The Wordsmith's Forge

This poem is spillover from the September 5, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from sweet_sparrow, technoshaman, readera, gingicat, ari_the_dodecahedron, and librarygeek. It also fills the "vampires" square in my 1-1-17 card for the Dark Fantasy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Frankenstein's Family.

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This poem is spillover from the August 15, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from chanter_greenie. It also fills the "food" square in my 7-31-17 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Calliope thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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... are classist as fuck.

What he said.  \o/ 

This poem was commissioned by Rachel Sommer. It also fills the "Take It Easy" square in my 12-1-16 card for the iPod Shuffle Music Fest bingo. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and the threads Calliope, Officer Pink, and Antimatter & Stalwart Stan.

The Youth Villages Continuum Program provides in-home support for troubled youth and their relatives, with the goal of keeping families together while improving behavior. They use growth-oriented approaches such as Collaborate Problem-Solving rather than Applied Behavior Analysis or brute force. Similarly, Lives in the Balance focuses on teaching collaboration to defuse power struggles. This poem was commissioned in honor of an outreach specialist who used to do this work, and is now moving to a desk job in another caretaking context. It's important to cycle out of rewarding but high-stress jobs to something less stressful, so as to avoid burnout. This is like seeing a little slice of Terramagne. Even superheroes need a break sometimes.

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Thanks to a donation from Shirley Barrette, you can now read "A Haven in a Heartless World" in full.  Families form even in the unlikeliest situations.

The September 5, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl made its $200 goal, so you get to vote on a free epic. Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll. I will keep it open at least until Thursday midday. If there's a clear answer then, I'll close it. Otherwise I may leave it open longer.

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Thanks to a donation from ng_moonmoth , there are now 2 new verses in "Two Foxes."  Blair starts introducing Kenzie to two-spirit gender expression.  

This was the first batch of international coins we received.  \o/  If you have been meaning to participate in this project, now's a good time to mail a batch to Doug.

This poem was inspired by the Great American Eclipse. It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.


"Even for an Old Soul"


I remember walking the earth when
the Sun was a god whose departure
terrified the screaming masses, and
watching the shadows change with
a vague sense of familiarity, how I
held a ball in front of the fire and
tried to explain half-recalled physics.

I remember floating above it all
and watching the moon's shadow
race across the face of the planet,
so different from the view below,
yet no less mysterious, no less lovely.

In between, I stand among a crowd,
now awestruck rather than fearful,
the air smoked with barbecue
instead of sacrificial fires,
thinking how nice it is that
nobody is panicking for me
to clean up after; and this, too,
is wonderful in its own way.

It is a moment matched
with other moments in
a long necklace of lives,
a bright connection that
helps me to remember who
I have been and ever will be.

No matter how many times
I've seen a solar eclipse, it never fails
to take my breath away and close my throat
with the sweet ache of its fierce beauty.

Some things never get old,
even for an old soul.

* * *

Notes:

Read about eclipses.

An old soul is someone whose many prior incarnations influence how they move through their current one.

This poem came out of the September 5, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from readera, freshbakedlady, ng_moonmoth, librarygeek, and rix_scaedu. It also fills the "magical creatures" square in my 9-3-17 card for the ladiesbingo fest. This poem has been co-sponsored by mashfanficchick and ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Moon Door series.

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I have sent out prompter copies of yesterday's poems. If you didn't get yours for something I thumbnailed, ping me and I'll resend. I still have more poems to write, though.

ng_moonmoth has sponsored "Eddies," co-sponsored "Accommodating Celebrations" with mashfanficchick, and put a big chunk into "Two Foxes."

Slated for my parents: "Even for an Old Soul," "The Choices That Make Families," "The Gifts That Move," "A Haven in a Heartless World" (cosponsor), and "Can't It Just Be What It Is?"