The Poetry Marathon

I did the Half Poetry Marathon two years ago and had a great time! Wrote some “keepers” that made it into my new book. I’m hoping this time to write more poems to complement the new manuscript I’m working on. I’m ready to play and write!

Hii, just making this post before the marathon because it was a requirement. Any advice from previous participants on how to prepare and what to do during the marathon?

Hello,
I am a female of the Igbo tribe of Nigeria . I’m a medical student but I really love(d) writing though for some sad reasons I can’t find the motivation to write these days. I saw this platform and hoped it would rejuvenate that “writer’s feeling” I once had. Most importantly, I am excited to meet new amazing people on this platform!

Nice to meet you, I am Okeke Chito.

I find myself getting both excited and nervous for the half marathon. It just hit me as an activity that is designed for me as I like deadlines! But I am nervous about writing crap, which I never want to do intentionally, but nevertheless comes out that way. So any advice is appreciated before the big day!

So looking forward to the challenge. And eager to read other’s poems.

Starting to get in poetry head

a part of me that to snow is a sled

and different than wonky things

rattling ’round in my head.

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Laurie McKay and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a retired school administrator, a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, aunt, auntie, cousin, sister, and dog owner. I travel, have retirement projects, work on behalf of a couple of non-profits, garden, go on walks in the woods, swim when I get the chance, and mostly sit in my garden and dream.

Poetry allows me to play with my dreams and craft perceptions, illusions, thoughts, feelings and connections into tangible offerings.

This year, I will begin the poetry marathon while volunteering at the Cadillac Area YMCA festival of races in Cadillac, MI. Ironically, there is not a Marathon in the festival. Also, I am not a runner.

A few years ago, I made the conscience decision to withdraw from social media in its entirety. This decision is one I have never regretted, although it does mean that I won’t partake in the Facebook chats and frivolity with you wonderful group of talented and inspiring writers. Around 3 in the morning, please post a picture of a penis bug for me!

Enjoy the poetry marathon. I look forward to getting to know you and reading – what I am sure to be – incredibly talented works of art.

Hello. This will be my first (half) marathon. I am a full-time artist, clay is my favorite medium, I also paint and teach art workshops. When not writing poetry, my favorite thing is to dance, especially contact improv and ecstatic dance. I spend a lot of time in the woods, walking and writing poems in my head. I love music, reading, traveling, and learning!

I grew up in North Western Pennsylvania and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia 15 years ago. It’s a wonderful place to live and raise a family. My children are both off on their own now and I am rerouting, learning all over again what it is that I love to do.

So….
first things first…
Who am I?

This question remains an enigma…
Reason being that, just when I think I have it all figured out, along comes the spider (the perceived architect of the totality of my matrix), and as unfeelingly as she(?) impresses my subconscious, spins yet another maze of complexities and intrigues and yet again I find myself flung back to status quo…
But then, do I object to her(?) meddlesomeness? (does that word even exist?) That’s another question I find difficult to answer…Just who/what exactly is this “spider”? you may ask…
Honestly, I have no freaking idea!
Well, in response to the prompt of responsibility, i could just about hazard a guess or postulation or both….but then again, comprehension is at your own discretion…
Like every other system in existence, stability and optimum functionality remains a function of laws (call them rules and regulations if you may) for even in the midst of chaos, some semblance of order yet exists as exemplified in the emergence of definitive patterns.
By my indiscreet-cum-unfettered ramblings, do i satisfy the core for which the very bane of conversational comprehension is constituted? Honestly, I fear not…but suffice to say, the Journey of a thousand miles begins with basic infantile steps. It is said; Only the strong survive and only the wise excel…but then again it is also said that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong…so I guess indeed, of a truth, we are saddled therefore with a harvest of paradoxes and oxymorons.
Be that as it may, my suggestion to you remains thus: Keep an open mind and stay connected (if you can keep up)… too have a lot of unanswered questions and perhaps, you just might be my long sought after catalyst.

So again I ask….
Who am I?

I am a spark of energy…I am a wavelength of vibration…I am a frequency of broadcast…I am a soul, I am an embodiment of creation…I am an offshoot of an imperfect perfection…I am whom I am…an infinitesimally insignificant speck in the scheme of universal events…yet a uniquely sculptured individual…I most likely may not be a war or a fight (well, probably not in the most astute of perceptions) but it is comforting at the very least to state that I am human and I am one of you.

I have loved poetry all my life and have been writing now and then from childhood, mostly for special occasions.  I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania but lived most of my adult life in Bronx, New York. After raising and homeschooling 5 kids, in 2013 my husband retired and we moved to Michigan to be near family.  Five years later he unexpectedly died of a massive heart attack. In order to process my grief during that time I wrote a lot of poetry, specifically for a challenge to write one poem a day for 100 days.

In 2019 I moved to Tennessee where three of my kids and my youngest grandchildren lived.  More recently I have committed to taking my writing to the next level. For me that means by learning all I can, reading more poetry and writing a lot more.  I have even started submitting poems to contests and magazines and had a couple of them published but nothing paying yet.

I am really looking forward to this challenge.  I anticipate having to do a lot of editing afterwards but the challenge will give me a lot to work with.  I’m also excited about getting to know fellow poets through reading their poetry and interacting.