The following poems from the July 4, 2017 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.

There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Testing the Metal," "Dangerous Refuges," "The Marble and the Sculptor," "Picking Up the Litter," "The Golden Peaches of Peace," "Leaves Upon the Water," "The Quick Brown Fox," "Lead Us in Peace," "We Will Fade into You," and "The Emulsification of Humankind." Linking to this page will reveal new verses in whichever linkback poem you request.

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Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, gender studies, poetry, reading, shopping, weblit, writing
Current Mood: busy

This poem came out of the June 6, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from . It also fills the "Interracial or Interspecies Love" square in my 2-1-17 card (Romantic) for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem was the linkback perk for the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It belongs to the Torn World project.

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Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fantasy, fishbowl, poem, poetry, reading, science fiction, torn world, weblit, writing
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Thanks to an audience poll, this is the free epic for the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It's spillover from the June 6, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "public places" square in my 5-29-17 card for the Pride Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

WARNING: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. namasteIt includes hate groups, racism, hateful language, attempted invasion of a racist protest into a peaceful neighborhood, arguments over free speech vs. the right to be free of verbal abuse, a lion, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before moving onward.

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Tags: activism, cyberfunded creativity, ethnic studies, fantasy, fishbowl, poem, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
Current Mood: busy

There is a poll to select the free epic for July 2017.

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fantasy, fishbowl, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
Current Mood: busy

This poem is spillover from the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It also fills the "secret allies" square in my 6-16-17 card for the hc_bingo fest. This poem belongs to the Kraken thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem contains some intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It touches on passing, bisexuality, multiracial heritage, activism, homophobia, transphobia, mistaken identity, prejudice against people with superpowers, a cat girl, prostitution, a dog boy, homelessness, and other angst. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Tags: activism, cyberfunded creativity, ethnic studies, fantasy, fishbowl, gender studies, poem, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
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Thanks to an audience poll for the general fund and ng_moonmoth chipping in the remainder, "A Hope and a Promise" is now complete.  Aidan and Saraphina explore the roof garden.

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, education, fantasy, fishbowl, poem, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
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This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, August 1, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "rites / rights." I'll be soliciting ideas for adolescents, parents, heroes, villains, fools, clergy and other officiants, explorers, travelers, ordinary people, outcasts, facing thresholds, questioning, debating labels, traveling, accepting the call, refusing the call, getting lost, losing everything, hiding in the closet, coming out, finding your power, speaking truth to power, telling your own story, discovering new places, bedrooms, classrooms, counseling offices, churches, government buildings, the wilderness, cliffs, trails, self-discovery, self-awareness, birth, puberty, getting a job, marriage, sex, parenthood, death, rebirth, radical transformation, the hero's journey, birth control, reproductive freedom, alien transitions, self-sacrifice, disruptions, adventures, legal rights, famous geographic passageways, and poetic forms in particular.

I have a linkback poem, "Rewriting the Narrative" (9 verses, standalone). 

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week.  (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts.  I am now.)  Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog. 

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Tags: cyberfunded creativity, event, family skills, fishbowl, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
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The poll has concluded. These are the upcoming themes:

August 1
Rites / rights of passage

September 5
Families of Choice

October 3
Otherkin and Other-nesses

November 7
Outlandish Occupations

December 5
Hearth and Home

January 2, 2018
Do you believe in magic?

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, poetry, reading, writing
Current Mood: busy

I have posted a poll for the general fund.

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
Current Mood: curious

This poem is spillover from the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "gay" square in my 5-29-17 card for the Pride Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Polychrome Heroics series.

WARNING: This poem contains historical atrocities which many readers may find disturbing. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features the Holocaust, acts of genocide, the Schutzstaffel, mass murder, loss of families, yellow stars, ghettos, a gay man and a straight woman getting married and raising a family together, some awkward family dynamics, gay-related bashing, unplanned (but welcome) lesbian pregnancy, and other challenges. But the good guys mostly win. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before deciding whether this is something you want to read. It is not a plot-relevant part of extant storylines, just an interesting piece of Terramagne history.

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Tags: activism, cyberfunded creativity, ethnic studies, fantasy, fishbowl, gender studies, history, poem, poetry, reading, spirituality, weblit, writing
Current Mood: busy

I have posted a poll to choose themes for upcoming fishbowls.

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, poetry, reading, writing
Current Mood: curious

 Thanks to a donation from bairnsidhe, there is one new verse in "The Order of Their Stars."  V thinks about sexuality.

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, gender studies, networking, poetry, reading, science fiction, writing
Current Mood: busy

This poem is spillover from the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by technoshaman. It also fills the "lesbian" square in my 5-29-17 card for the Pride Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Walking the Beat.

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The call for themes is now CLOSED.  Thank you for your enthusiasm.

I've reached the end of scheduled themes for the Poetry Fishbowl project.  It's time to brainstorm some new themes!  These are a few that I've jotted down earlier, ones that I've thought up or people have suggested, to give you an idea what kind of stuff might be suitable:

* Help and Helpiness
* Otherkin
* Pirates and Brigands

What other themes would you like to see me write about?  Suggest them in a comment below this post. 

Later on I'll collect the suggestions and do some polling.  The most popular topics will be added to the schedule for future fishbowls.  Previously, I have just dumped all the proposed themes into a big poll.  The more themes people suggest, the less well this works.  I have an idea for fixing that problem.  This time, I'm going to run the first large poll with checkboxes so you can express interest in as many themes as you like.  I will then either pick from the most popular ones, or use that information to pull out the favorite themes for a smaller poll to select the ones which will appear in upcoming fishbowls.

You can also help by linking to this post so that more people will see it.  Everyone is welcome to suggest themes.  Everyone will also be able to vote for them later; prompters and donors will get extra votes.  If you link to the call for themes, you can reveal a verse in any open perk poem:
"Testing the Metal" 
"Dangerous Refuges" 
"The Marble and the Sculptor" 
"The Golden Peaches of Peace" 
"Leaves Upon the Water"
"The Quick Brown Fox"
"Lead Us in Peace"
"We Will Fade into You"

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
Current Mood: curious

This poem came out of the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from ng_moonmoth.  It also fills the "self-love" square in my 5-1-16 card for the Solo Celebration Bingo fest, and the "stars" square in my 7-1-17 card for the Winter Fest in July Bingo.  This poem belongs to the series An Army of One.

This microfunded poem is being posted one verse at a time, as donations come in to cover them.  The rate is $.50/line, so $5 will reveal 10 new lines, and so forth. There is a permanent donation button on my profile page, or you can contact me for other arrangements. You can also ask me about the number of lines per verse, if you want to fund a certain number of verses.
So far sponsors include: ng_moonmoth, DW user Across_space_and_time, DW user Technoshaman, DW user Alatefeline, DW user Bairnsidhe

240 lines, Buy It Now = $120
Amount donated = $37
Verses posted = 24 of 74
Amount remaining to fund fully = $83
Amount needed to fund next verse = $.50
Amount needed to fund the verse after that = $1.50

Warning: This poem contains controversial topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers.  NSFW at most jobs!  It features alternative sex/gender dynamics, erotic toys, embarrassment, unpleasant family past, and other challenges. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, gender studies, poem, poetry, reading, science fiction, weblit, writing
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The July 2017 Poetry Fishbowl is once again open.  We're reusing the original post with its donation button and ticker. However, please place new prompts below THIS post, because the other one is already so full that comments are collapsing, which makes them harder to read or search.  You may prompt in this session IF 1) you did not prompt in the July 4 session OR 2) you donated to the July 4 session.

I will do the best I can to fill new prompts and pick up some from the previous session.  I have no idea how long it'll take.  My body is being kind of cranky after last week's adventures, and the internet is a bit iffy although nowhere near as bad as it was earlier this month.  Witch me luck, eh?

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, gender studies, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
Current Mood: creative

This poem is spillover from the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from kengr, antisocialite_forum, curiosity, redsixwing, alatefeline, sweet_sparrow, technoshaman, mdlbear, chanter_greenie, and callibr8. It also fills the "blood" square in my 1-1-17 card for the Dark Fantasy Bingo fest.  This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth, across_space_and_time, technoshaman, and alatefeline. This poem belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics. It directly follows "We Are All Related," so read that first or this will make no sense.

WARNING: This poem contains some intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. You-all wanted to see the gaybashers who attacked Kenzie curbstomped by the Iron Horses, so here it is. Watch out for conspiracy to commit assault, religious issues, conflicting obligations, bloody souvenirs, desire for vengeance, magical/spiritual stalking of culpable parties, Thunderbird is fucking scary and so is his follower, rude language, using superpowers against ordinary opponents, gaybashers stalking around a gay bar, oblique references to pony play, references to poaching and hazardous equipment, graphic violence, vigilante justice, use of barbed wire as a rumble weapon, probable permanent injury, brutal application of inconvenient truth, temporary hearing impairment, explanation of internalized oppression and repression of identity, complicated transgender issues, and other mayhem. This is a major plot development, so skipping it would leave a big gap, but the main thing you need to know is simply that the Iron Horses hunt down the gaybashers and beat the shit out of them. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Tags: cyberfunded creativity, ethnic studies, fantasy, fishbowl, gender studies, poem, poetry, reading, spirituality, weblit, writing
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Thanks to a donation from Anthony & Shirley Barrette, you can now read the rest of "Essential for Human Survival."  Cassandra and Groundhog enjoy some crafts and cuddles.

Tags: crafts, cyberfunded creativity, family skills, fantasy, fishbowl, life lessons, poetry, reading, safety, weblit, writing
Current Mood: busy

This poem came out of the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Shirley Barrette. It also fills the "asexual" square in my 5-29-17 card for the Pride Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the Schrodinger's Heroes project.


"Missing"


There are a few things
missing from Schrodinger's life:

two fuzzy lumps under his tail,

the special deliciousness
in the scent of a queen in heat,

yowling romance in the moonlight
and getting his black ears bitten
to shreds by his rivals,

litter after litter of kittens
that he brought into being.


There are a few things
missing from Schrodinger's life,
but his identity is not one of them.

It is something he found,
instead of something he lost,
as when a sculptor removes
everything that is not the statue.

He is asexual but still affectionate;
his humans are the center of his world,
and even without a common language
they know this as well as he does,
because they call themselves

Schrodinger's Heroes.


There are a few things
missing from Schrodinger's life,

but he doesn't miss them a bit.

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fantasy, fishbowl, gender studies, poem, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
Current Mood: busy

This poem is spillover from the July 4, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles. It also fills the "nonphysical passions" square in my 5-29-17 card for the Pride Bingo fest.

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Tags: cyberfunded creativity, ethnic studies, fishbowl, gender studies, poem, poetry, reading, spirituality, weblit, writing
Current Mood: busy