Home Sweet Home

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Jack
This entry is part 30 of 30 in the series NaPoWriMo '11

Hanging in plain sight
A cross stitch sampler of instructions
That you ignore again and again
A beautiful script
To a movie full of left feet,
Corpses, and awkward pauses

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Immortal

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Jack
This entry is part 28 of 30 in the series NaPoWriMo '11

a shivering night
campfire light
stars
you, warm against me
moon rises
fire dies
as I’m dozing, you stand
feed the flames til they dance tall
step forward, stand among them
and gesture for me to join you

I burn around you,
searing you as you shake

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Pluto

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Jack
This entry is part 29 of 30 in the series NaPoWriMo '11

my finger stick slightly
to the ice, the pain shivers
up to the elbow
I drop everything
close my eyes
feel the space around me
at least now it’s quiet

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Counting Down

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Jack

When I started this semester, I was excited, motivated, thrilled. I had made something I wanted badly come to fruition. I was here to learn these skills I wanted to learn.

The middle of the semester got bogged down in health issues and the long slog through all the types of welding I was expected to… if not master, then at least make a good show at.

Now the end of the semester is creeping up on me. I have only one day of working time left in both of my classes. It hardly seems like any time at all. And then what?

The cold copper hammerwork, that I can do at home. I really should track down a small anvil or something to work on, but I can make do. Beyond that, I need space and I need money. I could build a propane forge or buy a basic welding machine on sale for $100 or so. I might be able to rig up something for less using an Instructables tutorial.

Space, however, is the thing I can’t do anything about. Not in the short term, anyway. At the very least I’m probably looking at taking the summer off. In the fall I might be able to take another class or two – or move somewhere with a garage or yard I can work in. But there’s no guarantee there, either. In fact, to work toward some of my long term goals, I probably won’t be able to do either in the fall.

Yes, it’s disappointing. But the skills are learned; I won’t lose them. And there are other things I want to work on in the meantime. Continuing with the copper work is only one of those things. Finishing with my classes will give me time to pursue those things.

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Neptune

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Jack
This entry is part 27 of 30 in the series NaPoWriMo '11

you’re lying right now
I can tell, you stupid bitch
I’d call you on it if I could
get any oxygen in my lungs
all I can taste is salt
water and bitter copper
so stop apologizing
and let me die already

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Uranus

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Jack
This entry is part 26 of 30 in the series NaPoWriMo '11

you said you liked the kinky shit
until it was actually time to play
you’re too theoretical for your own good
theories don’t take you to bed
stop waiting to be transformed
into a fairy tale porn star
the blood, the mess, the awkward
laughter? That’s half the point
of trying, and all the reason
to keep going.

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Why Back Down?

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Jack

So this post-a-day thing… well, it worked out all right for the poetry, didn’t it?

And I just heard about Story-A-Day and signed up for the notice list. A story a day? Doesn’t that sound like overdoing it?

Well, there’s no length requirement, so as long as it’s a complete story, I can write twitter-fic, drabbles, flash fiction… whatever suits my fancy and my attention span.

I guess we’ll see how it goes. Worst case scenario is that I crash and burn, right?

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Saturn

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Jack
This entry is part 25 of 30 in the series NaPoWriMo '11

do I threaten you so much?
you rear back and try to roar
though your voice is strangled
and cracks, shards falling
on the floor and tearing your feet.
you like walking on the glass,
smiling as you drive them deeper
into your body, consuming them,
adding them to your paper mâché
and your tar and your feathers.
god what a mess you make
of the carpet. you know
I’ll never get my deposit back.

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Jupiter

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Jack
This entry is part 24 of 30 in the series NaPoWriMo '11

we walked the rocky path
together, somehow didn’t notice
the branches and now
we are apart. orbiting
other stars, we turn
our faces away and I wonder
that I don’t see you.
shock me, run to me,
be the one who reaches out,
holds the radio high,
makes the grand gestures
when I am afraid. don’t
let me get away.

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Knowing My Limits

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Jack

Today in my blacksmithing class, we worked on a couple of things. We were supposed to be finishing up the tongs we started last week. We were also supposed to be starting our final projects. (These were not originally supposed to overlap, but we’re behind.)

I made good progress on my final project – you’ll see pictures after next week’s class, when I’m done. I have to document it for my grade, after all.

The tongs were another story, however. We were making them out of 5/8″ stock that’s over an inch wide and we’re supposed to fuller it down and draw it out to about 5/8″ square. It’s boring, it requires really heavy blows, and basically it’s exhausting. I worked on it off and on during class, but I’m fairly sure I’m just not going to finish them, and I’m okay with that. Another pair of tongs would be nice to have, but not so much so that I’m going to get distracted from my final project. It’s all about priorities and limits.

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