Thursday, February 2, 2012

A poet who didn't know it.

Last night Matt asked me, "do you ever want to write poetry again? It could be fun."

I used to write "poems" or something like it, every so often. Once I took a whole class devoted to poetry just so that my student loans wouldn't go into repayment. Trickster.

I've thought about doing poem challenges - like, "write a poem a day" or something like that. I'm not sure how to do that. Maybe I should make it harder, like "Write a poem once a day, and make it rhyme or stay away." (Did you like that? Do you see what I did there?)

And also once, one of my very, very bestest friends asked to read some of my poems. And I never let her - whoops. So here it is. I wrote this one in the class that I wasn't allowed to write ryhming poems in.
It's called Mine*.

*(Please note, while this poem does bear some resemblence to reality, I'm not sure I ever woke up at 5am to go running -while- having children. There were other times. Other cold, dark, wake up my friends who live at Hampton times to train for half marathon times...shudder)

Mine
At 5 a.m. I plan to make a stand
in which I will not let the alarm clock
buzz one more time and I will rise 
one foot, then the other, next the body
and finally the mind all scrambling 
to remember the desire of my body
to hit the trail and run.
At 6 a.m. I stop to pant and breathe
and let the sweet release of salt
and sweat fall from my brow and
drop to a broken world, one which I can
not fix nor anymore hear above 
my pounding heart.
At 7 a.m. I relent and feel my body drift
into the steam from water hot
enough to make a cup of tea
that convinces me
today I can stand the hottest
pressure from the world
against my scalding skin.
At 8am she stirs and the rest 
is just a blur of seconds, minutes
hours that no longer belong to me.

No comments: