Unsold Poetry from the April 2, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl
The Poetry Fishbowl has SOLD OUT. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm.
The following poems from the April 2, 2013 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.
The linkback perk poem " Carrying the Sea and the Sky" is now complete!
" Boil the Sea" -- 111 lines, $55.50 SOLD
From this I got the motley crew of a dragonship. "Boil the Sea" is a free-verse poem of Viking adventure and Norse sorcery. And yet fools persist in messing with these people anyway. Briefly.
Munólfr the captain, war-forged, battle-broken,
stands at the dragon-carved prow of the Friða --
and who would name a ship full of sea-wolves after peace?
but he knows, he knows that death is the most peaceful valley
after the struggle along life's sharp-stoned slopes.
Zina the warrior, dark-skinned and woolly-haired,
follows him like a nightwalker, guarding his steps --
and who knows the value of freedom better than she
who won it on the blood-quenched point of her spear?
" En Boca del Mentiroso" -- 27 lines, $15 SOLD
This came from a question following the prompter copy of "Todo lo que Brillo." It tells more about what Quetzalcoatl did in his new manskin.
" Fantasy Is Beautiful, Man" -- 38 lines, $15 SOLD
From the 1960s I bring you "Fantasy Is Beautiful, Man." Sex, drugs, and rockin' mythical beasts.
"Ghost of a Chance" -- 38 lines, $15 SOLD
Your prompt about war-torn Britain turned into the free-verse poem "Ghost of a Chance." The folk spirits of the land fight back when the Germans launch Operation Sea Lion. The results are frigging creepy.
" Gloss and Aether" -- 52 lines, $40 SOLD
"Gloss and Aether" features Maryam Smith perusing different analyses of alchemy and trying to figure out a new twist. This belongs to the Steamsmith series.
" Gunpowder Treason" -- 127 lines, $127 SOLD
I combined this with one about gunpowder magic, which inspired the free-verse poem "Gunpowder Treason," in which Maryam Smith interrupts foul play during a parade. This poem belongs to the Steamsmith series.
It was the beginning of November,
the "little season" that was more intimate
and given to small social gatherings
than the grand "London season"
that would begin in February.
People connected with the government,
the diplomatic corps, the lawyers,
the art and literary crowds,
and those of the gentry with no large estates
stayed in town and did their business.
" The Launch at Bubastis" -- 81 lines, $40.50 SOLD
A backchannel prompt from Anthony & Shirley Barrette asked for cats in outer space. When crossed with the fantasy theme, naturally this got me thinking of Egypt, the go-to place for cat magic. Here then is "The Launch at Bubastis," set at the dawn of the 22nd Dynasty featuring a Pharaoh and his starpilot priest-cats.
In the city of Bubastis
lay the capitol of Egypt
and the Pharaoh, god-among-men.
The shining arms of the Nile reached out to embrace
the temple of Bast, cat-goddess of Egypt
and the followers of Bast, priests and commoners alike.
" Sword of the Stars, Shield of the Moon" -- 61 lines, $30.50 SOLD
From this and some other prompts, I got the free-verse poem "Sword of the Stars, Shield of the Moon." It details the challenges and accomplishments of several races as they pursue spaceflight.
The space race was complicated
by the wide variety of
races who wanted to go to space.
The elves and the dwarves
at least had requirements
similar to those of humans --
so much weight allotted
for water, for food, for air,
some minor tweaks to the size
of the acceleration couches
and other equipment.
" This Curséd Light" -- 44 lines, $20 SOLD
Your prompt about atomic age fantasy turned in to the very creepy free-verse poem "This Curséd Light." Nuclear energy brings out the dark fey.
" To Control Powers" -- 48 lines, $20 SOLD
From the prompt about Egyptian blood magic I got the poem "To Control Powers" which is about heka spellcraft. It's written in unrhymed quatrains and deals with life, death, and power. While it doesn't explicitly mention Donor House, I think it would match the setting if you want it to.
" To Weep for What Was Lost" -- 90 lines, $45 SOLD
I loved the prompt about a napping dragon. "To Weep for What Was Lost" is a free-verse poem belonging to the series A Conflagration of Dragons. This fledgling went to sleep when civilization was a scatter of struggling villages, and woke to find a civilization of trade and mighty cities. He feels more than a little overwhelmed by that.
When the Conflagration came,
there woke along with the elders
a young dragon hatched in the last cycle.
His scales were the pale green of new grass
and he breathed a faint blue flame.
He hid himself from the older, larger dragons
so that they would not devour him.
He flew but rarely, and spend most of his time
slinking through the undergrowth.
" Todo lo que Brilla" -- 49 lines, $20 SOLD
I threw all the southerly-empire prompts together in the free-verse poem "Todo lo que Brilla" to kick some conquistador butt. Mayan, Aztec, and Incan magic comes to life.
" Two Sticks Together" -- 34 lines, $15 SOLD
From this I got the free-verse poem "Two Sticks Together." It tells the discovery of fire in a fantasy setting.