The Poetry Marathon

Hi

Hi everyone. I’m Laura and I live in Sussex, England, so I’ll be contending with the difference in time zones as well as writing poems. I’ve signed up for the half-marathon, for several reasons. I’m hoping to get some good poetry motivation and prompts, as I haven’t written anything for quite some time. I’ve previously found the National Poetry Writing Month challenge of 30 poems in 30 days very interesting and useful, but am looking forward to a briefer yet more intense challenge to really get me writing again. I also look forward to reading everyone else’s work. Good luck, all!

Poetry Marathon: My Plan

Hello everyone, I hope each of you are prepared. This is quite the literary challenge! I intend on writing each of my poems in advance and setting an alarm for every hour. Rest and nutrition are the fuel needed to make it to the end of this marathon. I wish everyone the best of luck and I cannot wait to read all of the poems that are spontaneously written!

First Post

Hey everybody, I am looking forward to the marathon, and am really happy to be among a group of poets. I have written poems all my life, but the last few years have been prolific for me. However, very recently, I haven’t been able to write anything I am happy with, and it’s been frustrating. So I am really excited for the marathon, because it is so madcap, that it is bound to shake things up and tap into a place that I haven’t been able to reach lately. And as I explained on Facebook, I am flying from my native NY to my home in Dublin that day, leaving family behind…a sad day, a crazy day, a perfect day for writing poetry. In fact, I have repeated that day of leaving so many times over the last decade, that when I think of the feelings of that day, which I will certainly be feeling this Saturday, poetry starts to flow in me, and I think, “Oh no, save it till Saturday!” 🙂 I think it will be an amazing way to spend such a crazy day, and my sleep will be so screwed up anyway after an overnight flight to a timezone five hours ahead, so I feel like I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. 🙂

Namaste, friends

Hello fellow poets. My name is Denise and I have been writing poetry for over 40 years. I started writing when I was a young child as a way of “voicing” what I could not speak out loud. It has been a 4-decade healing journey for me and the journey continues; each day bringing new teachings and miracles.

I look forward to reading all of your posts 🙂

Salutations and Greetings!

Hello! I’m Serena and I’m doing a 1/2 marathon. I’ll be on a plane/going through customs/traversing the globe for the duration of the time, so I ask that you please excuse me for late entries. I will do my absolute best to post at the right times when possible. I’m fairly new to poetry, but reading has always had it’s place in my heart and soul. I always thought that I would write long, complicated books (akin to the ones I absolutely love to read) but as it turns out, poetry was calling me. Thank you all, and I wish everyone the best of luck!

First time for me in any kind of marathon……

Hello fellow poets….

The beginning is the best place to start, so here it goes……

Its just me~ Jennifer.  I am excited, petrified, nervous, and anxious all rolled in one tight knot about the upcoming marathon. I love writing, well trying to write. Some people have more faith in me than I do. Of course, we are all our own worst critics though, right?!? Through encouragement and support from my husband about my writing, I made a promise to take it more seriously, and I am trying to do just that. This marathon is a huge step out of my comfort zone, hope I do not disappoint.

Being that I am not use to being up 24 hours straight anymore, coffee will be my only friend when the sandman visits hubby. I am looking forward to the challenge and the privilege of reading others contributions.

Hi!

My name is Angelle. I write poetry for fun and brain work. I tend to be best at rhyming, Dr Suess type poems, though I try to stretch myself and try other styles, and topics. I am going to try and think ahead for topics and styles, as I am not used to a time restraint..lol. I am only doing the 1/2 marathon as my schedule ( and age..lol..) doesn’t allow for staying up all night anymore..

Looking forward to it, and hoping I do OK.

Hey!

Hi! I’m Erin, 19, and the wonderful Alora introduced me to this marathon. I live in Queensland Australia so the event for me starts at 11pm (because who needs sleep anyway?) I’m attempting the full marathon and hoping that I at least get one poem of quality out of it! I’ve had writers block for the past little while so am hoping that the themes we’re given can spark some creativity in me! I’m loving reading everyone’s introductions, some people are serious writers while others just want to give themselves a challenge, it’s wonderful!

I’m keen to be a cheer-squad for anyone that needs it throughout the marathon and I hope some of you will do the same for me!

x Erin

(Also, upon re-reading this post I’ve discovered I have a tendency to overuse exclamation marks)

Logophile from NorCal

Hi, friends.  I’m Veronica, a writer from northern California. Grant proposals, reports, blogs, social media posts, profiles, pamphlets, brochures, homeschool curriculum, non-fiction books – whatever it takes. Those are all for other people.  I’m currently working on a novel and a collection of poems.  Those are for me. I used to tell people I wasn’t a poet until I realized how silly that is. To love words is to be a poet.

Why did I decide to join the Poetry Marathon?  I saw the post for it on Facebook and thought, “Why not? What better way to shake loose the creative cobwebs?”  I also did it because I’m not a joiner, but I need to connect with others.  This seemed like a good way.

I’m a wife, a mom, a writer, a San Francisco Giants fan, a dog lover, a woman of faith, a friend, an orphan, a sister, and a devotee of the Oxford comma. And that’s just a start.

I don’t plan to do anything special to prepare for the marathon. I’m not a stranger to all night writing sessions, so bring it on!

From Missouri

How fantastic to be part of such an exciting poetry moment – and so cool that so many people are interested in taking part in this. I’m definitely excited. I signed up for a full marathon, but depending on how it goes I may switch to a half marathon. I’d really love to churn out 24 full poems, though, so we’ll see.

My name is Mary and I live in a small town in Northwest Missouri, by the grand Missouri River. I teach English at Missouri Western State University, and I edit Stone Highway Review. I’m also an editor with Sundress Publications. I have an MFA from the University of Kansas and have been writing and publishing for years now. This town lacks a writing community and since moving back to this place, I’ve found it quite lonely as a writer in the area. This is one reason I’ve decided to join the marathon – to get that feeling of community that I find so inspiring. I think that reading other people’s new work somehow fuels my own creativity.

I’m currently going through a divorce. It’s been a bad year for writing because of some really emotional inconsistency. I allowed myself to take far too long off this summer and have realized that “keeping busy” is not quite as fun as I’d hoped. I miss writing. I miss how it makes me feel during and after. Writing is a good friend and it sucks that I abandoned that friend for a couple of months. This marathon, hopefully, will help me make it up to that friend, and to myself. My goal is to write NO DIVORCE POEMS, though I may end up writing some accidentally. I am working on a project that involves semi-found poetry – stealing some stuff from the profiles of men on dating websites. My goal is to get quite a few solid pieces for this project. Before starting, I’m hoping to have some titles ready to go so that I can just write from those titles, and my plan is to keep it themed, and to think in sections (how many poems can go under “Inbox” for example and under “Self-Summary” for example). And so! Hoping this will help me get outside of my head and be thinking of what else poetry can do besides narrate my own emotional state of mind.

Nice to meet you all!