Poem: "The Little Things Citizens Do"
Nov. 22nd, 2014 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "perfect" square of my 9-29-14 card for the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
origfic_bingo fest. It has been sponsored by janetmiles. This poem belongs to the series Frankenstein's Family.
"The Little Things Citizens Do"
It was a perfect day, the sky clear blue
dotted with fluffy white clouds overhead,
the late spring sunlight warm on the slopes.
Igor dug into the castle's abandoned gardens
with a good will, Victor lending what aid he could --
most of that being to keep an eye on Adam.
They had made respectable inroads on
restoring the herb gardens, although
the flower gardens remained largely a mess
and he had little idea what to do for vegetables.
Then a hail came from the gate.
Startled, Igor looked up
to see Dénes and Dorottya
riding alongside Lóránt in his wagon.
"Igor! I thought you might like some hops,"
Dénes said, proffering an armload
of paper pots with small green sprouts.
"Dorottya has some extra seedlings
for kohlrabi and cabbage, too."
"I brought leeks," said Lóránt.
He had a birchbark box full of young leeks
that looked like tufts of thick grass.
"Oh, how useful!" Igor said,
trying to reach for all the vegetables
at the same time. "These will make
a perfect addition to the beds."
Dorottya batted gently at his hands.
"Just tell us where you want these,"
she said. "We'll plant them for you.
Go on back to what you were doing."
"All right, what's going on here?"
Victor asked. "Fine to bring a few plants --"
"Oh, and seeds," Dorottya said,
and Igor finally noticed her pockets
bulging with colorful cloth bags.
"I brought peas and beans."
"... why?" Victor asked.
"We've settled accounts."
"Part of it's just being neighborly,"
Lóránt said, "but the lord is owed
a few days of work from the villagers,
to help keep up the grounds. No point
to it while the place went empty, but
now you're here, and so are we.
It's the little things citizens do that
make a castle and village thrive."
"You're worth it," Dénes added quietly.
"We're weeding those beds over there,"
Igor said as he pointed. "The leeks can go here,
the other sprouts in the next bed -- oh, and
I'll need trellises for all of the vines --"
"I'll go cut some canes," Lóránt said,
heading for the stand of willows
near the wellhouse.
Igor had never felt particularly close
to the village where he'd grown up,
and from the look on Victor's face
he hadn't much more feel for a lord's work.
Now that they had a village of their own, though ...
It was perfect.
* * *
Notes:
"It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees."
-- Wangari Maathai
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/wangarimaa381930.html?src=t_planting
Paper pots may be folded or rolled in many styles. This used to be the norm before plastic ones.
Romanian vegetables include peas, beans, cabbages, and many others. Leeks can be stimulated for vegetative propagation.
Hops have relaxing, soporific qualities not just in tea but also in dream pillows.
origfic_bingo fest. It has been sponsored by janetmiles. This poem belongs to the series Frankenstein's Family."The Little Things Citizens Do"
It was a perfect day, the sky clear blue
dotted with fluffy white clouds overhead,
the late spring sunlight warm on the slopes.
Igor dug into the castle's abandoned gardens
with a good will, Victor lending what aid he could --
most of that being to keep an eye on Adam.
They had made respectable inroads on
restoring the herb gardens, although
the flower gardens remained largely a mess
and he had little idea what to do for vegetables.
Then a hail came from the gate.
Startled, Igor looked up
to see Dénes and Dorottya
riding alongside Lóránt in his wagon.
"Igor! I thought you might like some hops,"
Dénes said, proffering an armload
of paper pots with small green sprouts.
"Dorottya has some extra seedlings
for kohlrabi and cabbage, too."
"I brought leeks," said Lóránt.
He had a birchbark box full of young leeks
that looked like tufts of thick grass.
"Oh, how useful!" Igor said,
trying to reach for all the vegetables
at the same time. "These will make
a perfect addition to the beds."
Dorottya batted gently at his hands.
"Just tell us where you want these,"
she said. "We'll plant them for you.
Go on back to what you were doing."
"All right, what's going on here?"
Victor asked. "Fine to bring a few plants --"
"Oh, and seeds," Dorottya said,
and Igor finally noticed her pockets
bulging with colorful cloth bags.
"I brought peas and beans."
"... why?" Victor asked.
"We've settled accounts."
"Part of it's just being neighborly,"
Lóránt said, "but the lord is owed
a few days of work from the villagers,
to help keep up the grounds. No point
to it while the place went empty, but
now you're here, and so are we.
It's the little things citizens do that
make a castle and village thrive."
"You're worth it," Dénes added quietly.
"We're weeding those beds over there,"
Igor said as he pointed. "The leeks can go here,
the other sprouts in the next bed -- oh, and
I'll need trellises for all of the vines --"
"I'll go cut some canes," Lóránt said,
heading for the stand of willows
near the wellhouse.
Igor had never felt particularly close
to the village where he'd grown up,
and from the look on Victor's face
he hadn't much more feel for a lord's work.
Now that they had a village of their own, though ...
It was perfect.
* * *
Notes:
"It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees."
-- Wangari Maathai
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/wangarimaa381930.html?src=t_planting
Paper pots may be folded or rolled in many styles. This used to be the norm before plastic ones.
Romanian vegetables include peas, beans, cabbages, and many others. Leeks can be stimulated for vegetative propagation.
Hops have relaxing, soporific qualities not just in tea but also in dream pillows.
Another!
Date: 2014-11-23 12:46 am (UTC)I love how you manage to develop not just Igor and Victor, but the villagers we only get small glimpses of, making them seem more /solid/, both as friends and as independent characters, as the series goes on.
Re: Another!
Date: 2014-11-23 01:04 am (UTC)Yay! Go check the list before making your final selections. I've tagged the poems that
>> I love how you manage to develop not just Igor and Victor, but the villagers we only get small glimpses of, making them seem more /solid/, both as friends and as independent characters, as the series goes on. <<
Thank you! Classic gothfic has always focused so tightly on the main characters that the rest are just cardboard. Trouble is, you can't do much with cardboard. I find it far easier to write about characters when they are different. So Denes and Lorant are always going to get into different kinds of trouble, and make different kinds of contributions.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-23 01:11 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2014-11-23 01:15 am (UTC)I'm glad you liked it.
>> I was delighted to find the the micro-brewery half a block down our street is growing hop vines in the little strip of green between their parking lot and the sidewalk. <<
It's good to see people growing their own ingredients.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-23 05:56 pm (UTC)~AnonyMouse
Thank you!
Date: 2014-11-23 06:48 pm (UTC)