(Poem 115 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
We had a meeting in the kitchen.
I cried and scrubbed the stove.
You told me to take better care of myself.
I scraped burnt cabbage and tomato sauce off a pan.
You left a cabinet open.
I cried some more.
You played with the wind chimes.
I said how much I miss our chats.
You comforted me.
@Home Studio – 115th poem of the year
(Poem 114 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
I bought some of that
pheromone perfume to
make my husband love me;
turns out, I don’t need it.
I’m the whole package and
seem to be his cup of tea.
Because my hips are as
wide as the Himalayas and
other assets ample, as well,
I need reminders that for
some men, an ample shape
can be pleasing as hell.
The culture I was raised in
prized a female form with
less meat on the bones;
that leaves a stain on the
heart that’s hard to shake—
dispatched to friend zones.
So, I’ll probably keep buying
the latest aphrodisiacs and
pretty things on TikTok shop,
even though my husband
thinks I’m beautiful and feels
no need to window shop.
@Home Studio – 114th poem of the year
Runner ups for the full-figured white girl photos to accompany my poem:
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
(Poem 113 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
A black and white image slowly
forms in developing solution.
A woman emerges with unkempt
hair and the same gown she’s
been wearing for several days.
The dampness permeating her
garments and droplets beading
on her hair clue her in that she is
standing outside in the elements.
She was meant to be completing
a task, doing something important.
Awareness dawns that she has
not been well for a while now,
how long is undetermined, vague,
but the lifting fog begins to reveal
color, just hints of expression,
a reminder that there is life
beyond the slog of slow-motion
survival she has been swimming
through indefinitely unmoored.
The awakening is gradual, subtle,
and incremental, yet essential.
@Home Studio – 113th poem of the year
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
(Poem 112 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
A caterpillar is scooting along,
minding her own business,
munching on leaves and
feeling the cool breeze,
when she suddenly has a thought;
“What if I could fly away?”
All her life she’s crawled along,
inched on her belly,
viewed the world from below.
How does she even begin
to imagine the possibility of flight,
envision a different future
than the one she has always known?
A gentle gnawing that begins
in her belly and slowly creeps
its way incrementally to the tip of
consciousness tells her to
cocoon herself in safety,
wall herself away from the scary
change that will come if she
lets herself dream too big.
And there she remains,
turning in on herself,
visualizing a new way of being,
letting the idea of a new reality
wash through her like
rain and pain, and the strain
of the old self transforming
becomes nearly unbearable.
That is when the miracle happens…
new life unfurls,
wings stretch heavenward,
there is an impulse to leap,
to flap, to throw fear to the sky,
and become who she is meant to be.
Runner ups for the caterpillar lightbulb photos to accompany my poem:
(Poem 111 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
Don’t you wonder
what the animals do
when we aren’t watching
their every single move?
Do they drive our cars
and talk on our phones,
eat at our restaurants
or take out bank loans?
Maybe they wear clothes
and chew bubble gum,
carry around umbrellas
and play a snare drum.
Do they smoke cigarettes
and walk on the streets,
wear sleek looking hats
and sleep on soft sheets?
Perhaps they laugh at us
while telling lame jokes,
then pretend ignorance;
it’s all a big hoax.
Yes, the animals out there
are living double lives,
staring blankly at us,
giving each other high fives.
Runner ups for the magical animals photos to accompany my poem:
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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