text ❁ plant a garden for edgar allan; grow a poetry

[roseblooms]

Kit Fawkes shared a photo. 7/4 near Peach Beach

I think that there is no one in this town Who'd say that they demurred or disagreed That all our lives got flipped, turned upside-down By, quote, "the last app we will ever need". We'd not installed the app; it simply came We didn't ask for this; we didn't plan it Yet it was how we first beheld the name Of perfect, flawless, fair, unrivaled Janet Oh, Janet, with your wisdom, take us far And thrill us with your social mastery ('Cause let's be real here, Retrospec's HR Seems way more competent than R&D) Although, for bingo, poorly does this bode - For I just wrote a sonnet, not an ode.

Comments

[roseblooms]

Certainly so. And goodness knows I'm welcoming all contenders to this discussion. Please feel free to express to him my fond invitation to join in.

[anguinous]

[ Kurama sounds so gently mannered anyone else might feel a small spark of shame at using him to trap someone into admitting they're e-stalking them out of weird security paranoia, or perhaps a hint of guilt over using him to force someone else to do something they may find embarrassing?

Laurent feels only triumph. ]

I will! Perhaps between all of us we can please Janet enough to make her come visit us!

[ He's just going to milk it now. ]

[roseblooms]

To be blessed with the presence of Janet herself? My goodness, now that really is an aspiration.

[anguinous]

Perhaps we might write more accurate dedications, then? I feel I cannot do her justice, without knowing her heart better. Does she like flowers, or music? Is she more inclined to sports, or reading?

[roseblooms]

Unfortunately, we may never know. Though I hear Mr. Halloway has a wedding registry up somewhere; if Janet turns out to be his heart's desire, perhaps there's something to be learned about her from that registry.

[anguinous]

Unless it is more tragic than that, and he marries another while still holding affection for her.

[ Laurent can always imagine a worse scenario, it's a talent. ]

[roseblooms]

I think I've heard of a Maurice in Retrospec somewhere.

Perhaps we ought to see what initials Jim's monogrammed towels are emblazoned with.

[reticence]

[ Damn it Laurent. He still thinks talking to people over this thing is a bad idea, but now that you've dragged him into it... ]

Alright, alright. I'm here. Contributing.

[ He's not going to get out of writing something here, is he? ]

[roseblooms]

Well, you've got one line in iambic pentameter so far.

Now you just need the other thirteen. :)

[reticence]

An ode suggests a level of passion I'm not certain I can fake for a woman I know absolutely nothing about.

Laurent has of course helpfully suggested I can pretend it is for him instead.

[ So helpful, Laurent. ]

[roseblooms]

Ah. Sarcastically, or should I be congratulating you?

[reticence]

[ Well, that backfired. It's a good thing this isn't a face-to-face conversation, in more than one way, really. ]

I'm not certain he's capable of anything without at least a modicum of sarcasm.

[roseblooms]

You can't blame me for covering my bases. Wouldn't it be worse if I assumed you were joking about something that wasn't at all a joke?

[reticence]

[ Why do you have to be so understanding. Or maybe you aren't. Maybe you're teasing him too, and he just doesn't know you enough to understand that either. The fact of the matter remains that Faolan works for Laurent. Laurent, who is far more attractive than he has any right to be. Faolan, who has absolutely no right to notice such things in the way that he does... ]

No, I don't suppose I can. I can however assure you that in this instance, he was taking the piss.

[roseblooms]

Aha. Well, then, there's always the option of beating him at his own game, and in fact writing him an ode featuring the greatest friendzoning in all poetical history.

[reticence]

There is that, yes. Beating him at his own game and using his sarcasm against him. He did ask for his own ode, after all. Far be it from me to deny him as much.

[ Are you still reading this, Laurent? Look what you have wrought. ]

[roseblooms]

You certainly wouldn't be the first poet in history to do it. There've been plenty of thinly-veiled arguments carried out through the published word, across history.

[reticence]

Also true. Alright, well. With your blessing and his I suppose I might as well...

[ Here goes nothing... ]

It was requested that I write
An ode to demonstrate my might
With words in such a way.
As follows I must say
I do not know this Janet lass
So thus an ode to her I pass
And instead I will choose
Another for my muse:
My charge Laurent -- by now you've met
No doubt wants me to fail, and yet
He knew not what he ask'd
When setting me this task.



Shall I carry on then? I thought I'd give you a pause to start, I do have a tendency to carry on when I get going.

[roseblooms]

That's a clever and unorthodox meter you've chosen — I'm actually quite fond of it. It keeps the reader on his toes by adding a bit of unexpected interest to the read.

Very well done, in my professional opinion.

[reticence]

High compliments indeed, especially
from one such as yourself. Very well, then.

[ Let's see, where was he... ]

If of another man you should
Request to write this ode, you would
Hear of his many wiles.
It's true his look beguiles
The eye and with a turn of phrase
He might just set your blood ablaze
To action for his cause
Though I would caution pause.
For though he's easy on the eye
His honeyed looks are but a lie --
A beautiful disguise
For just behind those eyes
There coils instead a sleeping snake
With fangs that snap and muscles quake
To rend you limb from limb
If you but displease him.
Of course there is another side
To this young man, he cannot hide
His one true love of books;
Perhaps, above his looks
There rests the secret to his heart
And thus, a man, if he is smart,
His moods might mollify
For perhaps there lies
Within the secret depths inside,
His sass and coolness cast aside,
A young man brave and bright.
At least, that's my insight.
He probably has other views.
But here I'll stop, and thus spare you.............