ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-03-23 05:11 pm

Poem: "The Philosophy of the Sandwich"

This poem is spillover from the September 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from [personal profile] readera, [personal profile] jake67jake, and [personal profile] wyld_dandelyon. It also fill the "Neurodiversity" square in my 9-1-24 card for the People with Disabilities Drabble Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with [personal profile] fuzzyred, [personal profile] siliconshaman, and [personal profile] wyld_dandelyon. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem includes descriptions of delicious sandwiches that you might not be able to find or make (or supposed to eat).


"The Philosophy of the Sandwich"

[Tuesday, June 14, 2016]

One thing that Shiv loved --
absolutely loved -- about
Hanson Hall was that there
was always something to do.

You could check the doors and
bulletin boards for paper flyers
announcing classes, workshops,
guest speakers, or other activities.

You could sign up on the server,
which listed all the events and
would send you notifications for
whatever categories you wanted.

Or you could just wander around
looking for something interesting
as it spilled out of its activity space.

Today the Coexist Community Kitchen
had a sign up for Neurospicy Cuisine:
Cooking with the Brain You Have,

and under that in smaller print,
Today's Theme: Sandwiches.

The title made Shiv laugh, and
he figured that was reason enough
for him to go check out the class,
which would start in fifteen minutes.

First, he dashed back to his studio
to change into something that he
didn't care if it got ketchup on it.

Rummaging through the T-shirts,
he found a heather gray one with
a flame on the chest that read,
If I'm on fire, please put me out.

Just in case that happened again.

Shiv pulled on the T-shirt and
tucked it into his black jeans,
then hurried back to the kitchen.

Ahimsa was already there, and
lit right up when he walked in.

"Shiv!" said Ahimsa. "It's
so good to see you here
today. I was hoping you
would catch a class sooner
or later since you like to cook."

"Yeah, I do," Shiv said. "Also,
teleporters eat like hummingbirds."

"I can believe that," said Ahimsa.
"Anyhow, I'll be doing vegan recipes."
He had on khakis and a pink T-shirt
that read, Plant Based. "Rozeve Pave
plans to present some Jewish ones."

Shiv looked over and saw that she
had on pink shorts that matched
her crayon hair, and a purple T-shirt
whose pink text read, Kosher Cutie.

She waved and bounded over
to them. "Hi!" she said. "We're
the assistant teachers today, and
Karen Elder is the head teacher --
she runs Fuck Yeah Loaves and Fishes.
She'll be presenting the general recipes
while we cover special dietary needs."

"Got anything for high-burn appetites?"
Shiv asked. "Because teleporters."

"I think Karen's making Dagwoods,"
said Ahimsa. "That ought to do it.
Oh, and one of mine's hummus and
avocado with garden vegetables."

"Sounds good to me," Shiv said.
"I love anything that tastes like soap."

Ahimsa laughed. "Do what works
for you," he said, then lowered
his voice. "Listen, your shirt ...
are you going to be okay here?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Shiv said. "That
was like two years ago now. I
actually have learned to cook."

"I just wanted you to know that I
understand what it's like to grow up
where people wouldn't let you do
anything or learn how to take care
of yourself," said Ahimsa. "That
sucks, but it's a fixable problem."

"Yeah, that's true," Shiv said.
"I'm still trying to fill in the gaps."

There were more gaps than
filler, really, but he didn't
need to say that out loud.

Esmerée Bridges came in with
her son Darian balanced on a hip
and daughter Beatrice in a baby sling.
She wore a yellow T-shirt printed with
fig leaves over a yellow and green skirt.

"Hi, everyone," she said. "I'm always up
for learning new sandwiches. I figure
Darian is old enough to start stacking
things on bread, and Beatrice can watch."

Darian bounced in place, dressed in a T-shirt
reading, Chromosomally Enhanced. Beatrice
seemed content just clinging to her mother.

"It will be fun to see what recipes they
decide to make today," said Shiv.

Noelie Sheffield arrived next,
carefully checking out the corners
of the room because her sheep brain
made her worry about predators.

More people spilled around her,
but Shiv didn't recognize any
of those, so he ignored them.

"I heard that Ahimsa will be
cooking vegan," Noelie said.

"That's right," said Ahimsa.
"You can stick with me for that,
or move around if you'd rather.

"I'm doing open-face matzo bites,"
said Rozeve Pave. "Some of
those options are vegan too."

Shiv wondered what the heck
a matzo bite was, but didn't ask.

He'd find out soon enough just
by watching, and it was safer
not to ask and look like an idiot.

Marian Wildrose showed up
in a purple T-shirt that read,
Support Neurodiversity --
Support people with FASD
.

She had three of her grandkids
in tow. Jason Harms, Morris Harms,
and Kellie Harms milled around her.

Jason was athletic and cheerful, while
his younger brother Morris was quieter
and observant. Their little sister Kellie
was happy but clumsy and clingy.

They were all city Indians, but Shiv
had seen them at various events
on the Omaha Nation Reservation.

"Hello, Little Lynx," Marian said
with a bright smile. "Seeing you
here today is a nice surprise."

"Yeah, I gave my old apartment
in public housing to some friends
from out west," Shiv said. "So
then I needed a new art studio,
and I found one in Hanson Hall.
I really love this place, it's great."

"That was very generous of you,"
said Marian. "We come here for
classes sometimes. So far, the kids
can make peanut butter and jelly, and
Jason does grilled cheese, but I hope
they can learn new recipes today."

"I'm a little better off, but not a lot,"
said Shiv. "My idea of making
a sandwich is mostly just piling
stuff on bread, although I can do
a great grilled cheese -- they work
better if you mix different cheeses,
like a strong one and a melty one.
Well, and I can do oyster spread."

Marian nodded. "Anything that
is just a spread, the boys can
manage, although Kellie is
not quite that far along yet."

"Yeah, I'm kind of hoping
for a tuna salad recipe or
something like that to widen
my range a bit," Shiv said.

A couple more folks came in,
only one of whom he knew.

Nick Thatcher ran Nick's Thrifts,
where he also did outreach for
Bandaid Brain. Today's button was
purple and read, I have brain injury.

"Hey, Nick," said Shiv. "How are
things going at the thrift store?"

"Still busy and crazy from all of
the refugees, but at least they're
finding us well enough," said Nick.
"Also, the earthquake caused a lot
of head trauma, so Bandaid Brain
has a bunch of new members."

"That sounds challenging,"
said Shiv. "Well, good food
makes for good mood, so
maybe this class will help."

"That's what I'm hoping for,"
Nick said. "Plus I'm hungry."

Shiv's belly growled. "Yeah,
so am I," he said with a nod.

Karen checked her vidwatch,
and then closed the door.

"All right, I think everyone is
here who's coming," she said.
"My name is Karen Elder from
Loaves and Fishes, the sponsor
of Neurospicy Cuisine: Cooking
with the Brain You Have
. Today
we'll be making sandwiches."

"My name is Ahimsa from
from the Dobutsu Kannon
Temple of Animal Care,"
he said. "I'll be offering
some vegan recipes."

"I'm Rozeve Pave from
the Tikkun Olam Collective,"
she said. "I cook kosher."

"Students, please go around
the kitchen and introduce
yourselves," said Karen.

"Hi, I'm Shiv from Blues Moon,"
he said. "I do the fresh shopping
and chalkboard menus there."

Then he ducked his head and
ignored most of the remainder,
because he already knew a lot
of them and didn't need to listen.

He paid attention to the new ones,
though. They seemed interesting.

The big family who had arrived
earlier with Noelie were the Gables.

The father Ellison was a local historian
at the Douglas County Historical Society,
and his wife Livy -- who was pregnant --
worked at Bookwiggles, a children's center.

They had two boys, Beckett and Chandler,
of whom Beckett was dressed exactly like
a tiny professor, down to the elbow patches
on his cardigan. Chandler kept attempting
to hide behind first his father, then his mother.

Shiv could sympathize. It sucked to get
dragged to events, especially if you
didn't like people in the first place.

The toddler girl, Shelley, was
running circles around her family,
and the baby girl, Joyce, seemed
content to watch from her sling.

"Hi, I'm Ellna Saffelder," she said,
waving a left arm that ended at
the wrist. "As you can see, I was
born without a left hand, so I use
my mouth as a spare hand. I just
see the world a little differently.
If that freaks anyone out, well --"

"Then they can go wait to catch
a different class," Karen said firmly.
"Now, we have handouts for anyone
who wants something to take home."

"I have the infographics," said Ahimsa.
"There are basic instructions on how
to make a sandwich for kids and adults.
Then I've got more for tomato sandwiches
and grilled cheese, plus one on spreads.
Raise your hand if you want anything."

Most of the students wanted those,
including Shiv who took one of each.

"I have text handouts," said Rozeve Pave.
"Remember that all of our materials are
available on the Hanson Hall server too.
The keys are probably How to Simplify
Kitchen Choices
and How to Handle
a No-Cook Kitchen,
but we also have
bread recipes, hot and cold sandwiches,
spreads, vegan and kosher specialties."

That was a much bigger stack of stuff,
so she divided it into several sections
that she passed around the kitchen.

Shiv took the first two, which were
obviously useful, then leafed through
the others to see what made sense
to take and what was just a wall of
words that were too hard to read.

"All right, as you can see, we have
five cook stations around the kitchen,"
said Karen. "One has adjustable height,
so families with children, please decide
who gets that one. If anyone needs
adaptive cooking equipment, that's
in the accommodation cabinet to
the left of the adjustable counter."

"The Gables have the most kids
with them today, and so they get
the adjustable one," said Marian.
"We can take the island station."

"There are two, and the one
with the 6-hob range is for
the teachers," said Karen.

"Then we'll take the far side,"
Marian said as she herded
her grandchildren there.

Shiv was leaning against
the peninsula, which held
its own range and oven,
plus another oven that went
with the adjustable station.

"Noelie, Nick, Ellna -- do you
folks want to share with me?"
he asked. "That sweeps up
the singles so that Esmerée
and her children can take
the corner by the fridge."

"Works for me," Nick said.
"We've got the counter clear
to the dishwashing sink, so
we have room to spread out."

"Plenty of outlets to plug in
any countertop appliances
we might need," said Ellna.
"I'm just going to go grab
some one-handed stuff
before the Gables fill up
that whole end of the room."

"Great idea," Shiv said. "I hope
they have the good stuff -- I've
cooked with No-Hands Hannigan
and she has some cool tools."

She could also do with her feet
anything that a typical person
could do with their hands, but
who didn't love kitchen gadgets?

Ellna came back with a stack of
non-slip mats in different colors and
an adaptive kitchen workstation with
a corner, spikes, clamp, grater, and slicer.

"Here, I brought a mat for everyone plus
an extra," she said as she dealt them out.
"These really make things stay put. You
can use them to park a cutting board,
a bowl, a plate, whatever you need."

Shiv touched the grippy surface and
promptly decided to buy his own.

Meanwhile, the teachers were
taking tools and supplies out of
the cabinets and refrigerator
to spread over the counters.

Esmerée went over to talk with
Karen, who then asked, "Does
anyone else have small hands?"

Shiv raised a hand and wiggled it.
"Yeah, mine are pretty tiny too,
plus there's all these kids here."

"Okay, when you have small hands,
you need a knife that fits," said Karen.
She held up long bread knife. "If this
is too big for you to use comfortably, try
a big steak knife or a vegetable knife.
A paring knife may work, but for cutting
bread, a serrated blade makes it easier."

She brought out several different sizes
and shapes of bread loaf. "Also, you can
use a smaller loaf if you want. For a big or
round loaf, you might need the bigger knife."

"Also with a big knife, you can slice lots of
little loaves at the same time," Shiv said.

"How does that work?" Karen asked.

Shiv looked around. "Gimme some of
the little pumpernickels and I'll show you."

He'd seen Mrs. Dr. G line up a whole row
and slice them like a factory machine.

Then she racked out the slices
on a rimmed cookie sheet and
buttered them all at the same time.

After assembling the sandwiches,
all of the heels got dumped into
the messy sheet to soak up
the butter, then got toasted
to make crunchy crumbles
for topping other dishes.

"So you line up the loaves
like this," Shiv said as he
demonstrated. "Then you
use a long bread knife to cut
across all of them at once."

He laid out the slices, which
fit nicely in a cookie sheet, then
found butter to slather on them.

"I make full-size sandwiches
that way," said Livy. "Using
mass-production methods is
the only way to get anything
done in our household."

Shiv counted up four kids
and another on the way.

"Yeah, the Finns have
a big family too," he said.
"Do we got any pepperoni?
They're the perfect size and
taste great on pumpernickel."

"Here," Karen said, pulling
a package from the fridge.
"Congratulations, you just
thoroughly upstaged us
and I'm delighted by it."

Shiv winced a little, but
took the pepperoni and
completed the sandwiches.

Then he plated them and
passed them around to folks.

He ate one himself, and yeah,
that was a good combination.

Finally he tore up the heels, put
them in the buttery sheet, and
popped it in the oven to toast.

"Thanks, bro, that was brilliant,"
Ahimsa said as he took a sandwich.
"We'll start doing our demos next."

"First up is a classic sandwich for
high-burn appetites: the Dagwood,"
said Karen. "It uses two or more slices
of bread, several meats and cheeses,
spreads, and whatever else will fit."

Shiv laughed. People liked to debate
what superpowers Dagwood might
have had, but they all agreed that he
must have a high-burn metabolism.

"Do not make a stingy sandwich,"
said Karen. "Pile the cold cuts high, so
you can see salami coming through the rye."

Shiv watched, took note of the options,
and started working. He loved clubs
with three slices, so he started there
and buttered all of them for traction.

Then he piled lettuce, tomatoes,
onions, and sprouts. For meats
he went with brown sugar ham,
black pepper beef, honey turkey,
maple chicken, and olive loaf.

He added Swiss cheese, Colby,
and an aggressive pepperjack
plus three kinds of mustard.

"I can't eat half of this stuff,"
Noelie complained. "Now what?"

"Here, I laid out all the vegan foods,"
said Ahimsa. "I have roast boof,
maple chunken, smoked sham,
marinated tempeh, pepper seitan,
Dulce del Mar fake'n, and eatloaf. If
you want to go full Dagwood, there's
tunafarce salad, breaded scrump,
ish sticks, so-sage, and notdogs.
Oh, and the condiments, of course."

Noelie's eyes just got bigger and bigger,
then she bounded over to Ahimsa
and started loading up on stuff.

"I think hers is bigger than mine,"
Nick said as he stared after her.

"It's definitely bigger than mine,"
said Ellna, who'd made something
like tiny sandwich shishkebabs with
the pieces threaded on long sticks,
thus easy to eat with one hand.

Shiv pinned his sandwich together
with another skewer topped with
the traditional olive, then carefully
wrapped it to stash in the fridge.

He figured that he could swap that
to a teleporter friend for a ride home.

The buses had been running screwy
all day for no reason anyone could say.

"All right, looks like it's my turn now,"
said Ahimsa. "I'm going to present
a hummus and avocado sandwich."

"Oh, like a vegan hummus buster!"
Shiv exclaimed. "That's useful."

"What's a hummus buster?"
Ahimsa said, instantly intrigued.

"Open a pita pocket and coat
the inside with hummus -- you
can add baba ganoush too, or
whatever other spreads you like,"
said Shiv. "Shove in as much meat,
vegetables, and falafel as you can. I
like the lamb or maple za'atar chicken.
Kardal in Rutledge invented it, and
the teleporters love those things."

"Aaaand now you're making me
hungry," said Ahimsa. "Back on
track, this sandwich uses hummus
and avocado to cram in nutrients."

"That sounds like fun," said Noelie.

"I like the philosophy of the sandwich,"
said Ahimsa. "It typifies my attitude to life,
really. It's all there, it's fun, it looks good,
and you don't have to wash up afterwards."

This one was simple with mashed avocado
on one bread slice, hummus on the other,
tomato, cucumber, and sprouts in the middle.

"This is just an example," said Ahimsa. "You
can make it with any vegetables you want, if
you don't like the taste or texture of these."

Shiv wasn't a big fan of salads, but he did
like things that were juicy or crunchy, and
this sandwich tasted really delicious.

Nick was frowning, though -- he must
be having trouble concentrating again.

Shiv leafed through his handouts
until he found the one on making
a sandwich and the recipe for
the current one, then pushed
those pages toward Nick.

"Thanks," Nick whispered
as he relaxed again.

Shiv glanced around
and saw that Ellison was
churning out sandwiches
for the rest of his family.

He had a particular way
of doing it, very precise.

"Is that like mise en place?"
Shiv asked him. "Or maybe
like a Montessori lesson?"

He liked things that were
consistent, so that he
knew what to expect,
and especially if there
was a best way to do it.

"I just like having a routine,"
said Ellison. "If I know that
the knife is always going to be
the first thing in the lineup, then
I don't have to hunt around for it.
If I follow steps in the same order,
then I don't get lost or forget any,
and I don't have to think so hard."

"Oh yeah," Shiv said, nodding.
"That sounds like a great idea."

He hated it when people whined
about the way that he did things.
He had his reasons, dammit.

Least he could do was support
someone else doing his own thing.

Rozeve Pave watched for people
to finish their sandwiches, then said,
"I'll be doing Pesach bites." She lifted
a box of matzo. "These are basically
a kind of cracker, so if it's not Passover
or you don't keep kosher, you can do
them on other kinds of crackers."

She laid out all kinds of toppings --
spreads, fruits, vegetables, sprinkles.

"This reminds me of frybread," said Marian.
"You can put all different kinds of toppings
on that to make Indian tacos, but I like
how small these matzo things are."

"Yeah, you could eat one of each,"
Shiv said. He certainly intended to.

"Open-faced sandwiches take risks and
live big and smile with all their teeth,"
said Rozeve Pave. "These are
the people I want to be around."

She demonstrated how to make
the various different combinations.

"Another advantage of these is that
you can see everything," she went on.
"So if you're touchy about food, you
know exactly what you're eating and
you can change it if you want to."

Most of them started with a spread
and then piled other things on top.

There was peanut butter with banana,
ricotta with asparagus and lemon zest,
goat cheese with everything seasoning,
and chocolate with candied fennel seeds.

Shiv was particularly fascinated by the one
that had almond butter and grated apples.

"Why grate the apples?" he wondered.
"Most people just slice them instead."

"Jewish recipes often use grated apples,"
said Rozeve Pave. "They blend in
better than sliced or chopped ones."

"Huh," Shiv said. It was different
than usual, but he really liked it.

There was one with avocado,
and another with cantaloupe,
feta, and mint that sounded
bizarre but tasted great.

There was even one made
with shredded cheese and
heated so that it melted.

He hummed thoughtfully,
then topped it with some of
his toasted breadcrumbs.

Yeah, he wanted to share
that one with the Italians.

His favorite, of course,
was cream cheese piled
with bits of smoked salmon.

They were all good, though,
each amazing in its own way,
but so neat and tiny done
on their individual squares.

Aw yeah, Shiv knew what
he was taking to a Finn party
some time, everyone was
bound to love these things.

After that, Karen presented
first a classic grilled cheese,
then various ways to dress it up.

Shiv was impressed by the way
Ellna could peel the wrapper
off the cheese slices with
one hand and her teeth.

Fuck it, he was trying that --
the damn wrappers were
so slippery that it was hard
to get a good grip on them.

It took a while to figure out,
but yeah, that worked.

By the time Shiv finished
eating both of those, even he
was starting to feel a bit stuffed.

Most folks weren't eating all of theirs,
but wrapping some for later, the way
he had done with the Dagwood.

Shiv nibbled his lip. He did
know one good way to make
some extra room in his belly.

There were a lot of people
in the room for that, though.

Then again, some of these folks
had seen him doing it before.

Marian and the kids wouldn't
say anything about it, because
that would be terrible luck.

Ahimsa had seen him
using his powers for art.

Nick knew, because Shiv
had sharpened things to pay
for stuff at the thrift store
that he wanted but couldn't
quite afford with cash.

Ah, what the hell. It
would be fine. Probably.

Shiv sidled over to Ahimsa,
scooched him away from
the group a little, and then
whispered, "You got any
knives I could sharpen?"

"Sure, go pick out ... wait,
we won't want to put them
back with the ordinary stuff,"
said Ahimsa. "Okay, just
let me find something."

He rummaged around
in the drawers, then
offered an assortment
of small kitchen knives.

Shiv stroked his fingers
along the edges to sharpen
them, then set the steel so
that it would stay that way.

"Here," he said as he handed
them back to Ahimsa. "They're
super-sharp now, so put 'em
somewhere safe -- I mean
like a block, not a drawer."

"I'll box these up for now, then
ask one of the woodworkers
to make a block for them
later on," said Ahimsa.
"Thanks for the donation."

Shiv laughed. "Honestly,
I'm just making room for
another sandwich or two."

"I don't blame you, bro,"
Ahimsa said, nodding.

"Needed to work up
a fresh appetite, huh?"
said Nick. "Good idea."

Ahimsa went back to
his island. "Here's one
that can be vegan if you
use a plant-based chiz
to make it, or omnivore
if you use a dairy cheese."

He laid out several options
for those along with bread,
a bunch of fresh basil, and
some heirloom tomatoes.

"This is a caprese sandwich,
and it's basically a version of
the salad that you can hold
in your hand," said Ahimsa.

Shiv made his with mozzarella
and an orange tomato. It was
so good, with the juice bursting
in his mouth and the basil
spilling spice all over.

Noelie made hers with
nut cheese, and she gave
happy little sounds as she ate.

"The last recipe of the day will
be salmon salad sandwiches,"
Karen said as she opened a can.
"Also, like any other sandwich salad,
you can make this stuff by the bucket
and keep it in the fridge for later."

Shiv gave a little squee and then
tried to pretend nothing happened.

This was so much better than
the tuna he had hoped for.

It wasn't even hard to make.

You just diced an onion, then
mixed that with the salmon,
a dash of lemon juice and
olive oil, and black pepper.

Spread cream cheese on
your bread, pile on as much
salmon salad as would fit,
top with tomato and lettuce,
then add the last bread slice.

Oh yeah. He was definitely
going to make it by the bucket
and keep some in the fridge.

He could hit the Hospitality Shop
for the big twenty-dollar cans
that held four pounds of salmon.

That ought to do for a Finn party,
or a teleporter tip, or just lunches
for Shiv and his friends all week.

That thought made him smile.

"This has been really useful,"
said Nick. "I try to be independent,
but my brain is not always on board
with that goal. Having instructions for
making simple things will help a lot."

"Try kiddie cookbooks," said Shiv.
"They have more pictures and
the instructions are more careful.
Get a foodie one and it won't
be all junk food recipes either."

"That's a good idea," Nick said,
making a note on his smartphone.

"I'm loving this adaptive workstation,"
said Ellna. "I've got a spikeboard and
bowl holders at home, but this one puts
everything in one place, right and tight."

"Yeah, I definitely want to buy me some
of these non-slip mats," Shiv said. He'd
used one as a work surface and once
you put something on it, nothing budged.

Karen clapped her hands. "It's time
to wrap up. Thank you all for coming,"
she said. "Remember to cook with
the brain you have. If you need to do
things a different way, or exchange
ingredients, just do that. Nobody has
a right to pester you about how you
do things. Do what works for you."

Shiv sighed. His life would've
been a lot different if he had
heard that lesson growing up.

Then again, he loved the life that
he had now, and wouldn't trade it.

"Does anyone want to share
something they learned today?"
Karen asked, looking around.

"I'm definitely going to go home
and try Shiv's trick with slicing
a row of pumpernickel loaves,"
Marian said. "My kids will love it."

Plus it was easy to customize,
like the matzo ones, and with kids
who had Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,
you needing things that were simple
to make but also could adapt to
individual dietary needs or tastes.

"I learned that it's easier to peel
the wrapper off of cheese with
my teeth," Shiv said. "Also, I
want to make salmon salad by
the bucket when I get home."

"Darian did a good job of
stacking things on bread,"
said Esmerée. "That's good."

"I appreciate the handouts,"
said Nick. "Those will help me
to keep on track in my kitchen,
and the recipes are tasty."

"I'm really want to buy one of
these workstations," said Ellna.
"I learned that it's a lot easier
to prep food with one tool
than with using several."

"I think that my boys are
going to make a great team,
said Livy. "Beckett is good at
reading but not with his hands,
while Chandler is the opposite."

"Yes, I've got a pair like that too,"
said Marian. "Jason does better
at handiwork and Morris reads
better. It's good to compensate
for each other's weaknesses."

"I found so many new things
that are vegan!" said Noelie.
"Now I need to go shopping."

"Then my work here is done,"
Karen declared. "I hope that you
all had a good time today, and
please watch for future sessions."

Quickly Shiv packed up the rest
of his salmon salad and fetched
the Dagwood from the fridge
so that he wouldn't forget it.

He looked around the room
as people started cleaning up.

Livy was breastfeeding -- whoops,
did not need to see that! -- and
Esmerée held a bottle for Beatrice.

Shiv had cleaned up as he went along,
so he mopped up Esmerée's station.

The room was busy and happy,
and he was running out of cope
for that, but he was still glad
that he'd come to the session.

Even a year ago, he couldn't have
done it, wouldn't have been ready.

Today he felt satisfied with himself,
despite getting worn out by now.

Shiv thanked the teachers,
then pulled out his smartphone.
"Hey Pavo, you busy?" he said.

"Nothing I can't drop if you
need me," said the teleporter.
"What's up on your end?"

"The buses are fucked up
and I could use a ride home,"
said Shiv. "I'm at Hanson Hall.
I just finished a sandwich class,
and I made a Dagwood for you."

Pavo gave a happy yelp. "Yes!
Can I jump to where you are?"

"Better not, we're working in
the community kitchen and
it's pretty crowded," said Shiv.
"You can hit my studio, though,
and I'll meet you there shortly."

"Deal," Pavo said eagerly.
"I'll be there in five minutes."

Shiv pocketed his phone,
grabbed his stuff, and
trotted back to his studio.

Pavo was already there
and bouncing in place.

"Take me to Blues Moon,
and you can eat in my kitchen
if you want to," Shiv offered.

"Can do," Pavo said, taking
his arm and whisking them away.

Shiv set the table, then unloaded
the Dagwood and the salmon salad.
"You can have some of this too, if
the sandwich isn't enough for you."

"Dude," said Pavo. "This thing
is the size of my entire head."

"Do not make a stingy sandwich.
Pile the cold cuts high, so you can
see salami coming through the rye,"
Shiv recited. "I learned that today."

"Mmmhmmf," Pavo agreed with
his mouth full, and raised a thumb.

Yes, Shiv decided. He really liked
the philosophy of the sandwich.

* * *

Notes:

This poem is long, so its character (Part 1, Part 2 Gables) and content notes appear separately.

[personal profile] acelightning2 2025-03-25 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
There's a comic strip that used to be in every newspaper, and it's called "Blondie". It's about a middle-American family, mom and dad and two teenagers. The husband's name is Dagwood. He loves to make elaborately excessive sandwiches, which is why an over-the-top sandwich is called a Dagwood.

It's good to see Noelie again - she's learning how to behave among humans. And Shiv likes her for her non-human beauty.

Re: Thoughts

[personal profile] acelightning2 2025-03-25 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
">> It's good to see Noelie again - she's learning how to behave among humans.

Yay!"

She also checks the corners of an unfamiliar room to make sure there are no wolves or lions who would love to snack on a nice juicy sheep. She already knows how to avoid human sexual predators.

And Shiv saw the beauty and grace of her ovine body and drew her in a romantic image. Shiv's mind (like mine) notices the unconventional and "abnormal" and sees the beauty in it. He'd understand why I consider "heavy horses" beautiful.
Edited 2025-03-25 19:55 (UTC)

Re: Thoughts

[personal profile] acelightning2 2025-03-26 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
What "normal people" see as ugliness - an enormous ungainly farm beast - is just another form of beauty. The strength and grace of those heavy horses is just as worthy of admiration as the delicate grace of a butterfly. And Shiv innately understands that, and can make people see it with his art. And babies of any creature are always adorable - our brains are wired to respond "oh, ain't that cute!" to small size, helplessness, and high-pitched voices. (Look at the most popular dog breeds - "pocket pooches" who are treated like spoiled infants.) But I've seen photos of some Brutalist architecture, and it often has a kind of elephantine grace. And Shiv can make people see that.