The Poetry Marathon

1. I wrote my first poem at the age of 10. It was about a prize fight I sneaked out of bed to watch, peeping from behind our living room sofa, smugly content in my transgressions. The poem poured from me the next day and I was convinced it was a masterpiece. I was proud; so proud i wanted to show it to everyone, including my Mother. Bad idea. After much interrogation and my tearful confession, I was banished to my bedroom.  The poem was forgotten and so were my dreams of literary fame.

Now, years later, I’m finally trying again. Short stories are my favorite. A novel is my goal.  But poetry will always be my first love.

Hi, everyone!

I’m a poet from rural Illinois who finds herself transplanted to a south suburb of Chicago. A sense of place plays an important part in my poetry and my life, and recently my relationship with several important spaces has changed. I’m hoping that perhaps participating in this marathon will help me explore some of that and find some grounding . . . or at least gain a sense of hope and direction moving forward. But perhaps I will write about entirely different things! At any rate, it will be a neat challenge and I’ll get to read others’ poems!

This is my first attempt at a poetry marathon of any sort. To prepare, I want to sharpen my poetic ears by memorizing poems by several of my favorite poets. I also enjoy, at times, the structure of certain traditional poetic forms, so I’ll want to make sure I have reminders of how they work handy–ha! And, of course, I’ll need some creature comforts–most importantly, black tea with milk and sugar!

I’m most excited about working in the wee hours of the morning (although, I hope I’m not too spent by then to be creative). There’s something so timeless about the space between midnight and the moments when the birds begin to sing.

Best wishes to all my fellow poets and adventurers!

~ Elena Lee

Ramona here.  First time marathoner, long time poetry writer. I am a high school support teacher from British Columbia.

Hoping to survive the all-nighter and see what my unconscious unleashes in poetry at 2 or 3 am.

Hello everyone!

I am mother, educator, bilingual author and translator. I write to inspire others to be a better person. This is my second Poetry Marathon. Welcome to all the first time participants!

I write for a local paper, have 2 dogs (one who grew to be an UNEXPECTED giant) and a cat, lots of kids and grandkids and 2 great-grandbabies. I garden, sculpt, paint, and hike. I’m not the world’s greatest poet, but I loved the challenge and the prompts last year. So, I decided to go ahead and join the half-marathon again this year.

Hi everyone. I’m Kofi Acquah from Ghana.

Hello,

My name is Martina Gallegos, aka, Martina Robles Gallegos. I came from a rural town in Mexico at the age of fourteen; I spoke no English at all, and my Spanish wasn’t that great either. I had to learn both languages when I started school in the United States, as a junior high schooler. Since teachers didn’t know how to teach me, or what to do with me, I had to devise clever ways to teach myself English.

I moved on to high school, with teachers doubting my ability to succeed. I started using the language I’d learned even though it was still pretty bad. It was here that I met some wonderful teachers who saw potential in me and trusted that I’d make the right choices; I wasn’t going to disappoint them. To shorten my story, I lost my mother to suicide when I was in tenth grade, but I studied super hard and graduated top ESL student. I attended community college, facing more challenges but persevered then moved on to university. There I faced more societal obstacles but managed to focus nevertheless. Unfortunately, I lost a sister to suicide, the second family member. Again I had to give 110% to stay in school. I graduated and then got my bilingual teaching credential.

I taught for almost eighteen years until a work injury followed by a massive hemorrhagic stroke, coma, brain and heart surgeries ended my teaching career, but I tell people: and that was the best thing that happened to me; the nightmares began after I got home.

I became a volunteer at my local hospital and elementary school since I was not allowed to even visit my worksite. I resumed my Masters but couldn’t attend ground school because of the driving thing. I then looked for and found an online program. I changed subjects but enrolled and, facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles, I was able to complete my Masters degree. I started publishing a month before my graduation. I graduated with my Masters and my daughter with her high school diploma.

Hello! My name is Laurie McKay. I have 5 brothers and 4 sisters. My mother is 92 this year. My dad, two brothers and one sister have passed. After a tremultuous and promiscuous era in my 20’s, I was fortunate to find my soul mate and I married him. We have a blended family: John’s older son is the center of the universe; my daughter is the Princess of the family; and John’s younger son is the Golden Child.

My bread and butter job is as a special education supervisor. I am in my 33rd year of working in special education, and I couldn’t imagine my life without this vocation.

I have enjoyed writing as long as I can remember. The writer’s bug really made its home in my heart about six years ago when I unsuccessfully attempted my first novel through the NaNoWriMo contest. Since then, I have written two novels that need serious editing and revision work.

Last year, I signed up for the poetry marathon and successfully met my goal of 24 poems in 24 hours. This opportunity catapulted me into a fantastic world of poetry! I joined the Some Poets group. We have one anthology and two chapbooks self-published.

Some Poets challenges and encourages me to write better each and every time I write. I plan to continue to write and to seek publishing when I retire. I am so grateful to Caitlin and Jacobs Jan’s for being the catalyst that had allowed me to develop my writing talents.

What is worst,ice or fire,

You know what,let’s inquire.

Our planet earth will end with a final vow,

Either it will freeze and frigid in ice after 40 days and forty nights of rain and freezing floods of water.

Or inferno of wild fire, turning up the virgin Forrest into a powdery dark ashes of clouds.

An immeasurable intensity of tectonics movements of burning rocks of lava.

Rubbing of two great plates, the Pacific plate and Eurasian plate.

Climate change,let’s heed the call before we demise,

Scientist need to decide,but don’t be surprise.

Greetings, poets!

I’m thrilled to join this marathon. Yay for literary solidarity and motivation!

I’m a college professor of sociology, an activist for several causes, and a lover of many things literary, both trashy and classic. Oh, and I love animals. All animals.