Sing O Muse . . . .

 The crowdfunding Creative Jam session for January is open here and here with the theme of “Art and Artisans.” Leave a prompt and/or claim a prompt.

What I Have Written:

“Something You Don't See Everyday” – Inspired by the prompts of ysabetwordsmith, chanter_greenie, and one of my own.

From My Prompts:

“"Drawing Out the Feelings" – by ysabetwordsmith

 

Poem: “Stories”
by shiori_makiba / Ashley Weyer

Inspired by ysabetwordsmith's prompt about an alien reading a book. First attempt at writing straight up science fiction. Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed.

“Stories”

Enaz purchased the box on impulse.
It was from a little stall in the port marketplace.
The stall was run by an alien race that Enaz wasn't too familiar with.
It called itself a human and said the items it had were from its home planet.

Thon had always been curious about other races and the price for the box was reasonable.
Enaz purchased it and took it home.
Inspecting the box, thon noted that it contained several similar looking objects.

Box-like in overall shape but the inside part of them cut into very thin sheets.
There were squiggles and sometimes pictures all over the sheets.
'Writing,' Enaz noted.
Not that was too unexpected.
Many of the races that had reached the stars had writing.
Too bad thon didn't know any of their languages, written or otherwise.

Or at least, thon didn't know any of them yet.
The human at the marketplace had learned one of the trading languages.
Logically, Enaz could learn one of the human tongues.

That setback aside, the box-objects were still pretty interesting.

The next time, Enaz was near a market, thon decided to see if there were any humans about.
Sometimes there weren't and sometimes there were.
Thon discovered many things about humans in the process.
Some of them were quite rude and very unhelpful in thon's quest.
But many of them were kind and gave Enaz their knowledge freely.

Slowly but surely, Enaz solved the mystery of the box-objects.
They were called books.
Some of them spoke of true things.
Or were supposed to. Sometimes the information was wrong.
Enaz's human friend Sarah told thon that was because some of them were made a long time ago.

But the ones that really captured thon was the ones that told stories.
You can learn a lot about a people from their stories.

Humans told a lot of stories.
Stories about love and kindness.
Stories about hate and cruelty.
Stories about far-away places and the distant past.
Stories about made-up places and very peculiar beings.
Stories that were long and stories that were short.
All kinds of stories.

When Enaz ran out of stories in the first box, thon sought out more.
Because you could never have too many stories.

Poem: Books Are
by shiori_makiba / Ashley Weyer

Inspired by the prompt by brides_koneko for the November Creative Jam. Comments and constructive criticism welcomed.

“Books Are”

The truest companions one could ask for.
They are always there when we need them.
They never ask us to be other than who we are.
To the book, you are simply the reader.
And all they ask is that you read them.

A means of escape.
With a book, you can run away without ever leaving your house.
You might see distant stars and encounter mysterious aliens.
You can travel back into the past, from the beginnings of the Earth to within your own lifetime.
You step into other world, catching glimpse of unicorns dancing amongst the trees or dragons in flight.

In each, you travel not alone but with a myriad of companions.
For a brief time, you step into their shoes.
You might solve crimes in gaslight streets of London with Watson and Holmes.
Or step aboard ship with Honor Harrington and journey amongst the stars.
Or you struggle to save Middle-Earth with the Fellowship.

A source of information.
Any given subject has a legion of books about it.
Each waiting to impart their wisdom.
At times this can be overwhelming.
But that's why books have librarians.

A treasure of culture.
The folk-tales, fairy stories, and legends that speak of how these people see the world.
Some are etched onto paper, others are held by elders' memory.
Either way, they are a gift of the ancients.
A gift that has too often been lost.
So keep them close.

Books are many things to many people.
Whatever your book is you, you know it will always be there.
Waiting to be read once more.

Poem: Amazing
by shiori_makiba / Ashley Weyer

Inspired by one of capriuni's prompts on the Creative Jam.

“Amazing”

Books are amazing.
Between the covers of a book, lie many a splendid thing.
The words dance off the page and into your imagination.
One flight of fantasy, now boarding.

Within a book, you can take a journey.
It might take you to places near.
Perhaps the town you grow up, dusted with the memories of childhood.
Or the place you live now, its streets familiar yet different under the author's pen.
You might venture farther.
Making your way to a city on the other side of the country, or the planet, or the universe.
Or perhaps you might slip through the looking glass or down the rabbit-hole to another world entirely.

Within a book, you encounter new creatures.
Some are as familiar as your own furry companions.
Others are more wild but familiar citizens of your own woods, fields, mountains, and seas.
But you might also those that seem to inhabit only the world of dreams.
The fantastic beasts, scary monsters, and those who are neither or both.

With a book, you met new people.
Strangers who become dear friends and stalwart companions.
At times, you experience their joy and share in their triumphant.
Laughing and smiling with the rest of the party.
At other times, you experience their sorrow and share in their misery.
Crying tears and praying they make it through.

You can have all that and more.
Just by opening a book.
Amazing, isn't it?

I decided to participate in ysabetwordsmith's November Creative Jam session in more than just prompts. This was my first creative jam and it was fun. I definitely plan to do so again and thinking about doing my own call for prompts event. Just have to make sure to schedule it at the right time.

What I've Written
“Why We Don't Annoy the Author” – It doesn't pay to be rude to a writer.

“Amazing” – Books are awesome.

“Lost” – Sometimes stories become lost.

“Books Are” – Exactly what it says on the tin.

“Stories” – An alien discovers human books.

“Hungry for a Story” – Books and food.

"Bookworms" - One of the many strange denizens of L-Space is the bookworm.

The other poems will be posted but with exception of two on that list, I let the prompters view them first.

A shout-out that I have been meaning to do for a while now . . .

Do you like to learn? Then you might have try out the Crash Course web-series on YouTube. Each episode are between ten and fifteen minutes long but they still pack a lot of information in those minutes plus provide links and resources in the description box so you can find out more.

Here is the introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIowxzmCDpw

The introduction video is a little outdated as they have finished the courses mentioned in it. Current courses are Anatomy and Physiology, Astronomy, US Government and Politics, and Economics. Also they have expanded to other hosts besides John and Hank for the courses – for example, the on-going Astronomy course is presented by a NASA astronomer.

While they get some support elsewhere, it is a largely crowfunded effort.

I hope you enjoy the videos, hopefully learn something new, and as they say in John and Hank's hometown, don't forget to be awesome.