The Wordsmith's Forge

This poem is spillover from the February 2021 crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by discussions with dialecticdreamer. It is posted here as a Mother's Day gift for Shirley Barrette. This poem belongs to the Finn Family and Mercedes threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem contains some touchy topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes confusion, lack of knowledge and resources, references to getting beaten up, past abuse in foster care, followed by running away from foster care, reluctance to ask for or even accept help, body dysphoria due to crayon hair, worry, references to hostility against crayon soups, upset leading to jumping rope to burn off the outrage, consensual hair-touching, sensory issues, rude language, touch starvation, possible zetetic issues, reference to inhalant drug abuse, traumatic stress, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.

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Today is chilly, breezy, and gray.  It rained yesterday and last night.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a pair of house finches, a small flock of mourning doves, several sparrows, a brown thrasher, and a robin.

For my current set of tips, I'm using the list "101 Small Ways You Can Improve Your City.

71. Become a tour guide for your neighborhood. You don’t have to live in a famous zip code to show people around. Using Vayable, you can create and share guided tours of the hidden gems in your neighborhood, or discover a unique experience nearby that allow you to become a tourist in your own city.

This poem is spillover from the May 4, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Anthony Barrette.


"Christmas Chilies"


What did the green chile
say to the red chile?

"I bet that I can make
them cry before you can."

"You may be red hot but I'm
a lean, green, fighting machine."

"There's enough room in
this chili for the both of us."

"Let's get together and
pretend it's Christmas."

This poem came out of the May 4, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Shirley Barrette.

Warning: This is all food and prone to make people hungry, including for things that may or may not be available in your area.

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This poem came out of the May 4, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "food science" square in my 5-1-21 card for the Leaky Pipeline Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to An Army of One series.

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Today is cloudy and cool. It rained in the afternoon.

I fed the birds. I saw a female rose-breasted grosbeak, a flock of doves, four bluejays, and some house finches.

I planted more flower seeds in the septic garden.

This poem is spillover from the December 1, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from chanter1944 and Anonymous. It also fills the "Smörgåsbord" square in my 12-1-20 card for the Winter Fest Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette, following the ones posted in honor of the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. It belongs to the Iron Horses thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. For the introduction of the main characters, begin with "Whatever You Do to the Animals," "Reaching Out to Rescue One Another," and "To Prevent Future Tragedies." This poem is the last in a set of four, after "Ways to Make the Pain Go Away," "Quicker Than You Can Lower Them," and "A Crazy and Drunk Life."

Warning: This poem is mostly making up and comfort after the wrecktastic events of the previous three, but it does involve discussing the same sticky issues.

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We made this tonight. It turned out very tasty.

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Today is mild and partly sunny but very windy.

I fed the birds.  I've seen four bluejays, a small flock of doves, sparrows, house finches, and a robin. 

EDIT 5/7/21 -- The wind has died down, so after supper I went outside.  I put compost on part of the septic garden and planted Agastache 'Apache Sunset,' Butterfly Weed orange and 'Hello Yellow,' Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Mix,' Bee Balm Lemon Bergamot, Yarrow 'Colorado Mix,' Smooth Blue Aster, and Aromatic Aster.  The Agastache packet contained the fewest seeds, so I planted all of those.  The others all have some left for another location.  There is also plenty of space left in the septic garden.

The crows were harassing someone again, probably the poor owl, in the Two Sisters trees at the east end of the south lot.