Poem: "The Emulsification of Humankind"

This poem came out of the June 6, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from ellenmillion. It also fills the "Interracial or Interspecies Love" square in my 2-1-17 card (Romantic) for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem was the linkback perk for the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It belongs to the Torn World project.

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Unsold Poems from the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl

The following poems from the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my LiveJournal profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods.

There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Testing the Metal," "Dangerous Refuges," "The Marble and the Sculptor," "Picking Up the Litter," "The Golden Peaches of Peace," "Leaves Upon the Water," "The Quick Brown Fox" (now complete), "Lead Us in Peace," "We Will Fade into You," and "The Emulsification of Humankind." Linking to this page will reveal new verses in whichever linkback poem you request.

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"TERF Wars"
Your prompt about queer issues inspired the free-verse poem "TERF Wars." When T-Oregon adds an Other category to its paperwork, Stan and Lawrence wind up discussing the implications at school.
346 lines, Buy It Now = $173

Stan stumbled onto a battlefield
without quite realizing how it happened.

One minute he was walking into
the commons for lunch, and next thing
he knew, everyone was yelling.

"The Things That Really Interest Me"
Your prompt about Bouchet inspired the free-verse poem "The Things That Really Interest Me." Ansel finds Kyle worn out from finals, and suggests a solution.
197 lines, Buy It Now = $99

Ansel walked into Cup of Comfort
looking for lunch, and instead found
Kyle McCartney sprawled over
a table in the little niche.

Quickly Ansel crouched down so
he could see the young man's face,
and then gently shook his shoulder.
"Kyle? Are you okay?" he said.

"Treasure Box"
From this I got the free-verse poem "Treasure Box." Someone fills a donation box with pirate gold. Much hilarity ensues.
104 lines, Buy It Now = $52 SOLD

Vivian Dennett struggled to pry the top
off of Planned Parenthood's donation box.
When it finally came loose, she saw
why it had gotten jammed so badly.

"Well, drat! Some darn fundie
must have crammed this thing
with brass pirate tokens," she said.

"Twice-Wise Tiresias"
This inspired the free-verse poem "Twice-Wise Tiresias." It explores the mythic history of sex change and connects it with modern experience.
27 lines, Buy It Now = $15

"A Wanderer with Purpose"
This prompt contributed to the free-verse poem "A Wanderer with Purpose." Shiv gets to see Tolliver's forge and explore pilgrim badges as a simple craft project.
572 lines, Buy It Now = $286

The thing that bugged Shiv most
about Simon and Tolliver was
that he never really understood
what they wanted with him.

Oh, he could ask them
and get an answer, but it
never made any damn sense.

"What You're Afraid to Ask For"
Your power exchange prompt inspired the free-verse poem "What You're Afraid to Ask For." Pain's Gray decides that Shiv is ready to try kink on purpose. Hawt! Hawt! Hawt!
790 lines, Buy It Now = $395

It took weeks for Shiv
to convince Pain's Gray to try
giving him another powergasm.

To his surprise, the time was
well spent and even enjoyable.

I've written four poems about Kenzie's subsequent experiences with the Iron Horses, this time from his perspective.

"Taking Care of Things" covers the evening he was found and the following night, with lots of coddling.
90 lines, Buy It Now = $45

The four days following
Kenzie's inadvertent Sun Dance
were terrible and wonderful for him.

The Iron Horses stuck close by his side
all the day that they found him
and the night afterward.

"Two Foxes" covers the first day after Kenzie's rescue. It has more tension because some of the Iron Horses are off raining hell on the gaybashers, but also more social support and discussions about Kenzie's gender identity.
363 lines, Buy It Now = $182

The morning after Kenzie's rescue,
he learned that Blair and most of
the other Iron Horses would
be riding out on an errand.

"I didn't realize that you were
actually superheroes," he said.

"Come Closer in Kinship" covers the second day after the rescue. Blair's parents show up and disrupt plans in some fun ways.
411 lines, Buy It Now = $206

The second day after
Kenzie's impromptu Sun Dance
dawned bright and clear.

Ben brought breakfast, which
turned out to be acorn mush
with real maple syrup and
slices of venison sausage.

"Come Out of the Darkness" happens on the third day. Kenzie shares his struggles with Ida, who has seen it before and offers sympathy.
266 lines, Buy It Now = $133

On the third morning after
Kenzie's rescue, Ida decided
that he needed some fresh air.

She found him leaning against
the wall of the roundhouse where
he was admiring the altar niches
that covered the back of the kitchen
facing the master bedroom.

A Perfect Trip

For about three years now, my partner Doug has been hankering after Mister Softee, a soft-serve ice cream truck that he fondly remembers from his childhood. Mister Softee of Central Illinois has a Facebook page so you can find the truck. Today they were parked all day at the Warrensburg Corn Festival. So we went, and drove an hour to get ice cream ... and it was the best street fair we've been to. Tiny little thing -- no more than 5-6 vendors, maybe 6-8 food and beverage places, a midway with a handful of rides, and miscellaneous entertainment. But I give them 10 out of 10 points. Let me explain why...

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Saturday Yardening

After the street fair, I had enough energy for one round.  I pulled weeds around about half of the barrel garden, which is a lot. 

Coins of the World

I posted this yesterday on LiveJournal so I could include a photo, and then forgot to echo it here. Oops. So Doug reminded me. We are collecting coins of the world for a project and would like your help.

Today's fun thing was receiving two packages of assorted coins. The top row was sold as coins with different shapes, while the bottom rows are a random batch.



Doug wants to collect some coins, inspired by something he saw at the magic convention recently. :D For the purposes of this project, it does not matter if we get some duplicates; the idea is to gather a mass of widely varied coins. So I'm helping, and you can help too!

If you have access to coins from outside the United States of America, then you can send us a few and get $5 credit toward poetry. I currently have two open epics: "The Inner Tradition" needs $308 to be complete, and "The Order of Their Stars" needs $83 to be complete.  We could really chip away at those with this opportunity.  We're not looking for expensive coins, just pocket change.  Don't worry about exchange rate, the idea is not to send $5 of coins, just at least one coin.  Ideally, I suggest that you figure out what it costs to mail a letter here, subtract that from $5, and use the remainder as a ceiling to estimate what coins to send.  Coins have some weight, which factors into postage, but if you're only sending a few then it shouldn't run up the cost too high.  If your only mail options are more expensive than $5 and you still want to participate, send me a message -- I have a functionally infinite supply of poetry, so your budget is the limit rather than mine.  Make sure you tell me which poem your donation is going toward!  Because if it doesn't say, then I'll just throw it into whichever of the open epics needs attention.

Let the games begin!  \o/