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ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-05-18 10:45 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-05-18 10:45 pm
Entry tags:
Poem: "A Lens of Ice"
This poem is spillover from the May 6, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by goatgodschild. It also fills the "Grey Area" square in my 5-1-25 card for the Color Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes bullying, bigotry, theft, a fistfight, frank discussion of superpowers, angst, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward. It follows "Sadness Like a Battle Flag" and "Your Own Blissful Path," so this will make more sense if you have read those first.
"A Lens of Ice"
[Monday, July 13, 2015]
Johan ambled down the sidewalk,
idly browsing the businesses
not far from the downtown area.
He had recently moved back
to Rutledge, Vermont and
wanted to learn what was
currently available here.
Hopefully one of those
would be an ice cream shop,
because the weather was
hot enough to make sweat
trickle down his back.
Johan detoured through
a pocket park for the shade.
Then he heard a scuffle
as well as someone crying.
Several teenage boys had
surrounded a teenage girl --
one of the Syrians from the look
of her, because the tallest boy
had stolen her pink headscarf.
Johan went cold, forgetting
all about the hot summer day.
In three quick strides, he
reached the cluster of teens.
Yanking the tallest boy away
from the girl, Johan punched him,
feeling bone crunch under his hand.
The girl scrambled out of the way,
not even stopping to grab her scarf.
Two of the smaller boys followed,
but another one swung at Johan.
Blocking the punch, Johan hit
him back, knocking him down.
While he was at it, he gave
the fallen leader a few kicks
for good measure before
the other boy tried again.
One more good punch
sent that one running too.
The leader staggered to
his feet, spitting blood.
He looked about ready
to quit, but Johan was
nowhere near finished.
Suddenly someone else
stepped between them.
"That's enough," he said.
"The girl is long gone
and you've already won."
Johan still tried to take
one last swipe at the leader
of the little gang, but the man
stepped right into Johan's swing.
It felt like hitting a heavy bag.
Johan grunted as the force of
his punch echoed back up his arm.
"I'm a Tough Guy," the stranger said
in a helpful tone. "It's pretty hard
for anyone to hurt me, which is
really useful in my line of work."
"And what's that?" Johan growled.
"I work at the Triton Teen Center,
helping wild young things find
their calm. I'm Culbart Lidmann,
pleased to meet you," he said.
Johan sighed. His prey had
escaped, and the cold was
starting to seep away now.
Sunlight danced under
the trees, dappled light
chasing over the grass.
"I'm Johan," he said.
"I just moved back here
recently, and I saw them
picking on the girl, and
then I just went cold."
"Ah, so you have
Ice Powers, then?"
said Culbart. "Useful,
but tricky to master."
"What?" Johan said,
baffled. "No, it's more
like psychic stuff, animals,
a connection with the land."
"But you mentioned going cold,"
said Culbart. "What's that about?"
"It's emotional stuff," said Johan.
"I can't stand seeing things like that."
"Ice Powers can be about more than
just generating snow or freezing
people to the ground," said Culbart.
"There's also an emotional frost.
No guarantee that's what it is,
but it might be worth a look."
"I'm trying to get a handle on
things," said Johan. "I've been
working with friends and relatives
from Emerald Mountain Glen. I
just didn't think it had anything
to do with ice, since I'm not
making it snow or whatever,
and my gifts are mostly warm."
"Form may be of more account
than substance," Culbart said
with a shrug. "A lens of ice will
focus a solar beam to a blaze."
"Huh," said Johan. "I guess I
never thought about it like that."
"If you'd like to explore further,
drop by the Triton Teen Center
some time," Culbart invited.
"I'm not a teen, though,"
Johan pointed out. "I'm 25."
Culbart shrugged. "We're
used to dealing with a lot
of gray areas," he said.
"You're still very much
in our target audience."
"What's that?" Johan said,
wary of getting lumped in
with the wrong crowd.
"Young people with
more power than control,
and difficult circumstances,"
Culbart said. "It varies some."
Hard to deny the relevance
of that part. "What do you ... do?"
"We help people learn to deal with
whatever they're facing, and find
places where their skills will be
useful instead of just a nuisance,"
said Culbart. "Anger management
is among our specialties as well."
"That might be a good idea,"
Johan admitted. "All right, I'll
think about it, but no promises."
"No obligation, just options,"
Culbart assured him. "It's
good to try different things
when you're troubleshooting."
"Yeah, maybe," Johan said.
He felt like he was standing on
a very slippery slope and didn't
know what to do about that.
He had come to Rutledge
in search of answers, though.
Perhaps Culbart could help with it.
* * *
Notes:
The victim Janna Asê originally appeared in "Before the Nature Wants."
Culbart Lidmann first appeared in "Inside the Person You Know."
Zacheus "Zack" Munger -- He has fair skin, gray eyes, and short wavy hair of dark blond. He is tall with wiry muscles. His heritage is American. He speaks English. He is 16 years old in July of 2015.
Zack lives in Rutledge, Vermont. He runs with a pack of other young bigots who dislike immigrants in general and Muslims in particular. Their parents encourage this, and dismiss bullying as "boys will be boys." Zack started working odd jobs at 12 with a repertoire that now includes mowing lawns, tilling gardens, raking leaves, cleaning gutters, and minor repairs. He excels at shop class in school. His after-graduation plan includes taking courses on entrepreneurship to establish his business at adult level. Zack wears outdoorsy teen boy clothes. His base colors are brown, cream, and khaki accented with earthy shades of goldenrod and green.
Qualities: Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Odd Jobs, Good (+2) Teamwork
Poor (-2) Bigot
* * *
"Form may be of more account than substance. A lens of ice will focus a solar beam to a blaze."
-- George Iles
goatgodschild. It also fills the "Grey Area" square in my 5-1-25 card for the Color Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes bullying, bigotry, theft, a fistfight, frank discussion of superpowers, angst, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward. It follows "Sadness Like a Battle Flag" and "Your Own Blissful Path," so this will make more sense if you have read those first.
"A Lens of Ice"
[Monday, July 13, 2015]
Johan ambled down the sidewalk,
idly browsing the businesses
not far from the downtown area.
He had recently moved back
to Rutledge, Vermont and
wanted to learn what was
currently available here.
Hopefully one of those
would be an ice cream shop,
because the weather was
hot enough to make sweat
trickle down his back.
Johan detoured through
a pocket park for the shade.
Then he heard a scuffle
as well as someone crying.
Several teenage boys had
surrounded a teenage girl --
one of the Syrians from the look
of her, because the tallest boy
had stolen her pink headscarf.
Johan went cold, forgetting
all about the hot summer day.
In three quick strides, he
reached the cluster of teens.
Yanking the tallest boy away
from the girl, Johan punched him,
feeling bone crunch under his hand.
The girl scrambled out of the way,
not even stopping to grab her scarf.
Two of the smaller boys followed,
but another one swung at Johan.
Blocking the punch, Johan hit
him back, knocking him down.
While he was at it, he gave
the fallen leader a few kicks
for good measure before
the other boy tried again.
One more good punch
sent that one running too.
The leader staggered to
his feet, spitting blood.
He looked about ready
to quit, but Johan was
nowhere near finished.
Suddenly someone else
stepped between them.
"That's enough," he said.
"The girl is long gone
and you've already won."
Johan still tried to take
one last swipe at the leader
of the little gang, but the man
stepped right into Johan's swing.
It felt like hitting a heavy bag.
Johan grunted as the force of
his punch echoed back up his arm.
"I'm a Tough Guy," the stranger said
in a helpful tone. "It's pretty hard
for anyone to hurt me, which is
really useful in my line of work."
"And what's that?" Johan growled.
"I work at the Triton Teen Center,
helping wild young things find
their calm. I'm Culbart Lidmann,
pleased to meet you," he said.
Johan sighed. His prey had
escaped, and the cold was
starting to seep away now.
Sunlight danced under
the trees, dappled light
chasing over the grass.
"I'm Johan," he said.
"I just moved back here
recently, and I saw them
picking on the girl, and
then I just went cold."
"Ah, so you have
Ice Powers, then?"
said Culbart. "Useful,
but tricky to master."
"What?" Johan said,
baffled. "No, it's more
like psychic stuff, animals,
a connection with the land."
"But you mentioned going cold,"
said Culbart. "What's that about?"
"It's emotional stuff," said Johan.
"I can't stand seeing things like that."
"Ice Powers can be about more than
just generating snow or freezing
people to the ground," said Culbart.
"There's also an emotional frost.
No guarantee that's what it is,
but it might be worth a look."
"I'm trying to get a handle on
things," said Johan. "I've been
working with friends and relatives
from Emerald Mountain Glen. I
just didn't think it had anything
to do with ice, since I'm not
making it snow or whatever,
and my gifts are mostly warm."
"Form may be of more account
than substance," Culbart said
with a shrug. "A lens of ice will
focus a solar beam to a blaze."
"Huh," said Johan. "I guess I
never thought about it like that."
"If you'd like to explore further,
drop by the Triton Teen Center
some time," Culbart invited.
"I'm not a teen, though,"
Johan pointed out. "I'm 25."
Culbart shrugged. "We're
used to dealing with a lot
of gray areas," he said.
"You're still very much
in our target audience."
"What's that?" Johan said,
wary of getting lumped in
with the wrong crowd.
"Young people with
more power than control,
and difficult circumstances,"
Culbart said. "It varies some."
Hard to deny the relevance
of that part. "What do you ... do?"
"We help people learn to deal with
whatever they're facing, and find
places where their skills will be
useful instead of just a nuisance,"
said Culbart. "Anger management
is among our specialties as well."
"That might be a good idea,"
Johan admitted. "All right, I'll
think about it, but no promises."
"No obligation, just options,"
Culbart assured him. "It's
good to try different things
when you're troubleshooting."
"Yeah, maybe," Johan said.
He felt like he was standing on
a very slippery slope and didn't
know what to do about that.
He had come to Rutledge
in search of answers, though.
Perhaps Culbart could help with it.
* * *
Notes:
The victim Janna Asê originally appeared in "Before the Nature Wants."
Culbart Lidmann first appeared in "Inside the Person You Know."
Zacheus "Zack" Munger -- He has fair skin, gray eyes, and short wavy hair of dark blond. He is tall with wiry muscles. His heritage is American. He speaks English. He is 16 years old in July of 2015.
Zack lives in Rutledge, Vermont. He runs with a pack of other young bigots who dislike immigrants in general and Muslims in particular. Their parents encourage this, and dismiss bullying as "boys will be boys." Zack started working odd jobs at 12 with a repertoire that now includes mowing lawns, tilling gardens, raking leaves, cleaning gutters, and minor repairs. He excels at shop class in school. His after-graduation plan includes taking courses on entrepreneurship to establish his business at adult level. Zack wears outdoorsy teen boy clothes. His base colors are brown, cream, and khaki accented with earthy shades of goldenrod and green.
Qualities: Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Odd Jobs, Good (+2) Teamwork
Poor (-2) Bigot
* * *
"Form may be of more account than substance. A lens of ice will focus a solar beam to a blaze."
-- George Iles