The Poetry Marathon

2023 Hour 23: Interrupted

We watched with interest as crews labored,
Digging foundations,
Securing beams into place,
Smoothing concrete.
Installing windows and carefully,
Lovingly,
Stroking on the red paint.

The architect, we imagined,
Sought to communicate,
To share her brilliance,
To secure her legacy.
Surely, we thought,
This must be her
Masterpiece.

Nature, though, cares little for
The vanities of humanity.
Nature seeks out the
Heartbeat of the world,
Displaying her bounty
in abundance or scarcity,
Willy-nilly; when and where
she alone chooses.

Thus, the building –
That carefully constructed facade
Conveying an equally careful
Message to the neighborhood –
Lost its voice to the
Seemingly random presence
Of a single, scrawny tree.

Hour 22 Prompt

SOMETHING SMELLS NICE

Something smells nice
Ah it seems to be coming from the rectangular box
Hey what is this?
Something circular is inside a rectangular box
The smell is just mouth-watering,
Tomatoes, cheese, capsicums, olives seem to be beckoning me
I cannot control myself anymore.
I stretch my hand,
This is a mystery!
What’s this?
A triangular piece is in my hand?
It smells so heavenly,
My mouth automatically drools in the smell of cheese and oregano
I take a bite
My eyes automatically close relishing the flavour of the hot melting cheese
I cannot control myself from extending my hand for the second
Third
Fourth
Oops, I lost count till
My kids yelled,
“Mummy, where is the pizza?”
That’s when I realised
I had devoured the whole box
My stomach feels happy
Soul satisfied
I never bothered to share
A box of yummy pizza.

BY
SHREYA SURAJ

An Aquarius Love II

An Aquarius Love II

He is my pillar

when I am about to fall.

When my thoughts

reach outer space

he is there

to pull me back to earth.

 

He takes my worries

and tosses them

to the ends of the earth.

Pats my head

as if to say “There, there.”

 

If the world

gets too much

too handle,

he’ll stand in front

and let me breath.

 

For once

I am not

being judged

by my mistakes.

He just smiles

and let me be.

 

An Aquarius love

is something out of this world.

Just like their tarot, the Star,

they know how to bring in

a fresh start.

 

He is just that to me.

 

 

 

2023 Poem Thirteen

Text messages

Good luck this weekend! I hope it goes as uneventfully as possible! = I wish I could come see you after the busy season ends

I hope the tourist don’t send back their plates and tip the staff well = Tourists are assholes

Man, I miss the ocean = Man, I miss the ocean

It’s definitely a change to be down here = Texas is almost like another country from Maine

Maybe we can reschedule that video chat? = I would rather curl up with you and watch a movie

I intentionally didn’t watch the movie we were going to = I wish we could be together

Open House (23)

The nervousness is understandable

there’s so many of them on the Internet

and in real life

it bothers me too how they’re always happy

and aren’t always the most intelligent

but you have to think of the disciples

and what they were before and what they gave

how easy it was to start following

how the promise is utterly free

that piercing on your nose, that tattoo is nothing

whatever you think is too much

doesn’t even tip the scale

keep your eyes forward, they come and go

what we’re here for never changes

and there’s a place for you at the table

if not here

up there for certain.

The second last (Hour 23)

Everyone talks about the firsts or the lasts,
the beginning or the ends,
but what about just before it ends,
when sun and moon appear together in the sky,
Its not night yet,
neither a full sunrise.

Just before the exam bell rings
you are yet to write the last answer,
there is still some time left,
no need to hold your breath.

Just before walking the aisle,
still holding your father’s hand,
there still some while left,
before you get on with life.

Before saying goodbye,
knowing its not the end,
the last time, the last lines are special,
but its the second lasts,
just before the time something changes,
which holds together,
until we meet next.

A Montaukett Sunset

A summer day draws towards to a close.

At a Montauk bar, The Montaukett

named with a hotel after a Native tribe.

Bar staff wear natives on their t-shirt backs

as they serve frozen mudslides

that slide down cool and smooth

after a day of August heat.

Next comes a sunset like no other,

where crowds line up to get a grand view.

This Eastern end sky turns orange, lavender, pink mixed with blue.

As quick as this change takes form

the sun bows lower and lower

into a gradual transition towards the water edge

past the ground.

Until it’s eventually swallowed up and disappears.

This place is like heaven

in its beauty of painted sky,

It feels like a different world,

a world away

especially without you

inside.

Dancing trees, announcing breeze

Animals with tongue, awaiting until post freeze

Roaring commands, prophecies sung

Of Kings and Queens of young

A mane of winter and spring

A victory of great shall bring

Hide inside the wardrobe, wait the train to vanish

Sink in the water’s depths, there’s no bannish

Time stops, you can live twice

But not long lasting, just like ice

Purple Skies hour 23

Purple Skies

phosphorescent paint streaks
pulse for attention across the firmament
solar winds stream across the sky
away from the sun at one million miles
per hour, a 40-hour trip to reach earth
solar flares the clash of oxygen and
nitrogen burst into colorifc waves
to tango across the atmospheric currents
spectacular spectacle at earth’s poles
aurora borealis

look up for a sky show —
light travels in waves, particles scatter
light galaxies are made of stars and
interstellar dust that glow purple, hot
infant stars pulse blue while older stars
are red, the reverse
of what you’d think

cloud formations can color the sky
constant volcanic activity, fires, or oceans
full of algae that reflect red light combined
with a bright sun and a thick atmosphere
could cause a violet-shade sky in daylight
phenomena of purple skies

~ J R Turek Hour 23

 

Hour 23 – What If

Peace

Equality

Love

no matter what…

Patience

Tolerance

Acceptance

all have a place

but instead we get

Chaos

Inequality

Hate

Impatience

Intolerance

and sadness…

how wonderful a world

we would have

if humans would just

be what we were out on this

earth

to be