The Poetry Marathon

Today’s Realization

Another poem to be written
Another poem about….

Gosh, what’s another word for bullshit?

I realized today how much happier I was
in my naivete…

back when I didn’t understand why
my faux “sisty” behaved so strangely,
demanding that I marry so that she could
“be rich”.

I wrote it off to her lack of an education.

… back when I wasn’t afraid to be myself
because I didn’t actually know who I was
to begin with…

And by “begin with”, I mean my birth.

“The Hunt”… it’s a good movie…
one I relate to in a big way,
having been hunted myself.

I’m tired. No, really, tired… I need to go to bed.

I also need to get this out…
I’m tired – like the beautiful blonde
fighting the crazy rich chick in the movie.

What a great monologue about the jack rabbit
and the box turtle.

I am so f-ing tired! I want to point my finger
at a few entitled perverts and shout
“Straighten up!”

But that’s not my job, is it. Not my job!

Sometimes I wish I didn’t know the things I know.
Most of the time I wonder how human beings can
be so entirely inhumane.

I’m just so tired. Going to bed now. Too tired of it all.
This poem sucks, and I am too tired to care.
I’m supposed to be “forgiving” while believing the strangest things…

Like “reptilian aliens are the root of the world’s problems.”

I am so f-ing tired, that I just can’t think of another word for it…
bullshit.

Good night.

On Rejection

This one is a work in progress, because I think it is a very important topic to cover for the human condition. Rejection hurts! Especially when we want something SO badly that we feel our very existence depends upon it. Our ego needs this THING or PERSON or EVENT so much that it becomes part of our soul somehow. This is my own prompt, so to speak, and I invite other poets to write about it as well.

To me, rejection is a sign post – a signal that, of all the diverging paths before me, that was not the right one. Then, it becomes a matter of whether or not I still want that thing (job, role in a play, etc.), person (love interest, business relationship), or event (film or music festival, poetry marathon).

Next, there’s the why… why do I want this thing so badly that the thought of being rejected is an obstacle. Then, it becomes the question of want vs need. I want to be an artist full time, but I need a steady cash flow. I want a good lifestyle AND I need a steady cash flow to make that happen. Therefore, I need to work as a data scientist more than I need to pursue a career in the arts.

I want a long term relationship with a man, but I need to be his one and only, and I need to feel that love vibe, and I need some time alone for my creativity. I could go on and on with all those needs and wants.

Rejection, therefore, is a necessary function of reaching all those needs and wants at some point in time. I still wonder if I will ever get there.

Poem to come when I have more time to create it.

Forest Life

Photo prompt Photo by Tim 
Forest Life 
Deep in the forest, where critters do live 
The Great Horned Owl hunts in the night
Deer Mice and Bats, Moths and Muskrats
Snakes and Grey Squirrels, Rabbits and Rats
All meals for his family back home in the hole. 

In the marshy wetlands more wildlife survive
The moose and her calf forage for food
Beside Beaver and Otters, Fishers and Mink.
Birds and Bugs, Turtles and Fish all make their lives
In the bogs and the streams.

High up in a tree or deep under ground
The birds in the air the fish in the stream.
They all have one enemy; defenceless against
It comes early in Spring, stays late in the Fall
Death by Wildfire is a very sad end.

 

Swiss Cowbells

Photo by Andrew Shaughnessy                                                                                                                  The Swiss Cowbells.

What a beautiful sound the Swiss cowbell

That echos in the Alps,

The Matterhorn; the pyramidal peak

Still challenges the brave.

The hiking trails where families go

On a Sunday afternoons,

The iron cowbells on leather straps

Are as old as time itself

 

In that peaceful land of Chocolate Mouse

And Bank Accounts.

With a copper cowbell in your bag

That sound will ne’er be lost.

At 60, my list is shorter

Strength
gentleness
balance
meditation
creativity
walking/hiking
poems and
more poems

Ten Little Words

(apologies to Clement Clark Moore)

Beet, jacket tremor bayou elbow lightbulb cinnamon bucket elk carport

Twas the night before harvest 

When all through the bayou

Not one elk was a’stirin, not one little boo 

The carport was lit by a single lightbulb

in the hopes that someone got home from the pub

The beet was all nestled in the jacket elbow

While cinnamon buns rose from the dough.

When out in the paddock there came such a tremor

I ran to the door holding my hammer. 

What’s Left?

Image Prompt by Martin Torrez

( With apologies to Louis Carol)

“The time has come” the Walrus said

To talk of many things:

Of Wills—Estates —and who gets what—

And why there are no blinds-

And whether there’s hereafter. 

*************************************

What  does one leave in the winter of life?

Who are the friends  who make up this life?

When is it time to leave…. ‘A well lived life?’

Where will I spend the last days of my life?

Why is it  so complicated  to leave this life?

How we can leave with ‘Dying With Dignity?’

A Prayer on Being Humble

Dear God,

Thanks for listening, first of all,
since next to you I feel so small,
but great at the same time,
as I seek to be in tune

with you.

Yes, you. You are pretty cool,
my Lord. And savior, yes, but
not as prescribed by the fool
in need of shedding his own debt.

Thank you.

Every day, I thank you as we speak
together on the mundane things,
and I forget that I am to be meek.
In response to what a stranger brings:

It’s true…

Thank you, Lord, for a mind
that brings me perseverance.
Thank you for the ethic to find
time to study, try, learn, and advance.

So few,

Lord, are willing to listen,
and instead pretend to love you
by not loving themselves within.
You didn’t say “to thine own self be true,”

So true!

The ethic to work and to earn
is a gift from you, Lord,
because you have helped me learn
so that I can afford

being true

to this vessel you built for my soul.
Thank you, sweet friend!
To love you more is my goal,
and love me more till the end.

Forever

                         

 

 

Ten years in the past

Young people in school

Fell in lust for each other

But how could it last?

The years quickly past

With studies and work.

The birth of two children

Sometimes  they clashed.

A new home in the Fort

New jobs for them both.

Children in school

They started to court.

With each falling-out

And each making-up

A bond they created

Without a knock-out.

With a Rose gold ring

They made big plans,

To show the world

“This is not just a fling.”

.

 

        

 

C’est la Vie

I’d love to tell you, we did it!

I’d love to tell you, we finished.

These past few years, haven’t been quite the same.

These past few years, we hardly get through it.

Am I unfocused?

Did I get distracted?

Yes, I suppose.

Pulled in too many directions.

It’s hard being a mother.

C’est la vie.

It’s hard sacrificing your wants.

Your needs.

For another.

C’est la vie.

This is the life you chose.

You can’t shake the blame.

Now get up and pull yourself together.

There’s no need to pout.

After-all, there will always be another.

C’est. La. Vie.

 

(Congrats to all who successfully completed the marathon 🥰)