Hard Things

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do?

Poem: "Even If It Is in Flames"

This poem came out of the March 6, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from mama_kestrel and dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "accidents" square in my 6-16-17 card for the hc_bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by stardreamer. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.  Read on for the sequel, "Burnt and Experienced Hands." 

WARNING: This poem includes material likely to disturb many readers. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features extensive repetition of bad tape from Shiv's abusive past, including severe verbal and emotional torment. WARN ALL THE THINGS! The poem also includes breakfast indecision, inexperience with cooking because nobody ever trusted Shiv in a kitchen while he was growing up, temporary fugue state due to abuse, kitchen mishaps escalating to a grease fire, panic, rescue, emotional overwhelm, self-blame, and other mayhem. Bear in mind that this poem is mostly hurt with a little comfort at the end; most of the comfort comes in the sequel. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward. However, this is a significant plot point, so skipping it would leave a gap.

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Demifiction: "The Gaslight Goes Out"

This is the first perk unlocked for the June half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics, which just crossed the $100 threshold. \o/ It belongs to the Polychrome Heroics series, and precedes the stories that dialecticdreamer has posted about Torrin.

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Wednesday Yardening

Today is hot and sunny, with fluffy white clouds overhead.

I went out and picked a bag of mulberries.  The serviceberries are done fruiting for the year.

Round Two, I went back out and walked around.  There are few raspberries this year, likely because there was no rain when they were supposed to build fruit.  :/  I did pull some weeds around the forest garden near the kitchen window.

Poem: "Those Who Are With You"

This poem is spillover from the June 5, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "taking care of someone" square in my 6-4-18 Mixed card for the Winteriron Bingo Adventure fest. This poem has been sponsored by daisiesrockalot. It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and directly precedes the story "Together With You" (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) by dialecticdreamer.

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