Last Saturday was the Poetry Marathon, and I made it! Twenty-four poems in 24 hours. All the poems are early drafts for sure. Some took five minutes or less and certainly show it, like one where I listened to YoYo Ma play while I wrote down some words, and another is a found poem from the lyrics of Abba’s “Dancing Queen.”
I followed one of the two suggested prompts for each poem during the marathon. Hour 23, the prompt was to write a poem with the title, “Tender, Tender.” I was thinking of my grandson who will turn two this weekend.
Tender, Tender
My hope for you is to be
Tender, tender–strong
And tender. To be
all you are destined to be
All the good, for which you
were created can fill the
tender spots in you.
The strong and tender
spots, filled with you,
filled with love.
This is my dream for you.
Another poem I enjoyed writing was during Hour 24. (I don’t know if I liked the poem, or if I just liked that it was the last one.) The prompt was to write about wishes.
Hour 24
Wishes
My wish for all of us is to
see more sunrises.
(And each morning we see one,
we get to wish for more wishes.)
Today I am awake at dawn
because this is Poem 24–
24 hours in a day of poeming.
Would I have missed this layered sky?
Yes, this sky: where blue and
orange look so good together.
This sky was here so briefly
inviting us to drink it up.
It still would have come with
no witnesses at all. Any
other Sunday morning,
I would have missed it.
But this day, this poem
beholds the sunrise.
The birds are here too,
giving witness.
They just began their
Sunday morning
worship, rejoicing
together and alone.
My wish for you
(and for me) is to see
more sunrises–
together and alone.
The whole Poetry Marathon collection is here.
Denise, what a beautiful way to spend 24 hours. Lovely wishes and messages throughout…thank you. I will try this sometime! xo
A tip of the hat to you — 24 poems in 24 hours!! “Tender” is such a fascinating word. You picked a lovely topic for it. I like the ending for Poem 24 about together and alone. Congrats, Denise!
Wow! 24 poems in 24 hours! That is so amazing!!! What a cool challenge. I love both of these you shared. Just stunning!
I am impressed with your writing, there, even at the end, a bounty of wishes and hopes, Denise! Perhaps you can bind them up in a book just to capture your amazing day? Congratulations!
24 poems in 24 hours. Holy cannoli! That is impressive. I look forward to reading the others. Loved these here!
Some of the quickest drafts have that in the moment honesty and freshness that other drafts do not. I love your tender wishes (like a lullaby) for your grandson. Watching my 4.5 year old grandson with his 18 month old cousin was so precious. He treats her tenderly and with such joy. They laugh together.
The sunrise that would be missed is also such a fresh drink of summer. Thanks for sharing your poems today. It helps me see how the doing of writing each day is more important than perfection.
Wow! What an accomplishment! And the poems you shared here are so beautiful. I especially love “Tender, Tender” with the repetition of the word tender that is so perfect.
Denise, I can’t imagine how you write 24 poems in 24 hours. Do you wake each hour through the night?
I love the two you shared here. Tender evokes such love and hope and dreams. I share them with you for my grandchildren.
Wishes is absolutely beautiful. Love these lines:
“But this day, this poem
beholds the sunrise.”
Reminds me that I need to go out tonight to see the strawberry full moon.
Thanks for sharing your poems with us
“for this day, your words
fill me with delight.”
Ramona, that is kind of the idea, but I would start at 45 minutes past the hour. Then write one for that hour, and then on into the next hour. That way I had about a 1.5 hour break to nap or do whatever I needed to. You are allowed to get behind and catch up, and I did that because of a family dinner, so I did write 24 poems in 24 hours, but not exactly one every hour.
Oh the birds witness and worshipping dawn. The 25 hour poetry marathon is intriquing. Did you self impose this or was there an online event?
Jone, it is an online group. There were over 600 people who participated this year. https://thepoetrymarathon.com/
Oh wow. You make me want to do a 24hr poetry marathon, too. Especially if I could end with a poem as exquisite as yours. There are just so many combinations that I adored in it. Well done, Denise! And thank-you for sharing the beauty.
Here’s another WOW!
You take “give it your all” to a whole new level.
I miss my early morning in-the-dark walks with Orion in the winter and the birds in the spring, the relief from heat in the summer and the spider webs in my face in the fall and the moon in all seasons…but not enough to get up that early when I don’t have work to get to. Maybe I need to get up anyway. Your sunrise poem inspires me.
Denise, that’s amazing! I can’t even imagine doing 24 poems in 24 hours. When you mentioned it a month or so ago, I snorted! So did you stay up for all 24 hours? Or did you set an hourly alarm and then fall back to sleep until the next one. Okay, anyway…these are wonderful. I feel your heart and your own tenderness for your grandson, and the repeated words feel like a mantra, a prayer. And then this!
Would I have missed this layered sky?
Yes, this sky: where blue and
orange look so good together.
This sky was here so briefly
inviting us to drink it up.
It still would have come with
no witnesses at all.
Magic. Thank you for sharing, and congrats on writing all 24 poems. You’re a marathoner!
24 poems in 24 hours — wow! That’s impressive. I probably would have cheated and tried to write everything in the first 12 hours and then I’d have flopped in bed. đŸ˜€ The poem for your grandson is so sweet, Denise. And I’m wishing you many beautiful sunrises.
Gosh, Denise! Congrats on completing the marathon! I think this would be more difficult than my ride around Lake Tahoe… I’m not sure anything I would write in the middle of the night would come out right. I’m so curious to know the time stamp of each of your poems, and whether the interrupted sleep affected your writing. I read through to Hour 6 — and wondered about each of the prompts. You’ve got me curious!
So impressed by your marathon effort! I suspect I’d have got to the point where I’d be writing :
Poetry is good
so is sleep.
Snoooorrree.
Yours are so much nicer đŸ™‚
Oh, how I feel that first poem. My little boy is starting school this year, and I fear the loss of his tenderness, the hardening of his heart. I wish for him to have the strength to be his true self, whatever others might think of him.
Congrats on making it through the marathon!!! Lovely sunrise —glad you were able to capture it and in your poem too. Tender and strong tie together lovingly in your poem, thanks Denise!