Shel Graves' Sensorium

I'm going to be posting some poems in a bit here that I wrote as part of my Body Poem Project (more about that later), but here's one that wanted to be posted sooner, written on Thanksgiving. Want and Plenty  It rains and rains, but there is no water.  Downpours soak, a crashing full creek, but empty sinks.  We can fill the kiddie pools, but cannot flush the toilets.  In my dreams: barking, snarling, and six goldendoodle pups,  I see neighbors I could appreciate and meet.  Potential friends and progressive domestic harmony.  Once black flakes of ash fell through the sky and spread over the sidewalk,  The hotel burned, still under construction, almost complete,  Firefighters moved through the dark sky saving nearby houses.  Black flakes peel off my arm healing a bat tattoo. She wants to fly off,  My arm holds the leashes for the dogs who wish to fly, too.  Every paw quick until they stop, go still, to sniff the ash.  The ...

Taste: Wayward Thanksgiving Dinner  Sound: dishwasher chime, whining, scratching, howling, guttural monster  Smell: feces  Sight: golden light; stackable heads  Touch: holding Amos’ head  Extra: "To spell a word correctly is to ask it to come forward out of a million other words and do your bidding." —Alberto Rios, Introduction, The World Has Need of You: Poems for Connection Grateful for: poetry; Margaret Atwood

The rocky inclines of New attract hikers and climbers. Further down the slopes, flowers blossom in green fields. Fruits bud in the orchard. The joyful, fertile, dew-covered land looks fresh and vital, but produces nothing. Newtonians ask many questions of travelers. They are not explorers in body, but in mind. They know little of other places. Newtonians do not need to eat or drink much as they are fed by living energy within New.  “Travelers will be disappointed in Newtonian cuisine,” writes Miss Emeline Traveler.  When Newtonians leave New their cocoons break. They shed their New skin and appear in fresh skin. They leave their old skin behind.  Visitors come to new to begin again. They dive into the pond that leads to New and enter through the underground tunnel. They swim ashore in Open and from there take the road to New. Few stay in New for long. They become hungry and thirsty. New nourishes visitors briefly.  The towers of the capitol city Student rise at the...

Woodland trails surround the farmland Blessed. Shining stones circle Blessed. A gleaming lake sits at its center. There are gates, but no locks. Dogs bark and snuffle through the woods scenting deer, bobcat, raccoon, and bear. It pours rain in Blessed and the soaked land lies fertile with pillows of green moss. Rainbows appear over the land and sunbeams strike the grass brilliantly. Blessed is golden in fall. Pure white in winter. The moon is bright and beautiful. Blessed gleams. Everyone may visit, but Blessed is difficult to find. Experienced explorers follow maps to its gates. Wanderers stumble across the gleaming gates.  “May I enter?” the lamb bleats.  “Of course,” says the Guide.  The cities Welcome sit at the corner of Blessed and invite all in the four directions. The Welcomites learn the art of hospitality. They send invitations to Blessed parties, banquets, and simple gatherings. Welcomites bow, offer handshakes and hat tips to newcomers. They learn names quickl...

In the waterfall mist of the rainforest Weepy a slope erodes into a marsh. Hillside houses slant and slide. The Weepy mourn the fallen land. They search through mud piles at the hill bottoms for possessions lost in the last slide. They adorn themselves in the blue-stained mud of mourning. They constantly build and rebuild their homes.  No one wants to visit Weepy, but they come looking for lost things. Occasionally, they find buried treasures which anyone may keep. Mud monsters pull searchers into the muck and add to their ranks.  The city Mournful, the city of mud, sits beside the marsh. Mournfulians make clay urns from the mud as remembrance. "The mud of mournful is good for the skin and hair," says the Guide. The Mournful Scholars make peace with the mud monsters and learn their ways and language. They sing the Mournful mud songs and dance down the mud slides in lumpy Mournful.

Spite consists of tall rock towers surrounded by rock seas. Long rope bridges connect the rock spires upon which rock homes are built. A cold fungus grows upon the wet rocks. The people die young from fungus-caked lungs. The stormy skies rain lightening down between the rocks. The lightening strikes the highest spires destroying castles. Spiteans continue to build taller and taller spires even though lightening strikes them down, tallest first. Each Spitean employs their own spire building method.  “The best way is to layer on sticky greenacian fungi between the polished rocks,” says Uri Heller.  “Fiddlesticks! That green goop adds width but no height. Polishing and whittling are the best techniques,” says Tomen Y.  The sloop Afraid sails the rocky seas where the kraken wraps its tentacles around the spires of Spite. The wraith Afraidians have one leg or half an arm. Prone to attack, their limbs live in the bellies of sharks. Yet, lacking limbs here and there, they steer...

The grey shale of Careless slips and slides underfoot. It smells of tar. Tar pits bubble below. The craggy trees bow with exposed bark and broken branches. The Careless live in lookalike shanties. They drive down gravel roads and eat paste sandwiches. A large white glacier fed river runs through cold Careless. Damp weather sickens the Careless. Everyone carries handkerchiefs which they sneeze and blow into throughout the day.  “It’s nothing much,” visitors say, but they inevitably stay longer  in Careless than expected.  The capitol Contempt was quickly built, poorly constructed, and early abandoned.  “Still, it’s better than the Careless are used to,” the Guide says.  The solid metal bunker-like buildings have presence. The Council of Contempt meets and makes pronouncements and edicts for the Careless to follow (though they don’t). The Careless ignore the Council of Contempt without consequence.  “They’re too stupid to understand our complicated language...

High in the mountaintops beautiful Exhilarated shelters snow leopards, white rabbits, and white foxes on its snowy slopes. They jump and leap causing snow flurries. Exhilarateds snowshoe over the plains and slide down the slopes.  “Use skis to get to the best views of snow-covered mountain tops and glacier-fed rivers,” says the Guide.  Exhilarated berries make a warming purple elixir.  “We admired the vistas. The denizens have an energy like no others. The Exhilarated elixir is exquisite,” says Miss Emeline.  The Exhilarated berries grow high in the mountains. Exhilarateds share their elixir with travelers, but do not export their crops.  “It’s best after a long day of skiing,” says Miss Doe Friend.  The chateau Privileged sits atop the mountain Exhilarated. Visitors may ride a tram up to the chalet. The council works here, drinking Exhilarated elixir for inspiration. They soak in the warm waters of a pool heated by warm rock stones that give off a sea fre...

The floodplains Revulsion lie in the wake of chemical plants and industrial farms. The air, shrouded in chemical smog, reeks of waste. If not for the smog, which applies a yellow-brown wash over everything and a sting to the air, there could be beauty in farm and stream. Instead, after a heavy rain, the land oozes into the river where the bodies of fish bloat and float. Other lands unashamedly dump their waste in Revulsion, too. The fisherman of Revulsion pull scrawny, pink pock-marked fish from the stream and fry them in heavy oil with lots of salt to disguise the flavor. The lawless capitol Uncaring takes cash for garbage, pollutants, and other hazardous waste from other lands. Polluters thrive in Uncaring where the thin earth threatens to break above the mines and around the nuclear plants. The Uncaring work in the plants by day creating waste. They drink in Uncaring taverns by night. None of them vote or organize or talk about anything but sport so the rulers of Uncaring are th...

Pink and blue heather covers the soft rolling hills of Comfort, an inlet beside a warm sea. Comfortians walk, swim, or fly at an easy pace on long legs. They browse from the treetops. They croon love songs. They drink from Comfortian ponds. Visitors come to Comfort to take the waters. They would stay but lack the anatomy best adapted to Comfort.  “The inhabitants are peaceful,” says Miss Emeline Traveler. “But, they do not always seem particularly welcoming. They do not go out of their way for you. They continue grazing leaves and sipping from ponds.  Still, seaside Comfort remains popular. The capitol balmy Belonging by the Sea attracts the most visitors. Visitors float in the sea. Everyone arrives in a sociable mood, ready to relax and enjoy games and dances.  "I took a long walk and joined a herd of Comfortians," said Miss Emeline, who fits in wherever she goes.

Beside the sea long grasses wave in the gentle winds of Caring wafting the scent of sugared lavender. Sandy trails climb the bluffs beside the sea. A lighthouse on the bluff watches over all. Everyone takes turns as the lighthouse keeper who offers sandwiches, cookies, and lavender mint tea to each visitor. The communities of Caring are close knit and unfailingly kind.  “Although life is quiet here, it is very reassuring,” says a recent immigrant.  “The air is fresh and healing,” says Miss Doe Friend.  Caring gulls fly over the bluff watching. It is impossible to get lost or to feel too unpleasantly alone. The birds dip and flock.  “The land itself carries a calming scent and caress on the breeze,” says Miss Emeline Traveler.  The city Expansive overlooks the sea. There are many stone houses and cobblestone streets. Everyone has their own house who comes of age. Deer roam the streets. Hawks fly over head. The skies are wide and stretch from horizon to horizon...

Notable for its calm weather and the balmy Sanguine Sea, fertile and abundant Sanguine attracts many visitors.  “You will encounter only light rains, gentle snowfall, and soft breezes in your Sanguine travels,” says the Guide.  The grazing animals are happy and fat. The Sanguine grow their food, fetch water, and spend time with their families and communities. They care for each other and all animals. They see to everyone’s health and happiness.  “Looking upon the Sanguine Sun produces a profound state of calm and relaxing certainty,” says Miss Emeline Traveler. “I felt serene in my role in life.”  “Nothing is more beautiful than the Sanguine Sea,” says Miss Doe Friend. “I fell in love with the life of a Sanguine Sailor and imagined living on those calm seas carried by steady winds. But I could not leave Miss Emeline. We have more lands to explore.”  The Sanguine Sailors never fear storms. They carry goods across the Sanguine Sea to other lands. The King of the...

“I saw the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets in Hopeful,” says Miss Emeline Traveler.  “I loved the beautiful countrysides, lakes and streams,” says Miss Doe Friend.  Hopefullians travel by solar-powered carriage. On days when it rains too much, the carriages begin to slow and then stop and everyone must get out and walk the rest of the way to their destination. Hopeful has many villages and small cities. People travel often between them having strong relationships with their families in other villages, universities in other cities, professional guilds, and musical groups.  Most Hopefullians play an instrument of some kind. Most are in a band. Everyone gets together for jam sessions at least once a week. All of them sing. They love to walk and play the flute.  “There’s always a melody in the air,” says Miss Doe Friend.  “I found it quite irritating,” said Kirk Vanderghast.  The largest city, Lust, delights flaneurs.  It has a fabulous orchestra and ...

High walls surround Pride and no one may come through. Pride keeps to itself. There are few windows or lookouts. The camouflaged wall hides within the surrounding mountains. At the center, Lake Pride provides bounty. Prideans eat fish including the nearly immortal Wisdom Fish with fluid tongues and magic language. They could grant wishes if treated kindly, but the Pride fisherman hook them, fry them, and throw away their magic bones. Still, many Wisdom Fish evade their hooks and hide in an underground stream whose current flows away from Pride. Gold lines this saltwater stream where oysters grow enormous pearls surrounded by dense green plants. Prideans think they grow strong eating fish, but the plants are the true source of their nutrients. Pride never thought to look below.  The castle Patriotic rises over Pride. Its walls are even higher and perilous to climb. It looks gorgeous from afar, but dingy up close. A jerky elevator carries visitors up. Sometimes the carriage crashes a...

My two favorite Thanksgiving traditions: writing a gratitude poem made up of all the things I said I was grateful for that year on this blog and adopting a turkey . Gratitude 2020: This Blood-red Couch Nestle in the glorious fall of Cascadia and its bloody brittlegills,  Golden oak leaves alight, drift to the street, and welcome us home.  We, creative adopters, bring home love and companionship.  We, dear aunts, offer imagination and promise poetry.  Worry, in fear, “There will be nowhere to love, dear.”  Worn signs point to Pasado’s to welcome us home.  We, weary dreamers, seek mandalas of light.  We, constant canines, give play and promise poetry.  Becalm this blood-red couch with Sam beside us,  Five warm bodies and soul-filled beings of playful energy.  We, constant carers, watch over a heart-shaped goat girl,  We, calm construction workers, mourn and cheer.  Bestill indoors in our black-hooded bat robes, Wide trails lead u...

Porous Untethered floats above the other lands. In heavy rains, it soaks and sinks. In warm weather, it dries and rises. The Untethered explore and mine the land holes. Sometimes children, animals, drunkards, and incautious people fall through them into other lands. Some land safely in water, others…  Some of the holes are wells filled with wholesome water or interesting fishes. Visitors come by airship or hot air balloon. The Untethered love to fly balloons of all sizes.  “The Untethered are flight people, jolly but silly. They say so themselves!” says Miss Emeline.  “I’m not sure other lands would accept us,” says Miss Heart. “Besides, once one learns to balloon and navigate around the holes, life here is not half bad.”  Distracted lies deep in the bottom of a hole in Untethered. Farmland around Distracted supplies the city. Smaller wellsprings support the population. Distracted has half built roads and buildings. The city plans were not completed. Everyone has an ...

Worn paths traverse the lowlands Hungry. Hungrians survey their lands, mark their borders, and map their landmarks. Their stomachs growl as they walk the perimeter again. The hills brown in the dry season. The surveyors eat from bushes, dig roots from the ground, and drink from ponds as they go. At night they take the mats from their backs, roll them out and sleep on the ground. They shiver and pull their wraps tight. Lean lions prowl. Ground squirrels cache what they can find. The surveyors record how many steps they took and send their data by tablet to the capitol, Cruel. Tomorrow, someone else behind them will double check their work. Visitors to Hungry hope for a feast, but they misunderstood the tourist promotion. Food must be gathered and they’ll never find enough to be sated. Few may enter the capitol Cruel except servants. The masters of the city track the measurements of Hungry and they receive data daily on the steps each citizen has taken.  “Our borders are shrinking,”...

Prone to mudslides, the tall islands of Trepidatious float. Each island city vies for distinction. However, no decision about which city deserves honors has been made. Most denizens attend college, but few receive degrees for everyone frequently changes direction. Often leaders fall into the sea while debating some issue. There are frequent elections and long-winded debates. Few immigrate to Trepidatious.  “I’d be afraid my house would slide into the sea,” says Fromme Wilder.  “We’d move further inland if we knew when it was safe to go,” says Yol Tal.  Miserable once loomed on the edge of the highest cliff on the biggest of the Trepidatious Islands. Then it slid into the sea. Now capitol lies in rocky seaside, salt encrusted ruins.  “The leaders of Miserable were arguing a matter of import before the city fell,” says the Guide. “And now they continue as ghosts haunting the Ruins of Miserable.” “If only we had access to the crowd-sourcing devices of Commonsense!” say...

Reptiles fill the swamp Betrayed where the moist, humid climate keeps their hearts thumping. People go shirtless under the thin wraps they use to deter mosquitos. They wear thigh high rubber boots. Once a month everyone suffers from Betrayed Fever. They shake uncontrollably until the fever breaks. They tether homes over the water and cross on rickety rope bridges. They do things the way they have always done them and focus on survival. They wear their lank hair braided beneath rubber caps.  “Damp and bugs, that’s our way of life,” says the Guide, Hoyle.  At night their huts swing and the breeze cools them a little. The gators go still waiting for the sun to return. Distrust, a city of ropes, swings in the heart of Betrayed. Sometimes a rope snaps. Distrustians know how to evade gators and snakes, but sometimes even they fall prey. Distrustians carry spyglasses to watch the swamp closely.  “Did you prefer the rope city or the villages?” Miss Emeline is asked.   ...

“Nearly everything is edible!” exclaimed Miss Doe Friend, when asked what she liked best about Insatiable. "Round pumpkins. Tall cornstalks. Heavy fruits in vast orchards. Heart-shaped tomatoes. Dark leafy greens. We had the most gorgeous meals, but none of it was terribly filling.”  Insatiable has fantastic bakers and chefs. The denizens love to prepare for feasts. They spend much of their time cooking, dining, and feasting. When they travel, the denizens grow thin for not enough time can be taken to eat. “They looked at me strangely when I reached for a fourth helping,” said an Insatian. “And the bowl was empty.” Therefore, they do not leave on long journeys often.  Persnickety, among the citrus groves, is a fine orderly city, says the Guide. A clear path leads to it, but there are many rules regarding oranges. Persnickety tests and approves new recipes. Visitors who make missteps must take turns as servers at the Insatiable Feasts and set the tables correctly. Some perform...

The flatland Ambiguity has no clear borders. The farmlands run into the cities. The weather changes quickly from mixed sun to foggy snow. The people carry packs filled with extra hats and coats. The roads fade. Visitors get lost in the dunes. They arrive by accident half starved. There’s barely enough to eat, but plenty of tea.  Miss Emeline sits at the window with her teacup pondering the changing weather. Stones line the roadside. “They look like monuments and yet mean nothing,” she says.  Then, Miss Emeline traveled to Portentous, the City of Seers. She walked along the stonewall to those trained in the arts of divination. Miss Doe Friend allowed them to read the cards for her.  “I was uncertain at times whether we had lost our way, but Miss Emeline persisted and I have never gone wrong following her,” said Miss Doe Friend. “'Does a city exist in a land that has no cities?' I asked. But then we saw the seven stones: violet, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red...

When Miss Emeline traveled by stagecoach to the prairie Downtrodden she shook the dust out of her skirts as she disembarked. Tumbleweeds rolled as she passed Hardwork. The hotel above the saloon offered her a thick bitter drink, porridge for breakfast, and cornbread and cabbage stew for dinner.  “I was parched from my journey,” she said. “The Downtrodden were kind, but weathering the harsh environment leaves them little energy for niceties and entertainment. I was the only visitor they’d had in some time. The capitol Sober is well-ordered. Everyone lives comfortably.”  Miss Emeline shows Doe and Amma, who stayed behind, pictures of the Downtrodden prairie dogs and vultures.

A cartographer surveys Tedious and takes note of all the features of its terrain: waterfalls, walking trails, bridges, train tracks, farms, fields, and river beds. Villages lie nestled in the woods beside lakes. Cities ring the ocean. Tedians document the growth of their cities and the size of their harvests meticulously. It takes forever to get from one place to another. The trains run unscheduled. Tedians ride the slow river ferry. It often seems faster to walk the steep rocky roads. Some take rowboats across the lake. No one travels by air.  Visitors to Tedious wait with their paperwork. Then they wait on the platform for the train to the Tedious Cities by the Sea. When they arrive, the hotel remains closed until 4 pm. Nothing else is open either.  Tsunami warnings shriek in Worried, a Tedious City by the Sea. Red signs dot the seashore every 100 feet. Visitors practice life drills. False alarms sounds. People go around in lifejackets having forgotten to take them off. Wo...

Taste: coffee  Sound: rustle of clothing; fall of rain Smell: postal clothes  Sight: a black chandelier; golden fall leaves  Touch: stiff hands  Extra:  anxiety, panic, tense, tight Grateful for: days at home, friends voices, mushrooms, the beauty of the Pacific Northwest

In Inebriated, motley crowds fill the loud and chaotic capitol Drunk where nothing is accomplished. Denizens nap in the street side tents erected for that purpose. They throw up in the receptacles provided. No vehicles are permitted. Everyone stumbles short distances or teleports. Everything is recorded so that brilliant ideas had in the throws of intoxication can be remembered. These are rare — but captured and sent to more sober lands in exchange for practical goods. The leaders of Drunk tout their city’s creativity.  Many travel between Drunk and Sober. “I’ll never go back to Drunk,” say visitors to Sober. But they do.  Inebriated sparkles and shines. It’s filled with joyful and boisterous residents. They make brash decisions which often turn out well, but cannot be counted upon for sound strategy. They drink from the sparkling waterfalls beside which grow juicy fruits and fragrant blossoms. Inebriated welcomes many visitors. It is a popular tourist attraction filled with...

Rope ladders rise to the land of Uplifting. People climb and climb until finally they begin to feel themselves rise. Then they let go and float the rest of the way to Uplifting in the clouds near the sun. Uplifting glows a sunrise pink. The people wear clouds. They drink cloud wine and eat cloud berries. They peer through time scopes and look for the downtrodden. Then the cast down their cloud ropes saying, “Climb up and join us for a time!”  In Uplifting everything looks better and troubles melt. Visitors return to whence they came with lightened hearts.  "I loved the cloud sheep,” says Miss Doe Friend, who missed her lover Alobar just a bit less in Uplifting. The Time Scopes watch the surface from the capitol Prepared, where the denizens take their duties seriously and rise at dawn for stretching exercises. Then they blink quickly to sharpen their eyesight and peer through the telescopes to spot the people most in need. In an emergency, the eagle-like Preparitons swoop down ...

A great mountain walls Uninvited off from the sea. Workers hefted stones all the way around it. The rocks take up much of the circumference so inside the Circle Uninvited there’s little room. The language of Uninvited is one of the most difficult to learn and even few of the Uninvited are masters of their own tongue. The many complex rules are difficult to follow even for native speakers. When mispronounced, words have the opposite, offensive meaning, or become unintelligible.  Uninviteds do not like newcomers, or their own kind, very much. They have forgotten a key part of their history. The wall around them was built not to keep others out, but to keep themselves in. Skilled artisans built the wall which is beautiful from the outside, made of crushed tiles, but unremarkable from within. Therefore, curious youth want to enter and will go to great lengths to scale the wall and see what is on the other side. Unfortunately for all concerned, the people that built the great wall arou...

Invited welcomes all to its vast network of cities connected by railways. Denizens speed from place to place. They arrive at each others’ parties bearing gifts of wine and elixir, berries and olives. Ferries cross the wide rivers. Denizens enjoy concerts in the parks. They walk the wide trails along the river together. They play games and enjoy picnics. Shops provide free beverages, hot or cold, and cool sweets. Every game emporium offers free salty snacks and a few sweet ones and pints of delicious beverage.  “Mama, may we please spend the weekend in Invited,” a little girl asks.  “Of course!” her Mama replies. Visitors love it here. No one is turned away. The city expands as it must. It contains concerts and parties in buildings and at farms. There are scheduled festivities and spontaneous revels. Everyone plays a musical instrument of some kind.  The park Being sits at the center in the shape of two eggs connected. A large trail runs around the entirety. Leaders walk ...

A hidden pathway leads to the valley of Luck and and underground river, most Explorers come to it unexpectedly. A cave in the cliff wall of the sea leads into the river of Luck. A parachute or plane blown off course lands in a clear field of Luck. Lucks green rolling hills and autumn treelined walkways attract anyone who stumbles across them. Luck’s villagers fill the shelves above their fireplaces with beautiful ceramic objects, vases,  and figurines. Fires burn steadily in the hearths. Jewels sparkle in the stones of Luck. Mythical beings swim deep in Luck Lakes, but raise their heads just as the painter raises their brush. Some days it rains flakes of gold. Other days baked goods rise from the ground with glittering frosting.  “Luckians are kind to visitors,” says Miss Doe Friend.  “Their culture expects each chance meeting to result in a gift or a lifelong love or friendship,” says Miss Emeline. “In fact, many of my dearest friends are of Luck.” In the village Tipsy,...

Reedy plants grow in dry, cracked Anxious. The people pluck weeds — any plant that grows too high or covers too much of the land.  “We want to be able to see around the perimeter of the fortress in case of attack,” says the Guide.   “Attacked by whom?” asks Miss Emeline.  Armies attacked Anxious once long ago, the story goes. Monsters riding other monsters charged with spears and scaled the fortress walls.  “Why?” asks Miss Doe Friend. No one remembers. They repeat the story they once heard, and worry.  "We remain prepared,” says the Guide.  Anxians live within the fortress. They keep watch. They venture forth to weed and trim the plants. They eat cactus. They sautée the thorns.  “Always worried,” says Miss Doe Friend, in a rare moment of extreme candor and certainty. “It’s no way to live.”  “Perhaps they were the attackers,” says Miss Emeline.  Suicidal was once an oasis, then a mud pit, and now a cracked basin where monsters wearing crowns...

Visitors stay a few days, and that is enough, in loud and bright Terribly Awesome. Geese cry heavy metal anthems. Waterfalls drop in dub-step. Sunsets phase in and out. Dawn flashes and dusk strobes. The moon waxes and wanes in slo-motion and then hyper-speed. The river rushes in stop motion or glides so slowly that it can be walked upon. The bridges point skyward and pierce the ground on the other side. Buildings tower. Every one floats and flies. They zoom through the air rising and falling.  “It’s a wonderfully, frighteningly, overwhelming place to visit,” said Miss Doe Friend.  Even Miss Emeline Traveler said, “I could not take much of it.”  “A weekend is plenty,” says the Guide. It’s good advice.  Visitors bring home loud, bright Terribly Awesome hoodies, shirts, and parachute pants, but then wear them once a year at most. They seem wildly out of place anywhere else. Drumbeats resound when they are tapped on the shoulder or thumped on the chest. The pants bill...

Animals gather around the watering pool in the veldt Enthusiastic. They share the news of the day. They watch the sunrises and sunsets together. Elephants share their wisdom, cheetahs their speed, giraffes their height, gazelles their vertical lift. Vultures say what they have seen from above. Each animal shifts form from one day to the next to better know that shape or chooses to retain a shape — as an ostrich, hippopotamus, wildebeest, or musk ox — for many days or weeks. Some change daily especially the young. Chimpanzees, gorillas, and leopards live in the mountains of Enthusiastic, wild with flowers.  Excitable, the capitol of Enthusiastic, lies atop Excitable Waterfall which rushes down filling many pools into the River Enthusiasm. Animals leap into the waterfall and swim in the pools. Beneath the waterfall, secrets and mysteries hide in caves. Hippopotamuses live in the pool at the top of the falls. Great white, black and red ibises soar in the falls’ mist. 

Taste: Arkansas black apples  Sound: the crunch of an Arkansas Black apple  Smell: the inside of an 80s Halloween mask  Sight: a glory of autumn leaves, red spires; mushrooms: amanita, chanterelle, bolete; Russula sanguinaria, bloody brittlegill; Lycoperdon pyriforme, the wolf-fart puffball Touch: blankets and dog sweaters  Extra: a handwritten letter  Grateful for: acupuncture and relaxation

“Creative offers so many avenues for exploration,” says the Guide. “There are rolling hills, archways, doorways, passages, hidden grottos, and caves. You are free to explore as you desire. You can checkout a jetpack, wait for an airship, or join the rest of the perambulators.”  “We walked many of the winding, cobbled pathways that lead to the Creative Sea,” said Miss Doe Friend. “I loved the herds of horses and flocks of geese.”  “We met many Creative travelers,” said Miss Emeline Traveler. “But many Creativians are stay at home types: painters, knitters, and farmers. You’ll see them with easels set up overlooking their farmlands.”  Elephants hold paintbrushes in their trunks. Pigs slide colored paints across canvas with their snouts. Flocks of swallows fly in patterns. They wave air hands and wink air eyes. The clouds of Creative change colors with the time of day and season.  “It does offer the most beautiful light,” says Miss Emeline. “Everyone certainly looks e...

The undulating green mudslides of Blasé harbor waterfowl, frogs, slugs, and green insects. Lotus roots grow deep here. Workers slowly harvest rice in watery mud flats. They live in grass huts. Airships fly over them, but the Blasé travel infrequently. Visitors come to bathe in the mud and drink lotus tea which is said to be healing. They close their eyes and soak. No one wants to immigrate to Blasé. But some do. There is always work to be done: cleaning off mud, picking lotus leaves for tea, harvesting the wet grains. Airships rise above the thin tree line. Little blue leaves flutter.  The cave Repulsed hides in the muck. A village surrounds it. The Repulsed worship the monster who lives in the cave and sacrifice clay figurines made of mud to it. They build mud monster monuments. The monster defecates mountains of green mud and sheds its skin weekly. The Repulsed turn the strips into leather. They wear sturdy muck monster dusters and boots. The Repulsed have thin grey green mustach...