The Wordsmith's Forge

This poem came out of the April 2021 Crowdfunding Creative Jam 100. It was inspired by a prompt from Dreamwidth user Fuzzyred. It also fills the "Physical Touch" square in my 4-4-21 "Aspects" card for the Genderplay Bingo fest. This is the linkback perk poem for the June 1, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl.




The Ice People live
within the frosty skin on
the Night Side of the world,
their skin the same pale blue
as the ice in which they live.

Everything in their lives
is slick and smooth as they
glide through the tunnels.

It is always dark there.
Dark means safe.

They have eyes, barely,
enough to warn them away
from dangerous light and
sense meaningful colors,
but little more than that.

The Ice People live in
a crystal wonderland
that they can hardly see.

Their world is defined
by touch, the feel of
each other's skin as
they cuddle close.

* * *

Notes:

A hot eyeball planet is tidally locked close to its star. The day side is a burning desert. The night side is a solid icecap. Anything living on either side would need extreme adaptations to survive the harsh environment, which makes burrowing a great strategy in both places. Between the two, a twilight ring holds meltwater and probably more diverse lifeforms. Because one side is always hot and dry while the other is always icy, the differential fuels violent storms. As water evaporates from the edge of the desert, it rises to form clouds that rain over the twilight and snow over the icecap.

Ice is typically clear, white, or blue, but can be any color due to inclusions.

Animals in extreme climates have adaptations for cold, dry, and otherwise inhospitable conditions.  Burrowing is a tactic that protects against many hazards, and there are traits that assist a subterranean life.

Gastropods such as slugs and snails live in a wide range of environments.  Some of them are among the photosynthetic animals.  These aliens are black like solar panels.


[To be continued ...]

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Today's Smoothie
Birdfeeding
Maybe-Colors for Unisex Dressing
Birdfeeding
Poem: "A Fabric of Our Own Making"
Poem: "All That Tyranny of Biology"
Community Building Tip: Creative Incubator
Recipe: "Chicken Tortilla Filling"
Birdfeeding
Photographs
Coping Skills: Read
Birdfeeding
Birdfeeding
Cuddle Party


Saturday night, half a walnut tree fell down in our yard. I posted some pictures. A tree guy is coming out tomorrow evening to look at it and estimate the cost of removing it and attending to the goldenraintree damaged by the fall.

I'm done writing for the fishbowl prompts, but still have a few poems I haven't had time to post. :/ Losing Saturday night to a power outage really messed up my schedule. I'm working on a poem for the Stronger Wings arc that needs to be finished, sponsored somehow, and posted in sequence. But I had to spend yesterday setting up for today.

There will be a half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics running this week, as soon as I can get that posted.


Poetry in Microfunding:

There are two open epics at present. "The Hobbomak" has been completed, just not finished posting yet.

"Rainshadow Road" belongs the Daughters of the Apocalypse series. It introduces Maggot to the Clearwater Caravan.

"The Hobbomak" launches the Bear Tunnels series. Emma and Jesse explore the images on the walls.

"A Celebration and a Consolation" belongs to Polychrome Heroics. Keira comforts her mother after the breakup.


The weather has been warmer here, and it rained on Saturday night. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a flock of mourning doves, a small flock of house finches, a small flock of grackles, a male cardinal, a rabbit, and a squirrel. Currently blooming: white penstemon, orange butterflyweed, Asiatic lilies, daylilies.  Hollyhock has buds.  Blackberries have green fruit.  Black raspberries have pink fruit.  Mulberries, serviceberries, and pie cherries are ripe.

dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday today with a theme of "unconventional parenthood." Leave prompts, get ficlets! Boosting the signal extends your wordcount.

Another goal is, frankly, to make some money. If someone wants to sponsor a story, I suggest two cents per word, which makes a thousand word story twenty dollars. If there are $150 in tips, I will post a bonus story which effectively doubles the total word count for readers to enjoy.

System Test
A badly-planned prank by one of Loudmouth’s old friends locks Loudmouth, Torrin, Lucas and David in the basement. Literally. They’re sealed in under a timed lock for a full day! Part of the Independence and Mercedes story arcs in the Polychrome Heroics universe.

 ... in a gym, on ridiculously unstable footing.

Last night, a storm blew down half a walnut tree in the yard by the house, which used to be the bee tree. I'm very glad that the bees settled in the savanna this year! I took some pictures of the fallen tree. (You can also read my previous post "From Snag to Log.")

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Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
1 cup Ceres passionfruit juice
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup serviceberries
1/2 cup ice

This is fairly thin, a bright orchid color, fruity and tart.  :D 

Today is warm and moist, not as steamy as yesterday, but still warmer than I want to do yardwork in.

I fed the birds.  I've seen house finches, grackles, doves, squirrels, and rabbits.


Yesterday half a walnut tree fell down in a big storm, stopping just short of the house.  It also ripped a bunch of branches off the goldenraintree.  I took pictures and will post some if I have time.  We'll need to get tree guys out to look at all that. 

EDIT 6/13/21 -- I picked most of a bag of serviceberries.  :D

EDIT 6/13/21 -- I planted wildflowers in 2 spots in the prairie garden.

Previously I mentioned the use of maybe-colors in unisex or nonbinary dressing, so I decided to list some examples. The neutrals (black-gray-white in cool, brown-tan-ivory in warm) are unisex, but most people want accent colors. There are also some oddball neutrals that mix warm and cool tones.

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Today is hot and muggy, in the 90s.

I fed the birds and filled the water dish.  I've seen house finches, grackles, doves, and male cardinal.

You know how cats melt on top of things when it's hot?  I saw a squirrel doing that on top of the hopper feeder.  He kept looking down at the food and deciding it was too much work to move.  LOL 

EDIT 6/12/21 -- It's raining here.  :D

EDIT 6/12/21 -- I watched a dove taking a shower in the rain: fluttering wings, flipping tail, preening, just like in a birdbath.  It was adorable.

This poem was selected in an audience poll as the freebie for the June 1, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl making its $200 goal. It came out of the April 6, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from hangingbyastitch and technoshaman. It also fills the "Colors" square in my 4-4-21 "Effects" card for the Genderplay Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the Kraken thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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