The Poetry Marathon

Ordinary But Original (Poem 11)

Unassuming

Not an eye catcher

Doesn’t make heads turn

Maybe that’s what makes it special

It’s probably unlike most

An original piece

I’d bank on it

It would be great to possess

And add to my collection

This one-of-a-kind piece of art

Isn’t complicated to decipher

It doesn’t have hidden or incomprehensible layers

Yes, it’s beautiful

And I like it

I’m gonna buy it

In response to the text prompt:

“Extraordinary in Ordinary”- pick an ordinary object and make it extraordinary. You can do it by giving it some special attributes or a different background and story.

Prompt #12 — Closets

My closet door opens on its own,

exposing my lack of organization and

preponderance of

stuff.

 

My cats love it.

They plunder the bags of yarn

and leave string trails

of forest green and fuchsia

throughout the house.

 

I took out all of my skinny clothes and

put them in storage bins under

the bed, and wistfully visit them on occasion.

 

On my last visit, I realized the cats

had peed on them. What message are they

trying to communicate to me? That my aspirations

are stupid? That I should have let

the skinny clothes continue to mingle with the chubby stuff?

That I should be content

with who I am? No, not that… But

 

I just cleaned it up, sighed, and walked away,

closing the closet door that

popped back open before I had even

reached the hallway.

Area 51

“Lover, will you please hang up my sweater?”
“Of course, I will. In the bedroom or in here?”
He pointed to the small closet located in the corner of the living room.
I said that one would be fine.

Our little visitor was listening, completely bored,
Until he watched as Steve opened the door
To the small closet located in the corner of the living room
And he cried out ecstatically.

“Hey! I’ve never seen that before!”
In complete glee he waltzed over
To the small closet located in the corner of the living room
And just beamed.

“I never you knew you had one of these!
“It’s just my size. I could live in
The small closet located in the corner of the living room.”
I wondered how he had emulated Goldilocks.

“Honey, you have been visiting us for many years now.
I’m positive that you have even taken your hat
To the small closet located in the corner of the living room.”
Bemusedly Steve and I watched him explore this container.

When his parents and brothers picked him up
He couldn’t wait to take them
To the small closet located in the corner of the living room
Where they promptly shut him in to live out his dream.

In My Purple Bag hour 11

In My Purple Bag

A double-zip wallet in plum perfect
a lilac credit card case
that actually holds gift cards
4 purple EnerGel pens with aubergine ink
one Sharpie marker in orchid
one in magenta
2 ballpoint pens I hate but keep just in case
a red beaded ladybug case
that holds my amethyst rosary beads
a small purple journal with a dog asking
Is it time to play? How about now?
an amethyst carbuncle with a pewter angel
a house key with a purple plastic sleeve
my truck key big and black and lost
to the abyss of stuff
one pack of tissues with lavender irises on it
… why is my bag so heavy…
a clear plastic glass case
with my purple marbled reading glasses
wrapped in a wisteria cleaning cloth
a fabric pandemic mask that says Poet At Work
an old Home Depot receipt I wrote a few lines
of a new poem on but can’t read it
can’t throw it out
a cluster of safety pins pinned together
several vinyl-coated paper clips in
varying shades of purple
band-aids, purple – where did I get those?
my cell phone in the military-grade
dark purple metal case… it weighs a ton
DogSpeak, my purple-cover poetry book
from last year’s 24-hour marathon because
you never know when you’ll be called on —
drug store / doctor’s office / laundromat
to read a poem or two
a pack of grape gum
… oh, that’s why it’s so heavy…

~ J R Turek Hour 11

Family Closet

Hour 12

Family Closet

 

Keep the bad ones in the closet.

Sort of a family tradition to

keep the doors shut and locked.

Grown-ups kept the keys

in the liquor cabinet.

On special nights

after several cocktails,

they let the feelings out.

Children were not allowed to see

anger fly across the living room,

sadness seep into soup in the kitchen,

fear rattle the rafters.

Pretending to be happy,

compliant children kept their closets closed

until of legal age,

when they could get their own keys.

 

 

Sue Storts

09/02/2023

prompt 12

12

in the closet

I want to walk thru like Narnia was on the other side

like it went to a safer place, or
was itself a refuge

door closed, hangers roosting on the rod like plucked seared birds, floor softened with layers of grampa’s clothes, scented with his body in the long ago times when things were only washed when they were dirty, not when they’d just been worn

now that’s something I can get behind- less laundry, longer wearing clothes, a less desperate mind

A Good Place to Be (Poem 10) 

 

They think I’m alone

They wonder how I reached here

They assume I’m missing something

They deliberate over how to save me

They feel I need company

But…

They’re all wrong

But…

They don’t know my story

But…

They are free to cook up their own versions of me

But…

They don’t need to know everything

But…

They’ll probably never know this is a good place to be

 

 

In response to image prompt number 10

Nevermind the Heroic

Heroes of the sixth
sit, like slaves, in a cell
six by six, while they
play business as usual.

Viscous lies, vicious against
heroes of the sixth.
Brave, unpaid soldiers
for the free world.

Snakes in suits
remind themselves with
heroes of the sixth
that… they… rule!

Such little minds
in big clothes!
This world belongs to
heroes of the sixth.

Usually (Hour 7)

People dont usually like me,

Even though they hardly know me,

If only they would take the time,

Then they can hate me for me.

 

Even though i keep to myself,

People dont usually like me,

But they should take time to see,

The reason why they will hate me.

 

They dont even know me

And dont know nothing about me,

People dont usually like me,

Altgough i keep to myself.

 

Even though they do not know me, and though

They know nothing about me,

Even though i keep to myself,

People usually dont like me.

 

Different But Beautiful (Poem 9)

Pink

Blue

Red

Purple

Hues and mixtures of varied colours

A rainbow with wings

A palette of movements

A canvas depicting nature’s artistry

Beautiful to see

Fascinating creatures

The butterfly

 

 

Some colourful

A few monochrome or lesser vibrant

Does that make them lesser than the others of their kind?

To the true admirer, not

To anyone who appreciates beauty in all its forms and colours,

This is just a different kind of beautiful

 

 

 

In response to image prompt number 9