Poem: "The House Dragon"
May. 27th, 2014 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the March 4, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by chanter_greenie. It also fills the "luck" square on my 11-26-13 card for the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
origfic_bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Walking the Beat.
"The House Dragon"
There's a knickknack sitting
on the windowsill of Will's home,
visible from the street --
a drab little brown dragon
wrapped around a quaint cottage,
a few flecks of gold still showing
where his claws and horns
were gilded once, the color
long since flaked away.
Dale and Kelly can see it
whenever they walk past,
framed by the plain curtains.
Dale is curious about it,
but it's none of her business,
so she never asks.
Kelly is curious too,
and more outgoing,
so she is the one
who finally says something.
"My sister gave it to me,"
Will explains. "She got it
when we were kids, on vacation.
When I moved away to college,
she sent it along with me
as a good luck charm,
for protection."
"Does it work?" Dale asks
with a lazy smirk,
because she doesn't
believe in that sort of thing.
Will just shrugs. "I don't know,"
he said, "but nothing really bad
has ever happened to me at home."
Nothing changes,
but Dale watches
for the little dragon
as she makes her rounds
of the neighborhood,
one more touchstone
holding down the corners
of her life.
chanter_greenie. It also fills the "luck" square on my 11-26-13 card for the origfic_bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Walking the Beat."The House Dragon"
There's a knickknack sitting
on the windowsill of Will's home,
visible from the street --
a drab little brown dragon
wrapped around a quaint cottage,
a few flecks of gold still showing
where his claws and horns
were gilded once, the color
long since flaked away.
Dale and Kelly can see it
whenever they walk past,
framed by the plain curtains.
Dale is curious about it,
but it's none of her business,
so she never asks.
Kelly is curious too,
and more outgoing,
so she is the one
who finally says something.
"My sister gave it to me,"
Will explains. "She got it
when we were kids, on vacation.
When I moved away to college,
she sent it along with me
as a good luck charm,
for protection."
"Does it work?" Dale asks
with a lazy smirk,
because she doesn't
believe in that sort of thing.
Will just shrugs. "I don't know,"
he said, "but nothing really bad
has ever happened to me at home."
Nothing changes,
but Dale watches
for the little dragon
as she makes her rounds
of the neighborhood,
one more touchstone
holding down the corners
of her life.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Settling in
Date: 2014-05-27 05:05 pm (UTC)LOVED it. Thanks for posting.
Re: Settling in
Date: 2014-05-27 05:09 pm (UTC)Yes, that's true. Most of the time, when bad things happen, people feel low for a while and then bounce back. I've written about characters with PTSD; this series shows a different perspective on handling injury and disability, where the emotional damage isn't that severe.
>> It's so nice to see her with /multiple/ things going on in her life that one /could/ write about, making none of them /the/ definitive, distinctive thing about her. <<
I'm glad that works for you. One thing that happens as people begin to put their life back together is noticing random little bits in the world around them.
>> LOVED it. Thanks for posting. <<
You're welcome!
Re: Settling in
Date: 2021-12-06 09:44 pm (UTC)Re: Settling in
Date: 2021-12-06 10:18 pm (UTC)I'm happy to hear that.
>> I've had intellectual disabilities forever, but I recently developed physical problems. <<
That's pesky. There are resources for coping with acquired disabilities. Some advocacy groups for specific disabilities have their own materials for that, in addition to the general stuff, so you might look for it.
>> I'm able to do more now to help people than I was before,<<
Yay!
>> because this series talks about practical things you can do when everyone's hung up on taking out a gun and shooting 'The Bad Guys'.<<
I'm so happy I could help.
I'm also still amused that, of all my activism work, storytelling has the highest rate of people saying, "I did the thing." :D
>> I'm picking up trash while I walk, and carrying a first aid kit and multitool, to start with. That way I can help with stuff or pick up trash, depending on what's needed.<<
Those are excellent steps.
Yes indeed
Date: 2014-05-27 06:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-05-28 12:06 am (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2014-05-28 01:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-03 02:25 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-06-03 02:27 am (UTC)Since this is my one solidly ordinary-world series, I tried to tilt the magical prompt in a direction of plausible deniability.