Poem: "Utilizing Your Skills and Resourcefulness"
This poem came out of the March 5, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Nsfwords and See_also_friend. It also fills the "Sketch Book" square in my 3-1-24 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with DW user Fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Daughters of the Apocalypse.
"Utilizing Your Skills and Resourcefulness"
[0 A.E.]
There weren't a lot of people
left after the End, but there
were some, and they did
what people always did --
they traveled and traded.
The smart ones followed
the waterways, tracing
the shores of the lakes
and the banks of the rivers.
Some followed the Yazoo River
and its network of tributaries
into the Delta National Forest.
The Housekeepers for Hope
had set up their campsite there.
It was little more than a flat patch
of gravel beside the trail, but it
had a firepit with a metal grill
and access to a creek for water.
Edmund might not have much
in the way of survival skills,
but he understood trading,
and some of the older ladies
had experience with barter.
The younger girls caught fish
and dried as much as they could.
Itanya even caught crawfish and
dried those too, insisting that they
could be used to flavor beans.
Travelers were usually eager
to trade for food that would keep,
especially anything with flavor.
"Do you really think we can
make it?" Edmund wondered.
"I mean, we don't even have
a real survival kit to rely on,
just what we've scrounged."
"Survival is not about having
all of the latest gadgets, but about
utilizing your skills and resourcefulness,"
Afedita replied. "We may not have
everything we need yet, but we have
what we need to gather more."
There was truth in that.
They had scavenged
fishing equipment from
what had been lost along
the banks of rivers and creeks.
They had found lots of bottles
made from plastic or glass and
cleaned them to hold water.
Metal cans, too, were carefully
cleaned, their edges filed smooth,
and turned into cups or cookpots.
When traders came through,
the women bargained for things
they could use to make survival gear,
like plastic sheets or tarps and tape.
In the evenings, they sat beside
the fire, cutting and piecing clothes
that they would trade to the scrounges
who crept into abandoned stores in
search of things they could salvage.
The women used everything, even
the trash -- candy wrappers could be
cleaned and stuffed into bags for
pillows or camping mattresses.
They built up a sketchbook of ideas
and filled it with drawings, photos,
clippings from magazines and catalogs.
Once they had examples that they
could show to the traders, it helped
with both sales and raw materials.
"What do you want?" Afedita
would ask the travelers. "If you
don't see it here, tell us and
maybe we can make it later."
Housekeepers for Hope became
known for their survival gear,
which was something that
everyone needed After.
Edmund began to hope
that maybe they would
survive on their skills
and resourcefulness.
* * *
Notes:
"Survival is not about having the latest gadgets, but about utilizing your skills and resourcefulness."
-- The SAS Survival Handbook
Download free survival books here.
"Utilizing Your Skills and Resourcefulness"
[0 A.E.]
There weren't a lot of people
left after the End, but there
were some, and they did
what people always did --
they traveled and traded.
The smart ones followed
the waterways, tracing
the shores of the lakes
and the banks of the rivers.
Some followed the Yazoo River
and its network of tributaries
into the Delta National Forest.
The Housekeepers for Hope
had set up their campsite there.
It was little more than a flat patch
of gravel beside the trail, but it
had a firepit with a metal grill
and access to a creek for water.
Edmund might not have much
in the way of survival skills,
but he understood trading,
and some of the older ladies
had experience with barter.
The younger girls caught fish
and dried as much as they could.
Itanya even caught crawfish and
dried those too, insisting that they
could be used to flavor beans.
Travelers were usually eager
to trade for food that would keep,
especially anything with flavor.
"Do you really think we can
make it?" Edmund wondered.
"I mean, we don't even have
a real survival kit to rely on,
just what we've scrounged."
"Survival is not about having
all of the latest gadgets, but about
utilizing your skills and resourcefulness,"
Afedita replied. "We may not have
everything we need yet, but we have
what we need to gather more."
There was truth in that.
They had scavenged
fishing equipment from
what had been lost along
the banks of rivers and creeks.
They had found lots of bottles
made from plastic or glass and
cleaned them to hold water.
Metal cans, too, were carefully
cleaned, their edges filed smooth,
and turned into cups or cookpots.
When traders came through,
the women bargained for things
they could use to make survival gear,
like plastic sheets or tarps and tape.
In the evenings, they sat beside
the fire, cutting and piecing clothes
that they would trade to the scrounges
who crept into abandoned stores in
search of things they could salvage.
The women used everything, even
the trash -- candy wrappers could be
cleaned and stuffed into bags for
pillows or camping mattresses.
They built up a sketchbook of ideas
and filled it with drawings, photos,
clippings from magazines and catalogs.
Once they had examples that they
could show to the traders, it helped
with both sales and raw materials.
"What do you want?" Afedita
would ask the travelers. "If you
don't see it here, tell us and
maybe we can make it later."
Housekeepers for Hope became
known for their survival gear,
which was something that
everyone needed After.
Edmund began to hope
that maybe they would
survive on their skills
and resourcefulness.
* * *
Notes:
"Survival is not about having the latest gadgets, but about utilizing your skills and resourcefulness."
-- The SAS Survival Handbook
Download free survival books here.