The Poetry Marathon

For My Gamer

You are the Captain Price
To my Kalem:
#1 called to action
When your family or I
Are held hostage by
Our griefs and worries.
You sneak up and take them down
In one fell swoop.

When I am cornered by
The ugly faces of shame
Loneliness,
The sky breaks open as you
Land by my side
Kill it all with a nade.
And for that,
I’m glad you came, my Master Chief.

But to me
What’s more than Prices conciseness
And Master Chief’s head shots
Is

That you are my Sub-zero.
Cold when need be,
you freeze
All those that oppose me
with Your will
and that is what
Makes you my sub-zero.

An Aquarius Love

A quiet love that feels me
to the core.
This I haven’t experienced before.
A love that lifts my spirit
like wind does
for the eagle on its first flight.

A new view in my own eyes,
to hear words of pure belief
that have lost meaning over time.
It was brought back
through whispers and
telepathic eyes
that sparked my fire.

It’s a strong love,
that never wavers
when growled at by
jealous daggers and spells
and yet this love
can be just as deadly as a
sharpened sword.

A shield and a sword.
A patient and kind love
that will is also a ward to
fend off anything negative.

That is how my Aquarius loves.

For Thanatos

Death has always been

a constant thought

which brought fear

to my heart.

 

It wavered my faith

in what I thought was righteous,

but it still felt off.

 

Your voice softly saying

“Death has a deeper meaning,

let me show you.”

 

Young and blind,

I followed everyone else’s words

and ignored yours.

 

“Death is nothing what Christianity

taught you.”

 

“Be reborn, rid yourself

of doubt,

of fear.

Let Death show you the courage you’re missing.”

“Let me, God of peaceful Deaths

guide you to your true self.”

 

Yet, I still evaded your calls.

You continued with signs with:

 

Moths appeared as

tiny Phoenixes when

I was surrounded by negativity.

 

Poppy flowers bloomed

in the midst of random bushes.

 

All telling me

that I was never alone.

You, Thanatos, is always by my side.

 

Phyllis

Persistent in

Her ways, my mom

Yields to no one. She

Lovingly helped us

Like any mother, she

Inspired us to

Stay focused on our dreams.

 

Because . . .

 

Bad things can happen

And she reminded us to kneel

Down & pray to the

One above for strength but to

Never give up.

I will always look up to her for that.

Thanatos

Do not fear the Grim Reaper,

The cloaked one.

He is only doing what needs to be done.

He is the one to greet you

when you leave.

 

Don’t let the stories frighten you.

He is all but evil.

His aura, his presence

is light, soft

and comforting like a duvet.

 

He’s the one to hold

you hand

when you think,

“I can’t take another step.”

 

His torch and

sheathed sword

signifies peace

not hatred.

His soul is Lavendar incarnate:

Calming, protecting, and sooting.

 

Let the master of

Peaceful Death

guide you to your next journey.

Quietly awaiting

Quietly awaiting

The break of day

 

Soon the restrictions

Will slip away

 

Though they won’t

Be as concerned

 

With quiet

After I’m done

 

Next time

I’ll stay home

 

Where my freedom reigns

 

No manipulation

It’s just the situation

Announcing the Finishers of the 2022 Poetry Marathon

Dear Poets,

Here’s our initial list of everyone who successfully finished the Full 2022 Poetry Marathon. These poets wrote 24 poems in 24 hours. Congratulations to everyone who achieved this incredible challenge! You are amazing!

Please note: This list contains errors. We need your help to correct those errors. If your name is in the wrong list, or missing, when it should be there, please let me know! This was in no way intentional. (There are so many participants, it is very difficult to create an accurate list.)

See the list of Half Marathon Finishers here.

Thank you to everyone who participated this year!

— Jacob

 

Full Marathon Finishers Danielle Wong DaybreakStations rranson02 Bhasha Dwivedi Se Leonora Obed Zeenat dextajean lakitagayden givenqdaviswritesgmail-com Ariel dscoremans Antonia Linda Makkimane Bollimuntha chuksoluigbo brettdyer marg54 renee SilverQuiver Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris springevening JoyceB Shiloh Osheen waldomaui rarzackolaegbe wrenx kristynateach LuvMiFreely voldecurt Ian Barkley River E. Styx Sara Anderson Divya Venkateswaran Koso Ofuma Agali afrose Anne McMaster elsalovesbooks erinelise2184 Cindy Albers sandraj631968 ekawuelizabethimaji cinwhit gmazul Abena Arthur Reynolds Ivan Bekaren Vijaya Gowrisankar sage moondancer sabinahadewole Anjana Sen mary thepoetrajah sacarroll1691 Mary Eugene Flores apantilione Aleta Nolan wordsofbee novamarie Angie Mountain Tracy Plath yamalady Mark Lucker jonesy1922 efellows ladymae earth2joy 13-Shenanigans Carol Prost Meghana Deborah Dalton Jana O’Dell jill1980 aditidixit21 sjduncan presleytieman JWALKthe15th Aishwarya13 chukwumaekepacella Katie Scholan Cynthia Hernandez Rebeli007 Angel Rosen thebootlegbodhisattva AndaM cinzia Simona FROSIN Valkyrie Kerry chidinebo Roxann Harvey-Lawrence michelle1 bluemuse Erin Ushakov-Zhang meganwrites v-j-calone eilidhstjohn YuLan Fiona Amrutha viviak nandiya jgershon1213 SincerelyBlueJay jess jrturek blissfilledislandlife hknutson bjsteinshouer autumnsonlyone krobus1979 linst trini Donna jarrodfouts azli shanvidwinsalways Kore Black tobett janis starlafahye Renee A. Perkins ngoziandrew Kika Man marathondaun garethroi mavschick41 gillygab MelNeet torrimbrown micjowi Margo enscriptor thryaksha Bruha33 baaaaa varenyas Deanna Ngai amlcrabtree Blessing Ojo djdelashmit afeathers aarthi77poetess shirl Anjum Wasim Dar Santosha The following poets came very close to finishing…If this is incorrect — please let me know!   Davita Joie smeetha

 

Announcing the Finishers of the 2022 Poetry Half Marathon

Dear Poets,

Here’s our initial list of everyone who successfully finished the 2022 Poetry Half Marathon. These poets wrote 12 poems in 12 hours as part of the annual Poetry Marathon. Congratulations to everyone!

Please note: This list contains errors. We need your help to correct those errors. If your name is in the wrong list, or missing, please let me know! This was in no way intentional. (There are so many participants, it is very difficult to create an accurate list.) This is particularly important for those who are listed as writing just 23 poems — this is often in need of correction.

You can see the list of Full Marathon Finishers here.

Thank you to everyone who participated this year!

— Jacob

Half Marathon Finishers

mwspbsobsessed1
Solape Adeyemi
JitterbuggJH
heatherlyn
janiceraquelamendonca
foobar
AceShannon36
jill
Leila Martinez
MsAshay
pope
peaflowertea
adriana.c.grant
Double-AA-battery
willjxn
Jacob
ChelleA
sharonedge
Bonnie Katzive
Amana
bambinospinelli
haraselias
authorhj
Britton
MelT20
damoore943
angelatheresaegicwrites
shrehya1209
EliAk
debrathewriter
caroltalmage
tazeen
kathyun84
trishso
Wendie Donabie
tonet
SharonMitchell
dohamonde
chensky
robtericroy
KatrinaM
jvstanley
lindahallstrom
oxmtch11
incompletegenius
alenacasey
Dan
aquariangreen
smileyone
poetsm
Hafeezah
Jo
ManoshiBose
elnazgor
Tessa Mountain
aisha154
blur
valley2
Merry
Halle
msleah
Noodle
VidhiAshar
Sarah Dittmore
kv adams
Masha Sakharova
AnanyaPanwar
jdgbp
farzana
Sue Storts
rachellcarlyle
Stef
canyonwriter
James Featherstone
SarahW
Benita Olika
gitabharath
weliveaswedream
SashaS
Susan
treal1971
catfeather
coffeywrites
kriscleage
Jo
Diana Kristine
Anwar Suleman
Shloka Shankar
denisehill
ashaughnessy
dcommings1
Nancy Ann
jennifervera
Marion Lougheed
ncroney
laura-njpoetthefringe999
brianhasson
Erin Lorandos
evelynelainesmith
marathonpoet
siobhan
creatorj
Tammy
Nykki
rebecca resinski
McCarter
psarvasy
annasee
Mildred Achoch
Kevin J. O’Conner
THOMAS
drgprakash
fgarlands
Katelyn Dunne
tammibelko
Kat Kidder
Sandy Lender
nadiyah
vellaada
Aaron Conklin
supertina19
Lydia
karen
MaxineWiseWrites
annej
Harvey Schwartz
JMacKenzie
Vivian
sheilas
Caitlin Thomson
Daryl Curnow
charlesakanwesige
Colleen Schwartz
muhammedebrahimsuleman
Skay
rheakumar11
renaego
cristywatson
MahimaGiri
Kathleen Tighe
christinatangbernas
Jan Rog
Junior Knight
Maritza
miridillen
Diane Carmony
ajbostelman
Uditi
aclipscomb
rashmiskurup
Lexanne Leonard
Jill Egland
GranJan
davehirsh
zoonabee
friowords
Loneranger
please9
cgarrison
Nishant Jain
ramblewiter
genawilliams
davidhennessy
Erin
chris-klay
garnetrose
acechief
Dominique Russell
itedjere
The Begging Poet
Kim Smart
writeshears
deebuch
punkhippypoet
Thorne
soulsistah
anilynstone
jayc
iamteramarie
ginger
sundayt-saheed
brightwing
mallikaagnihotri
joeyjo
beckansonpoet
poet254-linford
spronks
EmeraldEmpress
Rachel Marco-Havens
eunice12
doomsdaybride
garciaspitz
juvairiya
ladybug90
Nasi .S
emmanuel
whalez
Jessica Swafford
arundhathi
meredithmcguire
DS Coremans

Davita Joie
smeetha

Her Favorite Things

Purple

Any shade of purple

will have her glee like a little

girl again.

As long as I can remember

she always wore purple.

 

Butterflies

Moth opposite cousin.

She adored the unique

symmetrical patterns.

Anything with Butterflies

sends her flying and fluttering

with happiness.

 

Flamingos

Standing on one leg

not losing balance

in the still lakes

that reflect

the bright pink feathers.

They would always catch her attention,

she would wish that she could pet them.

 

Butterfingers

The candy of The Simpsons

The famous saying

“Don’t lay a finger on my Butterfinger.”

She would laugh at the commercials

then crave that buttery crunch.

Her favorite of favorites.

 

Butter Pecan Ice cream

The pecans.

the buttery flavor

in

the ice cream

brought out the kid in her.

Her smile became 10yrs younger.

With each bite, her eyes once again twinkled.

 

Most of all

Her kids 

are her favorite

nieces and nephews,

and grandkids.

She treasures each and every one of them.

Making Dough

“You need to learn to make dough.”

She would say this

as she gathered the needed ingredients and supplies.

Flour

Salt

Baking powder and

Lukewarm water.

 

“This is how you make dough.”

Adding flour by handfuls to a bowl,

then palm fulls of baking powder,

keeping it a 1:1 ratio,

then a pinch of salt.

 

Her hand carefully sifted

and mixed the ingredients together,

making sure they’re well combined.

 

Once mixed,

she heads to the sink,

toggles with the facet

until she gets the desired temperature.

Adding the water little by little,

with her free hand, she begins

to mix the ingredients,

all the while making sure it’s forming a ball.

 

Turning the bowl,

adding water,

combining flour mix and water,

until all the flour is gone

and all that’s left is a ball of dough.

 

“clean your hands.

Cover your dough to let it rest.”

She takes a plate and covers the dough.