The Wordsmith's Forge

This poem is from the April 7, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from librarygeek and a character by stardreamer. It has been sponsored by librarygeek as part of Autism Awareness Month. This poem belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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... is about what you're willing to invest in them, more than it is about predetermined traits of who you think you could love.

This poem is spillover from the February 3, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from redsixwing anddialecticdreamer. It also fills the "bites" square in my 11-25-14 card for the hc_bingo fest, and the "sharing a bed" square in my 1-3-15 card for the trope_bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by technoshaman. It belongs to the series Frankenstein's Family.  It is a sequel to "Echoes of Another" and "Who Finds a True Friend" so is best read after those two.

Note: This poem features some things that might not be to everyone's taste. Highlight for details, some of which are spoilers. It features burgeoning empathic sensitivity, a married couple with an intimate friend, some awkward emotional tension on account of Dénes being demisexual and thus uncomfortable at high speed, sensual activity with quasi-erotic aspects, consensual biting, climax, MFF cuddling (with Dorottya between Csilla and Dénes if that matters), and other zingy stuff. Consider your preferences before reading onward.

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This is an adorable post about a man who thought he was straight, until he realized that he'd fallen in love with his best friend, who is another man.  Yes, it can happen, and when it does it's more often like that than love at first sight.  I am fondly reminded of Victor/Igor and Stan/Lawrence, in different ways.

This poem came out of the March 3, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from Anthony Barrette. It also fills the "huddle for warmth" square in my 1-3-15 card for the trope_bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Walking the Beat.

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 Lovely fanvid.  Hankie warning.

This poem is spillover from the February 17, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from dialecticdreamer and LJ user My_partner_doug. It also fills the "I want a lifetime with you" square on my 1-31-15 card for the Valentine's Day Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by technoshaman. It belongs to the series Fiorenza the Wisewoman.

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This poem came out of the February 17, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from dialecticdreamer and LJ user Ng_moonmoth. It also fills the "I can't stop thinking about you when we're apart" square in my 1-31-15 card for the Valentine's Day Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the series Fiorenza the Wisewoman.

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This poem came out of the February 17, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from helgatwb and LJ user Zianuray. It also fills the "Just found out allergic to (food or flowers etc.)" square in my 1-31-15 card for the Valentine's Day Bingo Fest.  This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles.  It belongs to the series Fiorenza the Wisewoman.

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The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention.

Starting now, the bonus Poetry Fishbowl is open!  This is the perk for the February 3, 2015 fishbowl meeting the $250 goal.  Today's theme is  "Fiorenza the Wisewoman." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.


What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?

Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.

In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "Fiorenza the Wisewoman." I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.


Cyberfunded Creativity

I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:

1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.

2) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).

0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.

3) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here.  See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"

4) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your LiveJournal, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network.  Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall.  Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl.  If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published.  If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.


Additional Notes

1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."

2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function.  (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.)  These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.

3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity.  While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category.  Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those.  I've also posted a list of other donor perks there.  I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.

4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.


Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "Fiorenza the Wisewoman." The primary focus is romance, in honor of Valentine's Day, so think of Fiorenza/Giacinto, Bettina/Arrigo, etc. I'll also be soliciting ideas for villagers, visitors, fairy tale characters or creatures, rural Italy, historic cottages or gardens, sacred or historic places near Fermo, ordinary objects with mystical effects, fairy tale plot twists, personal conflicts or challenges, side scenes from previous events, gaps in the storyline that need to be filled, everyday issues transmuted into rustic fantasy versions, and Italian poetic forms in particular.  But anything is welcome, really. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have the first edition of Lewis Turco's The New Book of Forms which covers most common and many obscure forms.

I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation.) The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.