The Poetry Marathon

Poem #21 (Self Doubt j.r.m©)

Are you sure you want to wear this to the party?
What will people think?
I bet they’ll tear you down the minute you walk in.
Gorge you with disgusted and pitiful stares.

You sure you want to really go down this path and dredge up the past from its grave?
Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?
I hate to be the one to say, ”TOLD YOU SO.”

You are good for nothing,
I am the only one who is genuinely frank with you?

What if it doesn’t work?
what are the risks?
What are the repercussions of my actions?
Have you thought this through?

What if no one really buys my book
what if they fail to resonate with my words?
what if they hate it?
what if they don’t approve?
What if I fail?
How will I recover?

Self Doubt is a disease of the mind,
the more you listen to it
the more importance you give it.
Next thing you are acknowledging it,
and are getting influenced.

Self doubt – A destructive way to destroy your individuality.
Tap it out before it taps you out. 

j.r.m©

Allergic

Allergic

To people.

Sneezing coughing

Tongue swollen.

Caught up in the chest.

When coming close

To the human species.

Catching flu

Eyes tear

Choking on own breath.

Runny nose.

Skin eruptions.

Rashes within the flesh.

Ears swell. Tummy is hell.

Do not touch.

What might happen.

Nothing to tell….

Two Razing Bulls

Two Razing Bulls

In a crowded market place

Two razing bulls stood facing each other

Snorting with passion,

Tension building up for the busy migrant onlookers

Caught in the snarl;

Mouths wide open, they waited…

A young lad of seventeen

Endowed with strength as nature would have it,

Set about to beat the dust,

Opened the tap of a nearby water tanker

And sprayed at the beasts;

Oh! Swooned a couple of ladies…

Their husbands cheered the lad,

The water calmed the beasts

Though we cannot say for sure

For they started to disperse among the crowd

Only to resume their rivalry

At some other place, at some other time.

 

Hour 20

@varenyas

I hate my life

“Oh my God, I hate my life‼”
“And what the actual fuck?‼”
Teenagers love big emotion words.
What will they do in an emergency
When they truly need to measure
Pain or excitement, despair or joy?

And yet, don’t you ever say,
“I’m going to kill you!”? I do.
What kind of homicidal maniac
Kills in retaliation for taking
The scissors without returning
Them to where they belong?

“I thought I would die,” my
Mother used to say, when she
Could say anything, in regards
To an embarrassment or shame.
Yes, those humiliating moments
Burn but never kill, nor maim.

And even the occasional yell,
”You’re driving me crazy!”
Which my mother and I both
Said to our children or spouse.
Though no one has gone mad
By another’s annoying behavior.

But melodrama is nothing new.
I’ve heard in the movies or
Maybe I read it in a book, the
Lover declares to the beloved,
“My life has no meaning, is not
Worth living without you.” Really?

And don’t get me started on cars.
I’d get more than a second glance
Had you recorded my car litany.
“What the f#$*k is wrong with
You, you jackass, mother f’ing
Moron. Learn how to drive‼!”

Comedian Louis CK jokes,
”Can you imagine if you said
the same to someone who
bumped you in an elevator,
Facing them, “I hope you die‼”

Never Grow Up

Never Grow Up

Be young and carefree like the days of simply being alive was enough for you to see

Stay curious and remain playful

Never Grow Up

Be full of laughter and joy

Start jumping into rain puddles

and blow bubbles across the lawn

Never Grow Up

Revisit Neverland the novelties inside of your imagination.

Enjoying life without simple conversation

Gravitating toward kindness and displaying gifts of admiration

Never Grow Up

Exhausted Exhilaration

Body tired

Brain stone cold

Wired

 

Here we are

Longing, dreading

Finish line in sight

Three more to go

 

High on caffeine

And inspiration

Music blasting, silently

Exhausting, batteries

 

Running on empty

Living like renegade

Love the underdogs

 

Parade! Parade!

Did the circus come to town?

We are the  poets of the night

 

It’s always different

Then when it came before

Exaggeration?

That’s what words are for!

 

 

 

 

Wasteful

Prompt 20

Trash will be our legacy

The future will know we existed by The remnants of our debris

Please explain how there’s more trash in space then there are galaxies

Beaches have eroded.        Oceans overloaded   millions of animals slaughtered needlessly

 

Hour 21: Do Tell the Tale of a Fish’s Tail

I caught a catfish from  Lake Powell.

‘Twas bigger than your pike so frail.

It was this long from head to tail.

 

My story has a fishy smell?

I tell the truth, so go to—

Well, Okay it wasn’t quite that swell.

 

This fish was bigger than a house,

Okey a house made for a mouse.

Or maybe for a common louse?

 

Don’t bother me with fine detail.

My story grows with every tell.

I’ll send a picture in the mail,

Juxtaposed by a giant snail.

Earth Gazing

Hello little blue planet
I’m worried about you
I’ve been watching you
You don’t look so well
Did you stop taking care of yourself?

Nestled in your celestial sky
I’ve seen your past, present, and future
I’ve seen your shiny whites and brilliant blues
Luscious greens and amber golds
Swirling and sliding, shifting and changing.

Lately, your kaleidoscope is murky
Dark, dull, foreboding spots and patches
Damaged and ruined
I’m worried you won’t be able to breathe
Maybe you should stop smoking.

It’s not good for you.

Poem 21-Don’t Go There

Word One

Don’t go down there

That place, it’s evil

Dark, dastardly, deceptive

You will regret it

There is a reason the past is buried there

All that nasty emotion

Those long forgotten memories

They will grab you and pull you back in

Next thing you know

You’ll be smothering tears in your pillow

And plotting revenge like a pro.

Don’t do it

Stay away

Keep that shit bottled up

Keep it under those layers of self pep talks

Keep it hidden beneath the late night ice cream and the

Stress donuts at dawn

It is dark there, dank, dangerous

Grab that shovel

Put more dirt on that casket

Burn a couple pictures

If you keep going there

That dead memory zombie will eat you

Throw your carcass to the next girlfriend to eat

and she doesn’t need the calories either