The Stafford Challenge

A collaborative poem written by the 2024 cohort of The Stafford Challenge

The river, passing, yes, is never gone.
Curiosity pulsing till the final breath.
Though I step away, the voices continue.

From waiting to losing to heaven…
My bare feet steeped in frost, rooted in the dark
The end has only just begun.

discord, lost, remembering I’m connected
7300 poems left to go; a lifetime begun
I turn the page and begin again

forward with strangers turned into friends
I stood, inhaled, and stepped forth
Here we sit, tethered by our words

To join with other voices
tender green buds became fiery blossoms
Does the seed die when it opens?

From waiting to losing to heaven…
What may come along the path
A prisoner once,

everything so prone to breakage
I’m eating my tail again
endings and beginnings become one

It was dark at the beginning
Lie in the grass, keep dreaming
before I ever began, the end had me beguiled

until we are parted by death
A basket-full of poems delivered at the doorstep.
I dreamt of falling. I never landed.

Finally, zipped into the flannel-lined sleeping bag, the stars fell.
Pain poured through my pen.
Wild butterflies linger still, asleep.

It changed me because I let it.
beginning not seeking a finish but a journey
First words or last lines; keep writing.

poetry unlocked my cell
discord, lost, remembering I’m connected
beginning not seeking a finish but a journey

The best endings are also beginnings.
I stitched stories together because you also were sowing
Not a beginning or an ending, continuing

I near, never touching, journey's end.
Write the poem and set it free
2024 will be reborn as a book

It’s finished. Now, we can begin.
A prisoner once, poetry unlocked my cell
heart quickens with life,

beats ecstatic, pause, beat, complete
Connect and reconnect, that’s what writing is all about.
Staring into the dark until the light appears.

A thousand seeds each sprouting its own wispy parachute
small, timid, a blank page fills
Suspended in this silent symphony, I listen

Being roped in, it's time to let go and fly.
In my goodbye, remembering our hello
pouring thoughts on page as therapy

Seeds of thoughts… bouquet of friends
I draw the curtains and step away.
Open the window, the world rushes in

A year of words to paper
Roots transform to wings and fly
Cuddled the wee hours away.

It changed me because I let it.
You made all the difference
Sifting thoughts lead to mosaic understanding.

Wheeling though time space beginnings endings merge
Something forgotten remembered again.
Enlightened and enriched we grow.