The Poetry Marathon

Prompt 10

King of the Jungle

He strutted up to the pack
To the kill
And growled
And growled again
They all looked at him but no one moved
He pounded the floor
Front feet together
Standing his ground
The spoils were his
He was the king
The king of all living beasts
Master of all he surveyed
They watched with feigned interest
Amused smirks behind closed faces
He roared again
Again and again …
The clip round the ear was not expected
Not something he would tolerate
Someone would pay for that
He rounded on his attacker
And slunk to the floor on his back
Tummy exposed
Mother lion nuzzled him gently
“All in good time my son” she said softly
“All in good time”

 

 

[Prompt: Personify an animal.]

Hour 10- Upside Dog

The unleased dog ran around free,

With unconcealed, uncontrolled glee,

New human he found,

Pushed him to the ground,

What a disloyal dog was he!

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Note: The poem is a limerick (8,8,5,5,8 syllables; 1,2,5 rhyme; 3 & 4 rhyme)

#10- Clock

Constantly on the move, never takes a break

Loud ticking, always keeps you awake

Over and over

Clock needles go round

Keep to time, at least for the clock’s sake

 

This poem is an acrostic disguised as a limerick!

The Gaunt Gator

Annie the alligator
Went on a date
She went to the door
And he was late
They lost the table
So to the diner they went
But to eat a lot
She was unable
She enjoyed her girly shape
Watching him eat,
Her mouth went agape
She was sickened by the size of his dish
Going home soon was her only wish
Where could she find a gator that wasn’t peckish
She would be satisfied with a plate of relish
The black sheep she was
So narrow and thin
Maybe another species
His heart she could win
Let’s hope for her sake
That he doesn’t eat cake

Zero to Sixty

Crawling all over the trees all day
Making nature documentarians frown
And amazingly, doing the whole thing
While hanging upside down

This paragon of slow and steady
Has recently sped up
And now it’s felt the need for speed
I doubt it’ll ever stop

Its devouring all the choicest fruits
Its swift grasping claws can find
And not just its limbs are fast,
It can also move its mind

It’s learnt to read, begun War and Peace
It found Dickens a bit to dreary
In Academia its halfway there
To finding a way to solve string theory.

Its now the fastest herbivore on land
And its mastery of climbing
Means that its got the height advantage
And its got the monkeys whining

Now its fast enough to get there first
And grab the choicest dinner
There’s not enough left for the other chaps
The chimpanzees are getting thinner

We’re close to an ecological collapse
The cascade is on the edge
We have one chance to stop this now
So everyone must make this pledge

I know you thought it would be funny
I don’t want to be a pain
But for the love of God you guys
Stop giving Sloths Cocaine!!!

Lifetime

Looking into your eyes
Your hands held in mine
One day while just driving I realized I could write an essay about you.
About the things I learned about you.
The things that had cemented themselves in my brain and found a way to penetrate past the walls around my heart.
I will always remember our start.
All I ask from this moment forward we never part.
I was praying for you for my whole life
Only I didn’t know it
Now I have found my place at your side
I know we’ll be together for all time
I will find you in every lifetime

When Tomorrow Comes

Wasting away, wishing every day,

when tomorrow comes.

Hoping that a great school grade will come.

Blue Jays baseball game will get the next win.

The Maple Leaf hockey team will win next year.

The Raptors will win their next game.

All your sports teams will win one day.

When tomorrow comes,

wishes from yesterday.

Hope for tomorrow.

That we are driving in the correct lane.

Reading the right chapter.

Hope for tomorrow,

The kids are safe no matter what age

All the different countries unite as a whole.

Freedom of speech never dies.

Keep on hoping tomorrow comes.

 

 

 

 

Crow Giveth. Hour Ten

Once, a hairclip went missing.

My mom was furious;

it was Gran’s, pearly and white.

But one day, there was a tap, tap, tap,

and when I ran, there it was.

At the door. But a puzzlement;

a crow feather beside it.

He’s an odd fellow,

not like the rest.

No shinies he covets, or fills his nest.

He’s the town’s lost and found,

returning the riches,

our favorite resident,

we call him Robin the Hood.

2022 prompt/hour 8: “buttons”

2022 prompt/hour 8: “buttons”

As a child

I enjoyed visiting

I enjoyed all the colours

I enjoyed all the sounds

The flash of the metal as it shuttled by

The soft sway of fabrics

The many coloured bits and bobs that all rattled differently

I was so small

I didn’t quite know they why of what any of it was for exactly

I was just happy to be there

People walking everywhere festooned in fabrics

People somehow managing not to crash into one another

People all moving in a wonderful dance where they all seemed to understand

From there I sat watching – upon the table – too small still to be underfoot

From there I overlooked my domain and knew that everything was colourful and good

From there I could see a man come towards me with trays – colour upon colour. Always my favourite was blue.

I was good at this ans day I was happy

I look back now knowing it was to keep a child occupied

I know it likely wouldn’t be allowed now for safety reasons and that saddens me in a way

For – oh!

I recall the sounds

I recall the colour

I recall the movement

I recall the love I was looked after with

And I know that sitting there, on a table

I found my place

I found my happiness

I found the task that suits me

I make buttons

When I tell people they look bored

Middle aged man makes buttons. Yawn.

But, to me – it’s about love.

Love for the people in that room so long ago

Love for the colours

Love for the sounds

Love for the textures

Love for the people I meet every day who understand what I mean.

When I say when I make buttons I can still be in that room with those people I loved

I still work

Everyone works

But, for me, there will always more love than miserable grind to it

So if you can – find something with more love to it.

Life should be full as possible of joy

 

Merry – LordCricket 2022 poetry marathon

9th Hour – Against Isolation Mary Pecaut

HOUR NINE    –  Against Isolation                  Mary Pecaut

Ekphrastic poem based on Photo by Dylan Shaw   unsplash

 

Against Isolation

 

Just because

the sky is 

blue Is not enough.

It is not enough the peach 

on the horizon nor 

the carefree streak 

of clouds stitched half-hazardly.

It is not nearly enough 

when you are

alone

enveloped in a treeless mountain tract

of Arctic tundra.

So unwelcome is the cold.

Invite raw beauty

to be your stilted home.

Lift it well above the ice. Criss

cross tracks in the snow

no matter if they come

or go as if

to decry I’m here or

Here     am     I.