The Poetry Marathon

Morning Darkness #1

We drove all night, the 
car full of
sleeping children. 
Talking quietly to
keep each other awake, we 
yawned and waited for
morning.

Morning Sun

Waking up to the morning sunrise

Hearing the birds greet the new morning.

Smelling that brewed coffee

to start the day.

Waking up to the alarm going off

rolling out of bed

grabbing the freshly brewed coffee

Grateful to be alive

Thankful for this brand new day.

To start in my own way.

SMOOTH IMPERFECTION

I’m a thief with grief

I longed to get relief

I’m a beast incarnate

Compassionate by nature

I’m like a failure with no out-vie

But I always vie

I’m a phony music with

With bonny euphony

I’m lost in the phase

Driven by the lust for peace

I’m in the race to be rich

I hope for the ideal niche

I’m like a zoo with whales

A sea with eagles

I’m good

but not an angel

I engaged in many sins

But I’m not the devil

I’m not a lazy youth

I’m just a crazy guy from the Trenches

I want to run away

I want to run away to a place that I can hide,

In a desert where I can touch softness of sand,

In a forest where I can hug the animals passing bye,

In a coffee farm where I can grow my own plants,

On the top of a mountain to count all the stars,

In an ocean where I can live with the mermaids,

I want to run away to a place that I can hide.

Hour #1: Giving Up on the Blue Moon

We celebrated, the four of us, with Moon Food—

ball shaped white rice mochi, slightly sweet and

round crackers with white cheese spread. We toasted

with white wine and one woman read a moon poem.

We ate salmon spread on black rice crackers, confetti

 

salad with calamata olives, and an unremarkable looking

white rice dish, which I declined. We chatted at the kitchen

table until the prescribed time and together we filed outside

to witness the moonrise. I had my doubts we’d see anything,

as there had been thunder and lightning and scattered

 

showers all day. Outside, in the chilly air, the clouds

hung low over the rose garden. Our hostess danced to the

voices of chanting women playing on her phone. Some joined

in while others scanned the sky, one woman making a moon sign

with index finger and thumb. Without a sighting, we began

 

to fatigue—tiring further, one woman dropped to the ground,

two more followed, lying down on the grass, one expounding

on the virtues of soaking up earth energy to heal our bodies.

Finally, we gave up on the moon altogether and returned

to the house, pulling oracle cards to predict our future.

Greasy Croissant

Your morning and mine spent bedside
Your worry and mine shared
while I try to wake up
and your internal alarm pushed you out of bed
like an invading army of ghosts.
Your breakfast and mine,
cigarette on the porch as you
ruminate on where your check went
and mine the greasy croissant
you bought with the
ten you didn’t know you had.

Marriage

She said; I don’t like the story,

I replied, no this is poetry.

The sun had disappeared behind a cloud

Life is stupefaction, a test of temptation.

Verily misplaced, perhaps displayed.

I know I can’t do it but I’ve to try

Is wedding a wrath or pleasure?

This ring is nothing but a promise.

So if I become a rat

Do not act like a cat.

I’m overthrown and almost gone.

I’m lost for words.

Checkpoint

Dark firs and spruces

fall in order down the hill

and drape the checkpoint

in mute darkness.

Mists roll desolate,

hanging,

within one’s touch

floodlit by a single beam,

which lights benighted borderlands,

tempting new beginnings

far from the calm comforts of the past.

Invitation or reprimand?

 

 

Author: Jane Eckford

2nd September 2023

The Middle of Forever

Stuck in the middle of forever
Between what was and what will be
Lost between the yellow lines
Of the past and the yet to be
I can hear the memories calling
I can see the future die
And I don’t know which way to go
If I want to survive
I can see an owl watching
In that tree there, in the dark
Her eyes are glowing through the night
While her question sears my heart
“Whooo? Whooo? Whooo?” she asks
As though I might reply
Knowing it might end us both
That truth I hold inside
I ponder for a minute
What will happen if I stay
Right where my feet are planted
In the middle of the way
Between the nows and nevers
Between the future and the past
What would happen if I just say
“I’ll stay here till the last…”
Till the hourglass is broken
Till the final day is done
In the middle of forever
If I stay, will I have won?
This twisted joke played by the Fates
This riddle without rhyme
Maybe the middle of forever
Is where we’re meant to draw the line
There’s no way to know the answer
So I’ll hunker down and wait
Here, between the yellow lines
Is where I’ll meet my fate
And no matter what comes next, I know
I’ll find peace either way
In the middle of forever
At the end of all my days.
~Mandy Kocsis©2023~

Hour 1 – Moving On

Raining down like a thousand beads of wisdom
"I told you so's dancing through my head"
Your vacant eyes look back at me
Unable to comprehend

My love for you is enduring
Rushing from a time before time
Your wounds and self-absortion
Block me from your heart and mind

The years of starts and stops
no longer serve me
The end of every season I lie bleeding
Praying you'll gain some empathy

Raining down like a thousand beads of wisdom
"I told you so's dancing through my head"
Your vacant eyes look back at me
Unable to comprehend

The years roll on 
You search for meaning
Looking always to the outside world
to make you whole

I love you so I'm leaving
Healing that wound that made me yours
I'm leaving to share me
With someone who can love me back, for sure.

Raining down like a thousand beads of wisdom
"I told you so's dancing through my head"
Your vacant eyes look back at me
Unable to comprehend