Poem: "The Most Room in Your Heart"
Dec. 16th, 2017 03:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the December 5, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from technoshaman, alexseanchai, and janetmiles. It also fills the "guardian angel" square of my 12-3-17 card for the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
genprompt_bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by technoshaman. It belongs to the Damask thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"The Most Room in Your Heart"
There are two locks on the door
of the bedroom that once belonged
to Maisie and now belongs to
both Mallory and Dairinne.
One is a simple sliding latch,
high up toward eye level, and
the other one is the key lock in
the metal plate under the knob.
Mallory likes locks.
They are simple and
easy to understand.
They make boundaries
both clear and secure.
After all the time that
she spent sleeping on
the futon on the landing,
Mallory revels in having
a door that she can lock.
The problem is that
locks and babies
don't really mix.
Heron has impressed
on her that it's not safe
to hand over the baby,
lock her door, and then
fall asleep where nobody
could reach her in a crisis.
Nor is it particularly safe
for Mallory and Dairinne
to fall asleep together in
a locked room, just in case
something should go wrong.
And locking Dairinne in is
apparently right out, even though
it'd keep people from waking her up.
That leaves Mallory with a room
that can't (shouldn't) be locked,
and of course, in a house full of
college students, it means that
people barge in at awkward times.
After the time that Paige walks in
on them both completely starkers
because Dairinne had barfed on
Mallory and it was easier just
to shower off together and
Mallory hadn't gotten clothes
back on them yet, she's had it.
"I can't stand this," Mallory says
to Heron, waving her hands. "I don't
want to live in a house where I
can't lock my frigging door!"
"It's not the door, Mallory,
it's the baby," Heron says.
"I know, I know," she says,
"but if this happens again,
I swear to fuck I will start
boobytrapping my door.
There will be buckets."
"Mmm, let's see if we can
find a better solution than
that one," Heron says.
"Knock yourself out,"
Mallory mutters.
She wants to slam
the door in his face, but
that would definitely
wake up the baby.
How is this her life?
She used to be Farce,
a scary supervillain,
the terror of Urbanburg.
Now she's afraid
to slam her own door.
"You seem pretty upset,"
Heron says. "Do you want
to talk about it while I search?"
"It's just, there's so much more
that I have to do now," Mallory says.
"I don't mean just the practical stuff
like feeding and diapering. It's that
everyone wants me to talk about
the baby and give me advice
and it's all so exhausting."
"Emotional labor often is,"
Heron says. "Some of it
is necessary to maintain
relationships ... but you
should think about which
ones you truly care about."
"Not many," Mallory grumbles.
"You. Our housemates. I guess
your family doesn't totally suck."
"Thank you for that," he says,
and one corner of his mouth
curls into a faint smile.
"I just hope that you can
come up with something
to fix the door issue before
I snap," Mallory says.
"How about this?"
Heron asks, showing
her a product page on
his tablet computer.
It's one of those silly signs
like they have in hotels to
hang on your doorknob.
One side is pink and white
with a sleeping baby and it says,
Please do not disturb. The other
is blank whiteboard with a pen
clipped along one side of it.
"Really?" Mallory says,
raising her eyebrows.
"You think that'll work?"
"It will if I explain the situation
to our housemates," Heron says.
"It's better than a bucket of water
over the head, and they know it.
They'll treat 'Do not disturb' like
a lock except in an emergency."
Mallory snorts. "You're like
my own personal guardian angel,
or would be if I believed
in that sort of stuff."
"Well, you learned
to believe in me,"
Heron says. "That's
good enough for me."
"I need to have something
to hold onto, or I will go nuts,"
Mallory says. "I have baby things
spilling everywhere. How can someone
so tiny take up so much of my space?"
"I know new babies always require
some adjustment, but I'm still sorry
that you're having such a bad time
with this," Heron says, wrapping
his warm arms around her.
"It's not bad, it's just weird,"
Mallory says. "I feel like she's
taken over my whole life. It
drives me totally crazy, and
yet I love her so much, too.
Heron hugs her tight and says,
"Sometimes, the smallest things
take up the most room in your heart."
* * *
Notes:
"Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
-- Winnie The Pooh, A.A. Milne
The master bedroom is the one with the ensuite. It originally belonged to Maisie, who gave way to Damask, who passed it along to Mallory and Dairinne since a new baby has much need of a bathroom.
Door etiquette can get complicated, especially in a house shared with several housemates and a baby.
Door booby traps have their own trope, named for the bucket version. These instructions detail several methods. Watch videos for a tub of flour and funnel of water.
See Mallory's door sign. The front side is pink on top and bottom, white in the middle with a baby's face, and blue text says, "Please do not disturb." The back side is all blank whiteboard with a dry-erase pen clipped on one side to write messages.
technoshaman, alexseanchai, and janetmiles. It also fills the "guardian angel" square of my 12-3-17 card for the genprompt_bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by technoshaman. It belongs to the Damask thread of the Polychrome Heroics series."The Most Room in Your Heart"
There are two locks on the door
of the bedroom that once belonged
to Maisie and now belongs to
both Mallory and Dairinne.
One is a simple sliding latch,
high up toward eye level, and
the other one is the key lock in
the metal plate under the knob.
Mallory likes locks.
They are simple and
easy to understand.
They make boundaries
both clear and secure.
After all the time that
she spent sleeping on
the futon on the landing,
Mallory revels in having
a door that she can lock.
The problem is that
locks and babies
don't really mix.
Heron has impressed
on her that it's not safe
to hand over the baby,
lock her door, and then
fall asleep where nobody
could reach her in a crisis.
Nor is it particularly safe
for Mallory and Dairinne
to fall asleep together in
a locked room, just in case
something should go wrong.
And locking Dairinne in is
apparently right out, even though
it'd keep people from waking her up.
That leaves Mallory with a room
that can't (shouldn't) be locked,
and of course, in a house full of
college students, it means that
people barge in at awkward times.
After the time that Paige walks in
on them both completely starkers
because Dairinne had barfed on
Mallory and it was easier just
to shower off together and
Mallory hadn't gotten clothes
back on them yet, she's had it.
"I can't stand this," Mallory says
to Heron, waving her hands. "I don't
want to live in a house where I
can't lock my frigging door!"
"It's not the door, Mallory,
it's the baby," Heron says.
"I know, I know," she says,
"but if this happens again,
I swear to fuck I will start
boobytrapping my door.
There will be buckets."
"Mmm, let's see if we can
find a better solution than
that one," Heron says.
"Knock yourself out,"
Mallory mutters.
She wants to slam
the door in his face, but
that would definitely
wake up the baby.
How is this her life?
She used to be Farce,
a scary supervillain,
the terror of Urbanburg.
Now she's afraid
to slam her own door.
"You seem pretty upset,"
Heron says. "Do you want
to talk about it while I search?"
"It's just, there's so much more
that I have to do now," Mallory says.
"I don't mean just the practical stuff
like feeding and diapering. It's that
everyone wants me to talk about
the baby and give me advice
and it's all so exhausting."
"Emotional labor often is,"
Heron says. "Some of it
is necessary to maintain
relationships ... but you
should think about which
ones you truly care about."
"Not many," Mallory grumbles.
"You. Our housemates. I guess
your family doesn't totally suck."
"Thank you for that," he says,
and one corner of his mouth
curls into a faint smile.
"I just hope that you can
come up with something
to fix the door issue before
I snap," Mallory says.
"How about this?"
Heron asks, showing
her a product page on
his tablet computer.
It's one of those silly signs
like they have in hotels to
hang on your doorknob.
One side is pink and white
with a sleeping baby and it says,
Please do not disturb. The other
is blank whiteboard with a pen
clipped along one side of it.
"Really?" Mallory says,
raising her eyebrows.
"You think that'll work?"
"It will if I explain the situation
to our housemates," Heron says.
"It's better than a bucket of water
over the head, and they know it.
They'll treat 'Do not disturb' like
a lock except in an emergency."
Mallory snorts. "You're like
my own personal guardian angel,
or would be if I believed
in that sort of stuff."
"Well, you learned
to believe in me,"
Heron says. "That's
good enough for me."
"I need to have something
to hold onto, or I will go nuts,"
Mallory says. "I have baby things
spilling everywhere. How can someone
so tiny take up so much of my space?"
"I know new babies always require
some adjustment, but I'm still sorry
that you're having such a bad time
with this," Heron says, wrapping
his warm arms around her.
"It's not bad, it's just weird,"
Mallory says. "I feel like she's
taken over my whole life. It
drives me totally crazy, and
yet I love her so much, too.
Heron hugs her tight and says,
"Sometimes, the smallest things
take up the most room in your heart."
* * *
Notes:
"Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
-- Winnie The Pooh, A.A. Milne
The master bedroom is the one with the ensuite. It originally belonged to Maisie, who gave way to Damask, who passed it along to Mallory and Dairinne since a new baby has much need of a bathroom.
Door etiquette can get complicated, especially in a house shared with several housemates and a baby.
Door booby traps have their own trope, named for the bucket version. These instructions detail several methods. Watch videos for a tub of flour and funnel of water.
See Mallory's door sign. The front side is pink on top and bottom, white in the middle with a baby's face, and blue text says, "Please do not disturb." The back side is all blank whiteboard with a dry-erase pen clipped on one side to write messages.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-12-17 02:12 am (UTC)Firstly, this is a great story. I still think Mallory should seriously arm her door with buckets of water. :P Except, knowing her luck one would fall on her head!
Secondly, something I've always wondered. Do Maze&'s housemates know they're a system? I'm assuming they do, because of differences in posture/body language/etc, but I had to ask because I'm curious.
Thirdly, not trying to be a nitpick here, but shouldn't that be "The room that used to belong to Maze& since there isn't a Maisie anymore?
Thoughts
Date: 2017-12-17 04:53 am (UTC)Okay ...
>> Firstly, this is a great story.<<
Thank you!
>> I still think Mallory should seriously arm her door with buckets of water. :P <<
She will if her roommates don't respect the sign. I think they they will, but if someone forgets ...
>> Except, knowing her luck one would fall on her head! <<
Mallory has Luck Powers and a decent memory, so she could probably avoid that.
>> Secondly, something I've always wondered. Do Maze&'s housemates know they're a system? I'm assuming they do, because of differences in posture/body language/etc, but I had to ask because I'm curious.<<
So far, very few people know. Most folks just think that "Maisie" has mercurial moods. (This is true of many multiples.) One of the things I'd like to cover over the summer, prior to this point, is Damask talking with Dr. G more and eventually telling Maisie's parents what happened.
I don't think the housemates know yet. How many of them Damask tell will depend on a lot of factors.
>> Thirdly, not trying to be a nitpick here, but shouldn't that be "The room that used to belong to Maze& since there isn't a Maisie anymore? <<
It was Maisie's first, and later Damask's. I'll see if I can clarify that.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-12-17 05:52 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-12-17 06:55 am (UTC)I often have to feel out what's happening as I go along. Some things I know in advance, but stuff like who learns when about Damask -- that's more nebulous, and likely to be shaped by prompts.
>> and oh gosh yeah, we've been accused of that. Mercurial as a hatter.<<
Thing is, a system has to decide whether to tell each person in their life. The closer the relationship, the harder it is to hide plurality, but the higher the risk if you disclose. Plus, even in T-America, multiples aren't widely known or accepted. The risk of negative response is very real, even if things like incarceration are a lower chance than here.
Damask are terrified of how Maisie's family will react, because the relationship is one-way. They all feel related to those relatives, because they have Maisie's memories divvied up among them. But the relatives only have a relationship to Maisie, who they don't even know has been dead for months; they don't know the Damask headmates at all. Damask would be devastated by any rejection, the chance of everyone taking it well approaches nil, and that's before adding the risk of someone calling the nearest mental hospital and Dr. G having to defuse that mess. Hiding from housemates isn't easy, and the pressure is especially hard on Ham and Clement, but they generally seem reluctant to disclose.
Of course, when a multiple system hides their true nature, what shows on the outside is someone who doesn't act like a singleton anyhow. It can be faked, but the reason people usually get away with that is not because they do it well, but because most observers simply don't realize there's any other possibility. (I have furry friends who can pass for human the same way: they're terrible at pretending to be primates, but nobody sees any other option.) Not ideal, but sometimes better than the alternatives.
The result is usually that observers think the multiple person is 'spacey' or 'mercurial' depending on how often they switch. If one headmate usually fronts, with occasional changes for topical reasons, then you get a 'spacey' presentation. If they switch often and fluently, it looks more 'mercurial' instead. And that's if you have headmates who sound similar enough. The shifts in body language and accent can be dramatic, and the energy flares -- even in L-America -- can make static on video. In this case, Ham is Italian and Keane is black, so they don't sound the same. The body language is quite different too. There's one person, Dan the Ice Cream Man, who can distinguish accurately among the headmates, even though he doesn't know they're individual people -- he thinks of them as moods.
So all this is really complicated life for Damask, and by extension, the other people around.
We watched Thor: Ragnarok recently and there's a scene where Thor lies to Hulk about liking him better than Bruce, then lies to Bruce about liking him better than Hulk. All I could think is that Thor is a GIANT ASSHOLE who is a terrible friend to any plural person. >_< The movie made a joke out of one of the worst things people do to multiples. The other, of course, is trying to make the current Front go away so you can talk to the headmate you like better, which is how most people treat Hulk all the time. Arg.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-12-18 01:34 am (UTC)So wait then why don't plurals just not bother? Disclose immediately and you don't end up wasting time on somebody who's not worth it.
That's standard here. Maybe it's because everyone who uses this account is singlet and this isn't our life, that people don't care? Locally if it works it works, and if it doesn't it doesn't - and no one has a real stake in this world, so it's not a huge deal if one potential relationship doesn't work out. There's plenty more back in people's homes that'll be more fulfilling.
Plurals seems to run contrary to a lot of things that non-plurals do. But it's still pretty confusing that they'd take so much time getting to know someone and building that relationship BEFORE dropping some truths that'll probably screw it up. You have to nip those misunderstandings in the bud early.
The people who've been told about body-sharing stuff get treated to that conversation early. Even as early as the time Roxy met some girl who wanted to be friends and ended up explaining within an hour of meeting. The only thing is that whoever's explaining *now* has to deal with "but this isn't plurality" because of this
>> most observers simply don't realize there's any other possibility <<
... that plurality's being framed as an umbrella term, so we have to deal with that early before it causes problems. Weirdly enough (or not) it's plurals who've failed to get it the most, and that's why people here try to stay far away from associates of that community - that's where the problems start. But that goes back the problem of incorrect ideas ingraining about people - why not just clear it up early?
- Johnny
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-12-18 01:52 am (UTC)Some people do choose to disclose immediately for that or other reasons.
But many feel that it's too dangerous, not just socially but physically. I know multiples who are abuse survivors and/or have been threatened with incarceration just for being plural. It doesn't take a lot of that for folks to decide that maybe it's safer to stay quiet.
>> Maybe it's because everyone who uses this account is singlet and this isn't our life, that people don't care? Locally if it works it works, and if it doesn't it doesn't - and no one has a real stake in this world, so it's not a huge deal if one potential relationship doesn't work out. <<
Likely so. Most plurals have more of a stake in this world. They can go in back, but not to a whole different world. If the body's trapped, that's a very bad situation for them. So they try to avoid that.
>> ... that plurality's being framed as an umbrella term, so we have to deal with that early before it causes problems.<<
Yeah, that's a challenge.