Poem: "Begin in Chaos"
Oct. 16th, 2024 06:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the October 15, 2024 Bonus Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from rix_scaedu. It also fills the "We could do with more general chaos." square in my 10-1-24 card for the Fall Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by rix_scaedu and fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Quixotic Ideas.
"Begin in Chaos"
[Saturday, November 9, 2024]
Everyone agreed that it was
the qaos quonjurers who
caused the problem.
No matter how careful
they were -- and they
weren't always careful --
there was no way to study
the mystical aspect of chaos
without generating some amount
of ordinary chaos along the way.
Also, the kind of people attracted
to that field of practice were the kind
who might at any moment declare,
"We could do with more general chaos."
And then go do something about that.
When the qaos storm rolled over
the city of Bayville, people huddled
indoors and hoped the wards would hold.
Of course, the wards always failed somewhere,
and tonight they failed on the hospital, which
was particularly terrible luck since qaos storms
always resulted in a rash of accidents and
pregnant people going into labor early.
Among these were Jannery of
the quixotic family Shakefeather,
Rishelle of the quotidian family Rocke,
and Tris of no particular family who
was quarian but didn't pay attention
to such things because she lived in
a tiny quotidian village called Clayy
where they hardly used magic anyhow.
Even then, everything might have
been fine had the wards not crashed
when the babies were being transferred
from the birthing rooms to the nursery
so the new mothers could get some sleep.
When the wards fell, rain and mayhem
poured in through the windows, and
then everyone scrambled to get
mothers and babies to safety.
In all the confusion, the babies
wound up with the wrong families.
Jannery's quixotic daughter went home
with Tris, who didn't notice the difference
because of how her nullification field
largely dampened the baby's magic.
Rishelle's quotidian daughter went
to Jannery, who was baffled and
disappointed by the baby's failure
to show any signs of nascent magic.
Tris' quarian daughter landed with
Rishelle, where the nullification effect
would not be noticed soon in a home
that didn't rely much on magic.
It was still an unsettling experience
for everyone concerned, and they tried
to put it behind them as fast as possible.
The seeds had been sown, though,
even if the fruit wouldn't show for years.
The morning after the storm, a line of graffiti
wrapped itself around the hospital fence:
Do not be afraid when the stars collide
towards the darkness, because sometimes
the most beautiful things begin in chaos.
* * *
Notes:
* * *
The Aqademy of the Qrossroads lies in Bayville, a city on Sweetwater Bay where the Cline River and the Rushwater flow into Gracewind Lake. Located near the center of the city, the campus is surrounded by parks with forest, grassland, and a few agricultural fields so that students can interact with nature as needed. One of these is Oakwood Park.
Clayy is a tiny quotidian village inland from Bayville, where few people bother with magic even as self-working artifacts.
* * *
"Do not be afraid when the stars collide towards the darkness, because sometimes the most beautiful things begin in chaos."
-- Robert M. Drake
Fun Holiday – Chaos Never Dies Day
Qaos -- the mystical aspect of chaos, energy without order or form. As a type of magic, qaos is unpredictable, risky, and powerful.
Qaos storm -- a type of magical weather, a mystical upheaval of energies that can cause both quixotic and quotidian effects. It stirs things up, disrupts formerly stable systems, and generally tends to make a mess. However, it can also create opportunties for those previously stifled by the status quo, promoting growth, innovation, and evolution.
Quixote -- a person who can use magic. Many people can use magic, albeit at different levels of power and expertise. The more they have, the more likely they are to use it; those with little may use it rarely or not at all. The adjective is quixotic.
Quixotic -- magical, such as a magical person or object. The noun for a magical person is quixote.
Quotide -- a person who cannot use magic, but can still be affected by it. Some quotides use self-working magical artifacts or study magical theory. The adjective is quotidian.
Quotidian -- nonmagical, but can still be affected by magic. Most objects, many plants and animals, and some people are quotidian. The noun for a nonmagical person is quotide.
Quark -- a person who is a magical null, unable to use magic and immune to its effects. A rare few people are unaffected by things that cause serious problems for magical people and non-null quotidian people, thus offering a different type of advantage. The adjective is quarian.
Quarian -- unaffected by magic and unable to use it. A rare few people, other life forms and objects are just immune. The noun for a person unaffected by magic is quark.
Switched at Birth is a popular trope.
rix_scaedu. It also fills the "We could do with more general chaos." square in my 10-1-24 card for the Fall Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by rix_scaedu and fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Quixotic Ideas."Begin in Chaos"
[Saturday, November 9, 2024]
Everyone agreed that it was
the qaos quonjurers who
caused the problem.
No matter how careful
they were -- and they
weren't always careful --
there was no way to study
the mystical aspect of chaos
without generating some amount
of ordinary chaos along the way.
Also, the kind of people attracted
to that field of practice were the kind
who might at any moment declare,
"We could do with more general chaos."
And then go do something about that.
When the qaos storm rolled over
the city of Bayville, people huddled
indoors and hoped the wards would hold.
Of course, the wards always failed somewhere,
and tonight they failed on the hospital, which
was particularly terrible luck since qaos storms
always resulted in a rash of accidents and
pregnant people going into labor early.
Among these were Jannery of
the quixotic family Shakefeather,
Rishelle of the quotidian family Rocke,
and Tris of no particular family who
was quarian but didn't pay attention
to such things because she lived in
a tiny quotidian village called Clayy
where they hardly used magic anyhow.
Even then, everything might have
been fine had the wards not crashed
when the babies were being transferred
from the birthing rooms to the nursery
so the new mothers could get some sleep.
When the wards fell, rain and mayhem
poured in through the windows, and
then everyone scrambled to get
mothers and babies to safety.
In all the confusion, the babies
wound up with the wrong families.
Jannery's quixotic daughter went home
with Tris, who didn't notice the difference
because of how her nullification field
largely dampened the baby's magic.
Rishelle's quotidian daughter went
to Jannery, who was baffled and
disappointed by the baby's failure
to show any signs of nascent magic.
Tris' quarian daughter landed with
Rishelle, where the nullification effect
would not be noticed soon in a home
that didn't rely much on magic.
It was still an unsettling experience
for everyone concerned, and they tried
to put it behind them as fast as possible.
The seeds had been sown, though,
even if the fruit wouldn't show for years.
The morning after the storm, a line of graffiti
wrapped itself around the hospital fence:
Do not be afraid when the stars collide
towards the darkness, because sometimes
the most beautiful things begin in chaos.
* * *
Notes:
* * *
The Aqademy of the Qrossroads lies in Bayville, a city on Sweetwater Bay where the Cline River and the Rushwater flow into Gracewind Lake. Located near the center of the city, the campus is surrounded by parks with forest, grassland, and a few agricultural fields so that students can interact with nature as needed. One of these is Oakwood Park.
Clayy is a tiny quotidian village inland from Bayville, where few people bother with magic even as self-working artifacts.
* * *
"Do not be afraid when the stars collide towards the darkness, because sometimes the most beautiful things begin in chaos."
-- Robert M. Drake
Fun Holiday – Chaos Never Dies Day
Qaos -- the mystical aspect of chaos, energy without order or form. As a type of magic, qaos is unpredictable, risky, and powerful.
Qaos storm -- a type of magical weather, a mystical upheaval of energies that can cause both quixotic and quotidian effects. It stirs things up, disrupts formerly stable systems, and generally tends to make a mess. However, it can also create opportunties for those previously stifled by the status quo, promoting growth, innovation, and evolution.
Quixote -- a person who can use magic. Many people can use magic, albeit at different levels of power and expertise. The more they have, the more likely they are to use it; those with little may use it rarely or not at all. The adjective is quixotic.
Quixotic -- magical, such as a magical person or object. The noun for a magical person is quixote.
Quotide -- a person who cannot use magic, but can still be affected by it. Some quotides use self-working magical artifacts or study magical theory. The adjective is quotidian.
Quotidian -- nonmagical, but can still be affected by magic. Most objects, many plants and animals, and some people are quotidian. The noun for a nonmagical person is quotide.
Quark -- a person who is a magical null, unable to use magic and immune to its effects. A rare few people are unaffected by things that cause serious problems for magical people and non-null quotidian people, thus offering a different type of advantage. The adjective is quarian.
Quarian -- unaffected by magic and unable to use it. A rare few people, other life forms and objects are just immune. The noun for a person unaffected by magic is quark.
Switched at Birth is a popular trope.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-19 12:55 am (UTC)That's going to get interesting.
Yes ...
Date: 2024-10-19 01:06 am (UTC)