fortis's Fortress Fantastique

April 10: Mountain Man
Dedicated to @Aley

You made no attempt
to remove the rotted scales
that were covering your eyes,
or to see the wisping soul
that was left within the husk of me.
You didn't even see the bullet-ridden bodies
that I tripped over on our ascent up the mountain.

But now, won't you look down?
scatter the crusting scales to the wind.
Look down from the atomic-blown sky
to the glimmering wreckage below.
See the valley of Silver Carnage,
the rivers running red.
I know if you saw them,
those scabbing scales would drip right off,
flowing down with the tears.

Cast off your selfish blindness.
See the clouds of good and evil
that have cast us into this fallen place.
Fallen, but so high above the earth.
See the clouds of good and evil
from which mushrooms bloom.

April 11: Always keep your head down.
Dedicated to @PenguinAttack

Always keep your head down. Stare at the ground as if your life depends on it.
Cause if you go lookin’ at people, or starin’ at the sky, they’re gonna think you’re odd.
Don’t let people think you’re odd, cause then they’ll say that you’re weird in the head.
Don’t let people say that you’re weird in the head, cause then people will start treatin’ you different.
Don’t let people treat you different, cause then they’ll be treatin’ you badly, and pushin’ you around.
Don’t let people push you around, cause then you might get hurt.
Don’t get hurt, cause we ain’t got the money to take care of you.
We ain’t got that money because no one wants to hire mama for a good job.
No one wants to hire mama cause people say she’s weird in the head.
People say she’s weird in the head cause she’s always starin’ at the sky.
Always keep your head down. Always.

There was an impromptu poetry session yesterday.
April 10.whatever

Poem #1: Clocks

Spoiler

This room is filled with clocks
And all tick round and round
Their hands point toward the numbers
that define our lives

This room is filled with clocks
their gears grind silently
a force that is unknowable
moves them; moves us.

This room is full of clocks
their cheery chimes will ring
call out the hour, half hour
and alert the masses.

Time to go,
is it time?

Poem #2: They

Spoiler

He trapped the very moonbeams in his palm
he held all the joy in the world
But he hid behind his long eyelashes
and kept his eyes to the ground.

She soaked the sunbeams through her eyes
She held all the laughter in the world
She looked up to the azure skies
and smiled for the world to see.

Poem #3: Truth Told a Riddle

Spoiler

Truth told a riddle
and asked us to solve it and
we have spent our lives
trying to find the answer.

Poems #whatever: Limericks
These were written for all those who were writing with me at this impromptu session.

Spoiler

There once was a @PenguinAttack
Who kept all her dreams in a sack
She would dream all night
in the fading of the light
dry her dreams, and hang them on a rack.

There once was a @ScarlettFire
Who always slept under a pyre
One day it was lit
and she had a fit
and was filled with the uttermost ire.

There once was a girl named @Lava
And another girl named adna (@Adnamarine)
When they were together
they were light as a feather
and also were friends with Nah (@Meshugenah)

Poem #6

There once was a @dragonlily
Who just liked to be silly
She'd write poetry
and hide up in a tree
and wanted to live in Philly.

There once was a lovely girl: mesh
Who had a collection of flesh
she stacked them in sheets
to sit on on the beach
Yes, that lovely girl mesh.

April 12: Know your way home like the back of your hand
Dedicated to: @emmylou1995

FOR @Aley's SAKE I WILL PUT THE LITTLE AUTHOR'S NOTE HERE TOO. DON'T MIND THE "TO" THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE "TOO." THANK YOU.

And sorry to anyone who is offended by these all-caps.

Thank you for your time.

fortis wrote:FOR @Aley's SAKE I WILL PUT THE LITTLE AUTHOR'S NOTE HERE TOO. DON'T MIND THE "TO" THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE "TOO." THANK YOU.

And sorry to anyone who is offended by these all-caps.

Thank you for your time.

@fortis YOU MAKE ME WANT TO MOP!

April 13: Worthless
Dedicated to whoever decided to write the quote from this on the desk, and most definitely not dedicated to the person who wrote "crackhead" with an arrow pointing to it.

"Life is worth nothing,
but mine is worth less." he wrote,
staring between time.

April 14: Marigold
Dedicated to @567ajt

It's time you meet
what was foretold:
our golden idol,
Marigold.
She'll sing a soft,
sweet lullaby.
Her petals dance
on azure skies.
She'll keep away
from must and mold,
our golden idol
Marigold.
We sing her praises
day and night.
We hold her up
against the light.
She'll never wither
nor grow old,
our golden idol
Marigold.

April 15: The Lonely
Dedicated to RD and the lonely.

Light plays on faces,
illuminating the emotions
back, behind the eyes.
The lonely observe this light,
cool, eyelids hooded, hearts yearning
to know what it feels like.
But the flickers, behind their eyes
are still, only pushing toward the light
and not finding light of their own.
But when light reaches
its dancing fingers toward them,
the lonely back away.

April 15.5: Chemical X
Dedicated to @Noelle just because Powerpuff girls. And also dedicated to @IntelligentlyStupid

They don't seem to like me here.
I'm Chemical X. The unknown, unwanted reactant.
They like Bad Joe more than me--
even though he's crass and cruel--
because he's predictable and definable.

They like "schizo girl" better than me too
(The name is a sign of their ignorance)
even though she has violent mood swings.
Although "unpredictable," they know what to expect,
and again, she is definable.

Even people they don't classify
(They make up the They almost entirely)
are still classified as "normal"

I am not normal enough to be normal,
but I am not different enough to have a title.
I confuse them. I am neither stupid nor smart,
but I am not of average intelligence.
I am somehow both. Intelligently stupid.
I remain undefined because,
unlike them,
I am not a side character to move the plot along.
I am the main character.
And I can recognize it.

April 15.5.5: Tenyo
Dedicated to @Tenyo of course!
Happy birthday friend!

The very best,
Extra nice
Never makes you feel bad
You just gotta love her
Oh yeah.

April 16: [untitled]
Dedicated to Lana

Tell me what the world has meant to you.
I heard you pierced the sky to find stars true.
Whisper all the things you dreamed to do.
Let’s release those dreams up to the skies,
they float away like butterflies.
Honey, just close your silver eyes.
As they drift celestially higher,
their wings catch an eternal fire.
Those dreams ignite this cobwebbed pyre.

spread the carbon ashes
wear the scarlet sashes
tributes of our dimming lashes

April 17: Grayscale Rainbow
Dedicated to my lovelies @Tenyo and @PenguinAttack, both who gave me this glorious idea.

Stacking the rainbow color by color,
my sister lists every one she knows
and what they mean and why (why, WHY) they happen.

I had told her blue was sad.
Sadness happened when bad thing happened to people.
I told her yellow was happy.
Happiness happened when good things happened to people.
I had told her red was anger.
Anger happened when people responded poorly to blue.
That is why blue and red are so far apart.
I said green was peace.
Peacefulness happened when people set aside their anger and were happy.
That is why green and yellow are so close.
I had told her violet was deep thinking.
I couldn't explain too much about that.

She asked about brown.
I told her brown was the color of dirt
It wasn't included in the rainbow because dirt and sky do not mix.
She asked about pink.
I told her pink is only our minds being too lazy
to combine purple and red light to make green,
as should happen.
She asked about black.
I told her black was impure
and that it could not dwell in such a heavenly beast as a rainbow.
She asked about white.
I told her white was too pure.
And too uncaring to exist on a such a jovial beast as a rainbow.
She asked about gold.
I told her gold was greed.
She asked what greed was.
I wasn't sure I could explain it.

Then she asked about "that strange color"
I asked her what she meant.
She told me about the "wavy color on the edges of everything"
And the "beams that shoot from the sun."
I asked if she meant sunbeams.
She didn't.

She could see the infra-red that traced life.
She asked me what it meant.
I told her it was the color men used to look into the stars.
She asked why she only saw it coming from earth and not the stars.
I didn't know.

She could see the ultra violet light that comes from the sun.
She asked me what it meant.
I told her it was the color of Grandma's death.
(She had died from skin cancer)
She asked me why it was so beautiful if it was the color of death.
I didn't know.

She asked what my favorite color was.
I told her gray.
She asked what that meant.
I told her it was the color of uncertainty.

April 17.5: Burning Words
Dedicated to @Magpie

When the library was burned
down, down to the ground,
were the words
that were captured there
set free?

Or did they just disappear?
Gone into the ashy sky?
Ripped from off the golden tongues
of weeping minstrels
in the fury of the fire
forever?

April 17.5.5: Come Away
Dedicated to @AriaAdams

Will you come away with me?
the way is dark as you can see,
but it is past time that you come
To see the bees that fly and hum.

I know they were protecting you,
from things that simply were untrue
But if you come with me, the fae,
you'll learn those things are true as day.

Have you heard the wind's sweet song?
I have heard it all along.
Have you heard the cries of trees?
You will learn to hear with ease.

You will walk as light as air,
You will tame a wild mare,
but only if you come with me,
and only if you want to see.