The Poetry Marathon

Swan Lake – Hour Six

Swan Lake

Swan Lake for some is but a dance
But, here, it is vacation
A camping trip that at a glance
Yields rest and relaxation
Picturesque hints of crystal blue
Meet up with forest green
A break from life, a fond adieu
From all the stress I’ve seen

I set my tent beside the lake
Beneath a sprawling maple
I took a breath for peaceful sake
Let quiet be my staple
A time to let the lakeshore speak
And to let each sorrow fade
Until the solace that I seek
Defines each glint of shade

I close my eyes and take it in
The sounds ring in my ears
The pain releasing from within
Marked by my silent tears
As I let go, peace floods my heart
And I begin to heal
For nature’s power to impart
Such peace is quite surreal

I bid farewell to dear Swan Lake
Relaxed and freed within
Her beauty ’twas a blessed break
From the perils that had been
And I find calm in knowing she
Will be there should I need
Another chance to simply be
At one with her ’til freed

WhoDunIt (Poem 6)

Blood on the walls
Shattered glass on the floor
Broken China across the kitchen and dining area
The furniture helter-skelter

It was as if
I’d walked into a crime scene
Not unlike the ones I’d read about, or
Seen in the movies
Had I wished for a crime thriller or a murder mystery that hard?

With trepidation and mounting fear
I took one step at a time
Looking for the body
Anticipating the killer to pounce on me
And claim me as his next victim

Tick tock
Bang!
A whimper,
Who was that?

I turned around, scared to bits
There stood the culprit
Without guilt or fear
Face dripping red
The eyes challenging

Meow!
Rolling my eyes I scooped up the troublemaker
Sherlock, my cat
Was apparently nothing like his name source,
In fact quite the opposite

 

In response to

Text Prompt:

Write a mystery poem. The crime could be real or imagined. The poem could be clue based or narrative. The details are up to you.

Frozen Union (a nonet) – Hour 4, Prompt 4

In an ice-covered cube they move, two

vows bind their love, like frost entwined

lovely she, dashing he, find

this frozen space, like minds

hold and have, rich, poor

death may tap door

but their ice

lives on

strong.

 

– Sandra Johnson, 9/2/23

 

hour 6: feeling – a haiku

Loving my wonder often
But when shall I move
The thoughts circulate and fall

Flat

Hour 6

Flat

 

Rose early from bed,

feet on the nice, warm, spongy floor.

Routinely crawled to the edge

to report my findings,

careful to avoid bubbles.

“Dark. Sizzling. Remains extremely hot. Unacceptable for exploration.”

Waved to my colleague on a nearby disc, shrugged.

Longed for companionship,

unable to cross the searing surface between us.

The earth moved, shifted, turned as

the spatula slipped beneath me.

I leaped to the opposite side. Safe.

Until the butter melted,

the sky rained syrup.

 

 

Sue Storts

09/02/2023

Prompt six – Conversations with God

Prompt for Hour Six – Text Prompt

The earth is actually flat, you look over the edge and what do you see? Describe it.

 

Conversations with God

 

Should have been the stuff of nightmarish fright.

But strangely it wasn’t, it felt right,

as I stepped up to the edge of the night.

To the very last ledge of light.

Below the beyond, it was Bright.

And white. And White. White.

 

‘Are you God,’ I asked?

Aware that this was not the time to rhyme.

I knew the light; I lit it every morning.

 

Lighted my lamp, daily.

Cleansed. After my shower.

Tense. I did nothing, said nothing,

till I lit my little diya

and prayed for the day ahead.

 

‘We meet every morning,’ said the light.

Shame floods my blood,

my prayers were nought but greed.

Negotiations. Wants. Needs.

 

‘You get the plumber to fix the leak today, God

and I promise to write 2000 words.’

‘You get her an A in biology, God

and I promise to let her party with friends this weekend.’

And more recently,

‘You make my Ma better, God

and I promise to give up CandyCrush forever.’

 

‘Can we talk now, please God?’

I whispered. I Prayed. We Talked.

And talked, as the ground beneath me

swelled and curved and rolled

back to Life. As I wakened.

Home (prompt 6)

we are part of the earth
we came from it and we will return

I know this because you once read to me from a book
and I found I liked it better
than the voice that reads to me
in my own head

I know this because the lines on your face
look just like roads viewed from above
the ones I try to trace from the safety
of my window seat

I know this because your dirty hair
reminds me of my teenage bedroom
with its window screen popped out each night
so I could see the stars

I know this because those same stars now live
in the space between your lips
when you’re breathing softly
relaxed and unaware of the galaxies you carry

I know this because I curl up against
your valleys of carved rock and smooth sand
with my ear against your chest
I can hear the ocean beating

we are part of the earth
we came from it and we will return

I know this because I can see its reflection
in every person that I’ve loved
and I am slowly learning
how to see it in myself

DEATH OF A FOREST

You follow the trail,
Quietly observing.
Taking in all the sights and sounds,
You close your eyes.
Capturing the moment in your mind,
Recording every detail possible.
The quiet babbling of the brook,
The chirping of the crickets being exchanged for the chorusing of the cicadas.
How the wind feels against your face,
The leaves crunching under your feet.
How the cool crisp air smells of pine,
The full thick trees begiN to shed their dark green cover.
A tear forms and slowly trickles down your cheek.
For with the beauty of the fall,
Comes the death of the forest.

“Keep Practicing Code”

Hour Six

I see myself simultaneously leaning over the edge on the other side.

We/I wave to myself/us/each other and in unison we say “So this is it huh? Should have known. we knew, wasn’t willing to admit it though.”

Then we both let go, float together to opposite sides and start all over again in the cosmos. As we brush against each other in passing we note the wide, vast, deepest navy/black canvass, the twinkling of messaging in Navaho code so glad to reembrace us again in this playground. DMW

Protected: Mended – H6

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