Poem: "The Imagination to Improvise"
This poem is spillover from the April 4, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Readera, Fuzzyred, Librarygeek, and Goddessgiggles. It also fills the "Art Studio" square in my 4-1-23 card for the Gothic Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with DW user Fuzzyred. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"The Imagination to Improvise"
[Tuesday, June 28, 2016]
Shiv leaned over the workbench
in his studio, carefully fitting
bits of stained glass together.
He stretched and groaned.
This andamento class
was really kicking his ass.
It was all about shapes and
flow, how to divide up the image
you wanted to make into all of
the necessary pieces of glass.
Okay, he'd already taken one
on breaking things down into
simple shapes, but that had
been with the charcoals.
He had done a handful of
basic classes in stained glass
that were fun, learning straight lines
and curves, but those worked with
scrap glass or from patterns taken
out of a beginner's craft book.
Then there was the one on
easy to impossible shapes.
Shiv had discovered that,
with his superpowers, he could
actually make "impossible" shapes
like squiggles or even tetrominoes.
Then he had discovered that, unless
he also made the glass unbreakable,
it would soon develop a crack.
He quickly came to the conclusion
that trying to make glass do things
it damn well didn't want to do
was just not worth the work.
It was kinda like a supervillain
that way: fine until you pissed it off,
and then it would find a way to cut you.
The keystoning workshop had been
a bit more of a challenge, but really
it was just about cutting pieces
to fit a curve better, and all he
had to do was follow a line.
This? This was ridiculous.
The assignment was to pick
a photograph of mountains and
turn that into a pattern based on
simple geometric shapes, and
then make it in stained glass.
Shiv had seen mountainscapes
in stained glass, really good ones,
but they didn't look anything like
the sample design -- and he couldn't
even make something as good as that.
He glared at the assembled triangles
of blue-gray glass supporting a circle of
orange glass, supposedly representing
a mountain range and the setting sun.
He had drawn inspiration from
how Payne's Gray decorated
his apartment with light neutrals
accented with pops of brighter colors.
This mess of a project didn't look
anywhere near that nice now.
Grumbling, Shiv picked up
the length of metal that he was
using to attach the pieces and
tried to fill in some of the gaps.
At least he didn't have to use heat
to melt solder like everyone else did,
because that ran the risk of cracks too.
A knock on the door made him yelp
and drop the metal on the floor.
"You okay in there?" Tolli yelled.
"Clear the door, we're coming in!"
The Finns were all worrywarts.
Armed worrywarts, in this case,
because Tolli and Simon burst in
looking around for trouble.
"I'm fine," Shiv muttered,
using his superpower
to fish out the metal
that had rolled under
his workbench. "You
just startled me, is all."
"Shiv, it's ten-twenty, so
we're late," Tolli pointed out.
"Yeah, we thought that you'd
be pacing impatiently outside,"
Simon added, looking at him.
"Is it safe to come in?" Pavo said,
peeking around the edge of the door.
"All clear," Tolli said. "We just
startled Shiv a bit, no worries."
"Sorry, man, I thought you were
expecting us today," Pavo said. "We
popped in outside and walked up here."
"I was, I just lost track of time working
on this stupid assignment," said Shiv.
"This andamento class is kicking my ass."
"Mind if we take a look, or is it still unfinished
and strictly no peeking yet?" Tolli asked him.
"Oh, go ahead," Shiv said, waving a hand
at his workbench. "It sucks anyway."
Tolli leaned over to look at it.
"I think it looks nice," he said.
"Ooo, great color choices,
that really pops," said Pavo.
"Such a sunny orange, and
a couple of the mountain parts
have faint streaks of peach
mixed with the blue-gray."
"I like how you've used
streaky glass to suggest
rock layers," Simon said.
Okay, maybe the piece
didn't totally suck after all.
"I was gonna give this one
to Payne's Gray for his place,
but I dunno, it's nothin' special,"
Shiv said, trying to see the piece
the same way that they did.
"Hmm," said Tolli. "Do
you remember Edison and
the T-shirt? He thought that
it was ruined, but you loved it."
"Well yeah, it was fine, the smudge
really did make it look more like
a paint palette," Shiv replied.
"That's because you could only
see the T-shirt itself, and not
the image Edison had in mind
when making it," said Tolli.
"I bet that it'll be the same
with Payne's Gray and
your stained glass work,"
said Simon. "All he'll see is
that you made something for
him that matches his apartment."
"Besides, isn't this the first of
the advanced classes that
you've taken?" Pavo asked,
and Shiv nodded. "Well, they
don't call it that for nothing --
you can't expect it to easy
like the beginner classes."
"Yeah, but this is the first
assignment that's more than
just doodling, and it looks
awful," Shiv complained.
"Nobody gets to the good stuff
without making a lot of garbage,"
Pavo said. "You should see
some of the crud that I've
turned out in art classes.
If you keep practicing,
though, you get better."
"I guess so," Shiv said,
carefully pushing the piece
to the center of the workbench
where it would stay safe. "Do
you guys want the tour now?"
"Thought you'd never ask,"
Simon said with a grin. "I'm
just sorry it took us so long
to come see your new place."
"Nah, don't worry about that,"
Shiv said, waving a hand. "It's
been bugnuts crazy everywhere
since the Big One hit, that's all."
"True that, but I am absolutely
on vacation today," said Pavo.
"Yeah right, tell me they didn't
pay you in homemade pasta, I've
seen that Italian beast they keep
in the kitchen," Shiv replied.
Pavo laughed. "Okay, you
got me. "I have a pound each
of squid ink, spinach, blue cabbage,
and purple bilberry linguini noodles
waiting for me in their refrigerator."
They had Pavo's number, all right;
everyone in Junket's cohort seemed
to have a thing for peacock colors.
"No surprise there," said Shiv.
"Anyhow, you can see the rest
of my studio from here. This is
a large one, twice the size of
the medium. The workbench
is for stained glass and metal."
"Nice setup," said Tolli. "I still
envy you not needing heat."
"Totally saves the day with
stained glass, it's much less
prone to crack when I can
assemble it cold," said Shiv.
"I love your patchwork couch,"
Pavo said as he stared at it.
"That's a hide-a-bed too, in case
I need to crash here," said Shiv. "I've
got a kitchenette and a big metal art sink,
then that corner over there has a desk
and chair with my creme pastels, paints,
charcoals, and all my other art stuff."
"This sure looks like a great studio,"
said Simon. "What's your favorite bit?"
Shiv pointed to the ceiling above
his workbench. "The track lighting.
Back at my old place, there were never
enough light heads. Here, I can have
as many as I want with whatever bulbs --
warm white, cool white, these are
daylight, they even have colors.
They buy 'em by the case."
The basic overhead lighting
was fluorescent, which also
came in a similar color range,
but the work areas all had
tracks over them to cast
extra light for artwork.
Shiv loved that about
Hanson Hall -- you really
got what you paid for here.
"Definitely a plus," said Pavo.
"So, this is the studio floor?"
"Yeah, pretty much," said Shiv.
"Come on, I'll show you around."
He led them around a quick loop
of the third floor. "Most of this is
rentable or shared studio space,"
he said. "Some of the thematic ones
are nice -- I like the Anatomy Studio.
Nebraska Spinsters has a whole suite
with different rooms for fibercrafts, and
I love some of what they have going."
"I'm glad you've gotten into yarn,
that makes a nice portable hobby,"
said Tolli. "Some of our veterans
enjoy quiet activities like that."
"It keeps my hands busy,"
Shiv agreed. "Over here is
the main attraction that isn't
more studio space -- this is
the Coexist Community Kitchen
and its attached Dining Room."
"Oh right, I've seen commercials
for that on the Omaha local TV,"
said Simon. "It sounded interesting."
"I might've caught a few classes
in cooking here," Shiv confessed.
"Let's see, we're on the third floor,
what's upstairs?" Simon wondered.
"Not a lot," Shiv said. "I don't
go up much. Fourth is mostly
dance and music, or family stuff.
Fifth has the conference space
and a bunch of meeting rooms."
"Down it is then," Tolli said, and
they headed for the elevators.
Shiv usually took the stairs,
to leave the elevators for people
who really needed them, but he
wasn't about to let Simon go
stunt-driving down stairs where
folks might be carrying art supplies.
Simon did give the wide stairs
a wistful look, but he still rolled
into the elevator when Shiv held it.
"The second floor has most of
the health and wellness stuff,"
said Shiv. "The clinic's decent --"
"Did you get hurt?" Tolli demanded.
"Not me," Shiv said, rolling his eyes.
"Lunette sliced herself trying to cut
curved glass, so I hustled her down
there, and they took care of it okay."
"That's good," said Tolli. "We know you
can take care of yourself, but we still worry."
Shiv couldn't blame them, because most
of the clinics he'd seen were for shit. He felt
lucky to have a decent one here, just in case.
"This end has the Wunderbar and next to it
is the Blue Lounge," said Shiv. "Check out
our awesome still life and upcycling materials."
Pavo just about started drooling. "Do they
do swap boxes? Tell me they do swap boxes."
"Yeah, what it says on the sign, take a piece,
leave a piece," Shiv affirmed. "There's also
an actual swap day on the first Saturday
of each month if you want to come and
bring a bunch of stuff from out east."
"Hell yes," said Pavo. "Most of
our stuff is local, except for what
my cohort and I bring in. Folks
will love a box of something new."
"Dump your old beach stuff with us,"
Shiv said. "Artists love seashells and
driftwood, but those are hard to get here."
He'd brought some from California, but
that was different than the eastern stuff.
Aida had just about talked his ear off
about which critters lived where.
"Happy to oblige," said Pavo.
"We're gonna have so much fun."
"Cool," said Shiv. "Okay, these
are two of my favorite places here:
the Satanic Church of Informed Consent
Center for Life Choices and All Life Is Precious."
"And they're ... right next door to each other?"
Pavo said. "That seems like begging for trouble."
"Nope, quite the opposite," said Shiv. "This way,
folks can read on the bulletin boards what goods
and services to find where. It saves awkward talks
having to refer someone to the other charity."
"Makes sense," said Tolli, then looked
at Simon. "Matching donations?"
"Yep," said Simon. "How about I take
All Life and you take the Satanists?"
"That works for me," Tolli said
as he fished out his wallet.
"Mind your budget," said Shiv.
"There's a bunch more charities
on the first floor, along with
most of the retail stuff."
"Don't worry about it,"
Tolli said. "We set aside
our whole June budget for
casual donations to spend
here, and we've got options
for more if we fall in love with
something outside that too."
Pavo was amusing himself
reading the flyers tacked up
on the nearby bulletin board.
Love Comes in Rainbow Flavors!
read a new one. Another went,
You and Your Prostate Gland.
Shiv spread out a hand
and began counting
down. "Five, four --"
Werner Bridges let out
a happy yelp, and then
bounded out. "Hey, Shiv,
why didn't you tell me that
your family's like half medics?"
"Honestly, I kinda forgot,"
Shiv said. "Just let Simon
hook you up with whomever
had you making happy noises."
He had figured that Werner
and Simon would get along, plus
donations were always welcome.
He really had forgotten that Werner
might also like to meet some of
the world-class medics in Clan Finn.
As Simon and Werner ducked back
into the office to finish arrangements,
Tolli returned from the other one.
"Abyzou has some very interesting
graffiti art," he said. "I don't want
to hold up the tour now, but I'm
definitely coming back later to see
about adding to our collection."
Shiv blinked at him. "I thought
that you just said you liked
that stuff 'cause I done it."
"No, Simon's been a fan of
graffiti art for years, and he got
me hooked on it too," said Tolli.
"You're gonna love it here, but
your budget won't," said Shiv.
"We'll manage," said Tolli.
"Graffiti artists need support
more than most fine artists."
They went down to the first floor
next, and started by the lobby
so it was easier to keep track.
"Pay attention to the Canteen,"
Shiv said. "The food's great, and
they're used to taking care of artists
or soups who forget to eat enough
and faceplant from lack of fuel."
Pavo promptly took a picture
of the entrance with his phone,
then jotted down the address.
"We can always use that."
"Then don't miss this either:
Fuck Yeah Loaves and Fishes,"
Shiv said. "It's our food pantry."
Pavo took another picture
and made some more notes.
"Buddy Christ Church and
Bong Shop?" Simon said,
laughing. "What's up with this?"
"It's a real church," Shiv defended.
"They're just friendly instead of
stuffy. I'm not into it myself, but
well ... Buddy Christ is kinda cute."
"We saw Breakdancing Jesus on
our way in," said Simon. "That is
a fantastic piece of public art."
"Yeah, I like it too," said Shiv.
"Makes a great landmark, and you
can see it way down the street."
Rozeve Pave popped out of
the Tikkun Olam Collective.
"Hi, Shiv, it's good to see you.
Bringing new friends today?"
"Tolli and Simon are family,
visiting to see my new studio.
They're gay," said Shiv. "Pavo
is a friend. He's an artist and,
what was it, novisexual. Folks,
this is Rozeve Pave, she's a lesbian
who runs Ruth and Naomi's Place
that offers support for queer Jews."
Pavo was staring at him. "That's ...
not how people usually introduce me."
"Should I not have said the sex thing?"
Shiv frowned. "But that's the part
she'll want to know, and you don't
act like it's a secret or anything."
"It's not," Pavo said. "People just
tend to focus on the teleport part
rather than on my art or orientation."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
Shiv said. "This is an art center,
not the Maldivian teleport hub, and
Rozeve Pave works the queer charity."
She giggled. "That's true, and I love
how you focus on the relevant parts
rather than what people can do for you."
Was that what he was doing now?
Shiv paused to think about it. Weird.
"It's a Finn thing, we're all about
making connections," Tolli said
with a grin. "Pleased to meet you."
"I'm happy to meet some of Shiv's
family," said Rozeve Pave. "Want
to see the Tikkun Olam Collective?"
"We'd love to," Simon said. "Shiv
has told us a little bit about it."
Shiv was pretty sure that he'd
run his mouth more than a little,
but he didn't want to step on
the very pretty speech that
Rozeve Pave was giving.
"We've got five branches
at present," she explained.
"They're The Generous Jew,
King Solomon's Library,
Rebecca's Closet, Ruth
and Naomi's Place, and
Guardians of the Earth."
She let them peek into
the various rooms, just
as Shiv had on his tour.
This time Simon made
the donation while Tolli
put together a handful of
different business cards.
"These are for some of
our favorite queer groups,"
he said, handing them to
Rozeve Pave. "It never
hurts to have contacts for
long-distance networking
in case folks need to travel."
Shiv knew they'd dropped off
a few folks in Omaha who
wanted to get the hell away
from the East Coast, because
they'd checked with Boss White
first to make sure it was okay.
Boss White was always happy
to boost the diversity in Omaha,
which was on the conservative side,
and so Shiv was smooth with it too.
As they walked on, Shiv pointed out
a few other favorites. "The Gallery
and Global Hope Gift Shop are
always worth a look for new stuff."
"Oh wow, what's this?" Pavo said.
"Ella's Arts and Crafts Emporium,
so don't go in unless you can afford
to blow at least an hour," Shiv said,
gently towing him away from the door.
Next came the Performance Corner
and Brown Lounge, with a busker
playing a bluesy harmonica tune.
Tolli dropped a donation in the tip jar,
and Shiv pointed out the schedule
where folks could sign up to perform.
"This place seems to have a lot of
performance spaces," Tolli observed.
"Yeah, it does," said Shiv. "They're fun.
Some you can book like this, some are
first-come-first-served, others for rent."
"I hear barking," Simon said. "Does
someone have an assistance dog?"
Shiv cocked his head. "That's not
an alert bark," he said. "Ahimsa
probably brought some models
early so they can calm down. I
think there's a session soon."
He checked his smartphone.
"Yeah, Doggone Good Art
starts in about an hour."
"What in the world?"
Pavo said, laughing.
"I'll show you, this is
another of my favorites,"
Shiv said as he led the way
to the Dobutsu Kannon Temple
of Animal Care. "I love this place."
As he opened the door to the suite,
more happy yapping spilled out.
"Shut the door, I've got Tripawd
in here!" Ahimsa called out.
"Hustle it up," Shiv said,
pushing his people inside.
"That pup's an escape artist."
The black-and-tan dog bounded
over to meet them, tail flogging
the air eagerly as she sniffed
all around Simon's wheelchair.
"Don't water my wheels, pup,"
he warned as he watched her.
"Oh, she won't, she's housebroken,"
said Ahimsa. "Just exuberant."
Another dog followed behind
at a more sedate pace.
Pinto Bean had a wheelchair
of his own strapped around
his chest, since he had lost
his front legs and part of
his tail in a car crash.
"Now there's a cute dog,"
Simon said with a grin.
"That's Pinto Bean, and
he's another of our models.
I'm Ahimsa," he said. "I run
the Dobutsu Kannon Temple
of Animal Care. Are you friends
with Shiv? He's one of my devas."
That was his cute Buddhist term
for the kind of big donors that
everyone else called "angels."
"Tolli and Simon are family,"
Shiv explained. "Pavo's a friend,
he's an artist from out east."
"We've heard a lot about
this place," Simon said.
"Pleased to meet you,"
said Ahimsa. "Shiv, I'm
glad you stopped by today.
There's someone I'd like you
to meet, a new member --
she's back looking at desks."
The higher levels let you keep
a desk or an easel here so you
didn't have to lug your art stuff
back and forth. It was nice.
"Sure, they wanna see
my desk too," said Shiv.
"I'll give you the nickel tour,"
said Ahimsa. "The office
and dottie are up front here."
Everyone followed him,
doggy toenails clicking
on the floor as Tripawd
danced around them.
"We're doing a session
of Doggone Good Art in
less than an hour, if any
of you would like to join
in the fun," Ahimsa invited.
"We murder a canvas
now and then, but we're
not really artists," said Tolli.
"I'm game," said Pavo. "I was
hoping to catch something today."
Tripawd yipped at him and then
tried to untie his shoelaces.
"You can see why I bring
the models early, so they
can settle," Ahimsa said,
gently shooing her away.
Shiv snorted. "Tripawd
never settles much, that's
why she's Gesture Sketch Dog."
"True enough," Ahimsa said.
"The classroom is over there,
and back here is our art space
for regular members. My desk
is the big U-shape in that corner."
"Here's my desk," Shiv said, pointing
to one against a wall. The surface was
covered with sketches and containers
of art supplies. Above the desk, rails
held rows of his finished pictures.
"I like the one-eyed cat," Simon said,
pointing to a charcoal sketch.
"That's Winky," said Ahimsa.
"He's a Scottish Fold, and yes,
he only has one eye left. He's
a good, quiet art model."
Then a young woman
straightened up from where
she'd been crouching to look
at the base of an art desk.
She was tawny and lean
with long curly blonde hair
and a certain catlike grace.
She wore a ruffled black blouse
over a matching handkerchief skirt,
a style that Shiv recognized from
Renaissance faires, although
her black scarf had a band of
pink and green stripes along it.
A golden ladybug pendant
dangled from a delicate chain.
"Oh, hello," she said, then
looked at Ahimsa. "Are
these more members?"
"Shiv is one of our devas,
and the others are friends and
family of his," Ahimsa explained,
then introduced the rest of them.
"Folks, this is Kathan Vilt, originally
from Berkeley and recently moved
into Omaha. She just joined here."
"Took a while for my refugee relief funds
to get here, but now I can afford to do this,
and I'm starting over with college this fall,"
said Kathan. "I'm mostly a writer, but
I do a little sketching for fun too."
"We get all kinds here," said Shiv.
"I do drawing, painting, sculpture,
all kinds of stuff. Can't read or
write worth a crap, though."
"I'm primarily a painter, but I
dabble in a few other things,"
said Pavo. "I'm a teleporter too."
"Oh! It's nice to meet another soup,
I'm a shapeshifter," said Kathan.
Then she sort of ... rippled ... and
a wave of golden fur rolled across
her skin as she shifted, like a lioness
sliding out of and back into the grass.
Shiv grinned and pulled his play-putty
out of a pocket. Holding out his hand,
he animated the metal into a tiny cat
that prowled around his palm.
"Ain't got a fancy name for it,
but that's my trick," he said.
"Me, I'm just a blacksmith,"
Tolli said. "I need a forge to do
what Shiv does with his fingers."
Shiv snorted. "I can't do a tenth
of what you do with a forge."
"Well, I can't do what you do
with stained glass," said Tolli.
"After the mess I made of
today's project, I'm not so sure
that I can either," Shiv muttered.
"Write badly with pride!" Kathan said,
punching the air with a fist. "You
can't make any progress without
making mistakes. Otherwise, how
would you learn what not to do?"
"I ... never thought about it like that,"
Shiv said, mulling it over in his mind.
"I'm too used to people telling me that
I shouldn't have drawn or written
whatever I did. It's better now,
but well, old habits die hard."
"Some teachers are just awful,"
Kathan said. "And by the way,
everything in life is writable about
if you have the outgoing guts to do it,
and the imagination to improvise.
The worst enemy to creativity is
self-doubt. So don't doubt yourself."
"Yeah, that'd be a trick," Shiv said.
"I'm too familiar with my fuckups."
"Put a can of spray paint in your hand
and you're plenty confident," Simon said.
"Bet China still regrets picking that fight."
Shiv chuckled. "Ah, that's different."
"It counts," said Kathan. "Whatever
you feel that you do well is good."
She maybe had a point. Of course,
Shiv had been doing graffiti since
he could hold a crayon, so he had
plenty of practice getting good.
Might could be he just needed
more time with stained glass.
Or to have a cop car roll by
with a little extra motivation.
"So, what brought you here?"
Shiv wondered. "Looking for
the animal anatomy classes?
Those are pretty cool, we
got all kinds of critters here."
"Science and I are taking
a break in our relationship,
Kathan said, grimacing.
"After the lab accident
that gave me my powers,
it's just not as fun anymore.
I still enjoy hobby art, though."
"Wowch," Simon said. "Changes
that big can be quite a challenge."
"I'm coping," said Kathan. "I do like
learning how to shift into new shapes,
but then, my perspective changes
with them, and my sexuality is
all over the damn place now."
"Oh?" said Pavo. "I'm novisexual,
mine doesn't really fit in words."
"Mine fits, it just won't stay put,"
Kathan replied, flicking her scarf.
"I say abrosexual because that's
shorter than saying lesbian in
human female form, gay in
human male form, and then
aliquasexual in animal forms
that have a mating season."
"You win," Pavo said. "That
sounds way more confusing
than what I have to deal with."
Shiv wasn't about to throw
his hat into that ring, because
fuck traumatasexual anyway.
He'd rather just stick with ace.
Ahimsa puttered around in
the background, filling a box
with spare art supplies in case
some folks showed up without
any at the class session.
Tolli watched him, then said,
"Simon and I want to support
Shiv's favorite groups here. Do
you have a donation page?"
"Yeah, here," Ahimsa said,
showing Tolli his phone.
Tolli and Simon huddled
together, scheming.
"This oughta be good,"
Shiv murmured to Pavo.
Sure enough, Ahimsa
checked his phone
and whooped in glee.
"Thank you so much!"
he said. "Shiv, you
really are a deva, you
rain blessings on me."
"We keep rescue horses,
we know how much it takes
to keep critters fed," said Simon.
"Horses?" Ahimsa said, brightening.
"Our vet cares for large animals as
well as small, but I just don't have
room for anything bigger than dogs."
"Yeah, they hosted an art party out
at their farm once, that was a blast,"
said Pavo. "It made great scenery."
"Except for the horses fucking off to
the far end of the pasture," Shiv said.
"Well, they're rescues, they don't know
what strangers might do," Simon said.
"How far out of town do you live?"
said Ahimsa. "Our members know
how to stay calm for rescued animals."
"Ah, we're actually out near Raleigh,"
said Tolli. "We caught a ride with Pavo."
"No big deal," said Pavo. "I could take
a few people from here to there and back.
I do a fair bit of travel to art parties and such."
He'd taken Shiv to one in the Heights once,
which had been so exciting, and another time
they'd done beach cards with Pavo's friends.
"Well, figure out a price and we can work out
a barter equivalent," said Ahimsa. "If you
enjoy drawing animals, I have quite a variety,
plus arrangements with other organizations
who bring in raptors or zoo animals."
So they put their heads together and
hashed out the details. Shiv wasn't
surprised when Pavo came in at
the high end of the donation scale.
Ahimsa was so happy that
anyone else would've been
vibrating in place, but he
was too mellow for that,
so he just rippled a bit.
"The dogs are settling
as much as they're going to,"
he said. "Would you folks
like to start sketching early?"
"Yeah, sure, I'm game for
Gesture Sketch Dog," said Shiv.
"I think I'll try Pinto Bean,"
said Kathan. "I like his rig, and
I'm okay with drawing cute things."
"That's a fine piece of engineering,"
Simon agreed. "I'm not much of
an artist, but I could fool around a bit."
Shiv rummaged in his desk. "Here,
use my creme pastels," he suggested.
"They're kinda like crayons, so you
don't have to worry about fiddly lines,
just aim for the big shapes of things."
While he was there, he dug out
a sketchpad and a set of charcoals.
Kathan picked some colored pencils,
charcoals, and paper from the art box.
"Do you have any aluminum foil?"
Tolli wondered. "I like that as
a sketch medium for blacksmithing."
"Sure, people use that as armatures
for sculpting," Ahimsa said, and
produced a whole box of it.
"Pavo, there's paint and
canvasboard around here
somewhere if you want it,"
Shiv offered. "Oil, acrylic,
watercolor, spray paint ..."
"Acrylic, that's good for
working fast," said Pavo.
"Over here," said Ahimsa,
and showed him the cabinet.
Shiv helped set up the chairs
for class, then settled into one.
Tripawd had slowed down enough
that she wasn't a total blur. She
would find something interesting
and sniff at it for a few seconds,
then trot away after something else.
Pinto Bean was actually snoozing
in his harness, chin on Kathan's knee,
while she sketched his doggy wheels.
"I'm glad that you invited us out here,"
Tolli said as he worked a lump of foil
into something suggesting a dog.
"Yeah," Shiv said happily. "Me too."
It was turning into a terrific day.
His life might not be quite perfect,
but that was all right with him anyhow.
He had the imagination to improvise.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, setting, and content notes appear separately.
"The Imagination to Improvise"
[Tuesday, June 28, 2016]
Shiv leaned over the workbench
in his studio, carefully fitting
bits of stained glass together.
He stretched and groaned.
This andamento class
was really kicking his ass.
It was all about shapes and
flow, how to divide up the image
you wanted to make into all of
the necessary pieces of glass.
Okay, he'd already taken one
on breaking things down into
simple shapes, but that had
been with the charcoals.
He had done a handful of
basic classes in stained glass
that were fun, learning straight lines
and curves, but those worked with
scrap glass or from patterns taken
out of a beginner's craft book.
Then there was the one on
easy to impossible shapes.
Shiv had discovered that,
with his superpowers, he could
actually make "impossible" shapes
like squiggles or even tetrominoes.
Then he had discovered that, unless
he also made the glass unbreakable,
it would soon develop a crack.
He quickly came to the conclusion
that trying to make glass do things
it damn well didn't want to do
was just not worth the work.
It was kinda like a supervillain
that way: fine until you pissed it off,
and then it would find a way to cut you.
The keystoning workshop had been
a bit more of a challenge, but really
it was just about cutting pieces
to fit a curve better, and all he
had to do was follow a line.
This? This was ridiculous.
The assignment was to pick
a photograph of mountains and
turn that into a pattern based on
simple geometric shapes, and
then make it in stained glass.
Shiv had seen mountainscapes
in stained glass, really good ones,
but they didn't look anything like
the sample design -- and he couldn't
even make something as good as that.
He glared at the assembled triangles
of blue-gray glass supporting a circle of
orange glass, supposedly representing
a mountain range and the setting sun.
He had drawn inspiration from
how Payne's Gray decorated
his apartment with light neutrals
accented with pops of brighter colors.
This mess of a project didn't look
anywhere near that nice now.
Grumbling, Shiv picked up
the length of metal that he was
using to attach the pieces and
tried to fill in some of the gaps.
At least he didn't have to use heat
to melt solder like everyone else did,
because that ran the risk of cracks too.
A knock on the door made him yelp
and drop the metal on the floor.
"You okay in there?" Tolli yelled.
"Clear the door, we're coming in!"
The Finns were all worrywarts.
Armed worrywarts, in this case,
because Tolli and Simon burst in
looking around for trouble.
"I'm fine," Shiv muttered,
using his superpower
to fish out the metal
that had rolled under
his workbench. "You
just startled me, is all."
"Shiv, it's ten-twenty, so
we're late," Tolli pointed out.
"Yeah, we thought that you'd
be pacing impatiently outside,"
Simon added, looking at him.
"Is it safe to come in?" Pavo said,
peeking around the edge of the door.
"All clear," Tolli said. "We just
startled Shiv a bit, no worries."
"Sorry, man, I thought you were
expecting us today," Pavo said. "We
popped in outside and walked up here."
"I was, I just lost track of time working
on this stupid assignment," said Shiv.
"This andamento class is kicking my ass."
"Mind if we take a look, or is it still unfinished
and strictly no peeking yet?" Tolli asked him.
"Oh, go ahead," Shiv said, waving a hand
at his workbench. "It sucks anyway."
Tolli leaned over to look at it.
"I think it looks nice," he said.
"Ooo, great color choices,
that really pops," said Pavo.
"Such a sunny orange, and
a couple of the mountain parts
have faint streaks of peach
mixed with the blue-gray."
"I like how you've used
streaky glass to suggest
rock layers," Simon said.
Okay, maybe the piece
didn't totally suck after all.
"I was gonna give this one
to Payne's Gray for his place,
but I dunno, it's nothin' special,"
Shiv said, trying to see the piece
the same way that they did.
"Hmm," said Tolli. "Do
you remember Edison and
the T-shirt? He thought that
it was ruined, but you loved it."
"Well yeah, it was fine, the smudge
really did make it look more like
a paint palette," Shiv replied.
"That's because you could only
see the T-shirt itself, and not
the image Edison had in mind
when making it," said Tolli.
"I bet that it'll be the same
with Payne's Gray and
your stained glass work,"
said Simon. "All he'll see is
that you made something for
him that matches his apartment."
"Besides, isn't this the first of
the advanced classes that
you've taken?" Pavo asked,
and Shiv nodded. "Well, they
don't call it that for nothing --
you can't expect it to easy
like the beginner classes."
"Yeah, but this is the first
assignment that's more than
just doodling, and it looks
awful," Shiv complained.
"Nobody gets to the good stuff
without making a lot of garbage,"
Pavo said. "You should see
some of the crud that I've
turned out in art classes.
If you keep practicing,
though, you get better."
"I guess so," Shiv said,
carefully pushing the piece
to the center of the workbench
where it would stay safe. "Do
you guys want the tour now?"
"Thought you'd never ask,"
Simon said with a grin. "I'm
just sorry it took us so long
to come see your new place."
"Nah, don't worry about that,"
Shiv said, waving a hand. "It's
been bugnuts crazy everywhere
since the Big One hit, that's all."
"True that, but I am absolutely
on vacation today," said Pavo.
"Yeah right, tell me they didn't
pay you in homemade pasta, I've
seen that Italian beast they keep
in the kitchen," Shiv replied.
Pavo laughed. "Okay, you
got me. "I have a pound each
of squid ink, spinach, blue cabbage,
and purple bilberry linguini noodles
waiting for me in their refrigerator."
They had Pavo's number, all right;
everyone in Junket's cohort seemed
to have a thing for peacock colors.
"No surprise there," said Shiv.
"Anyhow, you can see the rest
of my studio from here. This is
a large one, twice the size of
the medium. The workbench
is for stained glass and metal."
"Nice setup," said Tolli. "I still
envy you not needing heat."
"Totally saves the day with
stained glass, it's much less
prone to crack when I can
assemble it cold," said Shiv.
"I love your patchwork couch,"
Pavo said as he stared at it.
"That's a hide-a-bed too, in case
I need to crash here," said Shiv. "I've
got a kitchenette and a big metal art sink,
then that corner over there has a desk
and chair with my creme pastels, paints,
charcoals, and all my other art stuff."
"This sure looks like a great studio,"
said Simon. "What's your favorite bit?"
Shiv pointed to the ceiling above
his workbench. "The track lighting.
Back at my old place, there were never
enough light heads. Here, I can have
as many as I want with whatever bulbs --
warm white, cool white, these are
daylight, they even have colors.
They buy 'em by the case."
The basic overhead lighting
was fluorescent, which also
came in a similar color range,
but the work areas all had
tracks over them to cast
extra light for artwork.
Shiv loved that about
Hanson Hall -- you really
got what you paid for here.
"Definitely a plus," said Pavo.
"So, this is the studio floor?"
"Yeah, pretty much," said Shiv.
"Come on, I'll show you around."
He led them around a quick loop
of the third floor. "Most of this is
rentable or shared studio space,"
he said. "Some of the thematic ones
are nice -- I like the Anatomy Studio.
Nebraska Spinsters has a whole suite
with different rooms for fibercrafts, and
I love some of what they have going."
"I'm glad you've gotten into yarn,
that makes a nice portable hobby,"
said Tolli. "Some of our veterans
enjoy quiet activities like that."
"It keeps my hands busy,"
Shiv agreed. "Over here is
the main attraction that isn't
more studio space -- this is
the Coexist Community Kitchen
and its attached Dining Room."
"Oh right, I've seen commercials
for that on the Omaha local TV,"
said Simon. "It sounded interesting."
"I might've caught a few classes
in cooking here," Shiv confessed.
"Let's see, we're on the third floor,
what's upstairs?" Simon wondered.
"Not a lot," Shiv said. "I don't
go up much. Fourth is mostly
dance and music, or family stuff.
Fifth has the conference space
and a bunch of meeting rooms."
"Down it is then," Tolli said, and
they headed for the elevators.
Shiv usually took the stairs,
to leave the elevators for people
who really needed them, but he
wasn't about to let Simon go
stunt-driving down stairs where
folks might be carrying art supplies.
Simon did give the wide stairs
a wistful look, but he still rolled
into the elevator when Shiv held it.
"The second floor has most of
the health and wellness stuff,"
said Shiv. "The clinic's decent --"
"Did you get hurt?" Tolli demanded.
"Not me," Shiv said, rolling his eyes.
"Lunette sliced herself trying to cut
curved glass, so I hustled her down
there, and they took care of it okay."
"That's good," said Tolli. "We know you
can take care of yourself, but we still worry."
Shiv couldn't blame them, because most
of the clinics he'd seen were for shit. He felt
lucky to have a decent one here, just in case.
"This end has the Wunderbar and next to it
is the Blue Lounge," said Shiv. "Check out
our awesome still life and upcycling materials."
Pavo just about started drooling. "Do they
do swap boxes? Tell me they do swap boxes."
"Yeah, what it says on the sign, take a piece,
leave a piece," Shiv affirmed. "There's also
an actual swap day on the first Saturday
of each month if you want to come and
bring a bunch of stuff from out east."
"Hell yes," said Pavo. "Most of
our stuff is local, except for what
my cohort and I bring in. Folks
will love a box of something new."
"Dump your old beach stuff with us,"
Shiv said. "Artists love seashells and
driftwood, but those are hard to get here."
He'd brought some from California, but
that was different than the eastern stuff.
Aida had just about talked his ear off
about which critters lived where.
"Happy to oblige," said Pavo.
"We're gonna have so much fun."
"Cool," said Shiv. "Okay, these
are two of my favorite places here:
the Satanic Church of Informed Consent
Center for Life Choices and All Life Is Precious."
"And they're ... right next door to each other?"
Pavo said. "That seems like begging for trouble."
"Nope, quite the opposite," said Shiv. "This way,
folks can read on the bulletin boards what goods
and services to find where. It saves awkward talks
having to refer someone to the other charity."
"Makes sense," said Tolli, then looked
at Simon. "Matching donations?"
"Yep," said Simon. "How about I take
All Life and you take the Satanists?"
"That works for me," Tolli said
as he fished out his wallet.
"Mind your budget," said Shiv.
"There's a bunch more charities
on the first floor, along with
most of the retail stuff."
"Don't worry about it,"
Tolli said. "We set aside
our whole June budget for
casual donations to spend
here, and we've got options
for more if we fall in love with
something outside that too."
Pavo was amusing himself
reading the flyers tacked up
on the nearby bulletin board.
Love Comes in Rainbow Flavors!
read a new one. Another went,
You and Your Prostate Gland.
Shiv spread out a hand
and began counting
down. "Five, four --"
Werner Bridges let out
a happy yelp, and then
bounded out. "Hey, Shiv,
why didn't you tell me that
your family's like half medics?"
"Honestly, I kinda forgot,"
Shiv said. "Just let Simon
hook you up with whomever
had you making happy noises."
He had figured that Werner
and Simon would get along, plus
donations were always welcome.
He really had forgotten that Werner
might also like to meet some of
the world-class medics in Clan Finn.
As Simon and Werner ducked back
into the office to finish arrangements,
Tolli returned from the other one.
"Abyzou has some very interesting
graffiti art," he said. "I don't want
to hold up the tour now, but I'm
definitely coming back later to see
about adding to our collection."
Shiv blinked at him. "I thought
that you just said you liked
that stuff 'cause I done it."
"No, Simon's been a fan of
graffiti art for years, and he got
me hooked on it too," said Tolli.
"You're gonna love it here, but
your budget won't," said Shiv.
"We'll manage," said Tolli.
"Graffiti artists need support
more than most fine artists."
They went down to the first floor
next, and started by the lobby
so it was easier to keep track.
"Pay attention to the Canteen,"
Shiv said. "The food's great, and
they're used to taking care of artists
or soups who forget to eat enough
and faceplant from lack of fuel."
Pavo promptly took a picture
of the entrance with his phone,
then jotted down the address.
"We can always use that."
"Then don't miss this either:
Fuck Yeah Loaves and Fishes,"
Shiv said. "It's our food pantry."
Pavo took another picture
and made some more notes.
"Buddy Christ Church and
Bong Shop?" Simon said,
laughing. "What's up with this?"
"It's a real church," Shiv defended.
"They're just friendly instead of
stuffy. I'm not into it myself, but
well ... Buddy Christ is kinda cute."
"We saw Breakdancing Jesus on
our way in," said Simon. "That is
a fantastic piece of public art."
"Yeah, I like it too," said Shiv.
"Makes a great landmark, and you
can see it way down the street."
Rozeve Pave popped out of
the Tikkun Olam Collective.
"Hi, Shiv, it's good to see you.
Bringing new friends today?"
"Tolli and Simon are family,
visiting to see my new studio.
They're gay," said Shiv. "Pavo
is a friend. He's an artist and,
what was it, novisexual. Folks,
this is Rozeve Pave, she's a lesbian
who runs Ruth and Naomi's Place
that offers support for queer Jews."
Pavo was staring at him. "That's ...
not how people usually introduce me."
"Should I not have said the sex thing?"
Shiv frowned. "But that's the part
she'll want to know, and you don't
act like it's a secret or anything."
"It's not," Pavo said. "People just
tend to focus on the teleport part
rather than on my art or orientation."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
Shiv said. "This is an art center,
not the Maldivian teleport hub, and
Rozeve Pave works the queer charity."
She giggled. "That's true, and I love
how you focus on the relevant parts
rather than what people can do for you."
Was that what he was doing now?
Shiv paused to think about it. Weird.
"It's a Finn thing, we're all about
making connections," Tolli said
with a grin. "Pleased to meet you."
"I'm happy to meet some of Shiv's
family," said Rozeve Pave. "Want
to see the Tikkun Olam Collective?"
"We'd love to," Simon said. "Shiv
has told us a little bit about it."
Shiv was pretty sure that he'd
run his mouth more than a little,
but he didn't want to step on
the very pretty speech that
Rozeve Pave was giving.
"We've got five branches
at present," she explained.
"They're The Generous Jew,
King Solomon's Library,
Rebecca's Closet, Ruth
and Naomi's Place, and
Guardians of the Earth."
She let them peek into
the various rooms, just
as Shiv had on his tour.
This time Simon made
the donation while Tolli
put together a handful of
different business cards.
"These are for some of
our favorite queer groups,"
he said, handing them to
Rozeve Pave. "It never
hurts to have contacts for
long-distance networking
in case folks need to travel."
Shiv knew they'd dropped off
a few folks in Omaha who
wanted to get the hell away
from the East Coast, because
they'd checked with Boss White
first to make sure it was okay.
Boss White was always happy
to boost the diversity in Omaha,
which was on the conservative side,
and so Shiv was smooth with it too.
As they walked on, Shiv pointed out
a few other favorites. "The Gallery
and Global Hope Gift Shop are
always worth a look for new stuff."
"Oh wow, what's this?" Pavo said.
"Ella's Arts and Crafts Emporium,
so don't go in unless you can afford
to blow at least an hour," Shiv said,
gently towing him away from the door.
Next came the Performance Corner
and Brown Lounge, with a busker
playing a bluesy harmonica tune.
Tolli dropped a donation in the tip jar,
and Shiv pointed out the schedule
where folks could sign up to perform.
"This place seems to have a lot of
performance spaces," Tolli observed.
"Yeah, it does," said Shiv. "They're fun.
Some you can book like this, some are
first-come-first-served, others for rent."
"I hear barking," Simon said. "Does
someone have an assistance dog?"
Shiv cocked his head. "That's not
an alert bark," he said. "Ahimsa
probably brought some models
early so they can calm down. I
think there's a session soon."
He checked his smartphone.
"Yeah, Doggone Good Art
starts in about an hour."
"What in the world?"
Pavo said, laughing.
"I'll show you, this is
another of my favorites,"
Shiv said as he led the way
to the Dobutsu Kannon Temple
of Animal Care. "I love this place."
As he opened the door to the suite,
more happy yapping spilled out.
"Shut the door, I've got Tripawd
in here!" Ahimsa called out.
"Hustle it up," Shiv said,
pushing his people inside.
"That pup's an escape artist."
The black-and-tan dog bounded
over to meet them, tail flogging
the air eagerly as she sniffed
all around Simon's wheelchair.
"Don't water my wheels, pup,"
he warned as he watched her.
"Oh, she won't, she's housebroken,"
said Ahimsa. "Just exuberant."
Another dog followed behind
at a more sedate pace.
Pinto Bean had a wheelchair
of his own strapped around
his chest, since he had lost
his front legs and part of
his tail in a car crash.
"Now there's a cute dog,"
Simon said with a grin.
"That's Pinto Bean, and
he's another of our models.
I'm Ahimsa," he said. "I run
the Dobutsu Kannon Temple
of Animal Care. Are you friends
with Shiv? He's one of my devas."
That was his cute Buddhist term
for the kind of big donors that
everyone else called "angels."
"Tolli and Simon are family,"
Shiv explained. "Pavo's a friend,
he's an artist from out east."
"We've heard a lot about
this place," Simon said.
"Pleased to meet you,"
said Ahimsa. "Shiv, I'm
glad you stopped by today.
There's someone I'd like you
to meet, a new member --
she's back looking at desks."
The higher levels let you keep
a desk or an easel here so you
didn't have to lug your art stuff
back and forth. It was nice.
"Sure, they wanna see
my desk too," said Shiv.
"I'll give you the nickel tour,"
said Ahimsa. "The office
and dottie are up front here."
Everyone followed him,
doggy toenails clicking
on the floor as Tripawd
danced around them.
"We're doing a session
of Doggone Good Art in
less than an hour, if any
of you would like to join
in the fun," Ahimsa invited.
"We murder a canvas
now and then, but we're
not really artists," said Tolli.
"I'm game," said Pavo. "I was
hoping to catch something today."
Tripawd yipped at him and then
tried to untie his shoelaces.
"You can see why I bring
the models early, so they
can settle," Ahimsa said,
gently shooing her away.
Shiv snorted. "Tripawd
never settles much, that's
why she's Gesture Sketch Dog."
"True enough," Ahimsa said.
"The classroom is over there,
and back here is our art space
for regular members. My desk
is the big U-shape in that corner."
"Here's my desk," Shiv said, pointing
to one against a wall. The surface was
covered with sketches and containers
of art supplies. Above the desk, rails
held rows of his finished pictures.
"I like the one-eyed cat," Simon said,
pointing to a charcoal sketch.
"That's Winky," said Ahimsa.
"He's a Scottish Fold, and yes,
he only has one eye left. He's
a good, quiet art model."
Then a young woman
straightened up from where
she'd been crouching to look
at the base of an art desk.
She was tawny and lean
with long curly blonde hair
and a certain catlike grace.
She wore a ruffled black blouse
over a matching handkerchief skirt,
a style that Shiv recognized from
Renaissance faires, although
her black scarf had a band of
pink and green stripes along it.
A golden ladybug pendant
dangled from a delicate chain.
"Oh, hello," she said, then
looked at Ahimsa. "Are
these more members?"
"Shiv is one of our devas,
and the others are friends and
family of his," Ahimsa explained,
then introduced the rest of them.
"Folks, this is Kathan Vilt, originally
from Berkeley and recently moved
into Omaha. She just joined here."
"Took a while for my refugee relief funds
to get here, but now I can afford to do this,
and I'm starting over with college this fall,"
said Kathan. "I'm mostly a writer, but
I do a little sketching for fun too."
"We get all kinds here," said Shiv.
"I do drawing, painting, sculpture,
all kinds of stuff. Can't read or
write worth a crap, though."
"I'm primarily a painter, but I
dabble in a few other things,"
said Pavo. "I'm a teleporter too."
"Oh! It's nice to meet another soup,
I'm a shapeshifter," said Kathan.
Then she sort of ... rippled ... and
a wave of golden fur rolled across
her skin as she shifted, like a lioness
sliding out of and back into the grass.
Shiv grinned and pulled his play-putty
out of a pocket. Holding out his hand,
he animated the metal into a tiny cat
that prowled around his palm.
"Ain't got a fancy name for it,
but that's my trick," he said.
"Me, I'm just a blacksmith,"
Tolli said. "I need a forge to do
what Shiv does with his fingers."
Shiv snorted. "I can't do a tenth
of what you do with a forge."
"Well, I can't do what you do
with stained glass," said Tolli.
"After the mess I made of
today's project, I'm not so sure
that I can either," Shiv muttered.
"Write badly with pride!" Kathan said,
punching the air with a fist. "You
can't make any progress without
making mistakes. Otherwise, how
would you learn what not to do?"
"I ... never thought about it like that,"
Shiv said, mulling it over in his mind.
"I'm too used to people telling me that
I shouldn't have drawn or written
whatever I did. It's better now,
but well, old habits die hard."
"Some teachers are just awful,"
Kathan said. "And by the way,
everything in life is writable about
if you have the outgoing guts to do it,
and the imagination to improvise.
The worst enemy to creativity is
self-doubt. So don't doubt yourself."
"Yeah, that'd be a trick," Shiv said.
"I'm too familiar with my fuckups."
"Put a can of spray paint in your hand
and you're plenty confident," Simon said.
"Bet China still regrets picking that fight."
Shiv chuckled. "Ah, that's different."
"It counts," said Kathan. "Whatever
you feel that you do well is good."
She maybe had a point. Of course,
Shiv had been doing graffiti since
he could hold a crayon, so he had
plenty of practice getting good.
Might could be he just needed
more time with stained glass.
Or to have a cop car roll by
with a little extra motivation.
"So, what brought you here?"
Shiv wondered. "Looking for
the animal anatomy classes?
Those are pretty cool, we
got all kinds of critters here."
"Science and I are taking
a break in our relationship,
Kathan said, grimacing.
"After the lab accident
that gave me my powers,
it's just not as fun anymore.
I still enjoy hobby art, though."
"Wowch," Simon said. "Changes
that big can be quite a challenge."
"I'm coping," said Kathan. "I do like
learning how to shift into new shapes,
but then, my perspective changes
with them, and my sexuality is
all over the damn place now."
"Oh?" said Pavo. "I'm novisexual,
mine doesn't really fit in words."
"Mine fits, it just won't stay put,"
Kathan replied, flicking her scarf.
"I say abrosexual because that's
shorter than saying lesbian in
human female form, gay in
human male form, and then
aliquasexual in animal forms
that have a mating season."
"You win," Pavo said. "That
sounds way more confusing
than what I have to deal with."
Shiv wasn't about to throw
his hat into that ring, because
fuck traumatasexual anyway.
He'd rather just stick with ace.
Ahimsa puttered around in
the background, filling a box
with spare art supplies in case
some folks showed up without
any at the class session.
Tolli watched him, then said,
"Simon and I want to support
Shiv's favorite groups here. Do
you have a donation page?"
"Yeah, here," Ahimsa said,
showing Tolli his phone.
Tolli and Simon huddled
together, scheming.
"This oughta be good,"
Shiv murmured to Pavo.
Sure enough, Ahimsa
checked his phone
and whooped in glee.
"Thank you so much!"
he said. "Shiv, you
really are a deva, you
rain blessings on me."
"We keep rescue horses,
we know how much it takes
to keep critters fed," said Simon.
"Horses?" Ahimsa said, brightening.
"Our vet cares for large animals as
well as small, but I just don't have
room for anything bigger than dogs."
"Yeah, they hosted an art party out
at their farm once, that was a blast,"
said Pavo. "It made great scenery."
"Except for the horses fucking off to
the far end of the pasture," Shiv said.
"Well, they're rescues, they don't know
what strangers might do," Simon said.
"How far out of town do you live?"
said Ahimsa. "Our members know
how to stay calm for rescued animals."
"Ah, we're actually out near Raleigh,"
said Tolli. "We caught a ride with Pavo."
"No big deal," said Pavo. "I could take
a few people from here to there and back.
I do a fair bit of travel to art parties and such."
He'd taken Shiv to one in the Heights once,
which had been so exciting, and another time
they'd done beach cards with Pavo's friends.
"Well, figure out a price and we can work out
a barter equivalent," said Ahimsa. "If you
enjoy drawing animals, I have quite a variety,
plus arrangements with other organizations
who bring in raptors or zoo animals."
So they put their heads together and
hashed out the details. Shiv wasn't
surprised when Pavo came in at
the high end of the donation scale.
Ahimsa was so happy that
anyone else would've been
vibrating in place, but he
was too mellow for that,
so he just rippled a bit.
"The dogs are settling
as much as they're going to,"
he said. "Would you folks
like to start sketching early?"
"Yeah, sure, I'm game for
Gesture Sketch Dog," said Shiv.
"I think I'll try Pinto Bean,"
said Kathan. "I like his rig, and
I'm okay with drawing cute things."
"That's a fine piece of engineering,"
Simon agreed. "I'm not much of
an artist, but I could fool around a bit."
Shiv rummaged in his desk. "Here,
use my creme pastels," he suggested.
"They're kinda like crayons, so you
don't have to worry about fiddly lines,
just aim for the big shapes of things."
While he was there, he dug out
a sketchpad and a set of charcoals.
Kathan picked some colored pencils,
charcoals, and paper from the art box.
"Do you have any aluminum foil?"
Tolli wondered. "I like that as
a sketch medium for blacksmithing."
"Sure, people use that as armatures
for sculpting," Ahimsa said, and
produced a whole box of it.
"Pavo, there's paint and
canvasboard around here
somewhere if you want it,"
Shiv offered. "Oil, acrylic,
watercolor, spray paint ..."
"Acrylic, that's good for
working fast," said Pavo.
"Over here," said Ahimsa,
and showed him the cabinet.
Shiv helped set up the chairs
for class, then settled into one.
Tripawd had slowed down enough
that she wasn't a total blur. She
would find something interesting
and sniff at it for a few seconds,
then trot away after something else.
Pinto Bean was actually snoozing
in his harness, chin on Kathan's knee,
while she sketched his doggy wheels.
"I'm glad that you invited us out here,"
Tolli said as he worked a lump of foil
into something suggesting a dog.
"Yeah," Shiv said happily. "Me too."
It was turning into a terrific day.
His life might not be quite perfect,
but that was all right with him anyhow.
He had the imagination to improvise.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its character, setting, and content notes appear separately.