July Daily Poetry Challenge 2022

1

Another year gnawing away

Soon only gristle will remain

Meat, flesh, all choked down

The gaping, black gullet

2

I see an end

Yet another

That bleeds into

Yet another

Beginning

3

stone tumbled by the stream

An edge tumbled off

Tumbling in the water

End over end

Water with grit in its teeth

Stones on the bank

Worried smooth

Anxious ambling water

4

My country Tis not of me

Sweet land dying bitterly

Of thee I sing

Land where my sisters cry

Land where my brothers die

From every mountain side

Hear our pleading ring

O beautiful

And spacious

Amber, purple land rich with fruit

Of what god is this grace?

The crown of brotherhood lies shattered

From sea to choking sea

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20

Two years of running

Finally I feel like I can lay down

As the sickness curls around my throat like a cat

“It is not so bad” she whispers to the 1,000,000 dead

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23

I give what I have away

I give it to you

I feed you with my hands

I touch you with my mind

I hold my breath and then hold you

The syrupy night stands on tiptoes to watch

24

How easy it is to fall in love

What a gift to have others fall in love with you

25

Fear of falling

Fear of waking up and not knowing where I am

Fear of sharks

Of dark water

Of losing control

Fear of intimacy

Fear of getting too close

Of walking away

Of never looking back

Of never saying sorry

Fear of misunderstanding

Fear of loss

But mostly fear of falling

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Hunger is knowing where I am going

And wanting more

Hunger is waiting to devour

And wanting never to stop

29

The mountainscape lies behind

Not ahead

Red roofs grow up amongst the trees

A lone deer walks slowly through low growing green

Stalklike trees bend away from the road

Finally, a familiar stand of corn

Amidst and entirely foreign stretch of crops

I cannot read the signs

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