The Poetry Marathon

Endless Beach

Virginia Carraway Stark

If I had the dream
That we should be the only ones
Alive in a world of two
And we found away
To do away
With all those things
That we fear so well and true
I know you’d come away with me
But do you know I’d run away with you?
It seems so often that you think I’d rather not
If I had the choice
Of pristine beaches
and fishing troves
Coconuts and never-ending sun
Even if there were days when cyclones
Threatened to end our blue skies for good
I would run away with you
Just for the chance
Of endless beaches
And a world of two
Most of all I hope
That you know the contents of my heart
And in the knowing
Know that I love you

No Winner

I have a wise friend

Who says

There can  be no winner

In a nuclear war

Plants, people, animals

Flash away in an instant

Of incendiery fury

And those who served

As the trigger for the gun

Become victims of their own design.

What a waste

Such a waste

There are no winners

In a nuclear war.

Prompt 3 and 4, Hour 3

Take a small walk, or just stroll around your house or apartment. When you are ready, stop, look around, take a deep breath what do you smell, feel what is near you in the air, under your feet, listen and hear what you normally miss; describe what your senses have been telling you but you have ignored.

Contributed by Stephan A. Kalinowski

Or

Go for a walk with your phone or another recording device. When you feel ready start recording a poem out loud while you walk. It could be about the walk itself, but when I use this method I’m often surprised by what I “write” about.

When you return home type it out to post. Feel free to edit.

 

 

Fireworks

Appearing out of thin air suddenly sounding surrounding lights

Bass and crescendo an exclamation point to the gathering brightness

Sparks filled the sky or maybe I noticed it came true

A celebration the revelations that there are fireworks when I’m with you

Or perhaps in the midst of darkness there was in fact nothing in the sky, and the blinding brightness and resonating reverberations was the light of you and I.

The Blue-Haired Fool

He bewitches from the screen,
A word per drop of caffeine;
He reads to her her fortune
From an old newspaper in June.

The blueness appears to spread
For now, it’s on his forehead,
Then at once, his nose it shines
And from the sky fall columbines.

The girl, still she loves here,
Whispers romances to his ear,
Now beginning to turn blue as well,
But never hearing the decibel.

How We Change

They know, we don’t

What do they know
But to find fun every time, everywhere,
any place and anyhow
unassuming masters to the art of forgetfulness
so resentment and malice must suffer
for they are heavy
but joy is light, it is flying

time waves its wand
viola, it’s done

life becomes serious
everyone must be careful
if you will fly balloons
it should be hot

our lives are stories

2. Magic 7/16/2017

Marrying you was the happiest moment of my life
That morning I felt so sick
Not because I was nervous
But, because YOU were marrying ME
me
This undeserving soul

All I could think about that morning was,
“I hope She doesn’t change her mind.”
“I hope I look good for her.”
“I hope I do this right.”
“I hope She is as happy as I.”

Gathered at the gazebo, we all waited for the words,
“She’s here.”
I swear I held my breath the entire time
Ran, is not the word.
Dashed, is more like it
Or maybe sped
All I really know, is that when your sister called out,
“She’s here!”
I nearly tripped and fell

If there’s a word for what I was feeling that moment
And every day after
I don’t know it
At least, there isn’t one that can aptly express it
It started as a tingle
Almost like a buzz, that ripples throughout the skin
Deep down into the roots of the soul

Crystalized and holy, that day will forever remind me
Life doesn’t always dictate itself
It’s a risk we all take with every single breath
Matching our decisions with chance encounters
That show us, the way isn’t always sacrificed when we move on
From the fears of trying again
To learn there is meaning in broken hearts
Nothing is beyond fixing
Or finding again

Can we weather climate change

weather changes, climate changes

what does it all mean

hasn’t it happened before

will it happen again

what does it mean to me

 

this is what i think

nature is never static

and neither are we

we do have a problem though

don’t you see

our problem is our sight

we can’t see the key

 

we hear it everyday

people that say

never seen this happen

throughout my days

and yet people ignore

what many scientists say

change is a coming our way

 

the change that is coming

we will make

because we ignore the signs we see

and put them off to natures take

people are so opaque

 

they think what they do cannot really change

what happens on earth every day

and yet it seems clear to me

that weather shows us in many ways

that climate is changing with probable cause

 

the changes we see should give us pause

and we should consider well before we make faux pas

for if we don’t we will surely see

what these actions mean to me.

Hour Two

The no-fun queen of Centre Island threatened the flora and fauna, and the creepy crawlies. Dew between their toes, shiny and sparkly, the star, the fairy and the superhero got word from a bumble bee in the backyard. “she’s bad, so, so bad” it buzzed.
“there’s a battle here!” The superhero said, pointing to his chest. So they grabbed their bikes, kids’ subway tickets, hearts racing, the new streetcar clanging warnings, turning heads, and the boat-ferry making a big noise from its core, and all three talking at once about what was in store, what was to come, how they would do battle and what could be done.Their magic wasn’t in wings or wands, it was in sneakers and bubble gum,
It was in doing, being, standing up, going in plainclothes but all robed up for flora and fauna and creepy crawly things, for the sake of the prince, the princess, the good king.

*written with the help of my cousins, aged 5 and a half and three.

From Russia With Love

Look across the pond and acknowledge the facade of yourself staring back.

Levity is not the adversary of pure evil you perceive it to be. We stumble through ourselves wondering why so many of us let xenophobia permeate every aspect of their existence as if that were the way to attain enlightenment.

But, Russia, we see you. We acknowledge all aspects of you and we recognize how difficult it must be to live in a region whose reputation has been tainted by the leading narcissist and his goons who seek to destroy anything that threatens their “precious” way of life.

We gaze up at the night lights and remember all those who have been taken from us too soon, those who lost their existence fighting for justice and doing everything in their power to leave the universe just a bit more improved than the condition in which they discovered it.

You may be gone but your sacrifices will never become subjected to the horrors and injustices of evanescence. We know you’re in a better place now and we want to assure you we will continue to fight the good fight and discover what it truly means to be human in a world that constantly tries to make us forget.