The Wordsmith's Forge

This is Part 4 of a freebie poem from the July 5, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl, thanks to new prompter quennessa.  Here concludes the adventure of Babydoll and her four friends.  (If you haven't read it yet, start with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.)  This is a remodeled version of the awful plot from Sucker Punch.

WARNING: This entire poem is violent, and contains many misogynist characters bedeviling the heras.  It may be triggery for some people. Part 4 contains violence against men, destruction of property, violent alteration of reality, death, and disrespectful treatment of a corpse. If such imagery tends to upset you, then you might want to skip this poem.  But if you're okay with valiant heras struggling against terrible obstacles, here it is.

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 This list is interesting.

 Quite a good jousting picture at the top.

These are some posts from the later part of last week, in case you missed them:

Poem: "Playing with Babydoll" (in four parts)
Update from Meeks
Random Datapoint for Poetry
Poetry Fishbowl Report for Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Major Update to Serial Poetry Page
New Verses in Microfunded Poems
The Adaptation of Elves
Thoughts on Characters in Wheelchairs (29 comments)
Torn World: Read "One-Tick Literature"


Everyone, if you haven't already voted in the surprise general fund poll, you've still got a little time. I'll close it later this afternoon or evening. You get to decide how to spend $5 on microfunded poetry.

Current donors, the prompt window for Shahana the Paladin is still open, and will also close later today. This is for the free series poem.

Torn World writing update:
Approved as canon: "Squiggles: Excerpts from Nleimen's Journal," "On the Rocks," (fiction) "Cage of Hope" "Rhubarb Song," (poetry).  Back to me for edits: "Cutting Time," "Scars of Stone" "Catch and Release," "Swept Away" (fiction), "Seafoam Fashions" (poetry).  Currently in front of the canon board:  nothing! Drafted: "Cutting Cords and Clasping Hands," "Like Ash Before the Wind," "Breaking the Ice," "From Dark to Bright," (fiction) and "The Hearsay Cafe," "The Colors of the Rainbow," (poetry).  In revision at home: "Water Dance," "The Green Speech," "When the Wind's Teeth Sing," (fiction).  Currently writing: "Raining Kittens," "Catch of the Day" (fiction)

Greenhaven: A Pagan Tradition website updates:
* Added "Points of Interest" in the "About Us" section of the "Home" tab.
* Added a new entry on the "Recommended Reading Lists" page, dealing with "Empathy in Fiction."
* Added a new essay in the "Our Voices" section, titled "Janet's Wild Ride: First Esbat."
* Added a "Crafts" entry on the "Activities" topic page, which links to the "Crafts" section page.
* Updated "Sitemap"
* Reorganized and revised "Greenhaven Tradition" and "Memories of Samhain 2004."

There are four epic poems in microfunding: "Fiorenza and the Witch-Son" features Fiorenza the Italian herbalist musing about social roles and gender dynamics, at a time when there is NOT a major preternatural crisis going on. "Enki's Messengers" is essentially a sidebar to the Sumerian myth "The Descent of Inanna," focusing on the kurgarra and the galatur created by Enki. "Igor's Creature" is a mix of horror and science fiction with a large helping of sociology and a wry twist of humor.  (These three all have new verses now, and one should get updated again later today.)  The epic poem "A Periodic Table of Elementals" is ahead of production.

Blackberries are ripening; I've picked a few.  The wildflower garden is thick with echinacea and coneflower, plus a few smaller flowers.  Some of the gray-headed coneflowers that I've moved to the prairie meadow are blooming.  I also discovered another echinacea there, presumably a volunteer planted by bird action.  I love it when Nature helps with the yardwork.

Thanks to the latest poll for the general fund, there are now two new verses visible in "Fiorenza and the Witch-Son."  This poem is past the halfway point, and it won the poll by a landslide.

This article explores how a slow metabolism helped turtles survive a mass extinction.

The "About Us" menu has been reorganized for more convenient browsing, and the page revised.  A couple of items have been renamed: "Points of Interest" (the bullet list piece) is now "Highlights: Greenhaven in Brief" and "Greenhaven Tradition" (the big description) is now "Floodlights: Greenhaven in Depth."

There is also a new item in the "Essays & Articles" section, "Magic in Animated Movies."