Poem: "Old Husbands' Tales"

Here is today's first freebie.  It was inspired by a prompt from ellenmillion that got me thinking about a matriarchal culture in Torn World.  So I took a look at that from a different perspective, and this is the result.  This poem will eventually be submitted to the Canon Board.


Old Husbands' Tales

The women may hold
"All That's Left"
of the land,
but the men too
have their secrets,
saved like the scraps
in a quilter's sack.

In the evenings
after the day's work
is done, they gather:
the old men
who have outlived
their powerful wives.

They tell over
the faded remnants
of ancient knowledge,
kept safe all this time
from those still swayed
by swaying hips.

This is the way
to mine gems,
to smelt metal,
to burn the black rock.
This is the way
to marry fire and water,
to make an engine,
to harness lightning.

They cannot do it
themselves;
they have not
the tools or the
freedom for it.
They only husband
this knowledge
for their grandsons.

Someday,
they whisper,
someday the time
will come.

Nobody puts any stock
in the mutterings
of those men.
It's all just a bunch of
old husbands' tales.

But that does not
make it any less true.