Unsold Poems from the September 3, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl
The following poems from the August 6, 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 poem " The Flight from Jehuti" is fully posted. still has verses available, which you can reveal by linking here or to a favorite poem from this session.
"The Lost Souls" -- 142 lines, $71
Your prompt about furries inspired the free-verse poem "The Lost Souls." Humans and aliens must work together to solve the problem of misplaced spirits, and of course some people just can't seem to get on the same page ...
Most people thought
that they were flakes --
men who believed they had
the souls of dogs or stags or centaurs,
women who said they were
really cats or horses or angels inside.
Leona didn't care.
She just knew that
she had always been
a lioness in human form
the same way that her cousin Danielle
(who had been named Daniel at birth)
was too a real woman regardless of shape
and it was wrong of Uncle Kurt to deny it.
"Making Waves" -- 168 lines, $84 (A Conflagration of Dragons)
Your prompt inspired the free-verse poem "Making Waves." Madhusudana are coastal people who tend to avoid conflict. Imran are assertive desert-dwellers. After the cliff city of Shaunaka is destroyed, some of the refugees flee to the desert. It's hard for people to learn how to get along with each other.
Pandu managed to survive
the fall of Shaunaka,
when the dragon Janardana
destroyed the city of the white cliffs.
He found refuge on an Imran ship
that carried him to the desert,
where the tenuous alliance between
Imran and Madhusudana people
granted him sanctuary.
" Memento Mori" -- 49 lines, $20 (An Army of One) SOLD
The Lacuna prompt led to the free-verse poem "Memento Mori." Some war monuments are works of art. Others really are not, and this is one of those.
"Needled" -- 194 lines, $97 (Polychrome Heroics)
From your prompt about Damask, I got the free-verse poem "Needled." It's their first big internal conflict with all of them knowing about each other, trying to cope with college life and headmates and not really having all the communication skills they need yet. Poor Keane, he's the system scapegoat and they have no idea how much they need him.
I need the pain
to be here,
to stay focused
so I can think things through.
The tattoo is a logical choice.
It's slow and safe,
an intricate tracery of lines
around my right thigh.
"The Needs of the Many, the Flesh of the One" -- 196 lines, $98 (Hart's Farm)
I combined several prompts including yours about Hart's Farm to get the free-verse poem "The Needs of the Many, the Flesh of the One." When Ragi gets involved with someone who treats him roughly, Vendel intervenes, and just tangles things up worse.
Ragi was difficult,
even in a community
that prided itself on acceptance,
because he could not accept himself.
That was not, of course,
the name he had been born with,
but it was what he called himself
and it was all he would answer to,
so they put up with it, rude though it was.
" The Negotiation of Refuge" -- 62 lines, $31 (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis) SOLD
From your prompt about sanctuary, I got the free-verse poem "The Negotiation of Refuge." Shaeth and the town guards have an agreement about the handling of drunks.
Some mornings there were
bodies on the doorstep.
Shaeth would wake up
and find them there --
or Trobby, Glenta, or Eshne would --
drunks dozing or passed out
or occasionally wide awake,
huddled on the stoop because
they had nowhere else to go.
" Part of Who I Am" -- 158 lines, $79 (Walking the Beat) SOLD
I put this together with a prompt from Rainflowermoon. It's about Dale trying to find just the right cane.
The first cane is plain aluminum,
the one the hospital sent Dale home with,
and she uses it because she needs it
but it never quite feels like her.
Kelly knows this,
and when Dale becomes
sufficiently accustomed to the limp
to take up neighborhood walking,
suggests that they shop for a replacement.
" The Right Reasons" -- 8 lines, $5 SOLD
From this I got "The Right Reasons," an indriso. If they're trying to invade and kill you all, you have complete grounds to declare war.
" Sharp Notes" -- 35 lines, $15 (Monster House) SOLD
Your Monster House prompt led to the free-verse poem "Sharp Notes." Having a housemate sleep in the living room is awkward.
"Their Blood Is Upon Them" -- 270 lines, $135 (Fiorenza the Wisewoman)
The prompt about squaring off inspired the free-verse poem "Their Blood Is Upon Them." Sometimes moralizing too much can seriously get someone hurt.
The Zingari came again to Nocciolaia
with their bright wagons and prancing horses,
their clothes vivid with silk ribbons, and
their bittersweet music floating in the summer air.
Fiorenza's cousin Timoteo
found them fascinating
and hung about the caravan.