Poem: "Come Together to Learn and Create"
Jul. 28th, 2021 12:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the December 1, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from bairnsidhe, mama_kestrel, and ng_moonmoth. It also fills the "Baking / Cooking" square in my 12-1-20 card for the Winter Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred, ng_moonmoth, bairnsidhe, erulisse, and edorfaus. It belongs to the Polychrome Heroics series.
"Come Together to Learn and Create"
[2012]
Lloyd loved building things,
and he loved beauty too.
In fact, he had met
his future wife Irma
while minoring in art
to support his major
in architecture.
He believed that
beautiful surroundings
made it easier for people
to live healthy, fulfilling,
and productive lives.
Lloyd also wanted
to do his part to address
the housing challenges
in Portland where he lived.
He studied housing needs
and sustainable architecture.
He enjoyed the challenge
of designing infill projects.
Among the most successful
was Sunset Green, a cluster of
homes for a cohousing community.
The leader of the group, a woman
named Sharma, approached Lloyd
because she saw his artwork in
a local gallery, where he hoped
the pictures of cottage clusters
would attract some attention.
Sharma and a dozen friends
wanted to live communally but
not all under the same roof,
and they had trouble finding
suitable homes in the area.
Most of them were artists
or musicians, so they didn't
have a lot of money, but
when you pooled together
that many adult incomes,
then it started to add up.
Lloyd sketched out some ideas,
settling on a cluster of houses
with winding paths and little plazas
connecting them with each other.
Then they searched for property.
There were scraps of land that hadn't
gotten developed for some reason,
along with old buildings so dilapidated
that it made more sense to demolish
them and build something new.
They wound up buying part of
a block that had old fleatrap homes,
which Lloyd had leveled so he
could plot out new ones to fit.
Then there was the dog.
Construction sites often
attracted strays, but this one
seemed ... different, somehow.
He looked like a regular mutt,
but he watched the workers and
took care never to bother them
when they were actually working,
only when they stopped for a break.
Lloyd was trying to shoo him away
before an inspection when he discovered
that the dog -- who introduced himself
as Tangelo -- was telempathic.
Well, Lloyd didn't want to leave
a person sleeping on the site, so
he took Tangelo home with him.
After that, they were able
to get on with construction.
Sunset Green turned into
a beautiful community.
It was so appealing that
Lloyd decided to move in, and
so did his construction manager.
Emmett Ackton had gotten
attached to a couple of guitarists,
Bene and Lydian Ballou. Since
Emmett played both recorder and
harmonica, they made a nice ensemble.
Together they formed a folk band
that they called Sustained Notes
and began touring the area with it.
One evening they brought home
someone new: a blonde girl
with the head of a husky dog.
Daisy had a guitar, but Lloyd
wasn't sure how well she could
play it with those pawlike hands.
She did all right, though, pressing
the strings with her fingerpads and
plucking the strings with her claws.
Mostly she played rhythm, so it
didn't get too complicated.
Her singing voice was
quite compelling, though,
rich and sweet. Daisy
could hold a note so long
that Lloyd wondered how
she could even breathe.
Tangelo loved her on sight,
and they became fast friends.
Sunset Green was a good place to live.
[2013]
They were running short of space,
though, because they had more people
than the original plan had accommodated.
Most of the members were sharing a room
with a partner or a friend, but they had
counted on extra ones for studio space.
It wasn't so bad for Lloyd and Irma,
because they had a three-bedroom house.
They shared one bedroom and rented
the others to their various protégés.
Downstairs, Lloyd used the office
for his architecture while Irma
took over the dining room
to serve as her art studio.
They were eating on trays
in the living room as usual
when Emmett suggested
simply building more space.
Lloyd and Sharma shared a look.
Then they gobbled up the rest
of their meal so they could use
the trays to sketch out ideas.
Emmett wanted a music studio
that everyone could share for
practice and recording sessions.
Irma suggested an art studio
along with an art gallery where
people could sell what they made.
It reminded Lloyd of a quote --
I know where our road is going!
To a happy little artist's colony!
We will build a place for people
to come together to learn and create.
[2014]
The neighborhood around Sunset Green
still had plenty of underutilized land,
so it wasn't difficult to acquire more.
Lloyd and Sharma explored a variety
of possible plans and layouts.
Irma suggested that they offer
units of one to three bedrooms,
so artists could economize, or
share, or splurge on studio space
depending on their individual needs.
Then Lloyd's favorite masonry artist
approached him on the topic.
Doris Clacher had no interest
in academics, so her credentials
came from trade schools instead.
She had one in masonry and
another in mosaic artwork.
She proposed advertising
Patina Park as a community
for people who worked with
their hands, so they'd have
somewhere to feel at home
instead of people looking down
on them for not having degrees.
Lloyd was all in favor of that, as
long as it could be made profitable.
Doris nodded and disappeared for a week.
She came back towing Cy Michaelsen,
one of the most popular artists in the area.
Cy worked in painting and mixed media.
Most was abstract in soft earth tones
that went well with rustic design.
Lloyd even had one of Cy's paintings
hanging in his upstairs hall, which
needed art that didn't start arguments.
Cy offered to invest in the project
if he could have a 2-bedroom house,
since he wanted a dedicated studio and
enough privacy to work at odd hours
without disturbing anyone else.
Lloyd settled on a plan that included
a handful of freestanding houses
and an L-shaped apartment building.
More of his construction artists expressed
interest, too -- like the metalworker Libo,
the ceramicist Eartha Konstantina, and
even the stained glass artist Favrile.
Then a polyfamily approached him,
referred by some other polyfolk, Bill
and Joyce Claridge who owned
the Sunset Green Art Gallery.
Jaidon Dallas was a handyman
with three wives and three kids. They
called him their Swiss Army Husband.
Cleotha Leone loved making nature art,
watercolors on paper and decorating fabric.
She had taken art classes in high school,
then spent four years doing internships
at botanical gardens around the country
to learn how to illustrate more things.
Elna Dewitt did geometric patterns in
weaving and painting with creme pastels.
She hadn't cared for college, as it sounded
like too much talking and too little doing.
She enrolled in the 10,000 Hours program
and got five years of intensive practice.
Alyenora wanted to design plus-size clothes,
but none of the colleges she investigated
had a program for that, and she didn't
want to waste money on irrelevant stuff.
So she told them to go fuck themselves,
and spent her educational fund taking
online classes and traveling to workshops.
Now she made practical, romantic, and
bohemian clothes for party-size people.
Lloyd told them they were welcome
to buy into the community, and then
hinted that the residents might want
to hire a communal handyman.
The houses went up as planned,
and Doris was turning out to be
a good leader for Patina Park.
She had been right: people
of alternative education had
needed a place of their own.
Patina Park sold out before
construction was even complete,
just from the word of mouth.
Artists sure liked to talk.
[2015]
Lloyd was astounded
at how agglutinative
polyfolk could be.
Okay, yes, the whole point
to the orientation was
to have all the sex, but
this was something else.
Irma just laughed and
pointed out that there were
different kinds of polyamory, from
free love to spouse-swapping
to polyfidelity, and it was all fine.
The polycules in Sunset Green
and Patina Park had merged
like two towns growing together,
drawing in more individuals and
couples and moresomes as well.
How had they managed to outgrow
the housing in only one year?
In any case, the Coral Reef
now wanted to hire him
to build them a new home.
Lloyd took a headcount
to determine how much room
the polycule would need.
There were twenty-six people
in the Coral Reef, and Chuck
was pregnant again. He
already had four kids.
Chuck had also joined
forces with Jaidon, Cleotha,
Elna, and Alyenora to form
the Coral Relief Jazz Ensemble.
Where did they even find the energy?
Their three children and Chuck's four
made seven, with another on the way.
There were reasons why Lloyd and Irma
had chosen to have protégés instead
of babies, and that was one of them.
Bill and Joyce Claridge were
unable to have more kids after
the birth of their first daughter,
so they turned to adoption.
When the first agency
turned them away for
being "too old," they
switched their focus to
"less-adoptable" kids.
Now they had a girl
with Down's syndrome
already showing a knack
for art, a brother and sister
from Dominica, and a boy
who flickered superpowers
that ranged from shapeshifting
to assorted animal abilities.
Fortunately they had also
picked up Bagira, who had
eagerly quit his day care job
in favor of family childcare.
Bagira was romantic asexual,
so this way he could raise kids
without having to make any.
Then there was Nikki Steiglitz
and her husband Garry, who
added another four children.
Nikki was a still life oil painter
and Garry was a photographer.
Oh, and Tangelo had knocked up
a non-cohousing neighbor's dog
that the neighbor was threatening
to call the cops for ... what, exactly?
Lloyd wasn't getting involved in that.
Let Irma handle the whole mess.
Lloyd had a huge new house to build.
The Coral Reef needed 14 bedrooms
just for the people they already had,
and they were sure to gain more.
Lloyd made some sketches and
presented them to the family.
They talked it over for hours.
Never in his life had Lloyd
met anyone who liked to talk
as much as polyfolk did.
They went through round
after round of discussion and
participatory decision-making.
Even the older children got
a chance to contribute and vote.
Lloyd explained which suggestions
he could incorporate, along with
which ones wouldn't work and why.
After all the debate, they chose
a three-story apartment building
with eight units, some 2-bedroom
and some 3-bedroom ones, with
the second story linked by a deck.
There was also a community unit
with a bedroom, a bathroom,
a four-pack of laundry machines,
and an indoor bicycle garage.
At present count, that left
three of the 2-bedroom units
without current occupants.
Five of the bedrooms were
set up as private art studios:
three for painting, one for
photography, and the last
for plus clothing design.
The remaining bedroom
became a guest studio.
The idea was that as
the Coral Reef grew,
people could move out
of those studios and let
them serve as apartments,
and then rent or build more
of the art studios elsewhere.
It took several months to build
the big house, but it fit together well.
From the moment the Coral Reef
moved in, Linsey Corner always
smelled of cooking and baking.
Hordes of children laughed
and scampered underfoot.
Big pots of seafood chowder
simmered on a stove, giving off
wisps of delicious steam.
If people knew that Lloyd
and Irma were coming over,
they baked house cookies
and art cookies in their honor.
If Tangelo and the puppies
came along, then there
were dog cookies too.
There were seven of
the puppies: three red,
three black with tan points,
and two black-and-tan agouti
like Tangelo himself was.
Nobody could tell yet whether
any of them were superdogs, but
it would be interesting to find out.
In good weather, people
took the food outside to
the second-story deck or
down to the picnic tables,
feasting in large groups.
Someone was talking
about a cat that could
paint -- no, really!
A cluster of couples
had formed around a girl
with blue-and-purple hair
in a T-shirt that read,
Actual Unicorn.
When she turned
to scold one fellow,
driving him away,
Lloyd could see
the tiny horn on
her forehead.
Garry and Nikki
slipped into his place,
and the unicorn girl
smiled at them.
Lloyd felt proud that he
had build an artist colony
where people of all species
could come together and create.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character (Part 1 Sunset Green, Part 2 Patina Park, Part 3 Linsey Corner), setting, and content notes will appear separately.
bairnsidhe, mama_kestrel, and ng_moonmoth. It also fills the "Baking / Cooking" square in my 12-1-20 card for the Winter Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred, ng_moonmoth, bairnsidhe, erulisse, and edorfaus. It belongs to the Polychrome Heroics series."Come Together to Learn and Create"
[2012]
Lloyd loved building things,
and he loved beauty too.
In fact, he had met
his future wife Irma
while minoring in art
to support his major
in architecture.
He believed that
beautiful surroundings
made it easier for people
to live healthy, fulfilling,
and productive lives.
Lloyd also wanted
to do his part to address
the housing challenges
in Portland where he lived.
He studied housing needs
and sustainable architecture.
He enjoyed the challenge
of designing infill projects.
Among the most successful
was Sunset Green, a cluster of
homes for a cohousing community.
The leader of the group, a woman
named Sharma, approached Lloyd
because she saw his artwork in
a local gallery, where he hoped
the pictures of cottage clusters
would attract some attention.
Sharma and a dozen friends
wanted to live communally but
not all under the same roof,
and they had trouble finding
suitable homes in the area.
Most of them were artists
or musicians, so they didn't
have a lot of money, but
when you pooled together
that many adult incomes,
then it started to add up.
Lloyd sketched out some ideas,
settling on a cluster of houses
with winding paths and little plazas
connecting them with each other.
Then they searched for property.
There were scraps of land that hadn't
gotten developed for some reason,
along with old buildings so dilapidated
that it made more sense to demolish
them and build something new.
They wound up buying part of
a block that had old fleatrap homes,
which Lloyd had leveled so he
could plot out new ones to fit.
Then there was the dog.
Construction sites often
attracted strays, but this one
seemed ... different, somehow.
He looked like a regular mutt,
but he watched the workers and
took care never to bother them
when they were actually working,
only when they stopped for a break.
Lloyd was trying to shoo him away
before an inspection when he discovered
that the dog -- who introduced himself
as Tangelo -- was telempathic.
Well, Lloyd didn't want to leave
a person sleeping on the site, so
he took Tangelo home with him.
After that, they were able
to get on with construction.
Sunset Green turned into
a beautiful community.
It was so appealing that
Lloyd decided to move in, and
so did his construction manager.
Emmett Ackton had gotten
attached to a couple of guitarists,
Bene and Lydian Ballou. Since
Emmett played both recorder and
harmonica, they made a nice ensemble.
Together they formed a folk band
that they called Sustained Notes
and began touring the area with it.
One evening they brought home
someone new: a blonde girl
with the head of a husky dog.
Daisy had a guitar, but Lloyd
wasn't sure how well she could
play it with those pawlike hands.
She did all right, though, pressing
the strings with her fingerpads and
plucking the strings with her claws.
Mostly she played rhythm, so it
didn't get too complicated.
Her singing voice was
quite compelling, though,
rich and sweet. Daisy
could hold a note so long
that Lloyd wondered how
she could even breathe.
Tangelo loved her on sight,
and they became fast friends.
Sunset Green was a good place to live.
[2013]
They were running short of space,
though, because they had more people
than the original plan had accommodated.
Most of the members were sharing a room
with a partner or a friend, but they had
counted on extra ones for studio space.
It wasn't so bad for Lloyd and Irma,
because they had a three-bedroom house.
They shared one bedroom and rented
the others to their various protégés.
Downstairs, Lloyd used the office
for his architecture while Irma
took over the dining room
to serve as her art studio.
They were eating on trays
in the living room as usual
when Emmett suggested
simply building more space.
Lloyd and Sharma shared a look.
Then they gobbled up the rest
of their meal so they could use
the trays to sketch out ideas.
Emmett wanted a music studio
that everyone could share for
practice and recording sessions.
Irma suggested an art studio
along with an art gallery where
people could sell what they made.
It reminded Lloyd of a quote --
I know where our road is going!
To a happy little artist's colony!
We will build a place for people
to come together to learn and create.
[2014]
The neighborhood around Sunset Green
still had plenty of underutilized land,
so it wasn't difficult to acquire more.
Lloyd and Sharma explored a variety
of possible plans and layouts.
Irma suggested that they offer
units of one to three bedrooms,
so artists could economize, or
share, or splurge on studio space
depending on their individual needs.
Then Lloyd's favorite masonry artist
approached him on the topic.
Doris Clacher had no interest
in academics, so her credentials
came from trade schools instead.
She had one in masonry and
another in mosaic artwork.
She proposed advertising
Patina Park as a community
for people who worked with
their hands, so they'd have
somewhere to feel at home
instead of people looking down
on them for not having degrees.
Lloyd was all in favor of that, as
long as it could be made profitable.
Doris nodded and disappeared for a week.
She came back towing Cy Michaelsen,
one of the most popular artists in the area.
Cy worked in painting and mixed media.
Most was abstract in soft earth tones
that went well with rustic design.
Lloyd even had one of Cy's paintings
hanging in his upstairs hall, which
needed art that didn't start arguments.
Cy offered to invest in the project
if he could have a 2-bedroom house,
since he wanted a dedicated studio and
enough privacy to work at odd hours
without disturbing anyone else.
Lloyd settled on a plan that included
a handful of freestanding houses
and an L-shaped apartment building.
More of his construction artists expressed
interest, too -- like the metalworker Libo,
the ceramicist Eartha Konstantina, and
even the stained glass artist Favrile.
Then a polyfamily approached him,
referred by some other polyfolk, Bill
and Joyce Claridge who owned
the Sunset Green Art Gallery.
Jaidon Dallas was a handyman
with three wives and three kids. They
called him their Swiss Army Husband.
Cleotha Leone loved making nature art,
watercolors on paper and decorating fabric.
She had taken art classes in high school,
then spent four years doing internships
at botanical gardens around the country
to learn how to illustrate more things.
Elna Dewitt did geometric patterns in
weaving and painting with creme pastels.
She hadn't cared for college, as it sounded
like too much talking and too little doing.
She enrolled in the 10,000 Hours program
and got five years of intensive practice.
Alyenora wanted to design plus-size clothes,
but none of the colleges she investigated
had a program for that, and she didn't
want to waste money on irrelevant stuff.
So she told them to go fuck themselves,
and spent her educational fund taking
online classes and traveling to workshops.
Now she made practical, romantic, and
bohemian clothes for party-size people.
Lloyd told them they were welcome
to buy into the community, and then
hinted that the residents might want
to hire a communal handyman.
The houses went up as planned,
and Doris was turning out to be
a good leader for Patina Park.
She had been right: people
of alternative education had
needed a place of their own.
Patina Park sold out before
construction was even complete,
just from the word of mouth.
Artists sure liked to talk.
[2015]
Lloyd was astounded
at how agglutinative
polyfolk could be.
Okay, yes, the whole point
to the orientation was
to have all the sex, but
this was something else.
Irma just laughed and
pointed out that there were
different kinds of polyamory, from
free love to spouse-swapping
to polyfidelity, and it was all fine.
The polycules in Sunset Green
and Patina Park had merged
like two towns growing together,
drawing in more individuals and
couples and moresomes as well.
How had they managed to outgrow
the housing in only one year?
In any case, the Coral Reef
now wanted to hire him
to build them a new home.
Lloyd took a headcount
to determine how much room
the polycule would need.
There were twenty-six people
in the Coral Reef, and Chuck
was pregnant again. He
already had four kids.
Chuck had also joined
forces with Jaidon, Cleotha,
Elna, and Alyenora to form
the Coral Relief Jazz Ensemble.
Where did they even find the energy?
Their three children and Chuck's four
made seven, with another on the way.
There were reasons why Lloyd and Irma
had chosen to have protégés instead
of babies, and that was one of them.
Bill and Joyce Claridge were
unable to have more kids after
the birth of their first daughter,
so they turned to adoption.
When the first agency
turned them away for
being "too old," they
switched their focus to
"less-adoptable" kids.
Now they had a girl
with Down's syndrome
already showing a knack
for art, a brother and sister
from Dominica, and a boy
who flickered superpowers
that ranged from shapeshifting
to assorted animal abilities.
Fortunately they had also
picked up Bagira, who had
eagerly quit his day care job
in favor of family childcare.
Bagira was romantic asexual,
so this way he could raise kids
without having to make any.
Then there was Nikki Steiglitz
and her husband Garry, who
added another four children.
Nikki was a still life oil painter
and Garry was a photographer.
Oh, and Tangelo had knocked up
a non-cohousing neighbor's dog
that the neighbor was threatening
to call the cops for ... what, exactly?
Lloyd wasn't getting involved in that.
Let Irma handle the whole mess.
Lloyd had a huge new house to build.
The Coral Reef needed 14 bedrooms
just for the people they already had,
and they were sure to gain more.
Lloyd made some sketches and
presented them to the family.
They talked it over for hours.
Never in his life had Lloyd
met anyone who liked to talk
as much as polyfolk did.
They went through round
after round of discussion and
participatory decision-making.
Even the older children got
a chance to contribute and vote.
Lloyd explained which suggestions
he could incorporate, along with
which ones wouldn't work and why.
After all the debate, they chose
a three-story apartment building
with eight units, some 2-bedroom
and some 3-bedroom ones, with
the second story linked by a deck.
There was also a community unit
with a bedroom, a bathroom,
a four-pack of laundry machines,
and an indoor bicycle garage.
At present count, that left
three of the 2-bedroom units
without current occupants.
Five of the bedrooms were
set up as private art studios:
three for painting, one for
photography, and the last
for plus clothing design.
The remaining bedroom
became a guest studio.
The idea was that as
the Coral Reef grew,
people could move out
of those studios and let
them serve as apartments,
and then rent or build more
of the art studios elsewhere.
It took several months to build
the big house, but it fit together well.
From the moment the Coral Reef
moved in, Linsey Corner always
smelled of cooking and baking.
Hordes of children laughed
and scampered underfoot.
Big pots of seafood chowder
simmered on a stove, giving off
wisps of delicious steam.
If people knew that Lloyd
and Irma were coming over,
they baked house cookies
and art cookies in their honor.
If Tangelo and the puppies
came along, then there
were dog cookies too.
There were seven of
the puppies: three red,
three black with tan points,
and two black-and-tan agouti
like Tangelo himself was.
Nobody could tell yet whether
any of them were superdogs, but
it would be interesting to find out.
In good weather, people
took the food outside to
the second-story deck or
down to the picnic tables,
feasting in large groups.
Someone was talking
about a cat that could
paint -- no, really!
A cluster of couples
had formed around a girl
with blue-and-purple hair
in a T-shirt that read,
Actual Unicorn.
When she turned
to scold one fellow,
driving him away,
Lloyd could see
the tiny horn on
her forehead.
Garry and Nikki
slipped into his place,
and the unicorn girl
smiled at them.
Lloyd felt proud that he
had build an artist colony
where people of all species
could come together and create.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character (Part 1 Sunset Green, Part 2 Patina Park, Part 3 Linsey Corner), setting, and content notes will appear separately.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-28 09:46 pm (UTC)The Coral Reef reminds me of this fic (which if you haven't read, I highly recommend!) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14772824/chapters/3416