battle cry
And all the years were packed
Into an afternoon
Of luck and hard work
The future determined
By what that day might bring
I don’t know that
I’d be more or less capable
Than any of my peers
I can see why the stars
And omens in the sky
Would matter more than anything
If things were done in such a way
With nary a second chance
In a land where no one stands
Above the others
In any but a negatory way
How sorry it would be
To have your entire life
decided in a moment
An afternoon determining
The future path
Who you may marry
The approval of your ancestors
Where your kids would go to school
The sort of job you could acquire
All from marks with your pencil
That is the battle cry
In a land far away
So it has been for thousands of years
Likely so it will always be
Ghosts are made by failure
Despair throwing people into the arms of death
Leaving the living to deal with demons
All for the pass or fail on a test!

FOURTEEN (4 stanzas of haiku)

I started high school

At fourteen and shy; it sucked

Boyfriend went away.

 

Small fish in a big pool

No one knows me at this place

Want to go back home.

 

Halls echo silence

There is no place to hide

All the others stare.

 

Are they also scared?

We can be scared together

Now I have new friends.

 

Wanderings

“I am home!” I want to scream, 
Though I am voiceless.
Silenced by the pounding of my heart
Which deafens me.
Wide-eyed, terrified
My heart and my mind keep secrets 
Preventing my body from moving.
”I am home.” I whimper.
To my mind’s ear.
No one answers.

Lost And Found

One may forget
The land
Home
People
Grounds one used to play on
Mountains they hiked
Soil,their father sowed seeds in

One may go to the city
Live in Tall buildings
Meet new people
Create another world

Then one day you go back
Realizing your mistake
Guess What
It welcomes you with open arms
Hugs you tight
Accepts you the you are
The land knows you even when you are lost….

Create

Create
Creativity
A human inheritance
A treasure passed
In DNA
And
Direct from gnarled hands

You need not earn approval
or
Brace always for assault

Your source is fathoms deep
In aquifers of inspiration
Gathered and waiting

For your coming

For your courage
To name your longing

For your resolve
To pick up a pen
To release your stifled song

You are rooted in lush soil
Meant to grow exquisite dreams

Draw from the earth
Grow towards your star

Knowing always
Favor is already granted
Supported and fortified
By the love and legacy
of all
That came before you

Taking care our earth in our hands

“The land knows you, even when you are lost.”

 

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall-Kimmerer

 

A great responsibility on our hands

A guardian in our home

Taking part in our little deeds

 

Making lives meaningful

Doing our share and be part of change

Whispering in the earth

 

Traversing boundaries of humanity

A little planet with its plants along with ecosystem

Learning to be part of humanity’s venture

 

Prompt # 17 Hour # 14

10:00 AM PHT 23/06/2019

 

Disneyland Dr

There’s nothing quite like

the capitalist super port

of Disneyland in Anaheim.

 

Sometimes I feel bad, that

The place sucks our money

but I guess the stamp they

put on it suffices.

 

It’s one of those things

where the pretty surface is

thick enough to dismiss the ickier

parts way down below.