A Pocket Archive (4)

The following is not my work, but rather that of my friend who dabbles in poetry. I'd saved it on my phone and am sharing it with their permission.

For context, we'd been discussing a YouTuber who made an OnlyFans for period-accurate Victorian outfits and specifically posted "scandelous" ankle pictures as a prank/social experiment. They did surprisingly well. I jokingly suggested I might consider trading "scandelous" shoulder pictures for poetry, but did not expect my friend to humor me. I was pleasantly surprised and would consider the following to be compelling evIdence to argue that bards would indeed be the best D&D class:

Angel's kisses I've heard them called.

Speckled along a canvas pale.

Flames descend upon the snow.

When e'er this beauty's shoulders show.

Ridges along her neckline seen.

Sharp and elegant her features appear.

Grey and Black what homely fair.

Should be worn by the maid with flames for hair.

But still I see her shoulder now.

Presented in jest, a challenge made.

But still the hardship in being polite.

As deserved by this lady of red and white.

-S.

I'm sure this is in part subject-bias, but if I were a monster, that would have been the equivalent of someone rolling a 20. Writers, remember that you have magic, especially poets. Even in jest, you can brighten someone's day immensely, and maybe their whole year. Poetry has never been my forté, but if that's something you enjoy dabbling in, don't squander those talents. Use them. Bring back free verse. Normalize sending sonnets. The world needs more smiles.

For anyone interested in Victorian costuming, check out Bernadette Banner's channel. The aforementioned video can be found here. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs a laugh or simply enjoys cultural/coStume history.