Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Poem: "Titanium Transformation"

This is the first freebie for today's fishbowl, prompted by [personal profile] pinkrangerv. It also fills "the cost of magic" square in my 9-1-14 card for the [community profile] genprompt_bingo fest. It contains spoilers for Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue.


"Titanium Transformation"


It began with titanium:
a silvery metal which can be
anodized into any color,
light yet strong, and
resistant to corrosion.

Diabolico the demon
craved power and made a bargain
to steal young Ryan away and
raise him wrongside-out.

Get the Titanium Morpher,
Diabolico said to Ryan,
sending him against his own family,
and Ryan went, because
the demon was deft at lies.

General Mitchell was clever, though,
and managed to win back his son.

In a rage, Diabolico placed a curse
upon Ryan so that each time he morphed,
he would grow closer to destruction,
a terrible price placed upon his power.

It ended with a cobra,
a tattoo meant to symbolize
death and destruction -- but
Diabolico did not know that serpents
also symbolize transformation,
healing, and rebirth.

In his search for vengeance,
Diabolico sowed the seeds
of his own defeat and Ryan's salvation,
the past peeling away

like shed snakeskin.

* * *

Notes:

Titanium is a silvery metal that can turn rainbow colors when anodized, interesting in context of the rangers' color-coded uniforms.

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue is one of many series in this canon. The referenced story arc concerns Ryan Mitchell.

Snake symbolism includes death and poison, but also life and transformation.
 
Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fantasy, fishbowl, poem, poetry, reading, science fiction, weblit, writing
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  • 5 comments
technoshaman

technoshaman

September 2 2014, 21:08:00 UTC 6 years ago

I'm reminded of the iridescence of some cobras' skins... appropriate. :)
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

September 2 2014, 21:12:13 UTC 6 years ago

Exactly. Some cobras are really titanium-colored.
fayanora

fayanora

September 3 2014, 01:02:11 UTC 6 years ago

I'm reminded of a species of dragon in my Lyria storyverse, that have an adamantium exoskeleton for protection. Adamantium is a pseudo-matter metal (pseudo-matter is made of pure magic) that has only one weakness: anti-magic. And, by extension, on a planet that is magically dead (like some of the Earths in that multiverse), adamantium dissolves in a matter of days or weeks (depending on the strength of the casting), back into the ether.

Adamantium is also a very bright, shiny metal. Not iridescent like titanium, though. Not sure why this poem made me think of that dragon. Possibly the iridescent cobra made me think of a snake with titanium skin, and free-associated from there.
ysabetwordsmith

Ooo ...

ysabetwordsmith

September 3 2014, 01:09:39 UTC 6 years ago

Titanium dragons would be so pretty, though.
fayanora

Re: Ooo ...

fayanora

September 3 2014, 01:48:51 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, I just remembered something else: the Basilisks! They are a form of dragon with extreme sexual dimorphism. The males are humanoid dragons, and the females are giant snakelike dragons. Both males and females have iridescent scales. Which, as you might guess, is very pretty. But the iridescence also makes mammals ill when they look at it. It's to debilitate the prey to make it easier to hunt. But the same special goggles you have to wear to prevent being killed by the female's murderous stare will also protect you from the sickening effect of their iridescence.