Poem: "Leaves from the Ashes"
Jan. 13th, 2015 04:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the January 6, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from janetmiles, stardreamer, and siliconshaman. It also fills the "frenemy" square in my 12-30-14 card for the Rites of Passage fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics, and it's a direct sequel to "In Dublin's Fair City."
"Leaves from the Ashes"
In the murky light of Irish morning,
sober heads prevailed (partly because
the less-sober ones were too hungover
to raise any more hell) and people began
to clean up the mess left over from
celebrating (or protesting) the Reunification.
It was not, strictly speaking,
Backdraft's responsibility any more
now that Dublin was no longer
trying to burn itself to the ground.
He made the rounds anyhow,
because it had felt strangely satisfying
to pretend to be a hero for one night.
Backdraft made sure that the fires
were really out, or if they still smouldered,
he curled his power around them
to snuff out the last embers.
He checked the buildings
for the kind of structural damage
that he could sense, like brick or metal
heated too high to remain stable (especially
in buildings nearby those that had burned
but with no visible damage themselves)
and conveyed this information to
the relevant authorities.
He picked up loose blocks and stones
that had fallen from walls, returning them
to their proper places as if he could
build a future brick by brick.
There was nothing Backdraft could do,
though, for the gardens around
the buildings gutted by fires,
nor the median strips and corner plots
ravaged by flames from that one smash-up.
Sadly he touched the side of a stone church
which was mostly intact, black flakes falling away
from what had once been a thriving coat of ivy.
There was nothing he could do,
but he knew someone else
who might be enticed to help.
"Come on," Backdraft wheedled, dodging
another vine as it swiped at him. "Quit trying
to tie me up and just listen for once!
I'm not asking for a permanent truce,
just want you to come do what you do
and help the plants recover from some fires."
Green Man muttered and snarled at him.
"Want me to help the bloody Taigs," he said.
"Not the people, the plants," Backdraft said
for about the fifteenth time. "I've had
enough of the Irish myself, but well --
you'd weep to see the gardens so burned.
I nearly have myself."
He'd learned about the importance of
keeping it simple and repeating the main ideas.
It wasn't Green Man's fault that the mysterious stag
who had given him superpowers had more-or-less
broken his mind in the process. Now he had
good days and bad days (and this clearly
was not one of his better days).
"There was this old church covered in ivy,
only now all the leaves are burnt away,"
Backdraft said. "I think that the vines
might have survived, but I don't know
for sure or whether they need help
and I can't fix them myself."
"I will restore the ivy," Green Man declared.
"Oh, thank god," said Backdraft.
He guided the other supervillain to
the damaged church, where Green Man
laid his hands on the charred vines and
made them whole again, verdant leaves
slowly unfurling from the ashes.
From there they went to the site of the smash-up
(where Backdraft had to distract Green Man
from the mangled wreckage of the cars)
and worked to heal the trees and bushes
that grew beside the street.
There had been flowers, too, but
Green Man shook his head over those
and called the annuals a total loss.
Instead he replaced them with tough perennials:
swaths of red clover and yellow cowslip
dotted with yarrow and meadowsweet,
harebell and forget-me-nots.
When the work was done,
Green Man nodded in satisfaction
and patted Backdraft on the chest.
Then he stepped into a nearby oak
and disappeared.
Caught by a wink of color,
Backdraft looked downward
and was bemused to discover
a single green carnation in his buttonhole.
* * *
Notes:
Know how to clean up after a fire by yourself or with help.
Ashes serve as fertilizer, hence the rejuvenating effects of wilderness fires which cause fresh growth.
Taig is an extremely rude term for Irish people.
Traumatic Brain Injury covers a wide range of damage from mild concussion to penetrating injuries. Its one of the conditions I use as a reference point for Green Man because the symptoms match, and there aren't resources in our world for metaphysical injuries. People with TBI often have behavioral impairment such as feeling overloaded or angry, plus difficulty getting organized. There are tips on what brain injury survivors want you to know and what they need to hear. For Backdraft, this is a lot like dealing with PTSD in the family, because the aftermath of trauma can affect a lot more than just the original victim. They may not get along great, but Backdraft interacts with Green Man a lot and knows him pretty well, so Backdraft is becoming one of the people who buffers for Green Man in dealing with strangers or outside issues.
Ivy is common in Dublin. People have mixed feelings about its practicality and aesthetics.
Many Irish wildflowers are suitable for roadside use. Learn more about cowslip, forget-me-not, harebell, meadowsweet, red clover, and yarrow. The clover is there explicitly because it's a nitrogen fixer, which will feed the other plants. He may be a bit kicked in the head, but Green Man is still pretty functional when it comes to green growing things. It may not be quite a guild that he laid down, but it is a tough, useful, and attractive little garden.
Restoring a yard or garden after a fire can be a challenge, due to things like compaction and chemical contamination.
A green carnation is an Irish symbol of homosexuality. One key difference between these guys is that Backdraft is serious about his identity, while Green Man tends to view homosexuality as a fling.
janetmiles, stardreamer, and siliconshaman. It also fills the "frenemy" square in my 12-30-14 card for the Rites of Passage fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics, and it's a direct sequel to "In Dublin's Fair City.""Leaves from the Ashes"
In the murky light of Irish morning,
sober heads prevailed (partly because
the less-sober ones were too hungover
to raise any more hell) and people began
to clean up the mess left over from
celebrating (or protesting) the Reunification.
It was not, strictly speaking,
Backdraft's responsibility any more
now that Dublin was no longer
trying to burn itself to the ground.
He made the rounds anyhow,
because it had felt strangely satisfying
to pretend to be a hero for one night.
Backdraft made sure that the fires
were really out, or if they still smouldered,
he curled his power around them
to snuff out the last embers.
He checked the buildings
for the kind of structural damage
that he could sense, like brick or metal
heated too high to remain stable (especially
in buildings nearby those that had burned
but with no visible damage themselves)
and conveyed this information to
the relevant authorities.
He picked up loose blocks and stones
that had fallen from walls, returning them
to their proper places as if he could
build a future brick by brick.
There was nothing Backdraft could do,
though, for the gardens around
the buildings gutted by fires,
nor the median strips and corner plots
ravaged by flames from that one smash-up.
Sadly he touched the side of a stone church
which was mostly intact, black flakes falling away
from what had once been a thriving coat of ivy.
There was nothing he could do,
but he knew someone else
who might be enticed to help.
"Come on," Backdraft wheedled, dodging
another vine as it swiped at him. "Quit trying
to tie me up and just listen for once!
I'm not asking for a permanent truce,
just want you to come do what you do
and help the plants recover from some fires."
Green Man muttered and snarled at him.
"Want me to help the bloody Taigs," he said.
"Not the people, the plants," Backdraft said
for about the fifteenth time. "I've had
enough of the Irish myself, but well --
you'd weep to see the gardens so burned.
I nearly have myself."
He'd learned about the importance of
keeping it simple and repeating the main ideas.
It wasn't Green Man's fault that the mysterious stag
who had given him superpowers had more-or-less
broken his mind in the process. Now he had
good days and bad days (and this clearly
was not one of his better days).
"There was this old church covered in ivy,
only now all the leaves are burnt away,"
Backdraft said. "I think that the vines
might have survived, but I don't know
for sure or whether they need help
and I can't fix them myself."
"I will restore the ivy," Green Man declared.
"Oh, thank god," said Backdraft.
He guided the other supervillain to
the damaged church, where Green Man
laid his hands on the charred vines and
made them whole again, verdant leaves
slowly unfurling from the ashes.
From there they went to the site of the smash-up
(where Backdraft had to distract Green Man
from the mangled wreckage of the cars)
and worked to heal the trees and bushes
that grew beside the street.
There had been flowers, too, but
Green Man shook his head over those
and called the annuals a total loss.
Instead he replaced them with tough perennials:
swaths of red clover and yellow cowslip
dotted with yarrow and meadowsweet,
harebell and forget-me-nots.
When the work was done,
Green Man nodded in satisfaction
and patted Backdraft on the chest.
Then he stepped into a nearby oak
and disappeared.
Caught by a wink of color,
Backdraft looked downward
and was bemused to discover
a single green carnation in his buttonhole.
* * *
Notes:
Know how to clean up after a fire by yourself or with help.
Ashes serve as fertilizer, hence the rejuvenating effects of wilderness fires which cause fresh growth.
Taig is an extremely rude term for Irish people.
Traumatic Brain Injury covers a wide range of damage from mild concussion to penetrating injuries. Its one of the conditions I use as a reference point for Green Man because the symptoms match, and there aren't resources in our world for metaphysical injuries. People with TBI often have behavioral impairment such as feeling overloaded or angry, plus difficulty getting organized. There are tips on what brain injury survivors want you to know and what they need to hear. For Backdraft, this is a lot like dealing with PTSD in the family, because the aftermath of trauma can affect a lot more than just the original victim. They may not get along great, but Backdraft interacts with Green Man a lot and knows him pretty well, so Backdraft is becoming one of the people who buffers for Green Man in dealing with strangers or outside issues.
Ivy is common in Dublin. People have mixed feelings about its practicality and aesthetics.
Many Irish wildflowers are suitable for roadside use. Learn more about cowslip, forget-me-not, harebell, meadowsweet, red clover, and yarrow. The clover is there explicitly because it's a nitrogen fixer, which will feed the other plants. He may be a bit kicked in the head, but Green Man is still pretty functional when it comes to green growing things. It may not be quite a guild that he laid down, but it is a tough, useful, and attractive little garden.
Restoring a yard or garden after a fire can be a challenge, due to things like compaction and chemical contamination.
A green carnation is an Irish symbol of homosexuality. One key difference between these guys is that Backdraft is serious about his identity, while Green Man tends to view homosexuality as a fling.
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(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-13 11:40 pm (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2015-01-13 11:45 pm (UTC)I love this
Date: 2015-01-14 02:42 am (UTC)The green carnation is for me bittersweet... I think I'm reading into the interaction a bit more of Green Man trying to reach out and connect. It might have even been meant as an apology.
You've actually touched upon why the most-often invoked "nutcase" black cape is Haboob, rather than Green Man--even other villains understand more of the differences between zealot and brain damage. TBI means they say "crazy" for Green Man, but "effin outrageous lunatic" (or worse) for Haboob.
Re: I love this
Date: 2015-01-25 09:55 am (UTC)Sooth. They have fights, and they have interludes.
>> The green carnation is for me bittersweet... I think I'm reading into the interaction a bit more of Green Man trying to reach out and connect. It might have even been meant as an apology. <<
Exactly. Connection, apology, affection. But he doesn't know how to say it, and doesn't even understand all of what he's feeling. So Green Man, like the Earth, sometimes speaks in flowers.
>> You've actually touched upon why the most-often invoked "nutcase" black cape is Haboob, rather than Green Man-- <<
Well, it's complicated. One difference is scope; Haboob does a lot more damage. Another is goal; Green Man is trying to do something good (protect the Earth, shoo people away from fossil fuels) in bad ways (terrorist tactics) while Haboob is all foaming over "Kill the infidels! Kill kill KILL!"
>> even other villains understand more of the differences between zealot and brain damage. TBI means they say "crazy" for Green Man, but "effin outrageous lunatic" (or worse) for Haboob. <<
Haboob actually has similar damage, though somewhat different in effect. It makes him erratic. It wiped his earlier memories. It probably contributes to his poor impulse control and feelings of rage. But he's still coherent enough to make choices and the choices he is making tend to be horrible ones. Haboob doesn't think in terms of dominance fights like most soups, he thinks in terms of "Muslims on my side" and "targets." People don't call him a bugfuck lunatic because of his physical and emotional trauma, but because he deals with it by mass murder. Green Man doesn't decide to desiccate an entire village because it's there. Would Haboob have wound up a terrorist if he didn't have superpowers and a head injury? Probably so. He's an angry, tormented man in the Middle East and a lousy Muslim. Kinda points in the same direction. He really scares people, even other black capes. Zealots do that.
Green Man comes with a definite note of "there but for the grace of God go I." Every soup has heard stories about powers gone awry, manifestations that left someone(s) injured or dead or insane. Some of them survived exposure to things that killed other bystanders. It's horrifying, even if you come through it okay. So there's a very specific compassion for people who have been broken by the very power that should have uplifted them. They treat Green Man as gently as they can -- it helps that he's Invulnerable and can teleport through greenery, so if he's causing trouble they try to shoo him away. Another important factor is that Green Man doesn't go out of his way to kill people. He's not as careful as Backdraft but that is really the damage talking: he would never have been so rough before the accident.
I think Terramagne does a better job with mental illness or injury in general. There is a lot less of the local attitude that damaged people should just go die. There are a lot more folks who have at least some idea how to compensate for someone whose grip on reality is shaky.
Superpowers don't make you evil. They might make you crazy if they overload your brain, but what comes out is still some iteration of the original person.
Green Man and Haboob make a good contrast pair.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-14 07:26 am (UTC)good days and bad days (and this clearly
was not one of his better days).
Ouch. Reminds me of the roommate who went crazy. I'm glad Backdraft has the patience to deal with him in this mood.
Thoughts
Date: 2015-01-14 08:20 am (UTC)*hugs* My sympathies.
That issue fits a great many mental illnesses and injuries, as well as a lot of physical complaints that have variable functionality.
>> I'm glad Backdraft has the patience to deal with him in this mood. <<
Sooth. You can tell how much Backdraft cares about Green Man, even though they disagree on a lot of things and wind up fighting more often than not.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-13 11:54 pm (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2015-01-13 11:58 pm (UTC)Re: Yay!
Date: 2015-01-14 02:18 am (UTC)Green Man the archetype is Saxon, not Celtic? (Obviously the soup is...)
Re: Yay!
Date: 2015-01-14 02:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-10-15 04:02 am (UTC)Especially liked the replacement plant choices, and the carnation. :-)
Thank you!
Date: 2016-10-15 04:10 am (UTC)Yay! \o/ He really is sneaky, but he's got a good heart under all the balls-and-sass.
>> Especially liked the replacement plant choices, and the carnation. :-) <<
I'm glad that worked for you. I had fun looking up native plants and symbolism.