The Poetry Marathon

Inside Out

It’s dark in here.
Turn on the light.
I can’t see.
It’s wet and warm
I touch slime,
Viscous rubber,
Throbbing hum.

My eyes closed,
No they’re open
What’s wrong?
Am I blind?
Muted pours,
Flowing chutes
Chug like clocks,
Syncing me.

I’m floating,
Still, vibrating.
My legs kick
Weighty slugs
Miming a jog
As bionic man
In a slo-mo shot.

My arms too,
Tossing sludge
Through fingers
Spread wide open
To grasp the idea
Where am I now?
Which way is up?

I’m not drowning
But I can’t breathe,
Don’t breathe.
Don’t gasp,
No air
Yet, no worry,
I’m here still.

No push no pull,
Motionless now,
The light dawning,
I’m not inside.
There’s nothing here.
I’m outside—and in,
Above and below
I’m all there is.

Inside Out

These are the things we’ve never been permitted

to talk about: the bruises from Daddy, the scars

from the broken Sunday School slate. Whether

we were bad (which we were – tic tac toe on the pews),

whether our sisters were good (they slept in

the same room with him, so anything that

happened was mum, and made them proud,

at first). Later, after they realized, not all

fathers take such liberties, they were angry

with us. They would have taken the beatings,

any day, if we had taken the worst,

from the inside out.

Nightmare

Lost in an eerie nightmare, frightened, cold and alone.

I fight to escape the darkness, but my will is not my own.

The monsters all surround me, forcing me into their snare.

I search to find a way out, but there are traps everywhere.

I slip and stumble into a hole, and fall far into the deep.

Where villains rule, demons dwell, and beasts like to creep.

The ear piercing roaring makes it hard for me to think.

They hand me a bottle of poison, and I tilt my head to drink.

The howling rushes over me as I crumple to the ground.

The lights dim and the noise fades until there is no sound.

Only my barely beating heart, fighting until the very end.

When my last breath leaves my body, I watch my soul ascend.

Inside Out

Inside my world is topsy turvy
I don’t know where to go
A cacophony of sounds
So much is going on.
The dog it barks, the cats meow
The music plays so loud
I cover my ears for silence
Put a blanket over my head like a shroud.
Outwardly I look so calm
Enjoying the joyful patter
Inside I’m screaming, no one hears
What I feel, it does not matter.

Hour 7–How to Write a Poem From the Inside Out

how to

write a poem

from the

inside out

out inside

the from

poem a write

to how

7 WHY?

Why?

Before,

You didn’t know he existed.

He is a stranger, he’s foreign

He’s not on the earth you walked in

Not in the circle you swirled about

You have a life then, living it, enjoying it,

Why?

Why would it be very hard now, to go back

To those happy times and happy places now?

Just because you knew he exists now?

And alive? and kicking?

Still estranged and yet buzzing about?

Who cares? Ha!

Prompt 7

Inside out and upside down
Sniffing the fresh air
What is out there
It’s inside job

Come inside , where it’s calm

Space for reflection

Outside is crazy
Holding myself together
Better go inside

In midst of water
Inside, outside
Room for reflection

In middle of awakening
We are asleep
Inside , outside
Upside down

Keep investigating
Inside outside
Leave no stone unturned

Closing my eyes
Looking at the universe
Inside, outside

I see a figure
It’s transparent
can see it’s insides
Unlimited glaxiees
Flow out of it’s body
Star planets, waves oceans

The figure turns to

see me looking…

and gets up

to leave.

It’s me !

inside out

the labyrinth had been painted on the concrete
in the park,
wide enough for a wheelchair

a crack emerged in the concrete
in the very center of the labyrinth
and a dandelion emerged in the crack
whispering
life and yellow belong here

the boy child found the dandelion there
past yellow, now puffed up with wishes;
he picked the dandelion in the center of the labyrinth
blowing the wispy seeds into flight
beyond this place
passing over labyrinth boundaries
soaring away to find new cracks in the earth
as the boy child wished
his wispy wishes
that this wheelchair could somehow have wings

one dandelion seed landed
on the boy child’s shirt
and together they wandered the labyrinth path
emerging from the inside out
to a world full of cracks
and yellow

Inside Out

Paint blobs

Toothpaste gobs

Eye goop

crane’s whoop

Lava drains

Tears stream

Heart aches

Love breaks

Passion burns

Souls yearn

Certain doubt

Everything comes

from inside out

Elusive Dreams No More

My dreams long ago are hopeless to achieve
For these dreams are so high though my time I will give
But right now I am here writing poems I can write
With each prompt every hour writing verse all my might

My dreams long ago are those that need time
But right now all my time is offered for this rhyme
I may be lost for words will not find the right kind
But this won’t make me stop i will be in the grind

Elusive dreams elusive no more are my dreams
Little by little step by step themes after themes
I will write poetry write the best I can
And my dreams will be here at the palm of my hand.