DAY #56 - Hyperspatial Saudade, Chapter 3

We're cleaning and clearing today, as the project is coming to an end.  Thanks to the LEA and everyone who participated.

But as promised, we are sharing more of Savage Taurus' short story series.  Enjoy!

Image by Wildstar Beaumont, for Designing Worlds Episode DW336

 Chapter 3 ~ Neptune  

 by Savage Taurus 

      (c) May 2017

"Where do we want to look next?" asked Navigator Ohmlohmff.

"We tried the planet closest to the star. How about the one farthest away?" suggested Translator Mawplawv.

"No problem." Ohml tapped the holographic console with her tendrils and said, "And awaaay we go!" The forward display showed them shooting away from the tiny planet and the blindingly bright star, though they felt no inertial jerking or jostling within the craft. 

The Exploration Craft was similar in shape and texture to the pearlescent shells on the crewmembers' backs. It was rounded on one end and a conical spiral on the other. There was no up or down. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all one continuous surface that the crew moved around on. In the front of the craft was a large forward display and a line of holographic consoles that circled it. Toward the back of the craft was a series of compartments that spiraled off from the main chamber. The back tip of the ship contained the N^3 and N^6 drive engines. 

"Wrote a new poem," said Ohml. "I've just been feeling inspired. Don't worry, this one's not about you. We both know you were never quick."

DAY #55 - Last Day, but not Last Post!

Today is the final day to visit Poetry of the Planets and explore the seven planetary sphere's inspired by the music of Gustav Holst.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA4/130/119/30

But this will not be the last post on this blog.  Savage Taurus has taken on the epic of a short story series and we will be posting his subsequent installments here, because we said we would.

Here is the next chapter:

Image by Wilstar Beaumont, shot fro Designing Worlds DW336

Hyperspatial Saudade

Chapter 2 ~ Mercury 

by Savage Taurus

      (c) May 2017

"Wake up, we're here," Navigator Ohmlohmff said with a complex pattern of flashing lights that scintillated across her translucent skin, accompanied by squeaks and squeals from her small mouth. The sounds got the attention of Translator Mawplawv, and he turned his two eyestalks toward her to see what she was saying.

"I'm awake," he responded with his own choreography of flashes and squeaks. He extended his gelatinous arms and neck out of his opalescent shell and slid closer to his long time work companion. "Was just reading your poem on the database. It's good."

"I thought you hated my poems," she said in a despondent tone.

"No, I never hated them. It's just...the ones about...me...were too much...I couldn't..." His speech trailed off, leaving silence between them. Ohml looked at him and understood. She knew what he was feeling, so she let it drop.

DAY #54 - Jupiter's Ball Today

Our last event is today, a little sad and a lot celebratory.

Join us for JUPITER'S BALL Today from 1-3pm slt, as DJ Dano Bookmite provides the perfect musical bookend to our project.  No torturing with the maze, this slurl will take you right to Jupiter's Ballroom.  (Or look for teleport signs at the main landing area on Olympus Island)

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA4/161/56/2643

Image by Wildstar Beaumont, for Designing World's DW336

And, just because it seems fitting, a reprise of MeteorMags planetary poem to Jupiter.

Jupiter

a planetary poem

by MeteorMags

you make me laugh until we tumble

into this drift like asteroids

coaxed by gravity

to surround this jovial hydrogen bastard

who disturbs the belt with his frivolities

and storms

laughter heals and lifts us past the pain

your tears on my shoulder and fictions

we dream together

love me for an hour then leave

traces of your orbit and clues you give

astronomers

to the sadness of the inner planets

where life only makes them realize

they’re small

i will never let them touch you

with telescopes and equations

I will erase their blackboards and crush their lenses

until all they know is mystery like a fool

i would keep you to myself

though your brightness burns for everyone

annihilation comes easily

rejuvenation takes more effort

or none at all

one word

one touch

will inspire

##

Poetry of the Planets will close on LEA 4 at 8am slt on Wednesday, May 31st. Some submitted works will continue to be posted here.
Thanks one and all for participating!

DAY #53: Poems & Stories Today at 3:30pm slt

Today, the work of over a dozen Second Life Residents who have contributed compositions to the Poetry of the Planets project will be showcased in a live reading event.

Poetry & Stories of The Planets 
Sunday, May 28th  3:30-4:30pm slt
Poetry of the Planets Events - LEA 4

Two more of Aeon Woodford's Cycle of Odes today!

Ode: to Mercury 
By Aeon Woodford

With messages both sad and propitious
Mercurial Messenger —with wingéd shoes 
And hat and sun god-gifted caduceus,
In uncharted heavens dost thou cruise. 

Inventor of the lyre, Thou would’st  approve 
Of high-pitched harp and flute and glockenspiel 
Employed to praise and describe thy quantum move.
We climb the spiral staircase thy missives to unseal.

One white-hot side thy planet shows the sun;
The nether region e’er cold and dark. 
Th’incredible heat the other planets shun
Gives words thou would’st bring that we must hark.

Light side, dark side—bad news or good—
    Your heav’nly words we need have understood. 

Ode: To Saturn
By Aeon Woodford

O Saturn, thou ancient Bringer of Old Age, 
The elder father to the rest, whose reign
Was known for plenty and peace, whose sage
Rule gave us earth’s bounty with no pain.

His celebratory music—unsettling, slow—swells
A heavy march, like the long upward climb
Past windows of the soul. With brassy bells
To mark inexorably the passage of time.

The zenith—obfuscated by white fleecy haze—
Where one abruptly drops into abyss
Or otherwise may into fathoms gaze
And ponder the void in search of bliss.

Gas giant floating in the void, do the rings around

Thy girth constrain thee as we mortals are also bound?

##

Poetry of the Planets will close on LEA 4 at 8am slt on Wednesday, May 31st. Some submitted works will continue to be posted here.
Thanks one and all for participating!

DAY #52 - A Saga Begins at Saturn

Savage Taurus has taken on the epic challenge of a short story series: Hyperspatial Saudade.

We're happy to feature the first chapter today! More to come ... we promised!

 Hyperspatial Saudade

* Chapter 1 ~ Saturn * 

by Savage Taurus

 (c) May 2017

"We just passed the oort cloud. Get ready to transition from N^6 space to N^3 space," the Navigator said as she looked over at her shipmate. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," he responded.

The Navigator tapped the glowing holographic console and they were overwhelmed with the unsettling sensation of being twisted and turned inside out. It only lasted a few seconds, but it left aftershocks that reverberated through their bodies.

The Navigator shuddered uncontrollably and said, "That always gives me the willies."

DAY #51: The End is Nigh & the Real Blue Marble

FINALE WEEKEND is almost here. It has been a great two months, and now it is time to wrap up Poetry of the Planets and send it off into the virtual cosmos with our final two events:

Poetry & Stories of The Planets 
Readings from the featured poems submitted since this project began in early April.
Sunday, May 28th from 3:30-4:30pm slt
Poetry of the Planets Events - LEA 4

Jupiter's Ball
Celestial tunes spun by DJ Dano Bookmite
Monday, May 29th  from 1-3 pm slt
Poetry of the Planets - Jupiter - the Ballroom level

And today's featured poem challenges which spinning orb is really the true big, blue marble.

Image courtesy of Wildstar Beaumont for Designing Worlds Episode DW336

Sky Blue Titan

© 2017 by Corwyn Allen

When one views the blue sky

it is usually done from beneath,

from inside the encapsulating

bubble of atmosphere.

When we look at you,

we look upon your skies 

from without and see a ball 

of unblemished blue.

The color is pure, vivid,

and quite unlike the blue

of Earth's skies as seen 

from its surface. 

When one views Earth from space

it is often called a big blue marble,

and yet blue is but one color

among her many agate hues. 

To truly see a big blue marble, 

one need only look to Uranus.

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #50: Playing Catch-Up with Neglected Neptune

Yes, the ancient creator of horses has been feeling neglected indeed, and so we give him another day in appeasement.

More wonderful odes from Aeon Woodford.

Ode: To Neptune

By Aeon Woodford

The Mystic Neptune, transcendent, gives us cause

To focus out on where his sphere does spin,

Immanent, conversely, gives us pause

To meditate on treasures deep within.

Melodic harp and strings, which culminate

In crowning exaltation—mystic choir,

A tribute to thine other worldly state

That draws us always deep—yet ever higher.

The brilliant, buoyant objects of thy state

Countless fathoms ‘neath tumultuous brine

From bubble perch we bobbl’ing contemplate

Primordial ooze, distracted from thy grand design.

If this protective shell would popping, break our stance,

Then finally we’d rejoin the great expanse.

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #49 - Neptune is getting lonely!

Through the generosity of Elrik Merlin, we have a dedicated segment of this week's Designing Worlds Episode 336 to share, in which this project is featured. Thank you Sir!

I encourage you to make time to view the entire episode and then check out the installations at the LEA Estate.  Designing Worlds Episode DW336 

And on with the poetry! We haven't been to soothing Neptune in a while, but several diligent visitors rectified that yesterday.

Another lovely image by Wildstar Beaumont, shot for Designing Worlds Episode DW336

Neptune's Realm

© 2017 by Corwyn Allen

The reefs team with life.

Anemones sway with gentle movements,

while small, colorful fish dart in and out

of their tendrils, taking sanctuary there

among the barbs that will not harm them.

Corals extend delicate feathers to feed,

quickly snapping back into their hard, calcium

homes at being startled by possible predators.

Urchins, some with spines like thick clubs, others

whose spines are thin, black needles, crawl over

sea floor and across the many corals.

Sea horses and dragon fish with their fins like

cloaks of fine colorful lace swim slowly past.

Above the coral bed a school of turtles glides

by on a never ending journey around the sea.

And there comes a school of silver fish, hundreds

of them unconcerned by anything in their path

as they swim around it, momentarily engulfing

whatever it is in a bright cloud of flashing light.

there's more...

DAY #48: Ode to Venus

We are honored to have Poetry of The Planets be one of the featured installations this week on Designing Worlds.  The whole LEA episode is creatively inspiring, and recommended viewing.  If you want to specifically see the section on this project, it begins at 51:00.
Designing Worlds Episode DW336 - LEA Installations

Another wonderful Ode by Aeon Woodford

Photo by Wildstar Beaumont, taken for DW336 - LEA Installations

Ode to Venus

By Aeon Woodford

The Lovely Venus, Bringer of Peace,  

We bring Thee myrtle, roses, doves, and swans. 

Thine acquiescent realm provides surcease

Of stress when we upon thy chaise ensconce. 

Languid harp and flute apropos thy beauty

Grace as well Thy haven adorned in opulence. 

Enshrouded like the planet named for thee,

Can this be real or trick upon our sense?

Th’enshrouded planet bidd’st us advance

And wreck beneath its thick miasmic mist.

Didst thou in dalliance with Mars so entrance

And cause him ruin in thy famous tryst?

No doubt he sought to pierce thy mystery.

No doubt thou didst enfold him utterly. 

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #47: A Story for Mars

In the night... 
by Mireille Jenvieve-Woodford

In the night, lit by fire and rage, a lonely woman weeps under a starless sky.

Broken by days of fruitless journey ending in torrents of tears, she falls one last time to earth, shattered and empty. Her message is no longer enough to fuel her desperation, her need to find him all but destroyed by the ravages of war.

For days, she traveled further from home. Struggling for every wretched step, a deep courage propelled her on, past villages torn asunder, past burned-out settlements echoing with the muffled whimpers of frightened children. Each crumbling wall was a jagged monument to death. The wells were tinged with blood, the air thick with tears, and no living thing dared speak for fear. The black and murky water barely satisfied her thirst; even the berries were rotted on the vine. She ate and slept in clusters of rocks or caved-in tree trunks that offered poor protection from the dark winds.

DAY #46 - A Poetic Bonanza!

Wow!  There has been a lot of composing going on at LEA 4 in the past few days.  Thank you one and all!  Remember, get your work submitted in the next few days to have it be considered for presentation with the Poems & Stories of the Planets on May 28th!

Aeon Woodford has written a series of odes, each as wonderful as its predecessor.  I'll feature them over several days.

The ode is one of the classic forms of poetry.  To learn more about the ode as a form ( and be linked to several great examples), visit the Poetry Foundation, who provide terrific glossary information on poems and poetry.

Ode: to Jupiter

By Aeon Woodford

Sanguine Bringer of Jollity, King of gods, 

Jupiter, thou deity beyond all praising! 

So, toward Olympus we’d transcend the sod

That on thy visage we’d then be gazing.

Cascading pastel ribbons like colored glass,

Translucent veils concealing and revealing—

Joined with waltzing strings and urban brass—

Assure us in the presence we’ll be kneeling.

Up the winding stairs we climb to chance

To meet the one who brings the Jollity.

A festive dais where we may drink and dance

And join the ruler of all polity.

Then Danae, Leda, and others who met him we recall—

And unobtrusively we tip-toe from the hall. 

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #45 - A Short Story from Mars

The Soldier's Wish

by Evelyn Held

  

It was my choice.  I walked away from quiet neighborhoods full of families going about everyday tasks, with everyday concerns about managing mortgages and raising families.  I have those concerns to, in my way.  But I also have others that they cannot even comprehend. I was no different from them once.

We used to romp together at the playground, concocting impossible adventures, or shooting hoops for hours that seemed like they could never end.  We dreamed about being grown up, wondered how to make a first date happen, survived classroom weekdays and lived for Saturday nights.  Somewhere, despite all those commonalities, I went a different way, and it changed me.

I wish I could say I knew it would.  Maybe I did in part.  I was inspired by honor, committed to service, compelled to loyalty.  As my curling childhood locks were shorn for the first time, I began to understand that the path of the warrior is different. It involved a suspension of self, a loss at times so powerful yet imperceptible at moments it shocks even now.  Discipline. Honor. Duty. There is no "Me" in that: only the dedication to service.

And there is death.  The unexpected relationship, the unseen member of our martial clan.  Death reviews strategy, drills earnestly, prepares for and joins the march - always unseen.  As we file off, rank upon rank, Death is there.  We never know exactly where or which. Then Death appears, in the smoke and conflagration, unexpectedly flanking, or even out of nowhere.  After a while, you come to know that the specter walks with you, every step, whether he hits your target, or the target of the other.

My family would like to understand, those that have never served.  They cannot, fully, and I cannot explain it to them. What they cannot comprehend they try to make up for in pride.  I know they are proud of me.  I feel their pride mixed in with their love like a soothing, curative balm that can never quite heal the scars I carry.  I know that they will never be healed, only adjusted to - absorbed.  I hope, with everything I am and everything I ever was, that they somehow begin to understand what my service - my sacrifice of self - really means.

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #44 - Help from Mercury

I do love haiku, and I am so glad that several people have chosen the basic haiku form to share their impressions of the project.  It is in one respect, very easy; and in the other very hard.  

Here is another cycle from Seran, asking the assistance of the Winged Messenger.

My Message

a haiku cycle

by Seran Catseye

So much to be said

how shall I send my message

in all clarity

Intent flown on wings

inscribed on aged parchment

ensures protection

Help me Mercury

God of commerce and missives

deliver my truth

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #43 - Giving Venus a Break

We've been pretty tough on Venus, so far. Love can be incredibly controversial: it seems to promise so much, and we fully expect it to deliver.  But today I decided to contribute something of my own - giving the Goddess of Peace, as Holst renders her, a break.

This Day In Venus

by Caledonia Skytower

Not today, rider of the half-shell.

I will not rage at you

for favors unbestowed.

No remonstrance for loves

unrequited, or railing against

passions ever unrealized.

No finger-wagging at being

perpetual best friend, sister,

affectionate companion.

There will be no accusations

of wily falsehoods, nor promises

inferred or even implied.

It matters infinitesimally

if there has been deception.

Today that is meaningless.

Holst's haunting horns do not

beckon to anger, or regrets.

They soothe the soul.

Cello voices lead forward

among the roses, the soft colors,

and the wafting mists.

Violins invite me to linger,

observe the ripple of water,

release to the float of swans.

Woodwinds murmur of

the contours of sea shells,

and enticing iridescence.

Today I feel your amity,

need the solace you offer.

It settles over me gently.

No regrets.  No complaints.

Just the tingle of Peace.

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #42 - Asking "Why?" of Saturn

The Question: Saturn

a haiku cycle

by Seran Catseye

  

Why does it go up?

Ascending takes so much work.

Why can't life slide free?

It has a value

As precious as treasure.

A story as true.

That's why we invest,

toil, struggle up the steep slope.

Why we trudge onward.

To wave our arms up,

high up, and say with triumph

"this journey was mine."

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

LOOKEE HERE!

I landed on LEA 4 in the morning, a week or so ago to do my regular daily check of data and restart, when I saw there was someone else there. It's my rule to never restart when there's someone on the region unless the restart it critical.  Poetry of the Planets is a casual exploration that generates modest traffic, so I let the restart go for the day and began collecting data and submission notecards.

Well, it turns out the little yellow Minecraftian robot avatar who was present was not just exploring, he was recording.  He gets through all of the major points of the region at a Minecraft pace and in record time.  He probably missed some of the more discrete details, but that's totally okay.  Everybody to their own pace and meeting their own expectations. He clearly thought enough of it to record the experience, and that's cool.

Thank you Jaroslaw for, not only taking the time to explore Poetry of the Planets, but for also recording and sharing it!

Submissions of poetry and stories are still being accepted. The region remains open for exploration, and just hanging out through May 30th.

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

FINALE WEEKEND ANNOUNCED

Mark your calendars. Come and enjoy Poetry of the Planets before it POOFS into the ether.

Olympus Island Amphitheater
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA4/136/75/24

Jupiter Ballroom
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA4/164/55/2643

DAY #41 - Venus the Appeaser

Well now, THIS is a different look at bringing peace, and not without a little bit of irony, I suspect.  What is Venus up to once she hands you your hat?

Venus in Service

by Faerie Maven-Pralou

She is silent as a mouse

Though you hear her throughout the house

Moving from room to room

She is on a mission

To clean up the kitchen

Before the clock strikes noon

What would we do in our life of leisure

Without the help of our dear appeasers

Who wait on us hand and foot

They make our beds and shine our shoes

Iron our shirts and fetch our booze

Without a complaint or a hoot

Never must we wait

To take up a plate

Nor wait for our port to be be poured

Your cars always waiting

Always anticipating

Handing you your hat at the door

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

DAY #40: Has it Really Been Forty Days?

Yes it has.

Forty straight days since April 2nd.

Sixteen days to go till our Grand Finale Weekend with Jupiter's Ball and and the Poetry of the Planets Readings (to be announced shortly).

Twenty days until we fold up all the pixels on this particular project, and fade into the West.

That's the math of it.  Here's the poetry of it, for today.

Image courtesy of the Author

VIA Cassini

A Planetary Poem by Qwynn      

           (c) May 2017              

Hello this is Saturn

We run a tight ship here.

Tight ordered rings

Around our planet

That you dove through.

We felt you.

We don’t like ripples

In our being.

You are like the new kids

On the solar block,

Lobbing your playthings

Towards our planet.

Its not that you are

Uneducated. You know 

The effect butterfly wings

Have across space.

Time ripples

In causality.

And we do not like

The empty gap between,

Or pristine rings, disturbed

By curious neighbors

Propelling nuclear

Devices through

'Our' atmosphere.

The sound of our existence

Is audible, yes?!...and yet...

This is Saturn...and you are…

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions!

Check out this great follow-up post by Inara Pey 

DAY #39: The Shape of Things

The Shape of Things

by Caledonia Skytower

The Universe makes clear,

the true shape of things.

Even Pluto, in its disappointment

knows the nature of an orbit.

It does not take planet-tude

to know when you're closer

to the flaming gas giant,

and the inevitable chilling

of the outward swing.

Around it comes again,

imperfect and imminent.

All things gained, passed by,

yet found once more as

time regains destinations.

Yet, what of the unimaginable

the expulsion, hurtling,

flinging out of the ellipse

and the great void of unexpected?

There is no cause to fret:

Time will guide your course.

Finding once more,

a new center, new orbital destiny

and a new heated homeworld

where the greater journey

is never a straight line.

##

Poems and stories (2000w or less) can be submitted at the drop boxes on LEA 4, or by emailing them to caledoniaskytower at g mail (dot) com. And YES, feel free to illustrate your submissions