The Poetry Marathon

End of the Barbary Coast?

“Of its ancient glories nothing remains excepting a few battered facades, the tattered remains or signs, and the plaster nymphs and satyrs in the entrance lobby of the old Hippodrome, now befouled by dirt and penciled obscenities.”[1]–

The Barbary Coast;

Having survived fire, flood and the Sydney Ducks;

Doesn’t die so easily;

The police can close its bars;

The Navy can ban its sailors from visiting;

But the Coast waits;

What it has to offer the people want;

The people will not be denied

So

It

Waits

-30-

[1] Herbert Ashbury, The Barbary Coast, p.314

hour 19 poem

Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.
Moments in our lives
are like flowers we choose
to pick up
or to buy
from the florist s
Who sometimes chooses
for us
Life is sometimes
beyond our control.

mrs dalloway by v. Woolf

Nineteenth poem

Let’s go exploring
Let’s run away
Into the night
And into the day
I’m asking, imploring
Just come out to play
And if it’s alright
I’d like you to stay
Let’s fly away, soaring
Get out of our way
And by our own might
Claim freedom today
But I’m dreaming, I’m snoring
I’m foolish, but hey,
I’ll give my best fight
No cost I won’t pay
To escape all that’s boring
And get out of the grey
Finding the light
Amidst disarray

*Opening line from The Complete Calvin and Hobbes – Book 3, Bill Watterson

AS THE ALARM CLOCK on the chest of drawers exploded like a horrid little bomb of bell metal, Dorothy, wrenched from the depths of some complex, troubling dream, awoke with a start and lay on her back looking into the darkness in extreme exhaustion.

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Her head was pounding, and for a moment, she wondered why someone would use a hammer on her head. She realized quickly that she was all alone in her room; alone in her bed. She inhaled deeply, the cold air in her frigid room. Suddenly, Dorothy remembered what had occurred and what, and she felt as if she would swoon.

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She reached for her robe and struggled trying to get up. Dorothy finally managed to make it out of bed, and make it to the sink. The water was icy cold, instantly freezing her naked skin. She could not believe that she was in her current state.

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After taking a drink Dorothy slowly walked away and back to her bed.Before lying down she took medicine to calm her head. She almost felt relieved that she was in some pain, because it was better, than what faced her the next day.

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Stanza 1 : A Clergyman’s Daughter;

Author: George Orwell

Harcourt Brace & Company

Copyright 1936

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By: KMH 2015

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(Hour 19) 4.30-5.30pm — #87 “Torquay in Devon”

Another limerick, cos I’m low on energy & been napping sitting up at my computer. 5 to go …

The lovely fat lady with a crutch
perhaps is eating a wee bit too much
———cramming in scone eleven
———with her cream tea in Devon
before exploding at the waiter’s touch.

Oh dear, grandma’s gone to heaven …

Next on the agenda: #52

Time to act

For a moment, he thought he heard

a woman’s voice…

the wisdom of the ages…

whispering up from the chasms of the earth.

A chill scurried up his clammy spine

as he caught- real or imagined

– a faint air of foreboding.

A vaguely perceived warning

like words in the wind

that exist in the mind.

Self doubts arguement

to a tricky decision.

 

His finger hovered still,

an eternity now.

Shaky handed second guessing

and it’s invisible barrier of indecision.

Courage to act,

courage to do.

His vow to himself.

His reason.

His logic.

“This must be!”

He pushed the send button

and it was done.

These Slow Moments

I’m full!
Or I’m empty:
I can’t tell which.

But it’s clearly a case of extremes.

The mud trap makes me slow,
the dragging of my feet
leaving trails in the day behind me

and my hopes are just scratches
in the coffin lid of yesterday.

My eyes won’t open;
I have to see by feel.

Heaviness happens, and
lightness laments;

But tomorrow will hold me in health.

Calling Iris

Bright blooming iris

Calling card of Celestial Iris

Don’t disregard the lovely lady requesting escort

Take her home

 

Calling card of Celestial Iris

Dark night with stars of light

Take her home

O’ Flower of Life

 

Dark night with stars of light

Booming beneath this window

O’ Flower of Life

She rests here waiting to depart

 

Blooming beneath this window

Her soul vibrates in the soil

She rests here waiting to depart

Awaken her

 

Her soul vibrates in the soil

Bright blooming iris

Awaken her

Don’t disregard the lovely lady requesting escort

 

 

by Karen Sullivan

Form: Pantoum

 

 

hour 18 poem

promises…
kisses that did not touch her lips
words she only read
dreams they both had…
poems that no poet
ever put down
on paper
that were never sold
in a bookstore
or underlined by students
in a literature seminar…

don t Count your Chicken before they hatch

#17 – Fascinated and swallowed

I am so fascinated by all details

I can’t see what is in front of me

All those glittering details

Flattering the eyes

When they are just about to cry

For the feeling of aloneness

At the dawn of Sunday

When nobody dances any longer

After such a long night

 

I am so fascinated by all these eyes

At least I think they are,

At least they look like eyes

Greens and reds

And antennas so nice and lovely

Who wouldn’t be captivated?

By so much grace and beauty

I can’t see what is in front of me

All these details are inside your big heart

 

Your heart so big it swallows me

And I am now fully crying