The Poetry Marathon

Prompt 11: This Accident of Being Lost

This Accident of Being Lost (Leann Betasamosake Simpon)

 

these dark trees breathe for me

many times a day

when I cannot walk myself –

no longer able to take one more step

or falling

breathless

into holes in the path

edged with grasses too tall to warn me of the gap.

 

my best laid plans lead me,

inevitably

to places so distant from the destination Creator

Great Spirit

Gichi Manitou

wanted for me –

the walk back to the starting point is always so much farther than necessary

if I had listened to those trees in the first place.

All I want is to walk with grace,

shod with silk stockings made of prayers

so I bring medicines in my basket

when I miss another turn to find others lost like me.

 

it’s good to be here these days

in the company of Synchronicity’s children

where we are never lost by accident.

 

(c) r. l. elke

Protected: poem 13 hour 13 amatorculist (word defined by poem)

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Pother, Hour 13

On the streets, a tension
Atrocities an every day occurence
Fights at family gatherings
Battle lines drawn
Opinions divided
Polarized and radicalized

Every action garners a reaction
And a reaction to the reactionaries
Perpetual pandemonium
While pundits preach lies about the other side
Blue vs Red
Rich vs Poor
Black vs White
Left vs Right
Right shuffled aside for the need to be right

But both sides are really wrong
Embroiled in conflict over trivialities
While elite contemplate humanity’s finality

Isn’t it possible to align but not agree?
To accept variety of opinion as a means of better seeing?
Better scheming ways to subvert the powers-that-be?

We dither over nonsense,
Obsess on the inconsequential,
Attack the unknown with preformulated views and arguments
As if we could ever decipher the immense spectrum of opinions
As if we really know anything at all

Anyone claiming absolute truth
Drives me up a fuckin wall

Let’s Play – Hour 13

Let’s play a game
I explain to you
The word I mean
For you to guess

First explanation:
An American band
Playing songs like
“Can I dream?” Or
“Lunar Attack”

Then, the second:
A company,
Mainly in Germany,
Excels in
Technology
Creativity

Last, the third:
Used in astrology
Used to describe
Constellations
And conjunctions

What do I mean?

Augury

It came to me
in a restless sleep.
Not quite a dream
but a knowing deep. 

That the life we shared 
was about to change. 
That the future we’d planned for
would be rearranged.

When I awoke the next day
to the glaring sunrise, 
you were already gone, but  
I wasn’t surprised.

12th hour Erasure – Vesuvious

Sai

A daggers’ edge is as sharp as the frost biting wind even though forged from molten rock to steel.

These curves fit to block an opponents’ strike. One curving with the arm to shield another following up as the dagger’s shield.

Double to pair, the sai, is a weapon of damaging defense.

13 – desolate

she shook, a mournful cry from her throat

her barren landscape laid bare

her song wandering a stark

vision of her future, a

melancholy wind echoing

her dismal story, a future that

holds her gloomy shadow

in its grim grasp.

Brilliance

How were they so Great?
Did they study harder than me?
Did they work harder than me?
What made them so capable of Intelligence?

These questions haunted me
As I turned over the pages
Of the autobiography of Marie Curie
And her husband, the famous scientists.

Why couldn’t I accomplish something like them?
Would I ever be known for any Achievement?
Would I ever be recognized the world over?
How did they do what they did?

Time was running out
Lunch was almost over
I had to read quickly
Or I would be late to class

What if I never achieved such Mastery?
Maybe I’m not meant to be so Bright?
Why can’t I discover radioactive elements?
Maybe, I just need to focus on the light.

Hour 13 – interstitial

interstitial

we found ourselves
keeping to the small
the minute gaps
spaces between the walls
silences between the words
air between breaths
there
my brother and I waited
for the danger to pass