busyThis poem came out of the December 2, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from 
shadowsculptor and ng_moonmoth. It also fills the "_____ Made Us Do It" square in my 6-10-14 card for the Fanbingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the series Path of the Paladins, and falls between "Our Most Vulnerable and Powerful Selves" and "Enlighten the Dark Corners."
Zyweet the Trickster peered through
the thirteen dimensions of physical reality,
the five past tenses and five present tenses
and nine relative tenses of time.
The two people whom Yasun, God of Healing,
put together on a previous turn had now
completed their purpose together.
Zyweet reached out and nudged them apart,
Nahum and Rohalin going their separate ways.
"Your turn," the trickster said sweetly,
smiling at Talaton, God of Balance.
"Drat you," Talaton scolded, looking at the board
first with his right eye and then with his left.
There was really only one move available,
and Zyweet could taste how difficult it would be,
like mixing pepper and vinegar.
Talaton reached out and began
figuring out how to fit Nahum and Radd together.
* * *
Notes:
You can read about past, future, and relative tenses.
Well...
December 9 2014, 02:29:00 UTC 6 years ago
The prompt asked for this, which is a classic trope, but specified that the game be beneficial to the mortals instead of malicious. That set it aside from all previous iterations I've seen.
>> It reminds me a bit of the classic Doctor Who episode where the Eternals played war games with what they called Ephemerals (mortals-- including the Doctor, who is often perceived as immortal but isn't). <<
That makes sense.
>> Granted, in the case of your poem, the game isn't necessarily inherently harmful to the game pieces, though it has the potential to be. I wonder how the concept of free will fits in there. Is there such a thing as free will if every choice is, by virtue of being a potential, explored and branches into a parallel line of existence? I'd like to think it still factors in there somewhere. <<
I am imagining humans as random elements in the game, similar to dice. Or maybe it's more akin to shuffleboard or Tetris, where you're trying to make things fit together but they don't always go the way you want.
>> Anyway, just some rambling and somewhat incoherent thoughts. Very well-executed and thought-provoking poem! <<
Thank you! I appreciate the comments. They are thoughtful and interesting.
Re: Well...
December 9 2014, 16:22:01 UTC 6 years ago
-- Me, to a god of close acquaintance.
Re: Well...
December 10 2014, 08:44:18 UTC 6 years ago