The Poetry Marathon

Hour 9 A WINTER HOUSE

A Winter House

My dream is wilderness,
Solitude, complete aloneness.

Space to create, to write,
Draw, throw clay pots…
A space to heal and
To be allowed to cry, scream,
rage as I heal.

“Civilized” society can’t tolerate
Real healing expression
Of that I am convinced.

We punish it, medicate it,
Get it out of our sight yet
the very lack of tolerance for
Healing expression
may be in part why we are sick.

Please put me in the middle of
Nowhere with survival means –
I’m not trying to forage or kill-

Just to not have to speak or listen
For a time – just a matter of months
Would be oh so sweet! World leave me be!

Prompt Ten: (unexpected animal) I’m sure he gets it from his father

‘Oh, don’t mind him.’
She waves her hand
serenely through the air
the breeze of his passing the only sign
in its wafting of her hair

And the drawn-out chuckle
from Mr. Sloth in the corner
whose slow smile shows supreme satisfaction
at their son’s apparently
hypersonic action

The Carousel Ride Prompt 11

Mommy lifted her onto the horse’s back. Kallie’s hair 

in tight pigtails matched the horse’s red-gold mane. 

Kallie squirmed and squinched on the hard, plastic surface

and began to cry. Oh no, Sweetheart, this will be fun!

Kallie looked at her mother, tears welling up. The music began.

It was kind of like the music that Miss Ella played for music

class. Kallie’s tears faded away and then her teeth peeked out between

her lips. Her head bobbed, the music played faster, and Kallie

held on tighter. She turned around at the sounds made by the other

children on horses and camels and tigers, oh my! They were

louder than the music and Kallie threw back her head, looked

at the top of the carousel and made the same happy sounds

as everyone else. They came from a place way down inside 

her tummy that jiggled up and down when she was ever so happy.

Hour 13: Gift of Misfortune

(Based on hour 13 text prompt)

Misfortune falls unexpectedly
You are just there
Going about your life
When suddenly
The world turns upside down

You question –
Why me
What did I ever do
Wasn’t I good enough
A human just striving to survive?

You look on as time passes
As friends leave you behind
As everyone questions
What’s wrong with you
As everything falls apart

You try and pick up
The broken pieces
Try and recreate
The complete picture
But some pieces are lost forever

Crying and despair
Scorn and loneliness
The feeling of drowning
While people stand and watch
Scoffing– how come you can’t swim?

And then, in the deepest despair
Through the depths of ice water
That suffocates you
Reaches out a hand
Do I finally have a friend?

Someone who cares and understands
Teaches you how to swim
Accepts you for all your mess
They don’t care if you don’t put up a front
Just for the sake of it

They know and they are here
And if one thing you gained
Going through all the trauma, guilt and despair
Is a friend who will stand by your side
Even in the face of misfortune.

People like people who are positive
Fun to be around, complete human
You and your demons and your broken pieces
Still have a place to go, to call home
A person that misfortune gifted you.

Hour 9 Visual Prompt: If Silence Were Wishes

There was a time when I believed

That snow kept secrets.

There was a time when I believed

That chill air kept confidence.

There was a time when I believed

That yelling wishes into snowstorms brought good luck.

 

If silence is true, then snow and chill and storms

Are no longer useful

Still, wishes do not simply fall to the ground.

Wishes are for leaving fresh tracks.

 

Prompt 13

I Don’t Want a Cat

You just arrived
I came home and there you were
Happy as can be
Lounging about as if you had a given right
I put you out
You came back in
How I didn’t know
But you did
I was adamant
No matter how cute you were
There would be no encouragement
You were not mine
And I was definitely not yours

Yeah right …
A lifetime later I broke my heart
Over the cat that I never wanted

 

 

[Prompt: A time when something really bad happened…that later turned out to be a good thing.]

How-to

Motherhood began in an ER in Florida
I took a day to trek from the keys up to Miami
My reward
Was two flashing hearts.

That wasn’t the beginning.
Confirmation.
It was the confirmation.
The belly jabs
Vaginal ultrasounds
Like robot sex with witnesses
That had worked.
Ta-da!

In a terse email, my husband declared
Get an abortion.

Yeah, we made these kids on purpose.
I wanted kids
He wanted a green card
And a future with his girlfriend back in Russia.

I was only 8 weeks pregnant.
Before the scan I was pretty sure
Smell of celery?
Gag.
Taste of celery?
Just kidding.

Sore nipples. Bed at 7 pm.
Clearly divorcing.
He had hit me
So that was for the best.
Right?
Yes
Right
Yes
Breathe…………

But how do you raise twins?
Alone?
At all?
Jobless?
Homeless?

I still can’t say how.
No bestseller
No secret advice
You just do
And you keep doing
And one day
You just know
Not how,
But at least that you can.

Hour Thirteen- Twisted Branches

 

twisted branches

the constant ache to

break free

 

 

 

Note: This poem was written using the image prompt for hour eleven.

 

 

 

 

Come What May

There’s a woman sitting across from me
she is the most beautiful, caring, and sweet person I’ve ever met
she made me understand
she made me feel
what love truly is.
She’s the kind of person to do a poetry marathon with me
go to a comedy show
see an art gallery
everything I dreamed of in a partner
everything I had hoped for.
None of this would have happened,
had I not broken a heart
torn it into pieces
it was no work of art
but we had to part.
For the sake of love,
it was an easy decision.
Whatever the consequences,
I’m immune
I’ve found my Elnaz,
my Elnaz Joon.

Nighttime Encounters8pm

It’s dark out-
I’ve always been a fan
of the dark-
you see things a little
more clearly
You see people for who they are
Passion can overtake you
more explicitly in the dark

ssshh
no- I don’t want the lights on
it sets the mood
yes I know
the waiting is
getting difficult

It looks like it’s going to
storm violently tonight
thundering and lightning
turns me on
makes me want you more
and more

a little wine
a kiss
your hand on my hip
perhaps a dance
we have all night

Let’s not rush this
Come let us eat together
I’m not ready just this moment