The Wordsmith's Forge

 raze has written a breathtaking story, "Objectifying Romance: Teacup," about a veteran who deals with PTSD by finding a teacup.  It seems like an odd idea, but this is one of the best depictions of PTSD that I've ever read.  Be warned that this may be very high-impact if you have PTSD or know someone who does.  Most highly recommended.

I found this wonderful quote about marriage.

Life is a series of empty boxes.  Each relationship, each job or hobby, your religion, your community, all the stuff you do -- it's just a container.  You have to add the filling yourself.  If you're working with other people, you have to mind who's putting stuff in vs. who's taking stuff out.  Always try to add a little bit  more than you take out.  Don't just mooch, and don't let people take advantage of you.  Aim for a healthy balance.  You don't have to add and subtract the same kind of thing; you can put in praise and take out cuddles, or whatever.  Relationships are about an exchange of energy.

 Read some queer women's love poetry on poetree.

This poem is spillover from the February 4, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from lb_lee.  It also fills the "Sketch / Draw" square on my 2-1-14 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest.  This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.  It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.

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This is the freebie for the March Muse Fusion over in Torn World. It was inspired by the prompt "Ressa off the clock."  Ressa and Bai have a whole storyline together.


"Off the Clock"


Ressa treasures the time
after hours when she does not
have to be Ressa the Clerk
or Ressa the Carnal Guild worker.

She can let her hair down,
a fall of straight brown silk
that covers her back like a shawl,
and brush it until it shines.

She can fill the tub with hot water
and pour scented oil over the surface
so that curls of white steam rise up
over the rainbow shimmers.

Some nights, Ressa soaks for an hour,
fantasizing what it would be like
if Bai were free to climb in with her
without worrying about entanglements.

She imagines how he would
play with her hair, so gently,
washing and rinsing the dark mass,
then brushing it out as it dried.

But she is alone in her bath,
as always, so some nights
she just washes quickly to get clean
and then climbs into bed.

This poem is spillover from the April 1, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from kelkyag.  It also fills the "anniversary" square on my 3-30-14 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest.  This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.  It belongs to The Steamsmith series.

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This poem came out of the April 1, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from dialecticdreamer and LiveJournal user Westrider. It also fills the "Recycle / recycling" square on the Spring and Autumn Bingo public card over in allbingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the series Walking the Beat.

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My partner Doug tipped me to this hilariously apt cartoon about marriage terms. 

This poem came out of the April 1, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by librarygeek.

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This poem came out of the April 1, 2014 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by prompts from rowyn, moonwolf1988, DW users Alexseanchai, and Redsixwing.  It also fills the "pursuit of happiness" square in my 3-6-14 card for the Origfic Bingo fest; and the "language and translation" square in my 1-2-14 card for the Trope Bingo fest.

This microfunded poem is being posted one verse at a time, as donations come in to cover them. The rate is $.50/line, so $5 will reveal 10 new lines, and so forth. There is a permanent donation button on my profile page, or you can contact me for other arrangements. You can also ask me about the number of lines per verse, if you want to fund a certain number of verses.
So far sponsors include: DW user Alexconall, general fund, Anthony & Shirley Barrette

FULLY FUNDED
225 lines, Buy It Now = $112.50
Amount donated = $45
Verses posted = 17 of 50
Amount remaining to fund fully = $67.50
Amount needed to fund next verse = $3.50
Amount needed to fund the verse after that = $.50

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