The Poetry Marathon

H6.P6

The pieces scattered

Mid dream

Connections worn

Repair unlikely

The grass is greener

I could jump – but the nothingness is vast

I will stay

The alternative is unimaginable

My life is here – linear

 

I can’t

I can’t say
I don’t like it,
I can’t say
it’s wrong,
I can’t just affirm
I am not addicted,
I can’t state
I don’t need it
I can’t live
without it.

I love it,
because it
keeps me satisfied
and I become
a slave,
sometimes
it’s all I need,
sometimes
it’s all I want
to stay
alive and wild.

Prompt for hour 6

MY MORNING WALK

Cool breeze
Flowers and leaves falling from the trees.
The weather is perfect,
I wear my designer shoes and track pants.
Set out for my walk.
I walk rhythmically to the sound of the cawing crows,
Till the sound of a random cuckoo breaks my steps,
A few minutes later, I start again,
Promising myself that I would not get distracted again.
I set off with a good pace for a few steps,
Only to be distracted by someone calling me from behind,
To be greeted with a big smile by my close friend
The happiness of meeting a good friend is priceless,
The idea of a brisk walk is lost as we laugh and walk slowly,
Towards a mini morning coffee break along with breakfast.
Followed by a visit to the vegetable market,
To buy fresh vegetables and fruits
The flower seller starts a random conversation with me,
About the rising prices and the rising temperature,
I feel all important and happy,
About the entire morning routine
Where, I effectively spent more than an hour on the road,
Whoops, I hardly walked a kilometer in that hour!
My doctor however is not too pleased with my regime,
She asks me regularly,
“Do you go for a walk in the morning?”
I nod my head indecisively,

Only I and my weighing scale know,
How distracting my morning walks are.

POEM BY SHREYA SURAJ

Hour Six—silliness for some, reality for others

Conspiricies

the Earth is flat

Big Foot

Dog Man

The Royalty are Lizard Aliens

NASA has a huge curtain hiding Planet X from humans

 

What if,

this can be a what if

Big Foot took Dog Man for a walk

Saw some lizards that turned into Kings and Queens

Gasped when the space curtain fell down

Showing Planet X

At the end of the Flat Earth

If this is true,

then please do,

send me my

tin foil hat

and I’ll spread the word

the Earth is Flat.

Hour 6 – The Lone Traveler – Image Prompt

I am trapped in life

And can’t wait to try it myself

I let the pain waft around me

When I started dreaming

 

Indulged in fantasies

From distant worlds and secret places

As I pull out my pen

Plan my wishes and thoughts

 

While the ink is blooming on the paper

I realized that I drew a map

Past, future and present

And the world as I know it

 

Heard the call from the world

It spreads to my feet

I am a restless traveler

And I get to know my world

 

Have peace when you see me

Walking alone, talking to myself

Have peace…I am a lone traveler

Prompt six

 

 

 

poem 6, Notebooks

At the edge of the earth,
notebooks are piled high like cliffs.
I take one out and a new one appears.
The pages are full of words in another language.
I take another and its drawings of animals from front page to back.
Another, letters from a widow.
I take my journal of healing poems from my backpack
And slide it on top of the widow’s.
I left my mark and will return again another day.

Cherry Trees

Cherry Trees

 

Papaw Kidd’s branches sway with each tickle

of the wind. Look at big they are, Mamaw

gasps, eyes hugging the trunks grown green with moss.

Aunt Vivy nods, If only we could still climb.

Shade covers the lawn as leaves and blossoms

stretch across the sky, the two trees reaching

for a lover’s embrace. Mamaw looks at the bird,

hopeful for a place to land, We can

when we dream. Perched on a twig, it begins

singing. Do you hear that? Aunt Vivy closes

her eyes. Mamaw sighs, Yes, he’s just like us.

Flat Earth – Hour Six prompt [2023, Half].

Hour Six, with the Prompt: “The Earth is actually flat, describe what you see…”
*No religious or scientific offense is meant. This is fictional fun.

The vast expanse,
Echoes with the chance,
of new advance.

Promises of rebirth,
Usher in fresh mirth,
Across this new
Flat Earth.

No rolling hills to toss in,
No mountains to bear crosses in –
Only equity,
and opportunity,
to awash in.

Life With(out) You (Hour 5)

There was never a dull moment with you

You left a trail of magic everywhere you went

You held a joy so powerful you couldn’t help but share it with everyone you saw

But now you’re gone

And I don’t think the world will ever be the same

 

Life used to be my favorite meal

And now it’s lost all its flavor

And I can’t get myself to eat

 

Dog kisses feel dry

The flowers don’t have the courage to bloom

Pictures lack color and feel empty

Time is frozen still, chilling me to the bone

 

Life used to feel like a movie

But now it feels like someone forgot to turn the camera off

Everyone’s gone home

The lights have been turned off

And I’m just waiting

Hoping

For something else to happen

For you to reappear

To put a smile back on my face

But your part of the story is over

I know you’re still in every scene

Perhaps even more so now

But your watching from behind the screen

Just a fly on the wall

When you were always meant for the stage

 

You were the light in every tunnel

But now you’ve reached your end

And life is just a dark cave

My eyes will never adjust to

 

I don’t know how to exist without you

I don’t know that I ever will

I don’t want to

The magic you left behind is still here

But it’s harder to believe in now

Everything was so much easier with you here