The Poetry Marathon

Pine

Oh rowan and ash, oh oak,
oh willow and pine.
Oh save me from my mind,
from belts and bruises and hammers.
Please. Save me from burning flesh
and screams screams screams. From
electrical grids on a mattress and the quarters.
Please. Save me from kerosene, from
laps, from kiwi and canned beans,
from bread balls and pan fried crusts.
Oh, pine, save me from the ground,
from the makeshift pulpit, from
words and wails and water. Save me from
the water, from death in a recliner,
Natural Light still in hand, from
broken concrete, from… from… from memory.
Wipe it clean.

Relief floods me

Phone rings
Doctor’s office
Tests reveal lymphoma
Weeks pass with a myriad of tests
Tests reveal Tuberculosis

In anger, I said “get off my phone”

Consult with a respirologist and several Tests
Diagnosis, Sarcoidosis, what is that?
Never heard of it? Chronic and inflammatory
Better than one and two though
Monitoring and managing keeps me stable
Studying and paying attention controls stress

Gratefulness washes over me when I learn
I will survive
It’s not a death sentence

(Hour 13) 10.30-11.30am. TEXT PROMPT: something bad that went right

TEOTWAWKI

since reuniting with Rueben
Ryan & i haven’t been as “close”
as we so wonderfully were
before

need to find a way to say
that even though it took
the world almost (& maybe still)
ending

it was worth it to discover
you

 

Algae

Green

slick fluid skating the lake, punctured by frog legs barely caught in camera shutter before slamming lily pad down

Bitter

Smell of nature’s decay, multitudinous bacteria forming colonies finally visible to the eye, watering upon growing nearer

Half-submerged log

Forced into the ecosystem, helpless and made colony home, one side completely covered in mossy residue eating away

Reclaimed

Inner tube left becomes new host, entire pond now home, brought back under nature’s control, visitors quickly abandon plans, cooler back in trunk, sunscreen scraped from nose.

Freedom.

 

More

Everything felt like it was crumbling around me
Everywhere to go but home
Let’s dig deep to find the pain inside
You walked away and I was scared I would die
You shattered who I let the world force me to be
Now I finally found the voice they drowned out all those years.
I’m finding exactly who I was always meant to be.
I can look in the mirror and not hate the face looking back at me.
I wasn’t looking
I didn’t actively pick you to come inside of my walls.
To push against them until they tumbled
While you stood back and watched them fall
I liked my black and white world
Thought everything was perfect on my side of the door.
Now I have it all and more

HOUR 13 – Gift

 

The winter sun warms my lap as it inches slowly upwards to embrace me.

The dew whimpers goodbye as it dries on faux grass and the border of plants

wave at the waning crescent moon who in her desire for more time with her 

distant lover lingers, looking longingly at him in the clear sky blue.

 

As I sit on the porch drinking chai watching this suburban street come alive

I realise I’ve finally arrived at a time and place I never thought would eventuate;

a time where you’re just a memory and the heartbreak of unrequited love is

treasured for the profound gift it was.

Hour 13 – Divorce – Text Prompt

Many believed for years that divorce was wrong
A sin by religious standards, an escape for adulterers
There’s even a King with whom we associate
A fanciful rhyme for his wives he left
Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived
There’s a lot of harm from divorce
But ultimately it can be for good.

When I was little my parents fought
I was the scapegoat on which they united
For years they piled their hatred upon me
A child whose growth they blighted
Had they divorced perhaps things wouldn’t have
Turned out quite so bad
I may have had a better family
And not ended up so sad.

I think when I left things got worse for them
Their marriage became untenable
And while their abuse never lessened
They finally learned their lesson
They split just last year
Bringing my other family far closer
Reunited with a brother I hold dear

The morals of divorce
Can’t be decided by a religious text
But they can be helped with evaluation
Of whether marriage created a toxic nest
While I still feel aftershocks
Of choices made by my parents
I can finally rest easy
Knowing I don’t need to be on their fence.

Synchronized

Let’s synchronize swim
Alex the alligator
Smiles and rolls for cheers

13: Turbulence

Prompt: “Write a poem about a time when something really bad happened…that later turned out to be a good thing.”

Your absence burnt a hole into my heart,
I couldn’t understand,
your lack of empathy.

Days and weeks go by,
a once sunny time
turned to bleak sadness.

As full moons made their monthly presence,
you made me realise the most fundamental truth:
I deserved better.

Thank you for letting me go,
most importantly,
I’m grateful, I let you go.

Now, the sun is shining again.

Resurgence (Hour 13)

The storm sent stuff south,
and a walk through the valley.
Burst of light after!