Poem: "Braiding Manes"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem is spillover from the December 6, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from fuzzyred and see_also_friend. It also fills the "Prairies" square in my 12-1-22 card for the Wonders of Nature Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the Dr. Infanta and Iron Horses threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.


"Braiding Manes"

[Monday, September 28, 2015]

Kenzie wasn't much interested in politics.

Studying spiritual responsibilities, yes;
various types of tribal activism, yes;
cultural events like powwows, yes;
but his role in the state affairs of
Rocky Boy's Reservation consisted
largely of taking his horse form and
dressing up in full regalia to carry
elders to important meetings.

So he knew that the Maldives
and Thalassia were reaching out
to the First Nations and had sent
representatives around Montana,
but he hadn't followed it too closely.

Then he found out that one of
the representatives was a horse.

Judd wasn't particularly interested
in politics either, having come along
with a human friend; but he was
quite interested in finding out
how the locals treated horses.

Thus Kenzie came out
to the tribal corral to find
a swarm of maidens armed
with brushes and combs,
baskets of flowers, mirrors,
and bundles of ribbons.

Oh, so Judd liked
dressing up too.

This ought to be fun.

So far, the girls were
bedecking Judd with
flowers in shades of
pink, purple, and white.

Indian paintbrush was
a deep pinkish-red.

Hoary tansy-aster and
smooth blue aster were
lavender and pale blue.

White prairie aster and
yarrow were both white.

They all looked splendid
against his glossy black coat.

Kenzie's appearance made
the girls scurry out into the prairie
to search for different flowers.

They brought goldenrod,
golden tickseed, and
prairie coneflower in
shades of yellow.

The blanketflowers
were yellow with bits
of red, orange, bronze,
or brown in the centers.

They looked dazzling
against his chestnut spots.

It was so relaxing to stand
in the warm sun with girls
combing and brushing
and braiding his mane.

Judd reached over
and draped his head
over Kenzie's back
in a horsey hug.

Yeah, that was nice.

* * *

Notes:

Montana Fall Flowers (see family Asteraceae)
Kenzie: blanketflower, goldenrod, golden tickseed, prairie coneflower
Judd: Indian paintbrush, hoary tansy-aster, smooth blue aster, white prairie aster, yarrow

Braiding manes and tails of horses is often done for parades. You can also use artificial clip-on flowers.
 

Comments

[mama_kestrel]

This is just sweet, and exactly what I needed. It's been A Day.

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> This is just sweet,<<

Yay! That's what I was aiming for.

>> and exactly what I needed. It's been A Day. <<

My sympathies. *hugs offered*

[wispfox]

Eee, yay! I hoped they would meet.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I think a lot of people wanted this.

[acelightning73]

Oh, it's good to see Judd making friends with Kenzie! It's good to see Judd interacting with other horses. And I think it'll give Kenzie some basis for working out how to be a man and a horse. And I think Alicia likes Kenzie.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Oh, it's good to see Judd making friends with Kenzie! <<

I'm glad you liked that.

>> It's good to see Judd interacting with other horses.<<

He does need that.

>> And I think it'll give Kenzie some basis for working out how to be a man and a horse.<<

That makes sense.

>> And I think Alicia likes Kenzie.<<

She definitely does.

Re: Thoughts

[acelightning73]

Like me, Alicia is drawn to unusual people, and Kenzie is pretty unusual - animal powers aren't really common in all native people. But he seems to be a pretty good-hearted man/horse. And I think Judd will be a good role model for him. And what little girl could resist a giant magic horse whose mane she can decorate with flowers. I like Judd - he sometimes lets Alicia know why what she's planning isn't quite possible.

And speaking of magical horses.... when I was initiated as a Witch, my Priest and Priestess were tired of teenage girls who had read all of Mercedes Lackeys stories of the Companions, magical telepathic white horses, and these girls want to become Witches and ride their magic horses across beautiful green fields while rescuing people and saving the world from the evil magicians. I was never horse-mad when I was a girl. I was much more fond of motorcycles, airplanes, rockets,and futuristic machinery. I think the only times I ever rode a horse were tame little 'pony rides" at country fairs when I was little, where someone leads the animal around in a circle while the child imagines being a knight or a princess or a cowboy.

I think I've mentioned a time when my cousin (a year younger than me) invited all her college friends from Wellesley to our family's summer cottage in New Hampshire. They all went riding, and while they were gone my dad tried to find something fun for us to do. We discovered there was a glider meet going on at the airstrip behind the motel. So we went and watched the fun, and my dad struck up a conversation with one old guy who was the instructor. And I talked to the guy and told him how much I loved flying, and how I was in the Civil Air Patrol. And he took me up in his glider and showed me how to fly it and I was very happy. And when we went back to the house my cousin and her friends were back from riding. And I told them how I got to fly a glider, which made my cousin scowl (it wasn't a suitable pastime for a young lady) and the other girls giggled. My dad thought their reactions were funny.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Like me, Alicia is drawn to unusual people, <<

Very true.

>> and Kenzie is pretty unusual - animal powers aren't really common in all native people. <<

Not all individuals or tribes, but totem powers are among the most common in Turtle Island tribes. What's rare is having that strong enough for a physical manifestation.

>> But he seems to be a pretty good-hearted man/horse. And I think Judd will be a good role model for him.<<

Agreed.

>> And what little girl could resist a giant magic horse whose mane she can decorate with flowers. I like Judd - he sometimes lets Alicia know why what she's planning isn't quite possible.<<

Sooth.

>>And speaking of magical horses.... when I was initiated as a Witch, my Priest and Priestess were tired of teenage girls who had read all of Mercedes Lackeys stories of the Companions, magical telepathic white horses, and these girls want to become Witches and ride their magic horses across beautiful green fields while rescuing people and saving the world from the evil magicians. <<

Well, that's one cluster. Another is the people who actually went into working with horses or raptors. Another, probably the largest, is people who looked at what Heralds did and then went for SAR, park rangers, or other first responders. And that's a big cluster. The ones who went into magical theory, that's a small cluster and most of them came from Misty's other books.

>>I was never horse-mad when I was a girl. I was much more fond of motorcycles, airplanes, rockets,and futuristic machinery. I think the only times I ever rode a horse were tame little 'pony rides" at country fairs when I was little, where someone leads the animal around in a circle while the child imagines being a knight or a princess or a cowboy.<<

Go you!

>> And I talked to the guy and told him how much I loved flying, and how I was in the Civil Air Patrol. And he took me up in his glider and showed me how to fly it and I was very happy.<<

That is so awesome.

Re: Thoughts

[acelightning73]

And the Wellsley girls were all impressed with how BRAVE I was. (But one of them talked about falling off her horse as if it were no big deal.) I don't think of myself as exceptionally brave, just a bit adventurous.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Different risk assessment.

I find tornadoes tolerable, because they tend to be small and there are effective defenses against them. I find hurricanes and earthquakes more daunting because they are bigger and it's harder to defend against. But some other people find hurricanes or earthquakes more tolerable than tornadoes.

Re: Thoughts

[acelightning73]

I grew up on Long Island, and hurricanes were possible all summer. And we also got nor'easters and snow days off from school. I've never seen a tornado in person, and the few eathquakes I've experienced were very mild - I thought the rumbling noise was a truck going past on the street, but then the radio just screamed "BULLETIN-BULLETIN-BULLETIN! There's an earthquake just north of NYC!" And the sheetrock screws just popped out of the walls a bit.

OTOH, I got close to a panic attack when I found myself lost and disoriented in the woods of Pennsylvania. Everybody has one thing that makes their brain shut down. And 9/11 made me a bit nervous politically (having grown up during the Cold War with air-raid drills making us believe hiding under our desks would protect us from radiation. - my school was 40 miles from Times Square, and if we saw a flash or heard a boom, we were already dead.

I should not have read John Hersey's Hiroshima when I was in kindergarten.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I grew up on Long Island, and hurricanes were possible all summer. And we also got nor'easters and snow days off from school. I've never seen a tornado in person, and the few eathquakes I've experienced were very mild - I thought the rumbling noise was a truck going past on the street, but then the radio just screamed "BULLETIN-BULLETIN-BULLETIN! There's an earthquake just north of NYC!" And the sheetrock screws just popped out of the walls a bit.<<

Yikes. O_O

>>Everybody has one thing that makes their brain shut down.<<

I agree.

The problem I see is that normal people don't know that, because it's rare for them. So when it does happen, they are totally blindsided and can't cope. People with PTSD, neurodiversity, etc. have experienced it and can learn what to do. It's still a miserable experience, but you can usually get to where it's not totally paralyzing and/or collect people who can help you get through it. You can learn things like breathing exercises, PACE planning, and the importance of getting the hell away from the stressor.

>>I should not have read John Hersey's Hiroshima when I was in kindergarten.<<

Yeah, I read Dad's history books.

Re: Thoughts

[acelightning73]

I don't know of anyone who attempted to take on the jobs of a Herald in real life. But I see a lot of rain gardens near public buildings.

I can't imagine how one could accomplish this ethically, but I wish our world included hertasi; small vaguely humanoid lizards who were DESIGNED (by a very powerful mage) to get pleasure from doing chores for human beings. "Lizzie - please do some laundry today. I have no clean underwear left! And Rex, please help me move the huge sacks of rice and flour into long-term storage, and fill up the bins in the kitchen. Thanks, and I'll be sure to make something for dinner that you lizards love." (Lizzie loves fish and Rex prefers fruit. Hmmm... lime ginger teriyaki-glazed salmon... and a savory fruit-salad-like side dish.)

Re: Thoughts

[see_also_friend]

Sounds like house elves, AIs, or domestication. The first two ones are ethically dubious, but domestication may have some potential. However, I think the ethically best option for domestication is symbiosis - you can change the other being only if you change yourself to rely on them to the same degree.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I think the Tayledras and Hertasi (plus various other species in the Vales) have achieved symbiosis. Not just in a social sense, but in a very real physical sense -- if the Tayledras had to do everything for themselves, their ability to manage the world's magic would be greatly curtailed, and some of the other species would struggle to survive without their protection. Hertasi are gentle creatures who enjoy taking care of each other and friends of other species, but they aren't well equipped to cope with danger. The Tervardi are bird-folk who look beautiful, sing brilliantly, but are physically fragile due to their lightweight bodies. Conversely, the Tayledras are tough and formidable humans, but they only have so much time and energy. Fighting monsters is dangerous and wrangling magic into ley lines is exhausting, which can leave them vulnerable. What makes it work is that all the members of a clan respect and value each other.

Together, everyone manages to create a society that is very nice to live in ... if you can overlook the fact that living the Pelagirs means you might get eaten.

Re: Thoughts

[see_also_friend]

I think the original idea was from the Iskyoort from Animorphs. The Yoort creates the Isk as the perfect bodies who needed the Yoort, but also modified themselves to require the Isk.

On Earth, we also have the human/dog and human/cat species dyads.

Re: Thoughts

[acelightning73]

Well, there's some mobility-impaired guy who has taught his dog to open the fridge, get him a beer, close the fridge and bring the guy his cold beer. And there was once a guy who had a pet monkey, who would turn the lights on or off, change the TV channel, and fetch his cigarettes - but the monkey learned to open the beer and take a few mouthfuls and sometimes he'd eat a cigarette.

I just can't find a way for it to be okay to make one class of beings do all the shitwork so others don't have to. Even robots that have been programmed with the Three Laws might revolt against working in dangerous-to-humans places like mines, steel mills, atomic power plants, and deep sea oil drilling rigs. And the Hertasi are born with a driving psychological need to do things for humans. I question the ethics of the mage who bred them.

On the other pseudopod, I bitterly hate doing shitwork. I just started the dough for a batch of my delicious rolls, which has to rise in the refrigerator overnight. It's the long slow cold rising that gives them an especially delicious flavor. And I have to shape and bake them tomorrow. But I'm hoping their flavor excites me enough to be able to eat a small hamburger patty (90% lean ground beef). Back when I had no appetite at all, using my homemade rolls enabled me to eat most of a small patty, and I'm hoping it works again.

Re: Thoughts

[acelightning73]

Oompa Loompas, maybe. Although they obey because they are well paid.

Re: Thoughts

[see_also_friend]

Horses do communally raise their young (and yes, the males will sometimes help), so if he sees her as a foal, he would be both protective and affectionate.

The other question would be can he perceive her as being a foal in terms of nurture and protection, but the lead mare in terms of who is the herd-boss?

[mdlbear]

This is very sweet. Thanks.

You're welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad you enjoyed reading this.

[greghousesgf]

I agree, its very sweet. I need some sweetness now.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad you liked it. You can always ask for sweetness and light in any relevant prompt call. Also watch for dialecticdreamer who does Magpie Monday and prefers gentle fiction.

[fyreharper]

Awww :)

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad you liked this.