(Poem 254 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
Jenni married an Indian man,
painted her white skin brown,
and adopted a Hindi accent.
She wore a simple cotton sari
as though it was a ball gown
and dispensed sage advice
with smooth tilts of the head,
as though born in Mumbai.
@Home Studio – 254th poem of the year (After a dream I had about a white friend of mine completely appropriating Indian culture.)
Runner ups for the Indian Jenni photos to accompany my poem:
(Poem 244 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
This time what struck me was
the intimacy of Hermione and
Harry’s friendship as young
adults trying to endure hardship.
They leaned on each other for
support and inspiration and
literally for survival in dire times.
To have even one friend you
would trust with your life and vice
versa is a miracle, yet this story
depicts those depths of friendship
as the norm…what an aspiration.
@Home Studio – 244th poem of the year (After watching it at home while Lydia & Charlotte watched it at Cinemark on 8/31/24 for Back to Hogwarts Week)
Yates, David. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Warner Bros., 2010.
(Poem 241 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
I think what I noticed most this
time around the Goblet of Fire
was just how good a young man
Cedric Diggory was depicted as.
He was the lad every girl would
want to bring home to meet the
parents and the British version
of the quarterback All-American—
a man’s man, rugged good looks
and charm, kind to everyone and
if he could be so effortlessly killed,
what did that say for everyone else?
@Home Studio – 241st poem of the year (After watching it at Cinemark with Debbie, Jenny, Celinda, David, & Charlotte on 8/28/24 for Back to Hogwarts Week)
Newell, Mike. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Warner Bros., 2005
(Poem 192 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
Lunch with an old friend
is always a nice time to
catch up on family and
career, health and goals,
to reconnect over tales
of the past, memories of
the trials by fire and joys
we endured, tolerated,
and survived in the line
of duty that is a niche
experience most cannot
fathom, nor relate to.
Something about talking
through the time spent
in the trenches of yesterday
reminds us that the alternate
reality that was our daily
existence was real and vital,
and still being here to
talk about it confirms that
we are okay, our sacrifices
mattered and are not forgotten,
at least by us, as long as we
whisper our stories out loud.
@Erica’s – 192nd poem of the year (After lunch with Debbie Rice-Hutchison.)
(Poem 168 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/pnxfq2 https://gencraft.ai/p/oNLuGd https://gencraft.ai/p/TJyDtD
Four hunters arrive,
traversing a post-
apocalyptic scene
in feudal Japan.
Their stealth persists
until an enemy Oni
raises an alarm and
the hunters become
the hunted once again.
Each battle, skirmish,
and moment of hand-
to-hand combat brings
them closer to the
arrival of the boss,
a demon monster,
one of many unleashed
by The Cataclysm.
All that waits to be
seen, is who will be
the last one standing.
@Home Studio – 168th poem of the year (after playing with David, Lydia, and Charlotte)
Runner ups for the Hametsu photos to accompany my poem:
(Poem 147 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
Frank is very philosophical,
though I doubt he would agree.
His views on life are complex,
but his conscience remains free.
I usually enjoy our conversations,
though I don’t always understand.
His mind works in counterpoints;
his theories can be quite grand.
I think he wants justice to exist,
but he knows that’s a stretch.
It bothers him that evil prevails,
yet he feels pity for the wretch.
His spirit is buoyed by hopefulness,
though his mind is a critic at heart.
Frankly, I’ve never met anyone else
who I can say is half as smart.
@Home Studio – 147th poem of the year
(Poem 145 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
There’s a lonely monster I know by the name of Stan.
He wanders the desert to avoid the face of man.
We ran into one another once on a camping trip.
I was with a tour group until I gave them the slip.
I came across Stan warming by a lovely little fire.
I assured him I wasn’t scared; he called me a liar.
With his eyes downcast, he told me about his past.
Then I told him about mine, though he never asked.
We agreed we were both the biggest lost cases,
not good with people and ashamed of our faces.
I remember the stars were quite beautiful that night.
Then Stan stood and stretched to his full height.
I was shocked and speechless, to say the least.
He was a hulking form, a most magnificent beast.
I apologized for staring, and he chuckled a bit
and declared me his long-lost mutual hypocrite.
See, together we each judged ourselves the worst,
as though from birth we both had been cursed,
though he had told me to give myself a break,
and I had preached that he deserved a fair shake.
When I eventually said I had to rejoin my group,
he patted my head, though he had to stoop.
We agreed to meet at this same spot once a year
to sit around the fire and drink some beer.
I’ve never told anyone of this once-a-year plan,
but I visit a lonely monster by the name of Stan.
@Home Studio – 145th poem of the year
(Poem 141 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
One minute she’s harvesting
seeds from dried flowers she
plucked from her own garden,
the next she’s trying on new
nails she got on sale from her
latest favorite glamour website.
She flits around handling
five children clamoring like
baby birds for her food and
her praise because nothing
is better than Erica approval.
Through it all she’s telling stories,
sharing the latest gossip, and
exclaiming such things as
I can’t,
ain’t nobody got time for that,
go lay down,
I got time today,
who are you talkin’ to,
not on my watch,
I can hear you, you know,
the call is coming from inside the house,
get somebody else to do it,
boy, bye,
they’re all broken.
And we laugh and cry and
sip tea and share our lives.
@Home Studio – 141st poem of the year
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
(Poem 105 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
It helps to have someone
by your side during the
tough times and the good,
to view the sunsets and
take shelter from the storms,
climb the mountains and
swim across the rivers,
have your back in a pinch,
listen to your stories again,
scratch the spots on your
back that you can’t reach,
and give you a shoulder to
lean on when you are weak,
and the nice thing about
having a friend, is that
as much as they help you,
you do the same for them.
@Home Studio – 105th poem of the year
Runner ups for the partners photos to accompany my poem:
rebekahjmarshall 