The Poetry Marathon

The Way Celery Grows

The Way Celery Grows

 

Rip apart the package and take

out the full-grown stalk. Cut

off the base, two inches thick,

discard the rest. Fill a crystal-

clear bowl with water and drown

it in the coolness. Wait

a week and then you’ll start

to see the center rise

like a volcano forming

from rocks and mud. Day after

day, it grows closer to the sky.

A month goes by. Leaves soon

appear, taking over the three

skinny stalks tall as your hand,

like fingernails left untrimmed,

waving with each breath blowing

through the house. The water will grow

green with syrupy slime that attacks

what’s left of the base, rotting

it away into brown sludge.

I don’t know how long it takes

until it’s ready to eat.

All I know is how it grows,

taller and taller each day

until it covers the windowsill

with shade, my own little tree.

Hour 3

I am face to face
With myself
Reflections of my story
Is now known
To me

Whatever I wished
Is with me
Here everything
Is secret
Yet known

Feeling these
noises
Pulsations in my
heart

I gave parted
With myself
In thoughts
And in dreams

Nothing remains
But one
Without a
Second….

3 – the office

rattle, tick, hum, tock.

the air stale, tinged by a hint of decay.

crackle, spit, embers pop.

a chorus of motors hum, my ears cry,

it quietens slowly, softly, ssh.

Free Thinking

Standing outside
     The wind blows my hair
     The wind blows the grass
     The wind blows the trees
          A strong display of its strength.
I close my eyes
     The scent of lilacs
     The scent of dog
     The scents mingle
          An interesting array of fragrance.
Walking slowly
     I hear birds chirp
     I hear rustling wind
     I hear my breath
          A whispering cacophony of sound.
Standing still
     I feel the cloudy peace
     I feel the cool, damp air
     I feel my spirits lift
          An awakening of my mind.

(a haiku)

stylized carpet
rams’ horns and pomegranates
hiding in plain sight

Hour Three, Prompt Four – Neighborly Escapades

Image Courtesy of “Prawny” at Pixabay

 

Thoughtful, I wander

past my nextdoor neighbours’ gate.

Yip, Sally is “at it” again…

Boy, does that woman have a voice!

I pity her poor husband…

Not to mention her gandchildren

when they come to visit…

There! She’s shouting at the dogs again!

No wonder those dogs can’t stop barking…

They’re just following her example.

Better get away from here

Just now, she’ll shout at me!

And knowing me, being a Pisces

I’ll just rise to the bait…!

 

Oops! The guy across the road

is approaching Sally’s gate!

Could be interesting!

I’ll just return to my PC

And post my poem…

 

Antoinette LeRoux © 2019

THREE

A year passed by and I turned three

My mom finished school and stayed home

Mema went back to work and left me

With a crazy woman whose mind tends to roam.

 

She beat me once with a leather strap

For failing to write the alphabet

My whole life had changed, i was in a trap

Missing Mema’s love, stuck in my mother’s net.

 

She took my daddy back this year

Wanting no longer to be alone,

He was not a nice person, I fear.

We were better off when he was gone.

 

She was with child and next year my sister came

They moved us away from my Mema and changed the whole bloody game.

The feel of you

When the wind touches my skin
It feels as if you touched me
When the smell of the wet soil enters my breath
It feels as if you are around
When I hear the sound of the rain touching the ground
I feel I hear your footsteps coming near me
When I see the clouds in the sky
It feels as if they want me to know you are around
When I hear the thunder
It feels as if nature is telling me you are here
Everything I feel makes me love you more everyday

Magic Gone Wrong

A magician named Sally, so I hear

Wanted to make all her bills disappear

She waved her wand and she chanted

“Poof,” her wish was granted

Her debt she no longer would fear.

 

Debt free would be Sally’s new way

No more struggles on which bills to pay

She was free as a bird

It seemed so absurd

She had it all now, wouldn’t you say?

 

But Sally hadn’t thought it all through

Not realizing what her wish would do

She should have been more specific

And a bit less prolific

When it came to which bills she would loose.

 

Though her Visa card balance was nil

Sadly, so was her great uncle Bill

Bill Murray, Bill Nye

Well they all went bye bye

Now her wish seemed far less of a thrill.

 

Bill Gates and Bill Belichick gone

No Billy Joel and all of his songs

What was Sally to do

Bill of Rights were gone too

How could one magic trick go so wrong.

 

Sally was determined to alter her plight

With some magic she could make it all right

“Abracadabra, alakazam

Get me out of this jam”

Sally conjured all day and all night.

 

Sally opened her eyes with a yawn

She was nervous to face the new dawn

But she discovered her scheming

Happened while she was dreaming

Uncle Bill was out mowing the lawn.

 

Hour 3. (2019)

Trampled leaves and trampled flowers

Lie behind the asphalt towers

Struggling with industrial powers

Will they be forsaken?

 

Maybe they will cut their chains,

Free themselves from growing pains,

Wait and suffer till it rains

Or will they learn to fly?