Poem: "The Most Effective Weapons"
Dec. 11th, 2023 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the December 5, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from librarygeek. It also fills the "Words" square in my 11-1-23 card for the Drabble Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the Aquariana and Kraken threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"The Most Effective Weapons"
[Monday, May 2, 2016]
Beverly Pearl surveyed the Learning Center
with a growing sense of satisfaction.
It was almost ready for the grand opening.
Of course, people had been using this or
that room for some time, and it would
remain a work in progress, but now
the whole ground floor was ready
to open for everyday usage.
Each village in Sierpinski City
had a unique element located on
its inward neighborhood triangle
so they all faced the central lagoon:
Learning Center, Cultural, Athletic Hub,
Agora, Spiritual Center, Health Center.
One corner of the triangle held a marina
to shelter the wide variety of watercraft while
the others had an orchard and a garden.
The central building looked like a stack
of large rectangular blocks laid in rings
around an open atrium in the middle.
There were six blocks on each level,
except for the top with only three,
for a total of twenty-seven blocks,
each with its own theme or collection
so the Learning Center could serve
an enormous range of different needs.
Over the main door facing the marina
there hung a quote: Books and ideas
are the most effective weapons
against intolerance and ignorance.
Inside was the Main Reading Lounge
with the circulation desk and displays
of new materials and programs.
One whole bulletin board was
devoted to the Charter about
the Learning Center's purpose
and parameters, along with
expectations of its Members.
Beverly paused to read some
of her favorite passages in it.
The staff and patrons of
the Sarasvati Library support
the essential principles of civilization
in the freedom of expression and
the freedom to read. No Member
shall attempt to infringe these rights.
The Library and its Members oppose
all forms of censorship. The Library
shall maintain a collection of banned,
challenged, or otherwise censored books.
No Member may propose, endorse, allow,
or enact any censorship of Library materials.
The Academy of Hypatia had another board
listing autodidactic programs and tests
available to members down the left,
while the right side of it advertised
the Alexandrian Year and a guide to
available libraries around the world.
The next block to the right offered
a large collection of banned books.
Bulletin boards held lists of titles
banned for different reasons,
along with resources for people
wanting to fight censorship.
There were bookcases for
books banned by governments.
The children's section provided
a selection of challenged picture books
and others for young readers, plus
recommendations for homeschooling.
The QUILTBAG section had each case
painted a different color of the rainbow.
Fiction books filled another large area,
with a bulletin board for banned poems
done up as illustrated broadsides.
Beverly had indulged her love
of animal prints to upholster
the corner for sexy books
in luscious leopard spots.
The science books filled
a long, undulating wave.
There was a shelf about
the Copernican revolution
with a selection of titles such as
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.
The evolution shelf had everything
from On the Origin of Species to
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story.
Wilhelm Reich's writings on orgone
wouldn't even fit on a single shelf.
China had actually denounced
the entire field of sociology,
so that was represented
by a few favorite titles
such as From the Soil.
Then there were some books
banned for excessive accuracy and
inciting children to acts of science, like
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.
Another whole arc of bookcases housed
titles written by, for, or about people with
superpowers, since almost everything
by supervillains was banned somewhere.
Magazine racks held copies of Phantom Power
along with several other periodicals from Roll 'Em,
In the Soup, and Soupçon (French and English).
Beverly found a number of favorite books
such as Stork Herding for Supervillains,
The Big Book of Dangerous Things to Do
by One-Eyed Wilma, and a chapbook called
The One-Armed Bandit: Overcoming Limb Loss.
The Care and Feeding of Supervillains had
an honorary position -- one of the few places
in the world people felt safe displaying it --
which had not been banned only because
most people didn't even know it existed.
There were also a couple of romances
from BiblioThecla: Captured Dancer
in English and Russian along with
Swan Queen in English and French.
So many words people sought to stop.
From there Beverly moved into
the adjacent block for Fiction.
This was divided into genres --
they had Action-Adventure, Crime,
Historical, Literary, Local Color,
Mystery, Realistic, Romance,
Speculative Fiction, Thriller,
and all sorts of other things.
A bulletin board recommended
books by topic, mood, and
of course librarian favorites.
Beverly trailed a hand along
the shelves and fondly patted
an afghan draped over a couch.
Then she shook herself -- better
not to get sucked into reading now.
The nonfiction block was organized
by subjects including Computers,
Psychology, Religion, Social Sciences,
Languages, Hard Sciences, Technology,
Arts, Recreation, History, and Geography.
They didn't have what Beverly would call
a comprehensive selection yet, but they
did have at least one bookcase for each
of those major categories thus far.
It was a start. Well, any library
was a start. One never really
finished collecting books.
The next block was reference
and held things not meant
to check out of the library.
There were dictionaries,
thesauri, and encyclopedias.
One specialized cabinet held
various maps, and beside that
another bookcase had atlases.
A different display case offered
globes of the Earth, the Moon,
and the other mapped planets.
Finally, the youth block was
divided into separate spaces
for children, tweens, and teens.
Beverly didn't expect those areas
to hold consistent ages, though.
Between disadvantaged youth
and superkids, it was more of
a suggestion about word choice
and arrangement of furniture sizes
than anything more prescriptive.
Everyone was free to roam around
and read whatever they pleased.
Parents who wanted to supervise
their children's reading habits
could check out books themselves
to take home, or buy their own.
That would work until the kids
figured out how to use the Internet.
Then they could really read anything.
Beverly thought about how hard she had
worked to transform the Learning Center
from a shell of a building into a library.
The classrooms and meeting rooms
that had started out on the first floor
had now risen to the second floor.
As the population grew and
more resources came in,
the upper floors would fill
and divide their functions.
Eventually, Thalassia would
need grade schools, high schools,
colleges, technical schools, and
other diversified education.
It would need more libraries
than just this one and the ships,
more vaults in the hall of words.
That was for the future, though.
Today was the grand opening.
Now Beverly completed the loop,
returning to the Main Reading Lounge.
A sense of accomplishment swelled
and surged in her, like a tide coming in.
She looked through the glass windows
and saw the eager crowd gathering
between the doors and the marina.
Some looked ordinary, but they
probably weren't. Some showed
crayon colors, like her own coral hair.
Others had extra body parts -- she
could see someone's wings rising
in pearly arcs above the crowd.
Beverly knew that most of them
had lived rough lives, and that
many had taken refuge in libraries
while they struggled to understand
their bodies, abilities, or interests.
She knew how hard it was to fight
not only that, but the mortal enemies
determined to take away the knowledge
that made it bearable, or survivable.
Beverly lifted her chin as she
strode toward the great glass doors.
Flinging them open, she announced,
"Welcome to the Learning Center
and the Sarasvati Library. Come
in and read everything in sight!"
People stampeded into the room,
and Beverly was pretty sure that
at least one actually teleported.
Speedsters flitted past in blurs
like tail lights on a rainy night.
Everywhere was the hush
and whisper of feet scurrying,
readers discovering books,
and pages starting to turn.
The library had come to life.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, setting, and content notes appear separately.
librarygeek. It also fills the "Words" square in my 11-1-23 card for the Drabble Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the Aquariana and Kraken threads of the Polychrome Heroics series."The Most Effective Weapons"
[Monday, May 2, 2016]
Beverly Pearl surveyed the Learning Center
with a growing sense of satisfaction.
It was almost ready for the grand opening.
Of course, people had been using this or
that room for some time, and it would
remain a work in progress, but now
the whole ground floor was ready
to open for everyday usage.
Each village in Sierpinski City
had a unique element located on
its inward neighborhood triangle
so they all faced the central lagoon:
Learning Center, Cultural, Athletic Hub,
Agora, Spiritual Center, Health Center.
One corner of the triangle held a marina
to shelter the wide variety of watercraft while
the others had an orchard and a garden.
The central building looked like a stack
of large rectangular blocks laid in rings
around an open atrium in the middle.
There were six blocks on each level,
except for the top with only three,
for a total of twenty-seven blocks,
each with its own theme or collection
so the Learning Center could serve
an enormous range of different needs.
Over the main door facing the marina
there hung a quote: Books and ideas
are the most effective weapons
against intolerance and ignorance.
Inside was the Main Reading Lounge
with the circulation desk and displays
of new materials and programs.
One whole bulletin board was
devoted to the Charter about
the Learning Center's purpose
and parameters, along with
expectations of its Members.
Beverly paused to read some
of her favorite passages in it.
The staff and patrons of
the Sarasvati Library support
the essential principles of civilization
in the freedom of expression and
the freedom to read. No Member
shall attempt to infringe these rights.
The Library and its Members oppose
all forms of censorship. The Library
shall maintain a collection of banned,
challenged, or otherwise censored books.
No Member may propose, endorse, allow,
or enact any censorship of Library materials.
The Academy of Hypatia had another board
listing autodidactic programs and tests
available to members down the left,
while the right side of it advertised
the Alexandrian Year and a guide to
available libraries around the world.
The next block to the right offered
a large collection of banned books.
Bulletin boards held lists of titles
banned for different reasons,
along with resources for people
wanting to fight censorship.
There were bookcases for
books banned by governments.
The children's section provided
a selection of challenged picture books
and others for young readers, plus
recommendations for homeschooling.
The QUILTBAG section had each case
painted a different color of the rainbow.
Fiction books filled another large area,
with a bulletin board for banned poems
done up as illustrated broadsides.
Beverly had indulged her love
of animal prints to upholster
the corner for sexy books
in luscious leopard spots.
The science books filled
a long, undulating wave.
There was a shelf about
the Copernican revolution
with a selection of titles such as
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.
The evolution shelf had everything
from On the Origin of Species to
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story.
Wilhelm Reich's writings on orgone
wouldn't even fit on a single shelf.
China had actually denounced
the entire field of sociology,
so that was represented
by a few favorite titles
such as From the Soil.
Then there were some books
banned for excessive accuracy and
inciting children to acts of science, like
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.
Another whole arc of bookcases housed
titles written by, for, or about people with
superpowers, since almost everything
by supervillains was banned somewhere.
Magazine racks held copies of Phantom Power
along with several other periodicals from Roll 'Em,
In the Soup, and Soupçon (French and English).
Beverly found a number of favorite books
such as Stork Herding for Supervillains,
The Big Book of Dangerous Things to Do
by One-Eyed Wilma, and a chapbook called
The One-Armed Bandit: Overcoming Limb Loss.
The Care and Feeding of Supervillains had
an honorary position -- one of the few places
in the world people felt safe displaying it --
which had not been banned only because
most people didn't even know it existed.
There were also a couple of romances
from BiblioThecla: Captured Dancer
in English and Russian along with
Swan Queen in English and French.
So many words people sought to stop.
From there Beverly moved into
the adjacent block for Fiction.
This was divided into genres --
they had Action-Adventure, Crime,
Historical, Literary, Local Color,
Mystery, Realistic, Romance,
Speculative Fiction, Thriller,
and all sorts of other things.
A bulletin board recommended
books by topic, mood, and
of course librarian favorites.
Beverly trailed a hand along
the shelves and fondly patted
an afghan draped over a couch.
Then she shook herself -- better
not to get sucked into reading now.
The nonfiction block was organized
by subjects including Computers,
Psychology, Religion, Social Sciences,
Languages, Hard Sciences, Technology,
Arts, Recreation, History, and Geography.
They didn't have what Beverly would call
a comprehensive selection yet, but they
did have at least one bookcase for each
of those major categories thus far.
It was a start. Well, any library
was a start. One never really
finished collecting books.
The next block was reference
and held things not meant
to check out of the library.
There were dictionaries,
thesauri, and encyclopedias.
One specialized cabinet held
various maps, and beside that
another bookcase had atlases.
A different display case offered
globes of the Earth, the Moon,
and the other mapped planets.
Finally, the youth block was
divided into separate spaces
for children, tweens, and teens.
Beverly didn't expect those areas
to hold consistent ages, though.
Between disadvantaged youth
and superkids, it was more of
a suggestion about word choice
and arrangement of furniture sizes
than anything more prescriptive.
Everyone was free to roam around
and read whatever they pleased.
Parents who wanted to supervise
their children's reading habits
could check out books themselves
to take home, or buy their own.
That would work until the kids
figured out how to use the Internet.
Then they could really read anything.
Beverly thought about how hard she had
worked to transform the Learning Center
from a shell of a building into a library.
The classrooms and meeting rooms
that had started out on the first floor
had now risen to the second floor.
As the population grew and
more resources came in,
the upper floors would fill
and divide their functions.
Eventually, Thalassia would
need grade schools, high schools,
colleges, technical schools, and
other diversified education.
It would need more libraries
than just this one and the ships,
more vaults in the hall of words.
That was for the future, though.
Today was the grand opening.
Now Beverly completed the loop,
returning to the Main Reading Lounge.
A sense of accomplishment swelled
and surged in her, like a tide coming in.
She looked through the glass windows
and saw the eager crowd gathering
between the doors and the marina.
Some looked ordinary, but they
probably weren't. Some showed
crayon colors, like her own coral hair.
Others had extra body parts -- she
could see someone's wings rising
in pearly arcs above the crowd.
Beverly knew that most of them
had lived rough lives, and that
many had taken refuge in libraries
while they struggled to understand
their bodies, abilities, or interests.
She knew how hard it was to fight
not only that, but the mortal enemies
determined to take away the knowledge
that made it bearable, or survivable.
Beverly lifted her chin as she
strode toward the great glass doors.
Flinging them open, she announced,
"Welcome to the Learning Center
and the Sarasvati Library. Come
in and read everything in sight!"
People stampeded into the room,
and Beverly was pretty sure that
at least one actually teleported.
Speedsters flitted past in blurs
like tail lights on a rainy night.
Everywhere was the hush
and whisper of feet scurrying,
readers discovering books,
and pages starting to turn.
The library had come to life.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, setting, and content notes appear separately.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-12 08:13 am (UTC)Helana would be in heaven with that! Come to think of it, she'd also probably offer scanned copies of everything she's recreated from Asha's library (which includes stuff from the original Library of Alexandria) to them, just so more people could read it.
and heck.. I somehow doubt that a genuine immortal vampire librarian would be the strangest thing there.
Yes ...
Date: 2023-12-12 08:40 am (UTC)Terrmagne has archives all over the place, some that have been actively maintained, others in caches like Aidan's. Hence why more books have survived there than here.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-12 08:31 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2023-12-12 08:55 am (UTC)The Learning Center is the special structure for one of Sierpinksi City's six villages. Each village consists of six triangular neighborhoods. So the other five neighborhoods have various shapes of buildings, most of which have a public ground floor with several residential floors above. The apartments are small by terrestrial standards, but feel large and luxurious to most Thalassians because so many of them have moved off of ships where quarters are really tight.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-12 05:57 pm (UTC)Books and ideas
are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance.
I think I need to turn that into an embroidery design and make it to hang on my wall. Hmm...must ponder.
she could see someone's wings rising
in pearly arcs above the crowd.
And that gave me a mental image of the individual in question soaring over the heads of the crowd, aiming for their chosen subject!
Thoughts
Date: 2023-12-13 05:15 am (UTC)Yeah, me too.
Many minions are in it for three hots and a cot. But I bet there are a lot who were drawn in by the books.
>> I think I need to turn that into an embroidery design and make it to hang on my wall. Hmm...must ponder. <<
You should totally do that.
There are plenty of alphabet patterns:
https://needlework.craftgossip.com/6-alphabet-patterns-for-hand-embroidery/2015/07/12/
https://www.embroiderypatterncentral.com/categories/hand-embroidery-alphabets-monograms-fonts.php
And book patterns:
https://flamingotoes.com/shhhh-im-reading-hoop-art/
https://pumora.com/dark-academia-embroidery-patterns/
https://swoodsonsays.com/15-things-to-stitch-sew-for-book-lovers/
Just put them together and there you go. :D
>> And that gave me a mental image of the individual in question soaring over the heads of the crowd, aiming for their chosen subject! <<
I was thinking of how the wings would arch above someone's shoulders while standing, but yeah, if other people are teleporting and speeding, a flier would probably take to the air.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-12 10:21 pm (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2023-12-12 10:43 pm (UTC)Feel free to request more in any relevant prompt call!
(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-13 05:30 am (UTC)THIS is what it felt like, being a librarian.
It's been 20 years and I miss it.
Thoughts
Date: 2023-12-13 05:37 am (UTC)THIS is what it felt like, being a librarian.<<
Yay! That's what I was aiming for. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
>> It's been 20 years and I miss it.<<
Aww. My sympathies.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-14 04:37 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2023-12-14 05:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-14 05:14 am (UTC)I immediately thought of Atomic experiments for boys. by Raymond F. Yates and the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory - Wikipedia.
Don't know what became of my copy of the Yates book...
Yes ...
Date: 2023-12-14 05:42 am (UTC)