My application: Yuletree

[LiberalEsto]

yuletree

 

O yuletree sweet whose branches reach

among the swimming stars,

alight with singing birds.

Whose spirit roots reach down among the stones,

drinking from the wells of the world's center.

Yuletree who catches birds and stars,

who delves its roots among the stones of starry matter,

who bridges earth and sky.

Who is my spirit tree

and shows me all the ways

to dance slowly like the wheeling stars,

to spin around the axis of myself.

Who teaches me to bring the mud of earth

to living light.

 

Yuletree, my spirit climbs

among your branches netted with stars and birds.

My temporary hands feel living bark

Or does my bark feel living hands?

No matter. Or all matter.

All movement, impulse, form

All feathered, flying;

Lighting, safe

wings folded, watching stones spin

and stars most steadily

enduring.

 

 

Anita Susi

12/15/02

[Wyvern]

Kirja taps her fingers on the armrest of her applicant easychair and lets out a long sigh, watching the second-hand of the Office clock as it ticks away in the corner of the room. She shifts in her seat and stretches, careful to not knock over any of the piles of stray paperwork that crowd the floor and beginning to feel a bit cramped in the Elder of Initiates' absence. She stands from her seat just as Wyvern barges in through the Office door, and starts back at the sight of the tall box that the lizard carries. The reptilian Elder sets the box on the floor, then kicks the door shut, causing the stacks of paperwork that Kiria had so prudently avoided to fall over.

 

"Greetingssss," hisses Wyvern, grinning in Kirja's direction and cocking a claw at the box. "Sorry for the wait, had to get this thing patented and cute/innocent kitten tested before stealing the prototype. Lemme see your poem there."

 

Wyvern snatches the application sheet from Kirja's hands and looks it over, his toothy grin broadening with every reference to the yuletree's branches. Kirja stares with a blank expression as Wyvern drops the poem before finishing it, and watches as he rushes over to his box and snaps the tape with his claws.

 

"Oooohh you're gonna love this thing." Wyvern rips at the cardboard, revealing a tall tree sitting in a small pot with a skull and crossbones etched on it. The branches of the tree extend like gnarled hands, one of them clenched around a cute/innocent kitten that myowls in a hopeless tone. "Introducing: Almost Dragonic Brand Yulebesorry Treenet,™ the only festive tree with a purpose that outlasts the month that it's considered special. Observe."

 

Wyvern cranks a small root at the tree's base, causing the available branch-hands of the Treenet to reach out for things to grab. Kirja frowns and steps back as she notices the thin nets that have been constructed between the branch fingers.

 

"By the time you're through using this lil puppy, the branches will be netted with all sorts of things." Wyvern directs the branch hands to a pile of paperwork, licking his lips as he tries to maneuver them to the correct position like a carnival doll game. "Like kittens, and birds... and stars, of course! Yes indeed, this invention is the perfect tool for any Pen celebrity stalker. It alssso tosses stones from its roots as a self defense mechanism, and is great for finding the right Christmas gift if you're cheap and you-"

 

Wyvern pauses as he notices the expression of uncertainty on Kirja's face, and sighs as he abandones the Yulebesorry Treenet™ and scoops back up her application. The overgrown lizard continues to grin as he reads through the excellent imagery and phrasing of the piece, then pauses and frowns at the signature.

 

OOC: An excellent poem, Kirja, I'm glad that you've found your way to these boards. :-) Unfortunatly, an application to the Pen must be a piece of writing written specifically with the intention of joining the Pen, and cannot be a previously written or archived work. Should you choose to write a new piece of writing specifically for these boards, I'll happily accept it for you.

[LiberalEsto]

Oopsie! Kirja forgot that part.

 

She never was very good at following directions. In college they called her "Foggy."

 

Thank you Wyvern, for your comments and your Yulebesorry Treenet imagery. Kirja may want a battle shield to approach this year's Yule tree, just in case.