The Poetry Marathon

Sealed with a Kiss

At long last, Sarika and Sandeep’s lips touched

Sandeep, from a lower caste and Sarika a rich one

They met on a stormy-swept Mumbai night

When Sandeep saved Sarika from a band of pickpockets

Smitten, Sandeep begged for her number and she gave it

Their families were furious when they learned the truth

Such a scandal would rock the town

Sandeep’s father swore and deleted the son’s emails

Sarika’s mother sent her sons to watch her

And she became a prisoner in her own home

Forbidden love only grew that much stronger

Both snuck out of their bedrooms in the sultry nights

Through alleys to meet at their favorite tea shop

Once Sandeep ventured a kiss, but Sarika swatted

She’d kiss him only when they could love in public

Sandeep vowed to earn enough to start a life

Working three jobs to save for brighter days

Sarika secretly helped admit him to a business school

They shared daily stores over tea

One day they confronted their families

Dress in their finest, they declared their love

Their love must be accepted, or they’d run away

The families reluctantly agreed, forced to see the truth

That nothing would separate their love and passion

Resting in a cottage in the countryside, together at last

A new life sealed with a kiss

Aerosol cheese

In France when it’s time to take a photo

we don’t say Camembert, brie or cheddar

But call out a monkey

Oustiti!

feel the corners of your mouth and eyes wrinkling as you say it

Involuntary Reaction

Involuntary Reaction

 

She couldn’t believe

it had happened again

As she tripped down the stairs on a toy.

She’d told him and told him

to pick up his things,

Oh where was that dratted boy???

 

He was in the kitchen covering his mouth.

His body was bent over double.

If his mom saw a trace

of the smile on his face,

he’d  definitely be in trouble.

 

He wasn’t happy she’d fallen,

But his mind shook hard  cause he’d  heard

When  his Mama fell,

She let out a yell,

And screamed  the naughty  “F” word.

 

 

Joyful Memories

His joy spills out in rumbling,

and deep, rolling peals

Hers reminds me of

fizzing and bouncing,

Like those wonderful bath bombs

Hers is soft and bubbly, sometimes

exploding into rhythms of squeals, leaving

no question of delight.

Their little one attempts to mimic both.

She is occasionally successful and always in her own style.

Grandma’s came higher-pitched,

through her nose and made her belly jiggle.

Grandpa’s joy came from deep in his chest

and made his whole body shake!

If you were in another room,

you could know who was happy

by the sound of their voice.

Memories made of joyful sounds last forever.

 

Hour 11 – Live, Laugh, Love

Some people are like snakes, a joke comes with a hiss
While other bray like donkeys, muleish tones oft remiss
You however intrigue me, your voice sparkles like champagne
Effervescent and evanescent, transparent and bubbly
Where are the songbirds summoned by your reaction?
The princess sidekick is M I A
Yet you make the world sparkle like diamonds
When you send a chuckle my way.

I wish your world was silly
Full of bubbles like your voice
So your humor would spring often
From that well of effervescent voice
Yes, I want to hear your ribs burst,
See you catch your breath
I want to make you smile wide
To hear your every depth.

Hour 10: A Savior Serpent

There is a truth that lies behind my unblinking eyes. A truth that is uncomfortable to hear because it is spoken with a forked tongue.

In the stillness there is transformation. Scales that protect,  harden and dry, a time for abrasion arrives. To move in obstruction with everything that surrounds. Until the old skin peels in waves.  Strips of white webs lacing down my spine. These are the scripts that bear this old law of the Earth.

To stay close and give your pain to Her. You cannot carry it, it must be shed. You too will outgrow the form you inhabit. What was once your armor will begin to suffocate you. When the pain won’t allow you to rest, let it go. The time for transformation is continally at hand.

Resurrection is the lesson of the serpent. Long before the garden and the tree. Long before He hung on the cross. Didn’t the fruit I gave you change everything?

A Goat Named Billy (Hour 10)

Granny had a smart goat
that heard you when you called
and answered his name with a bleat.

We called him Billy, not because he
was a billy goat but because he had
a beard like dad’s runaway half-brother Billy.

This other Billy, Billy the human,
dad’s half-brother, he wasn’t smart
like Billy the goat. He ran away
from home because he wouldn’t
marry a wife.

Billy the goat? Smart kid.
All of Granny’s she-goats
belonged to his harem.

11th hour – Halos of peace (Text prompt)

Familiar combustion of excitement

tickles innate chords of expression

playfully careening outward into the earth from playful souls merrying mischievously as their bubbly disposition glowers with golden kindness

halos of peace

simple expulsion

tender tender bliss

Hour #11

Twilight mist guides the way

On an early moonlit eve in May

I wander along the stream

Each step feels like a dream

 

Meliae

drops of iron soak into the earth

giving you your first breath

roots anchor you to your mother

knotted wood encase your spirit

from your limbs and head, flowers bloom

bringing with them companions of bees and birds

you will never know your father

but one day you will learn how he died at his son’s hands