when the poet is assigned her own wake up call

hey,
you,
you with the magic,
wake up!

there’s things to do
poems to write
verses to spew

you’re gonna need to greet the sun pretty soon

don’t brew more coffee
you’ve had your last call with diet coke

wake up!

fake up, if you have to

we can count the poems after this
on two thumbs

finish what you started
channel Mary Oliver
dig out your thesaurus
say your special prayers

and be like Captain Kangaroo:
good morning, Captain

wake up!!!

you’re almost there
you’re almost bare
you’re almost sleeping under there

wake up!!!!

take up these final steps
make up these last few peps
shake up these closing arguments
break up with Johnny Depp
(you might be dreaming, pinch yourself)

wake up!!

abracadabra
alakazam
you’re almost to the finish line
you can’t disappoint Pam

right now, everyone is named Pam, OK?

wake up!!!

wake up Thecla
wake up the neighbors
wake up those last poems you harbor
wake up like you’re in labor

wake up!!!!

hey girlfriend
you with the magic
don’t let this marathon end tragic

wake up!!!!

One thought on “when the poet is assigned her own wake up call

  1. This is such a fantastic poem! The concepts of the poet as the one with magic, continued throughout the piece, and the idea of harboring the poem and them birthing them through labor, the mixing of the tired/dreamyness with alert insights. Every line is wonderful. (I also found myself tired enough to take several ill-advised naps throughout the marathon, and relied heavily on my thesaurus.) This is my favorite “Poetry Marathon”-themed poem!

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