The Wordsmith's Forge

 technoshaman sponsored the remaining verses, so you can now read "Bearers of Witness with Justice" in full.  Watch the Japanese whalers get theirs.

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, October 4, 2016 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "monsters." I'll be soliciting ideas for werewolves, vampires, mad scientists, Frankenstein's creature, dragons, chimerae, sea monsters, mythical beasts, lovable monsters, heraldic beasts, the misunderstood, monsters as disability pride, outcasts, nemeses, bullies, abusers, oppressors, slavers, psycho bosses, troubled relationships, supervillains, superheroes, monster hunters, fleeing in terror, questing for the beast, fighting monsters, resisting oppression, facing your demons, feeding the right wolf, genetic engineering, lairs, lonely mountains, the forest primeval, the dark, oceans, liminal zones, mad science labs, government buildings, The Tower, battlegrounds, graveyards, other mysterious areas, preternatural biology, special weapons, unusual vulnerabilities, radical transformation, wings, tails, horns, scale, fur, tentacles, the moon, cthonic symbolism, the unspeakable, the inescapable, the indestructable, things man was not meant to know, the nature of humanity (or lack thereof), what makes a monster, when the monsters are scared of the humans, hubris, and poetic forms in particular.

I have a linkback poem, "E Meglio Star Solo" (14 verses, Fiorenza the Wisewoman). 

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week.  (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts.  I am now.)  Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog. 

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

I have posted a general fund poll for $18.75 into open epics, left over from the half-price sale in The Moon Door.  If you're not on LiveJournal you can vote in a comment.

This poem is spillover from the April 5, 2016 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from alexseanchai. It also fills "the Patriarch" square in my 4-1-16 card for the Archetypal Characters Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Antimatter & Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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This poem came out of the January 19, 2016 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from dialecticdreamer and redsixwing. It also fills the "left brain / right brain" square in my 10-2-15 card for the ladiesbingo fest, and the "amnesia" square in my 9-4-15 card for the genprompt_bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by book_worm5 andng_moonmoth. It belongs to The Moon Door series.

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There is a half-price sale in The Moon Door this week.

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls, and fills the "secret allies" square in my 7-16-16 card for the hc_bingo fest. It was inspired by the "Policing with Velvet Gloves" article. It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. This poem belongs to the Officer Pink thread of the Polychrome Heroics series, and directly follows "Show a Genuine Concern" so make sure to read that one first.

Warning: This poem contains some sensitive subjects. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes emotional angst, reference to past debates over city planning, an extremely hidebound academic advisor, intense academic stress, bureaucratic bullshit, and other challenges. However, it ends with plans for positive changes to Kyle's major, so the overall effect is upbeat. Readers with past or present academic conflicts may find this poem unsettling. This is the middle of three poems about Kyle, so skipping it would leave a gap. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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This poem came out of the June, 2016 Creative Jam. It was inspired by prompts from shiori_makiba and technoshaman. It also fills the "permission" square in my 6-1-16 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been selected in an audience poll as the free epic for the September 6, 2016 Poetry Fishbowl making its $200 goal. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem contains intense topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features awkward interpersonal dynamics, emotional angst, graphic consequences of drug abuse, messy medical details, wrangling over how to separate inmates from hazardous contraband, and other tensions. This poem is plot-relevant, so skipping it would leave a gap in the storylines. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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This poem came out of the September 6, 2016 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It also fills Row 1 in my 9-2-16 Culturebuilding card for the Worldbuilding 4x4x4 Festival. This poem belongs to the Antimatter & Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

WARNING: This poem contains material that may be disturbing to readers. Highlight to read the spoilery warnings. It features drag racing, high risk to innocent bystanders, police pursuit of supervillains during an active crime, use of a tracking device to tag illegal zoomwagons, graphic description of car crash, messy medical details, light sensitivity, impromptu coordination between police and a superhera, and other angst. People who have recently been involved in a bad wreck, or know someone who was, may find this poem stressful. The overall approach focuses on good problem-solving, though. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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This poem came out of the September 6, 2016 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Shirley Barrette.


"Planned Obsolescence"


Once people took
pride in workmanship,
crafting the best tools
they possibly could.

Things were built to last
and made so that they
could be maintained and
repaired over time.

Now they design for
planned obsolescence,
using the cheapest materials
they can possibly obtain.

Things are built to work
just long enough and then
fall apart, disposable crap
meant to be replaced.

Furniture has gone from
good solid wood to plywood
and pressed board, then to
plastic and even cardboard.

Cars once made of real metal
are now flimsy fiberglass shells
that crumple and shatter on impact
and cannot be maintained at home.

All that we have left of our ancestors
is their art, their buildings, their tools;
the things we make become our legacy,
and the future will not think much of ours.