The Poetry Marathon

Words Unspoken (Hour 6)

Dear Chidi

This is as good a time as any to say these words.

To tell you of words that you nurtured all these years for me,

that never found utterance.

Words that lived in your heart for me, like a hermit,

secluded from the rest of humanity.

 

You had these words in your eyes in the way you looked at me.

I could discern your yearning for me.

And I longed to hear those words spoken into my ears.

But they never came.

Dear Chidi, what held you back?

 

You’d often told your friends how crazy about me you were.

Yet, when you saw me, you became tongue-tied.

How I longed to hear you say, ‘Oby, I love you.’

Oh, the many nights I waited, hoping to hear

a soft knock on my window, and see

my Romeo come to take me away.

 

What happened to those words you held on to?

Were they strangled by fear or shyness?

And if you could take back the hands of time,

would you speak those words to me?

 

Now the years have separated us, and each has found

another path to walk.

Yet, thoughts of what we could have being together

come and go.

And those words though unspoken,

ring out loud in my imagination.

Oby.

Morning Walk

Shisa took me for a walk today.

I hadn’t planned a walk;

I had other, more productive ideas:

pull the weeds, spread the mulch.

 

Shisa doesn’t get that many walks anymore.

She has worn her arthritic hips out

with the many glorious walks she has taken

in her long and good life.

 

So when she started up the driveway

and looked back at me askance

(she would never go alone)

I had to follow.

 

Down the hill to the cul-de-sac,

sniffing this, peeing on that,

rolling in a neighbor’s new-cut grass.

Regular dog stuff.

Wonderful dogly delights.

 

She showed me where someone had

pushed the forest back on a vacant lot,

how you can see where the bank goes down to the creek,

where there are smells and sights she’d love to explore,

but it’s too steep, so she sniffs at the edges

and we go on our way.

 

She showed me where the car lives

that hit Calvin,

but we do not tarry long in front of that house.

 

She showed me the new brick-lined flowerbed

someone has just put around their mailbox

to keep the mail truck from killing the grass there.

 

She showed me that I can pull that hill now

better than I could when we first moved here,

seven springs ago.

 

She showed me how good our new black fence will look

when it is finished when you come up that hill.

She seems to like that fence.

Not for long, I suspect.

 

She showed me that the opportunity for a nice walk

on a beautiful June morning

before the heat sets in

is a foolish thing to waste

and that the weeds will still need pulling

tomorrow when maybe her hips

won’t even let her think about a walk.

 

I can hear my sister asking, “Did you take Shisa for a walk today?”

 

No.

 

Shisa took me.

Don’t let it die

It is sad

We broke apart

Not by design

Nor by default

But you must not let that dream die.

Like my fathers before me,

Everyone must answer

The call of the great beyond

But I will not allow you to go astray.

The dream you had was big

And I know your heart is large too

To face the challenges ahead

And surmount all obstacles

Intended to make you fail.

Hold fast to your dream,

Do not let it die.

It is the collective vision of a race

To restore the lost glory of humanity

And renew the face of the Earth.

 

#PROMPT1: SHIPWRECKED

Like a wrecking ball,
The Iceberg of hardships wrecked my fortress
And with no life jacket on,
It boxed me into a bottomless ocean of adversity.

With no proper swimming skills,
My mind blacks out
And spirals as I sink deeper and deeper
And I can’t breathe
But, like a floodlight,
the will to see another day
Fills my heart with a beacon of hope

The will to touch the grains of sand,
The will to reach the golden shore of safety,
Propels me to glide through the waves of despair
And here I am, riding on a wave steadily
Hoping I’ll break out of the killer whale’s jaws of death.

El Toro

A black and beautiful beast was El toro
Shinning and enormous in size was El toro
He thought himself indestructible
He thought himself…unvanquishable
The pride of the stable was he
And he made sure both man and animal alike never forgot it
Until he was sold out to another farmer
Where he was relegated
As the farmer had bigger and more beautiful bulls…more magnificient looking than himself
The great El toro became ordinary..so ordinary he was always overlooked in the barn
The great El toro became…the poor El toro

Erstwhile (2022 Poem 6)

Erstwhile

Who was once most cherished in my heart
I see you face each day, even though you struggle, still
You persevere

What drives you forward
I watch you find motivation, in yourself, in others, as always
You inspire

Where did our paths diverge
I wish you had circled back sooner to your place in the spiral, yet I know
You try

When will you find your purpose
I know you hold it within you, even more so at the times when you think
You fail

Why did you deny me
I love you, your faith, in life, in yourself, and most of all, to feel
You rise

(Prompt: Write a letter to yourself from the perspective of someone who is no longer in your life.)

6 Iron Angel

6       Iron Angel

 

Taking white wire

From the heap of

Discarded tokens

I saw the Angel

 

Having been before

I had no judgment as

Visitors wanted to

Start Spring anew

 

She had a broken

Rod rendering her

Unstable in the

Cemetery’s soft dirt

 

I twisted off

The remaining limb

Realizing she is

Forever perfect

 

Now welcomed here

In to my  home

She blesses me

Against sky blue wall

 

 

Gogo Clinch from Rubber Guard

I’m on you like a trapdoor spider
but my hole is the mat
and I pull you down to me
because I’m not afraid of your weight
I hold you there
and inject my venom
by tightening myself like a snake
and using my leg to keep your head crushed down
I’m not after liquefied organs
just your spirit
and when you relax
my shin is in your neck
I wrap my hands on the other side
gabling with all my might
and crush your carotids
waiting on the tap
or a less than restful sleep.

Hour 6: The Dragon on the Branch

High upon the tallest tree
On the wooden branches
Perched a dragon
Looking out into the sea

It’s wings all curled up
(I wonder how big they must be)
It’s scales gleaming in the rays
Of setting sun scattered through the sea

And I looked and looked at it some more
While waiting – for something to happen
For it to move or lean or stretch or..
Anything really!

But still it sat with wooden eyes
On the high branch of the tree
Just, simply, plainly
looking over the sea when–

The ringing classroom bell brought me back to real life
Where maths problems were the reality
And dragons on branches existed only in crevices of bored minds
Imagination fueled by lack of fantasy

With a last look outside the window
I sighed as I moved on to another story
Entirely missing the dragon on the branch
Finally unfurling it’s wings and flying towards the sea.

No. 7: Touch

Touch is essential
Human life thrives
We die without

Skin on skin
Spreads warmth throughout
Engendering loving feelings

Babies smile and
Drool with delight
Mothers coo love

Children are comforted
They learn to
Love in return