Poem: "Words on Walls"
Jan. 9th, 2022 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the January 4, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from scrubjayspeaks and See_Also_Friend. It also fills the "Path / Travel" square in my 12-23-21 card for the Story Sparks Fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Daughters of the Apocalypse series.
"Words on Walls"
[10-15 A.E.]
The path is marked
by words on walls.
It's not safe -- nothing
and nowhere is safe
anymore -- but it comes
as close as anything
can in the world After.
These are the words
of those who have
come and gone before.
That's important:
they're never written
on the way in, only
on the way back out.
Searching for guidance,
one must walk inward
and then look back.
They mark routes
that are, at least,
less dangerous --
enough to get in and
then back out again.
They're scratched
into metal or stone,
the better to last against
the scrape of wind and sand.
The letters are sharp, angular,
easier to write with crude tools,
like the forgotten runes of old.
MAD IT THIS FAR
MITE SURVIV
That's the first sign,
faintly encouraging.
WOLFS HERE WINTER
NOT HUNGRY FULL OF RATS
The rats are always a problem,
the wolves becoming more so;
but if they're eating each other,
then so much the better.
Sometimes there are
hints about loot that was
not of use to the writer.
BOOKS THIS WAY -->
<-- FACTORY THIS WAY
Coming out of the low-rise area
into the first of the mid-rise buildings,
the high-rise skyline of the old downtown
is becoming visible in the distance.
THIS IS AS FAR
AS I DAR GO
THE GRUNG MAY LURK
BENETH THE SNO
The first verse written --
the last read when coming
into the old city from outside --
customarily rhymes, or tries to,
to distinguish it from the others.
It's rare for anyone else to pass them.
Such warnings can stand for years,
like literary fences marking off
the more safe from the less safe,
holding the scrounges back.
Only in later times has anyone
begun to venture much farther,
following the paths of deer
browsing the young forests
that are overtaking the ruins.
If deer can live there, a human
might also manage to survive,
if young enough, small enough,
swift enough ... lucky enough.
WHERE THE DEER GO
THERE GO I
AT THE CITY'S
HART I PRY
FOOD IS GON FROM
YEERS LONG PAS
STREETS ALL FULL OF
PRESHUS GLAS
Slowly, steadily,
nature is reclaiming
the ruined cities.
Carefully, cautiously,
the scrounges also
make their way inwards.
For now, the downtown
still stands, rising above
the shorter surroundings --
what wasn't leveled by bombs.
The only question left is
who will get there first.
* * *
Notes:
The Grunge is a devastating chemical weapon.
Rats have become a considerable threat in many former urban areas. Too small to be much affected by the Grunge, too numerous to be slowed by losses at ground zero, these canny and voracious omnivores are already starting to get bigger than they used to be. People who remember how mammals rose up when dinosaurs died out tend to view After rats with suspicion and alarm.
Wolves have begun to appear in far-flung places, but most packs are still small and widely scattered. Their ground-eating travel capacity means they can appear unexpectedly, especially in winter. As a keystone species, they will have a big impact wherever they settle.
Read more about animals in the Aftermath.
The verses are written in After English, since scrounges tend to be young.
scrubjayspeaks and See_Also_Friend. It also fills the "Path / Travel" square in my 12-23-21 card for the Story Sparks Fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Daughters of the Apocalypse series."Words on Walls"
[10-15 A.E.]
The path is marked
by words on walls.
It's not safe -- nothing
and nowhere is safe
anymore -- but it comes
as close as anything
can in the world After.
These are the words
of those who have
come and gone before.
That's important:
they're never written
on the way in, only
on the way back out.
Searching for guidance,
one must walk inward
and then look back.
They mark routes
that are, at least,
less dangerous --
enough to get in and
then back out again.
They're scratched
into metal or stone,
the better to last against
the scrape of wind and sand.
The letters are sharp, angular,
easier to write with crude tools,
like the forgotten runes of old.
MAD IT THIS FAR
MITE SURVIV
That's the first sign,
faintly encouraging.
WOLFS HERE WINTER
NOT HUNGRY FULL OF RATS
The rats are always a problem,
the wolves becoming more so;
but if they're eating each other,
then so much the better.
Sometimes there are
hints about loot that was
not of use to the writer.
BOOKS THIS WAY -->
<-- FACTORY THIS WAY
Coming out of the low-rise area
into the first of the mid-rise buildings,
the high-rise skyline of the old downtown
is becoming visible in the distance.
THIS IS AS FAR
AS I DAR GO
THE GRUNG MAY LURK
BENETH THE SNO
The first verse written --
the last read when coming
into the old city from outside --
customarily rhymes, or tries to,
to distinguish it from the others.
It's rare for anyone else to pass them.
Such warnings can stand for years,
like literary fences marking off
the more safe from the less safe,
holding the scrounges back.
Only in later times has anyone
begun to venture much farther,
following the paths of deer
browsing the young forests
that are overtaking the ruins.
If deer can live there, a human
might also manage to survive,
if young enough, small enough,
swift enough ... lucky enough.
WHERE THE DEER GO
THERE GO I
AT THE CITY'S
HART I PRY
FOOD IS GON FROM
YEERS LONG PAS
STREETS ALL FULL OF
PRESHUS GLAS
Slowly, steadily,
nature is reclaiming
the ruined cities.
Carefully, cautiously,
the scrounges also
make their way inwards.
For now, the downtown
still stands, rising above
the shorter surroundings --
what wasn't leveled by bombs.
The only question left is
who will get there first.
* * *
Notes:
The Grunge is a devastating chemical weapon.
Rats have become a considerable threat in many former urban areas. Too small to be much affected by the Grunge, too numerous to be slowed by losses at ground zero, these canny and voracious omnivores are already starting to get bigger than they used to be. People who remember how mammals rose up when dinosaurs died out tend to view After rats with suspicion and alarm.
Wolves have begun to appear in far-flung places, but most packs are still small and widely scattered. Their ground-eating travel capacity means they can appear unexpectedly, especially in winter. As a keystone species, they will have a big impact wherever they settle.
Read more about animals in the Aftermath.
The verses are written in After English, since scrounges tend to be young.
Love!!!
Date: 2022-01-11 01:15 am (UTC)ROUSes! *giggle* Yikes to that.
The pun of "deer" and "hart" delighted me.
I enjoyed getting to see more examples of Afta. I love the idea that short messages and poetry have the lines between them blurred, that poetry is just something that bubbles up like that. I remember how satisfying simple rhymes were when I was a child, the satisfaction of fitting sounds together like that when language was new, so it makes sense that young scrounges would be drawn to that as well.
Re: Love!!!
Date: 2022-01-11 05:45 am (UTC)Thank you!
>> I love the idea that verses mark the farthest point, and that everything is written on the way out. No point in giving directions if you didn't pick good enough ones to make it out alive yourself.<<
Exactly.
The more time goes on, the more of the Grunge decays. Much of it broke down in the first year or so, although sunny areas clear faster than shaded or sheltered ones. The problem is that even broken-down Grunge is a mess of nasty chemicals. 0_o So it took time to wash away. Also there's the issue of unexploded ordnance, which can release fresh Grunge anywhere in a hit zone without warning.
By 10-15 years After, the ruined cities are ... not so much safe as less dangerous. Give it another 5 years or so and most areas will be almost safe.
>> ROUSes! *giggle* Yikes to that. <<
They're not quite that big, yet. But I've seen rats the size of rabbits or cats. Given an effectively limitless supply of food and sex partners, the damn things can grow rapidly. O_O Also there weren't many predators for the first several years After, just surviving cats and dogs.
>>The pun of "deer" and "hart" delighted me.<<
Yay! :D
>> I enjoyed getting to see more examples of Afta.<<
It's almost like a pidgin in terms of how it simplifies things, because education got so truncated. But you can see a few more refined features like the creation of the "-ey" suffix to mark people categories. You can ask for more during any relevant prompt call.
>> I love the idea that short messages and poetry have the lines between them blurred, that poetry is just something that bubbles up like that. I remember how satisfying simple rhymes were when I was a child, the satisfaction of fitting sounds together like that when language was new, so it makes sense that young scrounges would be drawn to that as well.<<
That's exactly where they got the inspiration, nursery rhymes -- because they're catchy and easy to remember. If the points of a path are written in rhyme, they're easier to remember than a path that isn't. So the current use of rhymes to mark the innermost point is likely to spread outward over time.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-02-21 03:32 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2022-02-21 03:40 am (UTC)Re: Thank you!
Date: 2022-02-21 03:09 pm (UTC)