Poem-A-Day #72 : NPC

NPC

She smiles and points at the shelves of books
it's all very game show of her - and her arm is outstretched
and her face is smiling and there is a stone room with a fireplace
sending smoke up a chimney - there is food on the table
there is a dog sleeping nearby

She is frozen - waiting - you stare at the row of objects
the spines are dull colors no knowledge is revealed

          Buy or Sell ?

It's complicated by the desire to know more about her
about the small table with the single bowl of food - the
dog how old is it - is she alone - on purpose - you imagine
a life for her where she is happily here and it refuses to sad
but the creeping terror of broken homes hovers

A silent sort of air over the space - her frozen smile
communicating so little

In the end you won't want anything - does that please her
will she cry herself to sleep with no money for her rent

Poem-A-Day #63 : Character Sheet

Character Sheet

Fill out your name

          Add your race

                     Your gender

          What are your motivations

          Think about your weaknesses

That time when you were a child and you sat in the garden and the small mouse touched your hand and you panicked and hit it with the book and it crunched under A Wrinkle in Time

How you wake up sometimes thinking that your body is failing and you have cancer or AIDS or are going to die young even though you creep towards less young every breath

How many d20s do you roll to figure out how to move on

          What armor is enough

Here is a backpack you do not get to say what is inside just know that it has an inside

Rope enough

Initiative will change

Poem-A-Day #59 : Dungeon Crawl

Dungeon Crawl

The table laces itself in the bodies of ants - the smell of peppermint

It's because of the food - the cracks in the wood - the cheapness of the apartment

He wants to watch a movie - the embarrassment of him over - of even thinking about opening this sealed room

          Roll a D20 for an armor check - you need above a 15

Outside the cottonwoods begin their fluffing - and thoughts could possibly reconnect to the idea of sex -

Though the mind is not really there - and frankly - that's fine

Hearts are caverns - so deep - so so so

          What if everyone dies this time? - if the surface tilts just enough - everything will slide into the abyss

You just want to be able - but - there is not much to build upon

He asks again

          The map is 2D is a stick figure is not accurate to scale - the figures are pawns

Not cavern enough - insert some metaphor about spelunking here -
- Insert some terrible pun about insertion here -

          The roll is terrible - you chop off your own hand are bleeding all over the floor the goblins in become ravenous at the smell of blood -

           they swarm - they swarm

Legend of Zelda concept art by Katsuya Terada