Poem: "Do Wrong to None"
Feb. 21st, 2013 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the January 2013 ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by prompts from chordatesrock. It has been sponsored by jb_slasher. This poem belongs to the series An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space.
Note: The main character's self-image is complicated by several factors, including but not necessarily limited to: Some of the folks around him really admire what he can do, while others look down on him. He can perceive and feel more than he can articulate. And he speaks almost entirely in quotes.
"Do Wrong to None"
They repelled the attack
without a single casualty on either side.
The Carinan jumpship docked
with the surveillance base to pick up
the team of code crackers
and decommission the station.
Some responded eagerly to the news.
Sweep, their pickup man who found signals,
and Crowbar, their code breaker,
were thrilled at the idea of getting off early
from what was to them punishment duty.
Not everyone wanted to go, though.
Shakespeare wanted to stay,
here in this place he'd made his own,
doing his job of identifying key words or phrases
that probably meant something else,
and interpreting what they referred to in a military context.
Quell, their jammer,
likewise had no interest in
returning to active service or discharge
where people would expect him to talk to them.
The Carinan soldiers motioned
for Shakespeare to come with them.
He braced himself for a struggle, for flight,
and shook his head silently
because if he spoke then they would know
how different he was.
It's hard to get by in the army
when people know you're a freak,
even if you're stupendously good at what you do.
It's hard not to antagonize people
when you don't know
what your body language looks like.
The Carinan soldiers shifted their guns
and caught Shakespeare by the elbows,
grumbling at him, "Hurry up, don't make us late."
Shakespeare planted his feet on the familiar deck
and leaned backwards, but the soldiers were bigger
than his merely average body, and dragged him
toward their ship and a duty that was not his.
In the scuffle, the words broke free:
"No man has aught of what he leaves!" (1)
They stared at him, then,
at the Specialist insignia on his uniform,
and one of them muttered, "Freak,"
twisting his arm painfully behind him.
That made Shakespeare all the more desperate
to escape, because people who thought like that
could be dangerous and there was no telling
what they might decide to do.
So he fought.
Having already failed in
not antagonizing someone accidentally,
it's also hard to fight if you're just
trying to get away without hurting anyone.
These were things that Shakespeare
understood intuitively but could not articulate
in his own words, especially under stress.
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none," (2)
he panted as he eeled out of the clutching grasp
and ran shirtless down the corridor,
leaving behind part of his uniform and most of his dignity
in Carinan hands that had somehow become enemy hands.
Suddenly the lights went out,
dousing the station in flawless dark.
"I have loved the stars too fondly
to be fearful of the night," (3)
Shakespeare murmured to himself.
The soldiers were not so sanguine;
they swore as they stumbled after him.
Shakespeare knew this game.
He squeezed himself into a maintenance hatch
and shut the access panel behind him.
Then came a sharp hiss and squeal,
followed by more swearing as the soldiers
yanked their comm links away from their ears.
Static crackled in the wall speakers.
"Heroic action," Shakespeare whispered,
"which makes a mighty noise in the world." (4)
Quell had worked his tricks and cut off
the soldiers from communicating with their ship.
Hiding, Shakespeare waited
until the nervous soldiers gave up and left,
all but deaf and blind in the buzzing darkness
of the base that was not their home.
Shakespeare knew this game,
and when the lights came back on,
he understood that they'd won.
But this time there was no Crowbar to call,
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," (5)
no Sweep to pass around contraband chocolate,
and it hurt to think of them on a Carinan jumpship
going farther and farther away.
His spotter, gone;
how would he find signals now?
His translator, gone;
how would anyone understand him now?
There had been four of them,
always four since the day he came,
but now half the team had left
and Shakespeare said mournfully,
"We two alone will sing like birds i' th' cage."
The lights blinked All Clear.
Shakespeare unfolded himself stiffly
from the maintenance hatch,
but his shoulders still hunched
and his arms wrapped around his aching chest.
There was only himself,
and Quell who did not like to talk,
in a station suddenly filled with echoes
where friendly voices once had been.
* * *
Notes:
1) "no man has aught of what he leaves" -- William Shakespeare
2) "Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." -- William Shakespeare
3) "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." -- Sarah Williams
4) "Marry for Love, an Heroick Action, which makes a mighty noise in the World, partly because of its rarity, and partly in regard of its extravagancy." -- Mary Astell
5) "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" -- The Wizard of Oz
6) "We two alone will sing like birds I' th' cage." -- Shakespeare
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by prompts from chordatesrock. It has been sponsored by jb_slasher. This poem belongs to the series An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space.Note: The main character's self-image is complicated by several factors, including but not necessarily limited to: Some of the folks around him really admire what he can do, while others look down on him. He can perceive and feel more than he can articulate. And he speaks almost entirely in quotes.
"Do Wrong to None"
They repelled the attack
without a single casualty on either side.
The Carinan jumpship docked
with the surveillance base to pick up
the team of code crackers
and decommission the station.
Some responded eagerly to the news.
Sweep, their pickup man who found signals,
and Crowbar, their code breaker,
were thrilled at the idea of getting off early
from what was to them punishment duty.
Not everyone wanted to go, though.
Shakespeare wanted to stay,
here in this place he'd made his own,
doing his job of identifying key words or phrases
that probably meant something else,
and interpreting what they referred to in a military context.
Quell, their jammer,
likewise had no interest in
returning to active service or discharge
where people would expect him to talk to them.
The Carinan soldiers motioned
for Shakespeare to come with them.
He braced himself for a struggle, for flight,
and shook his head silently
because if he spoke then they would know
how different he was.
It's hard to get by in the army
when people know you're a freak,
even if you're stupendously good at what you do.
It's hard not to antagonize people
when you don't know
what your body language looks like.
The Carinan soldiers shifted their guns
and caught Shakespeare by the elbows,
grumbling at him, "Hurry up, don't make us late."
Shakespeare planted his feet on the familiar deck
and leaned backwards, but the soldiers were bigger
than his merely average body, and dragged him
toward their ship and a duty that was not his.
In the scuffle, the words broke free:
"No man has aught of what he leaves!" (1)
They stared at him, then,
at the Specialist insignia on his uniform,
and one of them muttered, "Freak,"
twisting his arm painfully behind him.
That made Shakespeare all the more desperate
to escape, because people who thought like that
could be dangerous and there was no telling
what they might decide to do.
So he fought.
Having already failed in
not antagonizing someone accidentally,
it's also hard to fight if you're just
trying to get away without hurting anyone.
These were things that Shakespeare
understood intuitively but could not articulate
in his own words, especially under stress.
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none," (2)
he panted as he eeled out of the clutching grasp
and ran shirtless down the corridor,
leaving behind part of his uniform and most of his dignity
in Carinan hands that had somehow become enemy hands.
Suddenly the lights went out,
dousing the station in flawless dark.
"I have loved the stars too fondly
to be fearful of the night," (3)
Shakespeare murmured to himself.
The soldiers were not so sanguine;
they swore as they stumbled after him.
Shakespeare knew this game.
He squeezed himself into a maintenance hatch
and shut the access panel behind him.
Then came a sharp hiss and squeal,
followed by more swearing as the soldiers
yanked their comm links away from their ears.
Static crackled in the wall speakers.
"Heroic action," Shakespeare whispered,
"which makes a mighty noise in the world." (4)
Quell had worked his tricks and cut off
the soldiers from communicating with their ship.
Hiding, Shakespeare waited
until the nervous soldiers gave up and left,
all but deaf and blind in the buzzing darkness
of the base that was not their home.
Shakespeare knew this game,
and when the lights came back on,
he understood that they'd won.
But this time there was no Crowbar to call,
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," (5)
no Sweep to pass around contraband chocolate,
and it hurt to think of them on a Carinan jumpship
going farther and farther away.
His spotter, gone;
how would he find signals now?
His translator, gone;
how would anyone understand him now?
There had been four of them,
always four since the day he came,
but now half the team had left
and Shakespeare said mournfully,
"We two alone will sing like birds i' th' cage."
The lights blinked All Clear.
Shakespeare unfolded himself stiffly
from the maintenance hatch,
but his shoulders still hunched
and his arms wrapped around his aching chest.
There was only himself,
and Quell who did not like to talk,
in a station suddenly filled with echoes
where friendly voices once had been.
* * *
Notes:
1) "no man has aught of what he leaves" -- William Shakespeare
2) "Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." -- William Shakespeare
3) "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." -- Sarah Williams
4) "Marry for Love, an Heroick Action, which makes a mighty noise in the World, partly because of its rarity, and partly in regard of its extravagancy." -- Mary Astell
5) "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" -- The Wizard of Oz
6) "We two alone will sing like birds I' th' cage." -- Shakespeare
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(just before I leave work for the day)
Date: 2013-02-21 10:49 pm (UTC)Shakespeare has good taste, and his sources are not limited to the written word. I was very pleased to see the Sarah Williams quote. Did you reference that poem in something earlier? I'm pretty sure I read it only within the past year or two.
Re: (just before I leave work for the day)
Date: 2013-02-22 06:01 am (UTC)Sooth.
>>Shakespeare has good taste, and his sources are not limited to the written word.<<
Yeah, he's kind of like a sponge. He picks up bits of all different things.
>> I was very pleased to see the Sarah Williams quote. Did you reference that poem in something earlier? I'm pretty sure I read it only within the past year or two.<<
I might have. It's a favorite.
Re: (just before I leave work for the day)
Date: 2013-02-22 06:11 am (UTC)Re: (just before I leave work for the day)
Date: 2013-02-22 08:56 am (UTC)Re: (just before I leave work for the day)
Date: 2013-02-22 05:34 pm (UTC)Thoughts [from private message]
Date: 2013-02-22 02:31 am (UTC)While Shakespeare and his competence seem completely realistic to me, I'm surprised the military hired him. He would have to be truly phenomenal to overcome their prejudices, which clearly still exist in this world (or else they never would have seceded). Perhaps they had a personnel shortage and accepted people they otherwise might not have.
Re: Thoughts [from private message]
Date: 2013-02-22 07:53 am (UTC)He is ...
>> which clearly still exist in this world (or else they never would have seceded).<<
... they do ...
>> Perhaps they had a personnel shortage and accepted people they otherwise might not have. <<
... and they are.
The war had been going on for a while. When that happens, militaries tend to make their standards more flexible; they'll take people they can put to some use, because it frees up able-bodied soldiers for the front lines. Notice, however, that they've stashed the weird specialists in the ass-end of nowhere so that nobody has to look at them much. That's also not an accident.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-23 12:16 am (UTC)One was about how various things (genderqueer, ace, bi-romantic, whatever) are "just" labels. I pointed out that labels are a fundamental part of how humans understand the world, and that we put them on everything, and that if there isn't a non-judgemental one available, "freak" is always ready and waiting.
The other was about the density of communication that is sometimes possible between people who share not just a language, but also a body of stories. Talking with the right person, something like "Your shirt!" or "Til the end of the world" can carry so much more meaning than such a short phrase should be able to.
One of my dreams is to someday write a story that is actually two stories in one, because so much of the text is quotes from, or references to, other stories that there's an entirely different extra story there for those who get the secondary meanings.
Thoughts
Date: 2013-02-23 02:34 am (UTC)Language influences thought; thought influences language; these two things are equally true. Words do not define or control what we are, but they can ... nudge it. And they can do a lot more than nudge what we believe about ourselves.
>>if there isn't a non-judgemental one available, "freak" is always ready and waiting.<<
Painfully true.
>>The other was about the density of communication that is sometimes possible between people who share not just a language, but also a body of stories.<<
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
I wrote a poem about this once, "Dancing with the Beast of Tanagra."
>>One of my dreams is to someday write a story that is actually two stories in one, because so much of the text is quotes from, or references to, other stories that there's an entirely different extra story there for those who get the secondary meanings.<<
That would be really cool.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-02-23 02:43 am (UTC)Thank you for linking the poem, it was before I started following you.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-02-23 02:51 am (UTC)Great minds think alike. *smile*
>>Thank you for linking the poem, it was before I started following you.<<
Glad I could help.
Maybe our favorite say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting John Green
Date: 2014-09-29 11:32 am (UTC)Re: Maybe our favorite say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting John Green
Date: 2014-10-03 01:37 am (UTC)That's a good technique and it does work.
>> but I never used it the extent Shakespeare does because my ability to memorise is rubbish <<
He's lucky in having an excellent memory.
>> but the word choice I used for a period resembled this a bit of use words the teacher doesn't understand correctly to not be considered bogan even when the words were cumbersome non-ambulatory replacing can't walk and the like. <<
That makes sense.
>> Also the wanting company despite being bad at communicating with most people. <<
It's hard when you have mutually contradictory traits like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-05 08:20 pm (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2014-10-05 09:36 pm (UTC)I'm glad that it resonates for you. A lot of these poems are inspired by people who are, or know folks who are, neurovariant or otherwise altcultured. So there should be things that, if I rendered them well, reflect the actual experiences of such folks. More input from that angle is always welcome.
>> And I REALLY want to hurt those assholes. You're supposed to be a band of brothers, and you go and treat one of your own that way? *grumbles and wants to punch in the face* <<
Well, the beauty of crowdfunding is that you can ask for that in any relevant prompt call and have a reasonable chance of getting it. If you want to put an asteroid through their hull so they have to spend two days in spacesuits while they patch the leak, go for it.
Band of brothers is an ideal. How close a given troop comes to that depends on the recruits, the quality of their training, and the discipline of their officers. I have very little respect for so-called soldiers who run about acting like bandits. But you have to remember that two whole militaries used the Lacuna as a dumping ground for years before the secession. It's not a place they send what they consider their best people. That means they got hooligans as well as under-appreciated neurovariant specialists.
Now contrast this with the highly disciplined and de-escalation trained Marionettes over in Polychrome Heroics -- they may be mobsters, but they're well targeted ones and do not make unnecessary trouble. You'll be seeing them in some of
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-17 06:28 am (UTC)Also, I like that, in retrospect, this forshadowed the overarching rule of the Lacuna. Because Do Wrong to None is very close to "Don't be a dick" which seems to be the operating law of the land there.
Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-17 08:42 am (UTC)Yeah, linguistic limitation is a fundamental feature of autism, and that often makes neurovariant people think of them as "less" without bothering to check for alternative modes of communication. The less-verbal folks in the Lacuna seem to express themselves just fine.
>> Also, I like that, in retrospect, this forshadowed the overarching rule of the Lacuna. Because Do Wrong to None is very close to "Don't be a dick" which seems to be the operating law of the land there.<<
Yay! I'm glad that appeals to you.