Butterfly
I like to dance with butterflies
I want to hug butterflies, look at
all the color of their wings, so magical
Those colors are the most beautiful
under the sunshine with the blue sky
in the background.
Hour 9- Beautiful Moment
Beet jacket tremor bayou elbow lightbulb cinnamon bucket elk carport
While out exploring the bayou
I came across a shimmering lake
It was shaped with an elbow bend
A path beside it I decided to take.
There was a chill in the still air it seemed
My jacket was light, but warm
It was cinnamon in colour
And comfortably embraced my form.
In my hand I carried a bucket which held
A pickled beet so fresh for a snack
As I made my way along the path
A tremor trickled up and down my back.
My eyes lit up as they suddenly beheld
An elk camouflaged within the trees
I waited and watched until he disappeared
The excited trembling extending to my knees.
I slowly made my way back home
A look of wonder shining from my face
As I turned on the lightbulb in my carport
I acknowledged the beauty of the moment with grace.
#9 Word List “I Could Have Danced All Night”
I Could Have Danced All Night
Your jacket was the color of cinnamon
Which brought out the green in your eyes.
I wore a dress—the deep, rich color of fresh beets.
You took my elbow and led me to the dance floor.
When the event was over,
You took me home and parked in the driveway.
You unscrewed the lightbulb in the carport
And we danced to the music on your car radio
Until we knocked over the car-wash bucket
And the neighbor yelled at us.
I didn’t lose a slipper that night,
But I definitely felt like Cinderella.
Cindy Herndon
Poem for Hour Nine (9/24)
A most incredible sight, like glimmering sapphire in dire need of protection, the Southeast Asian Pitta
Shines in the sunlight.
Indescribable beauty in pheasants and darters alike, myna birds, and graceful herons,
Angelic little egret and electric-blue-winged kingfishers.
Hour 9 – The Diagnosis
The tremor started gradually.
Hardly noticeable to anyone but me.
But it spread beyond my hands and now threatened to swallow my entire body.
Doctors, tests, needles, scans, and then waiting.
The waiting is the worst part.
The not knowing; the wondering if my life is over or if I will be cured.
Today the wait is over.
I struggle to put on my jacket as I walk out the door.
It is early, before sunrise, and I trip over a bucket I forgot to put away the day before.
I finally make it to the other side of the carport.
My hand quakes as I try to buckle my seatbelt.
Even in the dark, I know my elbow is bleeding from the fall and my mood darkens further.
I watch the sun begin to stretch across the bayou as I drive past.
Knowing will be worse than the waiting.
I turn my focus back to the road ahead as I draw nearer to my death sentence.
– Diana Kristine
“The Secret Cabin”
The Cabin’s lightbulb flicker on and off,
On a Friday night once more.
Its quite cold for an early September,
A perfect time for a beet.
One thing I can remember.
Is my full bucket blessed in harvest,
With my red jacket on,
Across the bayou view,
It’s a perfect quiet day,
An art translated for before the sunset go away.
I’m on my way back to the cabin,
With a lightbulb that flicker on and off.
Text Prompt:
Below is a list of ten words. Please pick at least five of them to use in your poem. If you want to use all ten, please do so.
Beet, jacket, tremor, bayou, elbow, lightbulb, cinnamon, bucket, elk, carport
#POETRYMARATHON2023 #HOUR09 #24HRSCATEGORY
Hour 9, the 10 words text prompt
Below is a list of ten words. Please pick at least five of them to use in your poem. If you want to use all ten, please do so.
beet
jacket
tremor
bayou
elbow
lightbulb
cinnamon
bucket
elk
carport
Quake the tremors deep in the bayou
A ripple felt by even distant elk
A drop in the bucket of time
Transforming life in an instant
As I pull my elbow through my jacket
The lightbulb flickers with the shifting earth
Threatening the stability of cinnamon trees
And carports of PVC
I know what I must do
Opening the entrance to my abode, taking the long way
Clinging to the roof as wind tears through the sky
The window to the attic looms,
Beckoning at me
It’s time for a spell
It’s time to subdue hell.
I climb through the window, scatter the salt,
Bite down on the elk horn,
Knowing this will hurt a lot.
A slice, a ribbon
Crimson, like the bark of my nearby tree
And the black creature retreats
Taking the tremors with it
Prompt Nine – Goodbye Joe
Prompt for Hour Nine
Text Prompt:
Below is a list of ten words. Please pick at least five of them to use in your poem. If you want to use all ten, please do so.
Beet, jacket, tremor, bayou, elbow, lightbulb, cinnamon, bucket, elk, carport
Goodbye Joe
‘Mummy, what’s a bayou?’
Struggling to get his elbow
into his school jacket sleeve
she said she didn’t know.
‘Mummy,’ he said, with the familiar
tremor back in his voice.
‘You said you knew everything.’
She had no choice.
Seizing a lightbulb moment,
she led him into the carport
switched on the stereo in the car
‘You’ll find out on the way, sport.’
Found what she was looking for
And soon they were singing along
To the Carpenters, mother and son
Jambalaya – what a song.
Word Play
Letters have power.
Did you know?
Just by changing a letter or two,
you can change the world.
Change “beet” to “beef”
and you change a vegetable
into a meat.
Change “jacket” to “jackel”
and you change something that can protect you
into something that can tear you apart.
Change “bucket” into “bucked”
and you change something that holds
into something that casts off.
Change “elk” to “elm”
and you can change something that can provide
shade to the other.
And, even though it takes two changes,
You can change “cinnomen” into “cinnamon”
and have a spice spelled correctly.