Poem: "A Great Deal of Energy and Determination"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem is spillover from the April 4, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a discussion with siliconshaman. It also fills the "Wild Bohemian Girl / Guy" square in my 4-1-23 card for the Gothic Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by fuzzyred. It belongs to the Big One, Finn Family, and Marionettes threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.


"A Great Deal of Energy and Determination"

[Saturday, June 4, 2016]

Halley waited patiently for Il Dottore
to finish his mental examination.

This wasn't the first time that
Il Dottore had asked to see Halley
since the Big One hit a week ago.

Sure, Halley was upset by all of
the damage and the loss of life, but
thon's family and most friends lived
further inland, so they were safe-ish.

Thon was far more upset over
not being able to go home for
a summer visit, or at least,
not back to California since
everything was chaotic there.

That left Halley cranky and
frustrated, and people noticed.

"No significant injuries, you are
merely unsettled, as many people
are presently," said Il Dottore.
"Would you like a suggestion?"

"Yes, please," said Halley.
Thon really didn't want to stay
grouchy for the rest of the summer.

"Ah, I was hoping you would say that,"
said Il Dottore. He waved a hand,
and one of his bodyguards hastened
to open the door, ushering someone in.

The man was tall and lanky, old enough
that his hair had gone steely gray and
was starting to silver at the temples.

He looked familiar in that "I've seen
this person on television" kind of way,
but Halley couldn't pin it down farther.

"Stèfanu Gabbana, this is Halley Finn.
Thon is an inventor of many things,"
said Il Dottore. "Halley, you may recall
the fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana;
here is one of the founding designers."

Halley sketched a bow. "It's an honor
to meet you, Maestro Gabbana."

"Please, call me Nonno Gabbana,
all the children do," he said, smiling.
Then he turned to Il Dottore. "Though
I wonder why we've been introduced?"

"I have found that when creative people
feel stressed, the best thing to do is
introduce them to something new
and interesting," said Il Dottore.
"You are two of the most interesting
people I know, so find something
to talk about and see if that helps."

"I'm game if you are," Halley said,
looking at the fashion designer.
"I've done a lot with computers,
some mechanical engineering,
and most recently chemistry --
like novel polymers -- since China
is being such a pain in the tail."

"I design clothes, accessories,
fragrances, all sorts of things
that make people and the world
more beautiful," said Nonno Gabbana.
"Right now, I'm frustrated because it's
almost time to launch the fall collection,
but some of the planned colors now
seem too bright for anyone's mood --
and that's not likely to change soon."

"Oh yeah," said Halley. "The Big One
shook up everything, and wrecked
my summer plans, and everyone is
upset. I could see how bright colors
might feel too irritating for a while."

"You certainly seem to have an eye for
uncommon colors," said Nonno Gabbana.
"I don't see that sort of knack very often."

Thon looked down at the current outfit.
The top had wide stripes of mustard and
olive over khaki shorts embroidered
with metallic green dragonflies.

The shoes were, in fact, sneakers of
sunflower yellow from Dolce & Gabbana,
the kind with the extra-grippy soles. Halley
had found them in the resource room
after outgrowing thon's old shoes.

Nonno Gabbana was just wearing
denim shorts and a navy T-shirt
that read, Dolce far niente. However,
the lacy sandals and sunglasses of
pink gold made fascinating accents.

"I like maybe-colors," said Halley.
"Wearing pink or blue encourages
people to misjudge my gender. Also,
I enjoy under-appreciated colors."

Nonno Gabbana smiled. "Shall we
look through my fabric archive and
see if that offers us any inspiration?"

"That sounds fun," Halley said.
"I haven't done much inventing
with soft materials before, but
I'm looking into that now, and
I'd enjoy a fresh perspective."

"Excellent," said Il Dottore.
"Find yourselves a teleporter
and go have fun. You can
tell me all about it later."

They had no trouble
finding a teleporter.

Nonno Gabbana was
one of those people whom
everyone tended to watch,
and the teleporters gravitated
toward him like they did Shiv.

Halley wondered if they were
as excited by colorful clothes
as they were by delicious food.

Sure enough, Nonno Gabbana
simply picked one from the crowd,
murmured an offer, and off they went.

The fabric archive and its workshops
filled a vast, rambling building of
yellow brick that surrounded
a courtyard filled with grass,
flowers, and a plaza that had
probably been added later since
its bricks were rosy terra cotta tones.

"Welcome to the place where dreams
come true," said Nonno Gabbana.

"I'm having a hard time holding onto
my dreams right now," said Halley.
"It's been a pretty rough week so far."

"Dreams can still come true; you need
a great deal of energy and determination,
and a little bit of luck," said Nonno Gabbana.

"Well, I do have those," Halley admitted.

Nonno Gabbana invited the teleporter
to pick something from the resource room,
which held all kinds of designer clothes
from Dolce & Gabbana and others.

"We use things from here to make
sample outfits," he explained. "It's
always changing as people put in
or take out different things."

Halley looked around at
the explosion of color. "You
must never get bored," thon said.

"I don't have the time to be bored,"
Nonno Gabbana said with a laugh.
"I'm a wild bohemian guy at heart --
I thrive surrounded by light and motion,
colors and textures, all jumbled together."

"Doesn't that get overwhelming?" said Halley.
"The inside of my head is already pretty busy."

"Each one of us interprets various stimuli
according to our own personal sensibility,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "What one person
finds overwhelming, another finds exciting.
What one finds soothing, another finds dull.
It's all just a matter of personal tastes."

"I guess that makes sense," said Halley.
"I do know some other folks who like
unusual combinations of colors."

"Well, feel free to introduce me
to them," said Nonno Gabbana.
"I love meeting more people
who look at colors differently."

He led the way to a room
that had racks of fabric samples
hung in rows on the walls, and
swatch books piled on tables.

An elderly comare, still willowy
and beautiful, guided a group
of young women and men
through a set of silk brocades,
speaking knowledgeably about
the fancy fabric and its uses.

"That's a nice thing to see,"
Halley murmured. "There
aren't all that many women
in the fashion industry."

"We don't think only men
can be powerful and strong,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "Behind
the heads of the Mafia, the leaders
of our culture, there have always been
very strong women. European culture
is a matriarchy, especially in the south.
The women have a lot of power."

"I've seen some of that," Halley said.
"Some of the bodyguards are women too."

"Argentea teaches bodyguards as well
as comares," said Nonno Gabbana.
"Anyone who needs to know how
to dress to impress, really."

"Did you learn from her?"
Halley wondered, watching.

"Some from Argentea, some
from many other people,"
said Nonno Gabbana.
"I'm a wild bohemian boy
inside, sometimes I just
like to throw things together
and see how they look."

"Yeah, I do that too,"
said Halley. "Show me
your fall collection and
what's bothering you?"

Nonno Gabbana picked up
a stack of swatch books, then
sat at a table. "First, these are
the popular colors for this fall,"
he said. "Here are the colors
we chose for our collection."

"Yeah, I see what you mean,"
Halley said, joining him to look at
the book. "Some are nice quiet colors,
like Warm Taupe or Sharkskin, but
others -- Bodacious is a bit too much
given people's feelings at the moment."

"I know," said Nonno Gabbana. "That's
one of my all-time favorite colors, too."

It was kind of an orchid shade,
a pinkish-purple just mixed enough
to make people argue over whether
it was "really" pink or purple.

"Yeah, I like in-between colors,"
said Halley. "Too bad about
the Sunny Mustard. I love
mustard in any shade, but
that's probably irritating
to all the upset folks now."

"That what our test groups
showed," said Nonno Gabbana.
"We redid them a few days ago,
and well -- that's got to go."

Halley looked around the room,
gaze skimming over swatches
of many different colors and cloth.

"You know, mustard comes in
a wide range of colors and flavors,"
thon said. "This one is really bright,
like the cheap supermarket mustard.
The spicy ones are darker, not quite
brown, more like a yellowish-tan tone."

"Ah, now there's a promising thought,"
Nonno Gabbana said, raising his eyebrows.
"We could simply shift to a muted version
of the colors that are presently too bright."

Halley thought about some of the mishaps
he'd seen with Jules. "Maybe you could
keep some of them, just fade the color
or overdye it with something darker.
I've seen good results both ways.
You just have to be careful not
to stress or damage the fabric."

"For someone 'just starting' to explore
chemistry, you seem to know quite a lot
about dyes," said Nonno Gabbana.

"Oh, I meant inventing with chemistry,"
said Halley. "I've been playing with dyes
for years. My family holds tie-dye parties."

Nonno Gabbana gave Halley a look.
"Playing with bottled dyes hardly
leads to such expertise," he said.

"Last year we worked with indigo dye,
the real kind with the fancy process,
not a simpler knockoff, because Luci
wanted to make shibori," said Halley.

"All right, I concede the point,"
Nonno Gabbana said, waving
his hands. "I am impressed."

"Thanks," said Halley. "I've
really just dabbled before." Thon
looked through the colors again. "I
bet that Bodacious could mute down
to some sort of mauve shade."

Nonno Gabbana rummaged
around the swatches, then said,
"How about this one? Dusty Cedar."

That one was a deep, muted pink or
perhaps a slightly browned salmon.

"It would look great in leather,"
Halley said. "I've even seen
that color in Microfyne, though
admittedly it was an accident."

"Any chance you could connect me
with some of that?" said Nonno Gabbana.
"I usually prefer natural to synthetic materials,
but for that I'd gladly make an exception."

"Scraps, maybe," said Halley. "They're
saving most of that for refugees now,
but there are always trimmings."

"I'll take whatever I can get,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "I'd have
to make a new design, but for
this, it would be worthwhile."

Leafing through another book,
Halley found a lovely set of silks
in assorted shades of cedar,
some solid and some batik.

"These look good," thon said.
"You could take whatever patterns
you have for a scarf or blouse and
just cut it from some of these."

Nonno Gabbana looked at
them and said, "Yes, that
should work." He made
a note on his smartphone.
"Some things could also be
redyed, as you suggested,
but that trick will not work on
anything with embellishments."

"You've already got the designs,
though," Halley pointed out. "So
just pull the stock that's too bright and
save it for a later release. Then you
remake the same pattern in softer colors.
It should still work with the same neutrals."

"We could do that," said Nonno Gabbana.
"Shall we see what we can find in mustard?"

"Sure," said Halley. "Though if you have
anything knitted, you can probably find
a darker yarn without much trouble."

"That's true," said Nonno Gabbana.
"Here, this long cableknit cardigan
is cuddly enough to appeal now."

The thing was enormous, nearly
calf length and made of chunky yarn.

"Please tell me that this cardigan
comes in gray or blue," said Halley.
"My cousin Shiv would love this."

"Riverside and Sharkskin, yes,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "You can
certainly pick up gifts for family.
You've done wonders to jostle
my brain out of its rut today!"

"Sometimes what we need most
is a fresh perspective," said Halley.

Nonno Gabbana found suede
and a nice velour, followed by
some diamond-quilted cloth
that would make great vests.

"What about this?" Halley said,
pointing to a gingko print. "It has
most of the mustard colors from
the mild ones to the spicy ones."

"That will make great skirts,
and perhaps blouses as well,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "We'll
have to make those new, but
we can add them midseason."

Halley turned another page
to find a beautiful ombré
combining yellow and gray.
"Oh hey, you have liathbhuí!"

"Wait, what did you call that?"
Nonno Gabbana exclaimed.

"Liathbhuí," said Halley. "That
means 'yellow-gray' or 'sallow'
in Irish Gaelic. I love this color,
but it's really hard to find except
in a few places like sunlit clouds.
Most folks can't really see it."

"Hmm, I remember something
about Gaelic colors, but I can't
pin it down," said Nonno Gabbana.

"Color ogham?" Halley suggested.

"That's it!" he said, snapping his fingers.
"I've thought about a Celtic collection,
but I still have to rework the spring colors."

"So toss 'em and swap in Irish ones,"
said Halley. "We've got all kinds
of fascinating colors that hardly
anyone uses nowadays."

"Many colors have been
proposed for spring, but
those are not final yet,"
said Nonno Gabbana.
"I would enjoy shaking up
the usual range of colors!"

"I'll need to do a bit of digging,
but I can find you references,"
Halley offered. "This'll be cool."

They looked over the batch of
possible colors for next spring.

"I love this Hazelnut," said Halley.
"It'd work great with pink gold."

"We've planned for that and
copper," said Nonno Gabbana.

"Flame and Pink Yarrow are
way too bright. Primrose Yellow
and Island Paradise might be
the same," Halley mused.
"Softer shades of yellow and
blue would work, though."

"Alas for the Pink Yarrow, but
I agree," said Nonno Gabbana.

"Just save that for a later year,"
said Halley. "No matter how
messed up everything is now,
people won't stay sad forever."

"That's true," said Nonno Gabbana.
"Meanwhile, we could look for colors
that are interesting but not too bright."

Halley grinned. "Well, glas makes
a straight swap for Island Paradise."

"What color is that?" he asked.

"Blue, green, gray, or silver,"
said Halley. "Less often, it
can be white or black."

"That's not a color, it's
a complete palette!"
said Nonno Gabbana.

"It means sea-colored,"
Halley explained. "All of
the colors the sea can be.
You might do better thinking
of it as a colorway rather
than as a singular color."

"Oh," Nonno Gabbana said
on a note of enlightenment.
"Seaglass jewelry would make
a perfect accompaniment to that."

"Or pearl, abalone shell, coral if
you can get sustainable pieces,"
said Halley. "Lots of options."

"Pearl buttons!" he exclaimed.
"Carved ones, like flowers."

"Flowers appear in Irish art,"
said Halley. "Thistles, roses,
apple blossoms, and so forth."

"Celtic knotwork is always popular,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "There are
plenty of mythic references too."
He made more notes on his phone.

"Some knotwork is subtle, like
white-on-white," said Halley.
"Most has either a single color
that contrasts with the background,
or several bright colors together
so you can follow the lines."

"I like the ones with animals
or people," said Nonno Gabbana.
"Those would look very bold
on a dress or a silk shirt."

"Animals are zoomorphic,
humans are anthropomorphic,"
said Halley. "There are lots of
traditional patterns for both, but
anyone with a good grasp of
geometry can make new ones."

"Note to self: hire a geometrist,"
Nonno Gabbana said, jotting it down.
"Well, you've given me plenty of ideas,
for fall and spring both. Now, what
can I do for you in exchange?"

"Probably not a whole lot, since
you work mostly in natural fibers
instead of synthetics," said Halley.
"But it's still fun to brainstorm. I'm
working on natural-based polymers."

"I do have many references for
synthetics," said Nonno Gabbana.
"Natural fibers can't do everything,
and besides, I need to know what
my competitors are working with."

"Yeah, that could help," Halley said,
still not expecting very much.

Nonno Gabbana winked at thon,
then led the way to a textile library
that seemed to fill several rooms.

"Let's see now, synthetics and
polymers ..." he said as they
walked through aisles of books.

"Wow, you must have just about
every fabric book in the world
here," Halley said with awe.

"Not quite every book, but
a comprehensive selection,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "Here!
Start with Introduction to Polymers.
You can't go wrong with Plasticity Theory.
Polymer Chemistry is supposed to be
good. How's your basic science?"

"Excellent and comprehensive,"
Halley replied. "What for?"

"Then take Materials Science
of Polymers for Engineers too,"
Nonno Gabbana said, offering it.

Halley was building up a good stack
of polymer reference books already.

"Oh, Compositional & Failure Analysis
of Polymers: A Practical Approach! I'm
sure to need that one," thon said.

"Go ahead," said Nonno Gabbana.
"These are reading copies, but if you
want something to take with you, many
are also available in electronic format."

"Yeah, that's convenient for searching,"
said Halley. "If not, I can just buy
my own hardcopies, once I decide
which ones I want. My budget for
research is very generous."

It always was, because
the return on investment
was so high, but this summer
Halley's parents had added
considerably more, in hopes
of relieving the disappointment
from the missed visits home.

"In that case, let us skim
these books to see which
suit your needs of the moment,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "If you're
working with flexible polymers, I
have relevant fashion experience."

"Well, ideally ..." Halley drew out
the word. "... I would like to invent
something that can be either rigid
or flexible, so it can be used for
a wide range of purposes. I'm
starting with automotive uses,
but I don't want to end there."

"I'm sure Ferrari will be excited,"
said Nonno Gabbana. "Let me grab
a few more books on fashion fibers."

Browsing the shelves, he picked up
the titles The Chemistry of Textile Fibres,
Polymers: Fibers and Textiles: A Compendium,
and American Handbook of Synthetic Textiles
(Sixth Edition). That made for a good start.

"Thanks for the help," Halley said when
Nonno Gabbana sat back down at the table.
"We should both make some progress."

"Il Dottore was right," said Nonno Gabbana.
"We just needed to get out of our own heads
for a bit and find some new inspiration."

"You were right too," said Halley.
"We need a great deal of energy and
determination, and a little bit of luck."

"And we have plenty of those,"
Nonno Gabbana said, smiling.

Yeah, there weren't a lot of problems
that couldn't be solved with determination ...

... and a really good reference library.

* * *

Notes:

This poem is long, so its character, setting, and content notes will appear separately.