Poem: "Like Having a Blanket All Around Your Heart"
This poem came out of the February 2022 Crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from Dreamwidth user Nsfwords. It also fills the "Fuzzy Blanket / Slippers" square in my 2-1-22 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Nsfwords in two installments. It belongs to the series Eloquent Souls.
Like Having a Blanket All Around Your Heart
[Monday, August 10, 2015]
Raleigh Carpenter had just started
her sophomore year of college
and her life was ruined.
Utterly, totally ruined.
Right at the beginning
of the academic year,
her stepfather broke up
with her mother -- and
because he had been
paying her tuition, Raleigh
was pretty much screwed.
Heartbroken, she stumbled
into the Peace House where
she lived and flopped onto
a couch in the living room.
One of the new freshmen,
the cute one -- Cosmo, that
was his name -- sat down
with a sympathetic look.
"It's hopeless. I'll have
to drop out of college,"
Raleigh explained.
"There is always hope,"
he said with a smile.
Raleigh recognized
the Words even as she
felt her soulmark settle.
"Well, I guess I got
one good thing out of
this, even if I can't stay,"
she said. "It's good
to meet you in person."
"I'm happy to meet you,
too," said Cosmo. "So,
what's the problem?"
"My stepfather left, and
without him I can't afford
college," Raleigh said.
"I thought that it might be
a money issue," Cosmo said,
tapping his chest. "This gave
me few months of warning, so I
worked hard all summer and saved
up a semester's tuition for you."
"Wow," said Raleigh. "That
is so sweet -- you didn't
even know me back then."
Cosmo shrugged. "You're
my soulmate. I want you
to be happy, so if college
makes you happy, then
it's money well spent."
"It's a start, at least,"
said Raleigh. Then she
sighed. "I don't know if
it'll be enough, though."
Cosmo took a fuzzy blanket
and draped it around her.
"We'll make it work out
somehow," he said.
"Thanks," Raleigh said,
petting the blanket. It was
colorful with hippie quotes.
"This makes me feel a bit
better than I did before."
"When someone loves you,
it's like having a blanket
all around your heart,"
Cosmo said, hugging her.
"Yeah, it is," said Raleigh.
"Maybe I can get a job tutoring,
since I'm a sophomore now."
"That's definitely worth a try,"
said Cosmo. "Other people
might want to chip in too."
"I've seen it done before,"
Jarom said as he joined them.
"It happened a few years ago,
and everyone in the Peace House
worked together on fundraising."
"That's encouraging to hear,"
said Raleigh. "I don't want
to be a burden, but I'd love
to get more help on this."
"Also, I've taken classes in
scholarship management and
grant writing," said Jarom. "I'll
help you find relevant programs
and apply to the ones you want."
He was a graduate student;
the Peace House was open
to everyone in the department
who had a major or minor there.
"Well, I've got a double major in
Peace and Conflict Studies and
Interior Architecture," said Raleigh.
"That should open up some doors."
"You're also a woman," said Jarom.
"We may find scholarships for that too.
We'll make it work. You should be with
your soulmate, and he's in college."
That was odd for him to say.
Jarom had a soulmark but
didn't know what it said.
As soon as he had realized
that it was slowly developing
English script instead of Hindi,
he covered it with a skin patch
and never looked at it again.
It was on his very lower belly, so
usually covered by clothes anyway.
Since Hindus who wanted to marry
Hindus tended to greet each other in
Hindi, a non-Hindi soulmark likely
meant a non-Hindu soulmate.
While Jarom himself was
cosmopolitan, his parents
expected he would marry
a Hindu girl, and he didn't
want to break their hearts.
Raleigh only knew about
all this because Jarom had
spilled hot chocolate all over
himself and then yanked off
his clothes to avoid burns.
He'd been sad enough
to share the story with
the handful of housemates
who had been in the kitchen.
"Thank you for your support,"
Raleigh said. "My soulmate is
important to me, even though
I've just met him. I'm looking
forward to getting to know him.
So far all I know is that he is
thoughtful and foresightful."
Cosmo ducked and blushed.
"I just wanted to help you
however I could," he said.
"You're helping," she said.
"You've given my hope back."
"Well, that's good," said Oonagh,
who was Raleigh's best friend
and roommate. "I've been worried
about you since you ran out of class
after that phone call you got earlier.
What the heck is going on here?"
"My stepfather dumped my mother,
so I need to find a new way of paying
for college," said Raleigh. "Then I
learned that Cosmo is my soulmate."
"Wow, that's a lot," said Oonagh.
"I can chip in something for it --
my peace belt pouch design
is selling better than expected."
"Every little bit helps," said Raleigh.
"I'm glad to have such good friends."
"Too bad this is going to mess up
all our room arrangements, though,"
Oonagh said, heaving a sigh.
Cosmo looked panicked.
"But I just got here!"
"Whoa, no, slow down,"
said Raleigh. "I'm thrilled
that I met you and that you
want to help me stay in college,
but I am not ready to move in
with a guy that I just met."
"Oh, good," said Cosmo.
"That's a relief. I want
to get to know you, who
you really are, before we do
anything physically intimate.
But I hope that you're into
intellectual foreplay, because
I love the spiritual side of tantra."
"Never tried it, never had anyone
to try it with," said Raleigh. "I'm
game to give it a whirl, though."
"Awesome," Cosmo said, grinning.
Raleigh opened the blanket to pull
Cosmo and Oonagh in with her.
It had been a crappy day, but
at least it was getting better now.
Friendship, too, was like having
a blanket all around your heart.
* * *
Notes:
The notes for this poem are long, so the character, setting and content notes appear separately.
Like Having a Blanket All Around Your Heart
[Monday, August 10, 2015]
Raleigh Carpenter had just started
her sophomore year of college
and her life was ruined.
Utterly, totally ruined.
Right at the beginning
of the academic year,
her stepfather broke up
with her mother -- and
because he had been
paying her tuition, Raleigh
was pretty much screwed.
Heartbroken, she stumbled
into the Peace House where
she lived and flopped onto
a couch in the living room.
One of the new freshmen,
the cute one -- Cosmo, that
was his name -- sat down
with a sympathetic look.
"It's hopeless. I'll have
to drop out of college,"
Raleigh explained.
"There is always hope,"
he said with a smile.
Raleigh recognized
the Words even as she
felt her soulmark settle.
"Well, I guess I got
one good thing out of
this, even if I can't stay,"
she said. "It's good
to meet you in person."
"I'm happy to meet you,
too," said Cosmo. "So,
what's the problem?"
"My stepfather left, and
without him I can't afford
college," Raleigh said.
"I thought that it might be
a money issue," Cosmo said,
tapping his chest. "This gave
me few months of warning, so I
worked hard all summer and saved
up a semester's tuition for you."
"Wow," said Raleigh. "That
is so sweet -- you didn't
even know me back then."
Cosmo shrugged. "You're
my soulmate. I want you
to be happy, so if college
makes you happy, then
it's money well spent."
"It's a start, at least,"
said Raleigh. Then she
sighed. "I don't know if
it'll be enough, though."
Cosmo took a fuzzy blanket
and draped it around her.
"We'll make it work out
somehow," he said.
"Thanks," Raleigh said,
petting the blanket. It was
colorful with hippie quotes.
"This makes me feel a bit
better than I did before."
"When someone loves you,
it's like having a blanket
all around your heart,"
Cosmo said, hugging her.
"Yeah, it is," said Raleigh.
"Maybe I can get a job tutoring,
since I'm a sophomore now."
"That's definitely worth a try,"
said Cosmo. "Other people
might want to chip in too."
"I've seen it done before,"
Jarom said as he joined them.
"It happened a few years ago,
and everyone in the Peace House
worked together on fundraising."
"That's encouraging to hear,"
said Raleigh. "I don't want
to be a burden, but I'd love
to get more help on this."
"Also, I've taken classes in
scholarship management and
grant writing," said Jarom. "I'll
help you find relevant programs
and apply to the ones you want."
He was a graduate student;
the Peace House was open
to everyone in the department
who had a major or minor there.
"Well, I've got a double major in
Peace and Conflict Studies and
Interior Architecture," said Raleigh.
"That should open up some doors."
"You're also a woman," said Jarom.
"We may find scholarships for that too.
We'll make it work. You should be with
your soulmate, and he's in college."
That was odd for him to say.
Jarom had a soulmark but
didn't know what it said.
As soon as he had realized
that it was slowly developing
English script instead of Hindi,
he covered it with a skin patch
and never looked at it again.
It was on his very lower belly, so
usually covered by clothes anyway.
Since Hindus who wanted to marry
Hindus tended to greet each other in
Hindi, a non-Hindi soulmark likely
meant a non-Hindu soulmate.
While Jarom himself was
cosmopolitan, his parents
expected he would marry
a Hindu girl, and he didn't
want to break their hearts.
Raleigh only knew about
all this because Jarom had
spilled hot chocolate all over
himself and then yanked off
his clothes to avoid burns.
He'd been sad enough
to share the story with
the handful of housemates
who had been in the kitchen.
"Thank you for your support,"
Raleigh said. "My soulmate is
important to me, even though
I've just met him. I'm looking
forward to getting to know him.
So far all I know is that he is
thoughtful and foresightful."
Cosmo ducked and blushed.
"I just wanted to help you
however I could," he said.
"You're helping," she said.
"You've given my hope back."
"Well, that's good," said Oonagh,
who was Raleigh's best friend
and roommate. "I've been worried
about you since you ran out of class
after that phone call you got earlier.
What the heck is going on here?"
"My stepfather dumped my mother,
so I need to find a new way of paying
for college," said Raleigh. "Then I
learned that Cosmo is my soulmate."
"Wow, that's a lot," said Oonagh.
"I can chip in something for it --
my peace belt pouch design
is selling better than expected."
"Every little bit helps," said Raleigh.
"I'm glad to have such good friends."
"Too bad this is going to mess up
all our room arrangements, though,"
Oonagh said, heaving a sigh.
Cosmo looked panicked.
"But I just got here!"
"Whoa, no, slow down,"
said Raleigh. "I'm thrilled
that I met you and that you
want to help me stay in college,
but I am not ready to move in
with a guy that I just met."
"Oh, good," said Cosmo.
"That's a relief. I want
to get to know you, who
you really are, before we do
anything physically intimate.
But I hope that you're into
intellectual foreplay, because
I love the spiritual side of tantra."
"Never tried it, never had anyone
to try it with," said Raleigh. "I'm
game to give it a whirl, though."
"Awesome," Cosmo said, grinning.
Raleigh opened the blanket to pull
Cosmo and Oonagh in with her.
It had been a crappy day, but
at least it was getting better now.
Friendship, too, was like having
a blanket all around your heart.
* * *
Notes:
The notes for this poem are long, so the character, setting and content notes appear separately.