The Poetry Marathon

Hour 17- To know or not to know

When you’re handed a quest for you to pursue,

Do you hope that it’s elaborate and clear,

That detail all the actions that will ensue,

Or have no rules that you will have to adhere?

Would you want to be tailed and taken care of,

Protected in case you slip, a net waiting,

Or would you prefer blind trust than love,

Letting you slip and fall, always learning?

Do you like that you know everyone around,

Each of them a familiar face from yore,

Or do you like to be free from relations, unbound,

To find new people to hold and adore?

A map carto graphed with intense skill,

Or a blank canvas that is yours to fill?

Lambertville

We stop on the bridge

my face cupped deep in your hands

voracious Bear Hug

02 – Whose Woods

With credit to Robert Frost for the first three lines, taken from lines 1, 3, and 5 in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”.

Whose woods these are I think I know
He will not see me stopping here
My little horse must think it queer,
A deafening silence, drawing near

And though it’s said I’ve much to fear
From sinister sounds both far and near
I thank my stars I do not hear
Sardonic laughter in my ear

Whilst silence settles ’round me, clear
Were he to see me stopping here
With my horse, thinking it queer
We would vanish, bones and gear

For though I know he sings a song
Once changed, he’ll amble softly along
Silence precedes his gleeful tune
Until he howls, eyes on the moon

Most grateful am I to know this fact
Preparing myself, now, to react
The wind is calm, now dark woods cackle
A fire burns and gently crackles

My breath doth curl and icy air lick
Silence dawns, stifles, becomes chthonic
Quiet encroaches, settling in
With his approach I give a grin

No bated breath will you find here
For laughter’s begun in my ear
My breathing slows, and pupils slit
Claws extend from fingertips

Though these woods his may be
From the moon I am free
Subsistence kills are for his sort
While my kin like to kill for sport

A Moment of Joy-Hour 18

And now

Your moment of joy.

This marathon is done

Another bunch of poems tucked away

Your head hits the pillow

Your body folds into a soft mattress

NO STOP

Not yet

A moment of joy.

A pot of coffee

A cup swirling to cozy quiet

My eyes drift

Closing, darkness

NO STOP

not yet.

A moment of joy.

Garbled words

Smashing into each other

Like bumper cars

I black out

Silently dreaming

NO STOP

Not yet.

Brass bands

Drum circles

Cold water splashing

That’s better.

Yes, splashing cold

Iced coffee

Bright lights

Timpanis

Adrenalin

Clapping, dancing

Spinning

AWAKE!

 

18: At 2am

Shakespeare and Poe share the same family tree

Genetically prone to dramatical spree

Such as murders and the quoting of ravens and such,

Perhaps just a little too much.

 

Stevenson’s prattle of pirates and shore

While Wordsworth rambles of flowers galore

And Frost with his goings, his stopping, his walls,

Dickinson’s bees, drunken hauls.

 

Rhythm and rhyme, insidiously vile,

Seeps into our soul, with the gentlest guile

And sticks in the cracks between tear and smile.

Forever. Or just for a while.

Hour 18 – The First Kitten – Text Prompt

The First Kitten

She had been expecting
For quite a while
And told me as much loudly
That she was with child
At first I could not know
I’d never seen a queen
But then it was obvious
And nearly too late to be seen
So I set up spaces
The future mother could rest
I didn’t not know what I was doing
And trusted momma knew best.

She grew wide, as did the father
A chonky duo, proud as otters
Then the day in question came
Much to my surprise
February 18th
At just 6 am
Contractions made her bolt from
The nest in which she sleeps.
And on the ground plopped the first
A silver tabby kitten
We spent that day together
But at the first I was smitten.

5 more were born of course
But I was just so proud
That while momma cat was birthing
She had sought me out.
I stood guard, to the queen
I helped them out,
She groomed them clean
And all was well 10 hours later.

Unknown Animals – Hour 17 Prompt

Fossils are an incredibly rare occurrence
there were beings walking here
beyond our comprehension
and their colors, flumes, tooth and claw, maw and diets
we will never know
Sharks and alligators unchanged for millions and millions of years
perfect predators, still share our home
Is it unlikely others have stayed around as well?

New species are discovered in the depths of caves, oceans, and rainforests
critters long thought passed pop up unexpectedly
Long necked, early Jurassic beasts may not be lurking in lakes
raising humps
But their ancient sturgeon brethren may
Natives had tales of the Hairy Men, The Wise Men of the Mountain
the link is still missing
Jackalopes hanging on the Wall Drug wall in Wyoming aren’t real
except we made them real

Just because
we don’t know for sure that they are here
doesn’t mean they haven’t been here
or that they aren’t real simply from the magic of our imaginations

Pure Ecstasy (hour 18)

Waiting can be painful

if you aren’t sure of the reason

you are in the prison

for the season

 

but the moment you know

and you can see

it is pure ecstasy

 

like an unfruitful couple

gifted with twin diamonds

after 20 years

 

Hour 18: Flawed

I am flawed
Very much so
I make mistakes
A lot of them too
I stumble and fall
With nothing in my path
And don’t even ask
About responsibilities and tasks!
I am easy to anger
I can be mean
Though just as easy to appease
With cakes & ice-cream.
I am flawed
I know
But that’s what makes me
Human
Very much so!

October

we drive through Princeton

you hold my hand as you steer

Twin candles flicker