January 4th, 2011


Poetry Fishbowl Open!

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open!  Today's theme is "Urban Fantasy" as selected by the audience in a poll.  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.

Something new: Batched poems.  Previously I've written some poems that use the same characters or setting to explore different aspects of the same idea, most of them at random.  I'm open to doing that on purpose, if it doesn't create an overload.  So for instance, you might ask for a pair of poems showing two people's divergent viewpoints, or ask for a sequel to a poem you liked.

What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?


In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "Urban Fantasy." 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




0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20

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 new photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Infinitesimal Angels and others"


Additional Notes





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 "Urban Fantasy."  (You can read more about urban fantasy online.  It does not have to be contemporary; past or future city prompts are welcome.  While most urban fantasy entails slight revisions of Earth, I'm also open to prompts about cities in other fantasy settings of mine.)  I'll be soliciting ideas for urbanites, non-urbanite fish-out-of-water characters, city-dwelling monsters, urban plants and animals, objects commonly found in cities, rural objects that might be amusing to chuck into a city, urban fantasy cliches you'd like to warp, classic or neo urban fantasy plots, events that happen in cities, urban legends, urban places fun to include in a fantasy story, individual cities you'd like to visit, unusual locations within a city, hazards or benefits particular to cities, and 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 Book of Forms which covers most common and many obscure forms.

Fly Free

Poem: "Stonewings"

Inspired by kelkyag's request for gargoyles, this is today's first freebie poem.  No matter how much of a badass you think you are, somewhere out there is a predator who considers you defenseless prey.

-- a triolet

Gargoyles guard the city streets,
Silent hunters from above.
Final foe the mugger meets,
Gargoyles guard the city streets.
Down one swoops with swift wingbeats,
Hawk on unsuspecting dove.
Gargoyles guard the city streets,
Silent hunters from above.


Poem: "Suburban Bogeymen"

This poem was inspired and sponsored by aldersprig.  It's a creepy little piece about how magical creatures can adapt to modern contexts.

Suburban Bogeymen
-- a triolet

Suburbia is pretty on the surface of its streets
But still it has its bogeymen, their magic new and strange ...
And evil lies in waiting, with a bag of poisoned sweets.
Suburbia is pretty on the surface of its streets
It fools unwary visitors who taste its tempting treats.
The bogeymen are pushers now, but their goals never change
Suburbia is pretty on the surface of its streets


Poem: "Petty Problems"

This poem was inspired by a prompt from ladyqkat directing my attention to certain posts by ladysprite.  I am well pleased to discover these, and hope I have done them justice in this poem.

Petty Problems

The Faerie Queen's court is bright and gay ...
With pets less than simple, so they say.

Seven years' service seemed a small price
For a scholarship and good advice.

Little I knew of the things I'd face,
Serving as vet to the faerie race.

A jackalope with a broken horn,
A parlor-maid's missing unicorn,

A troll complaining about his goats,
A centaur sick from feeling his oats,

A werewolf suffering from a cough,
A basilisk's claw near falling off,

Teacup griffins that eat their own legs,
Emergencies with cracked dragon eggs --

Is it any wonder I've gone spare,
Trying to balance the here and There?

Though they're petty problems, to be sure,
The hell they make of my days is pure.

I know that all jobs have parts that suck,
But on sabbat-eves, I curse my luck.

The city's no place for faerie kin,
But some of them love it, and stay in.

How could I blame them?  I live here too.
In faerie land, I'm just passing through.

My time near done, She asks if I'll stay,
Or part with Magic.  What could I say?

I choose my hopes, instead of my fears.
"Yes, Your Majesty.  Seven more years."


Poem: "All Hell Breaks Loose"

This poem was inspired by a discussion between kelkyag and janetmiles in the comments following "Stonewings."  It was sponsored by janetmiles.  Here, have more gargoyles.

All Hell Breaks Loose

For years, there had been rumors
of strange doings in New York --
muggers and robbers and rapists
suddenly snatched away from intended victims
and carried shrieking into the sky by shadowy wings.

The police dealt with it calmly --
they were, after all, also New Yorkers.
They tossed the babbling victims into a cell overnight.
By morning, the problem usually resolved
in sheepish apologies and confessions of too many drinks;
or if not, the men in white coats could be called
to take away the ones who kept talking crazy.

It wasn't until the advent of cell phone cameras
that someone actually managed to get proof
of what was really going on.
Soon there were too many pictures -- blurry and clear --
of gargoyles flying away with criminals
for anyone to ignore.
Not to mention the full-color photo
snapped by a New York Trash reporter
showing a gargoyle feeding its chicks.

There was a brief, heated debate over what to do.
Leave the gargoyles alone?
Order rocket launchers to shoot them down?
The police, still being New Yorkers,
decided to see if the gargoyles could be trained
like K-9 units with concrete wings.
After all, the argument went, they already knew
how to catch  the bad guys.  It was just a matter
of convincing them not to swallow.

The ruckus died down.
So did the crime rate.

Then one day, somebody gets the bright idea
to smuggle a few pairs of breeding gargoyles into Detroit
and all hell breaks loose.