"The World Inside the Crystal"

 The truest computer song I know.

Poem: "Where They Built the Bodies"

This poem came out of the March 6, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from curiosity and mirrorofsmoke. It also fills the "laboratory" square in my 12-3-17 card for the genprompt_bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, mama_kestrel, and fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Diminished Expectations.

WARNING: This poem contains disturbing images. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes seduction for violent purposes, a mad science lab, graphic description of slavery and other abuses against sentient beings, brainwashing, vengeance, industrial espionage, death, and other mayhem. Please consider your tastes and headspace before deciding if this is something you want to read.

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Poem: "The Woman Who Built Herself a Clitoris and Rode That Bitch Like a Bicycle"

This poem came out of the March 6, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from mirrorofsmoke. It also fills the "orgasm" square in my 9-3-17 card for the ladiesbingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the series Diminished Expectations.

Warning: This poem is all frank sex talk.

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Poem: "The Colors in His Tapestries"

This poem came out of the March 20, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from curiosity. It also fills the "wise" square in my 1/31/18 You Are card for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.

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Poem: "Healing Horns"

This poem came out of the January 2018 crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from alexseanchai. It also fills the "blood" square of my 10-1-17 card for the Fall Festival Bingo.  This poem belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.


"Healing Horns"


After the battle, they come,
tawny and timid, but determined
to seal up the streams of blood.

The stallions move among
the injured men, touching them
with horns the color of gilded pearls.

The unicorns never heal everyone,
though, and nobody knows why.

Poem: "A Horror of the Color Yellow"

This poem came out of the March 20, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "panic attack" square in my 2-28-18 card for the Slice-of-Life Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.

Warning: This poem contains some touchy topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes reference to sexual abuse by priests, phobia of the color yellow, panic attacks, and other angst. Please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Poem: "Like the Desert Wind"

This poem came out of the March 20, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "citrus fruit" square in my 2-28-18 card for the Slice-of-Life Bingo fest. his poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.


"Like the Desert Wind"


People speak in whispers of
the rare sand unicorns
of the deep deserts,
their habits and biology.

Their coats are a pale golden yellow,
the color of citrine sand in sunlight.

They dance along the sand dunes
leaving heart-shaped hoofprints as they
wander from one oasis to another.

They feast on oranges, lemons, and limes.
They browse on sweet dates and figs.

They purify the water in the pools.

Even the leopards back away
to let the sand unicorns pass by,

for their horns can cut like the desert wind.

Poem: "The Prairie Horns"

This poem came out of the March 20, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from kellan_the_tabby. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.


"The Prairie Horns"


On the plains,
the grass grows tall
and moves in waves
like the ocean.

In summer it's green
and everyone can see it,
but as the weather dries
and turns toward autumn,
the grass begins to fade.

In some places it turns brown,
in others pale green, and paler,
until it nearly vanishes from view,
lost in whispering shadows.

The prairie horns move through it,
their coats a brighter shade than
sun-dried grass, that only people
moved by spirit can see.

The grass parts around them,
like waves before the prow of a ship,
and even unseen, they are beautiful.

Poem: "The Unicorn Mirror"

This poem came out of the March 20, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from mama_kestrel. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.


"The Unicorn Mirror"


The cathedral has a mirror
that is said to show unicorns.

It stands six feet high and
holds a tall oval of silvered glass,
its ornate frame made of trees and flowers
and the only unicorns some people will ever see.

They bring it out on festival days to see whether
the unicorns from the healing garden will
deign to come and look into the mirror.

When they do, it doesn't reveal
much more than the people could see
just by looking at them -- but it's beautiful,
the way the light of heaven catches on
their coats and reflects in the mirror,

sun and shadow dancing like strange flames.

Poem: "Unicorn Shadows"

This poem came out of the March 20, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from librarygeek. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.


"Unicorn Shadows"


They move through the world
a half-step aside from the material plane.

The light of heaven spills over their coats
even as their hooves touch the earth.

They are as fleet as thought
and as supple as the wind.

They are invisible except to
those of spiritual inclination,

and yet in one regard, the same as all:
the shadows, even of yellow unicorns, are black.

Poem: "The Wily Princess"

This poem came out of the March 20, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from technoshaman. It also fills the "patient" square in my 1-31-18 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Yellow Unicorns series.


"The Wily Princess"


The forest is deep and green,
its floor carpeted with ferns.

The wily princess slips through,
clad in her brother's hunting clothes.

She stalks the yellow unicorns,
but she cannot see them, not even
when they are right in front of her.

The wily princess is more a student
of alchemy than of spirituality.

She draws what she can see --
the heart-shaped hoofprints,
the flattened bed of ferns,
the smooth scores on trees
where they polish their horns.

She does not understand the unicorns,
but she is learning how they live.
It takes time, but she is patient.

Her drawings are high in demand,
and people will trade alchemy papers
for pictures of almost-unicorns.

For the wily princess, that is enough.

Poem: "Strength, Courage, and Victory"

This poem is spillover from the November 6, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siliconshaman, technoshaman, ng_moonmoth, mdlbear, and librarygeek. It also fills the "present(s)" square in my 11-5-18 card for the Family Ties Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the series An Army of One.

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Poem: "Some Stages of Instability"

This poem is spillover from the November 6, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from technoshaman. It also fills the "playing in the mud" square in my 11-5-18 card for the Family Ties Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Iron Horses thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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Birdfeeding

I fed the birds today.  I saw a red-bellied woodpecker, a downy woodpecker, and a goldfinch.  :D

I also walked around the yard.  Daffodils are sprouting in the flowerbed by the parking lot.  It's the earliest I've seen them; before this, the earliest was in January.  :/ 

Poem: "Only the Finest"

This poem is spillover from the September 18, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from rix_scaedu. It also fills the "amputation" square in my 3-1-18 card for the Disability Bingo fest, and the "safe" square in my 9-1-18 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to Skink thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

WARNING: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features anxiety, earthquakes, mass casualty incidents, messy medical details, superpower overstrain, passing out from exhaustion, and other challenges. Please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Poem: "At the Subtlest Levels of Function"

This poem is spillover from the September 18, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from readera. It also fills the "optimism" square in my 9-1-18 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Big One thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

WARNING: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features earthquakes, mass casualty incidents, graphic injuries, messy medical details, life and death decisions, self-care in emergency circumstances, and other angst. Please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Poem: "The Compass That Guides Us"

This poem came out of the June 2018 crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "devotion" square in my 6-4-18 Dark Fantasy card for the Winteriron Bingo Adventure. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, fuzzyred, and mama_kestrel. It belongs to the Marionettes thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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Notes for "The Compass That Guides Us"

Here are the notes for "The Compass That Guides Us."

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