Poem: "As Glorious Reminders"

This is spillover from the January 8, 2019 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from alatefeline. It fills the "WILD CARD: Scars" square in my 9-1-17 card for the Pirate Fest bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool run by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Iron Horses thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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The Beat of the Sahara

 ... depends on the tilt of the Earth's axis, shifting between wet and dry phases.

Feathering the Nest

dialecticdreamer is hosting "Feathering the Nest" today, with a focus on nonsexual intimacies. Leave prompts, get ficlets! Boosting the signal earns you more words.

This is the point in the essay where I invite readers to sponsor stories, and use a bonus story as an incentive: if I earn $65 in tip/donations, I’ll post “Becoming ‘Ohana,” in four parts for easy reading, all at once. It’s the story of Mariset and Jules’ early friendship becoming a solid bond of ‘ohana between the adults as well as the pair of eight-year-olds.

Diving with Whales

Here's a fascinating article about people freediving with sperm whales.  Feel free to prompt for any of this if you wish.

Tornado Formation

Here's an article about tornado formation.  They're fixated on tornadoes that form from the ground up.  Okay, that can happen.  We know vortexes can form at ground level because of dust devils and the like.

However, there seem to be several methods of tornadoes forming.

This is a wide one forming as a cloud vortex.  I have seen clouds starting to spiral, and when I see those, I break them up.

This is a narrow one forming as a tail cloud reaching downward.

Another theory says that tornadoes form as horizontal tubes and then tilt to vertical.  This looks like that.

It may be that we need different types of prediction to spot the different methods of formation, beyond the general "severe storm may spawn tornadoes."  Certainly we need more study, as tornadoes are not well understood yet.

Monday Update 2-25-19

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Poem: "That Ability to Comfort"
New word: Zooeyia
Poem: "Not the Opposite of Life"
Emotional Intimacy Question: Wishing
Poem: "Decent, Safe, and Affordable"
Poem: "Why I Named My Pet Rock Mom"
Cuddle Party


Last week's half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics went quite well. I have a ton of poems left to post, so watch this week for them to appear. Meanwhile you can visit that sale page to see which ones sold and are on the way. \o/ Thanks to all my donors!

Voting is still open for the 2019 Rose & Bay Awards. Please vote for your favorites. Review the nomination posts for more information about the nominees if you need it.

Art: ysabetwordsmith Nominate art! Vote for art!
Fiction: ysabetwordsmith Nominate fiction! Vote for fiction!
Poetry: ysabetwordsmith Nominate poetry! Vote for poetry!
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Poetry in Microfunding:

There are two open epics.

"Only If It Is Embraced" is now complete. Clement and Pain's Gray touch base with Farce after the fight.

"A Cave Swarming with Strange Forms of Life" belongs to Polychrome Heroics: Iron Horses. Kenzie goes to Pretty Ears for counseling.

"Love Unflinching" is now complete. Phylicia and Stylet plan a walking tour of Easy City's wineries.

"So Many Notes and Colors and Flavors" belongs to Polychrome Heroics: Shiv. Heron and Shiv are comfort-cooking, and not everything goes smooth.


Weather here has been variable. We had a lot of wind yesterday. :/ Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of sparrows, a flock of dark-eyed juncos, a small flock of mourning doves, a pair of cardinals, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a female downy woodpecker, a Bewick's wren, a rabbit, and a squirrel.

Poem: "Whatever You Do to the Animals"

This poem is spillover from the November 6, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "soldier / sailor" square in my 8-7-18 card for the Fairy Tales Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool run by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Iron Horses thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. Read the sequel "Reaching Out to Rescue One Another."

Warning: This poem contains some intense topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features a tribal reservation, references to hunting, a deer girl running naked through the woods, implications of sex slavery, emotional upset, nonverbal communication, hunting down an intruder, a graphic fight scene including justified offensive use of superpowers, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward. This is a major plot point, though, so skipping it would leave a big gap.

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Poem: "Reaching Out to Rescue One Another"

This poem is spillover from the November 6, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "WILD CARD: trust" square in my 11-5-18 card for the Family Ties Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool run by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Iron Horses thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It directly follows "Whatever You Do to the Animals," so read that first or this won't make much sense.

Warning: This poem contains some touchy topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes the aftermath of sex slavery, a mostly nude girl, difficulty speaking, messy medical details, fear of health care, violent urges toward a defeated enemy, choice paralysis, references to prostitution and human trafficking, abusive boarding schools, past mad science torture, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Poem: "The Reality of Cruelty"

This poem is spillover from the December 4, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from librarygeek andmama_kestrel. It also fills the "sunshine" square in my 12-1-18 card for the Summer in December Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool run by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the Officer Pink thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "Those Who Have Suffered," so read that first or this won't make much sense.

WARNING: This poem contains some disturbing topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features spooked centaurs, racial issues, keloid scars, self-harm scars and numeric tattoos on a Jewish centaur, reference to running away from junkie parents, human trafficking, vindictiveness toward abusers, reference to human trafficking via allegedly-therapeutic camp, exhibitionism regarding personal trauma, Holocaust references, history of slavery in America, past chemical warfare with accusations of genocide, probable infertility, use of magic in mad science, existential angst, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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