Saturday, December 22, 2007

Pentapede Poems

Here are a couple of poems about Pentapedes, based on the form of Cethegrande, a 13th century English poem. The first few lines follow:

Cethegrande is a fis
ðe moste ðat in water is;
ðat tu wuldes seien get,
gef ðu it soge wan it flet,
ðat it were á neilond
ðat sete one ðe se sond.


The first is one that the Pentapedes seem to really like:

The Pentapede a Monster is,
Ferocious with a deaf'ning hiss.
They suck the blood of hapless foes
And suffer none to cause them woes.
With fangs like knives they bite and bite,
And lay eggs in your ears at night.
Resplendent in their armored suits,
They hide in shipping crates of fruits,
And jumping out in grocery stores,
They run and hide along the floors.
When unwary shoppers legs they see,
They climb aboard with merry glee!
For soon their troops will be in place
To obliterate the human race.


The next one they don't like so much...

The Pentapede a monster is,
But a small 'un, with a sickly hiss.
Its dullëd fangs cause folks annoyance
When it flails them with flamboyance.
Its desperate pleas to lay its eggs
Result in having fewer legs.
Delusional, it flies like a bat,
Or dances and sings in tails and spats.
It thinks it's a car, a truck or rock
And believes that it can talk.
Its golden 'armor' is deep-fried,
Crusty fat on its outside.
And though this creature thinks it's great,
A quick extinction is its fate.

Friday, December 21, 2007

The City Born Great - How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

The second story in N. K. Jemisin's anthology How Long 'Til Black Future Month? , "The City Born Great," is an exciting ta...