Episode 11: Various Artists, Poetry Slam

Evening! So this one is a poetry slam, with haikus by Storm in the Sunny Sky, a few poems by Robert Frost, and an Irish proverb to end the night. Fun!

I do not own the haikus. Those are all of Sky's. I do not own Robert Frost. And I do not own Ireland.

So, without further ado, here we go with Episode 11!

Backstage, no one can find Duskfern.

"Did anyone check in the greenroom?" Poppylight meows. "She's in there a lot."

Blackdream pokes her head out of the greenroom with her muzzle covered in cream.

"She's not in here, but have you guys tasted Roseheart's cream puffs? They have to be cut from a cloud, I seriously don't know how they could be this light and fluffy..."

"Dreamy! This is not the time to be romancing the cream puffs! We have to find Dusk now!"

Suddenly a scream ripples through the halls. Duskfern runs out of the makeup and wardrobe room with her tail in curlers and her lips colored a very, very hot pink. Everyone shares a glance and shouts out one name: "Unihorse!"

Unihorse pops her head out with the lipstick and a napkin. "Duskfern, I told you that that color wouldn't look good on you! And you do not leave my room without blotting, for goodness sake!"

She presents the napkin to Dusk and goes off to get the original shade of lipstick. "Can someone take her fur out of the curlers? They've been in for three hours."

"What? ! They were only supposed to be in for three minutes!" Duskfern cries out.

"Then you'll have a very curly tail for a couple weeks. Your problem?"

Unihorse slams her door shut after throwing the lipstick at Dusk's head. "The schedule says that the show starts in like three minutes. Get the job done!"

Onstage, Goldie is back. "Evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to episode eleven of Tailed and Talented! I am proud to report that my little surprise is complete. Who's excited?"

The Clans and fans answer with elated cheers.

"So, for tonight we will be having a poetry slam. Shrewswoop?"

The lights go down with the curtain. Behind the curtain, the tiles are replaced with a wooden floor, a small elevated platform is placed with a cat-sized microphone, and Skysoul is hooked up to a mic.

"Our first reader is Skysoul with a dozen of his own original haikus. Go for it, Sky!"

Skysoul steps up to the microphone, takes it, closes his eyes, and says his first haiku.

"Streaming over plains
Last rays of sun's dying light
Herald moon's coming."

And his second and third:

"A flash of whiteness
A small tint of crimson red
Cherry blossoms early.

Crashing on the sand
Consistently eternal
Water flows onward."

He pauses for applause (or rather, 'snapplause', as this is a poetry slam...) and then continues with four, five, six:

"Temple bell soft chimes
Stirred by sakura blossom
Clear and crisp night air.

Sleeping quiet softness
Moon rises above the sky
Casting its pale light.

Challenge the sharp mind
The poetry writing and skill
Improve a spring day."

Cue the snapplause. Poppylight applies a bit of saxophone undertone. Sky continues with seven, eight, nine:

"I answer in song
I answer with a haiku
I answer with rhyme.

Two you may allow
One go to the dark wayside
Never to be used.

So what shall it be
Song, haiku, rhyme? Two will do
If you as such choose."

Once again, there's the snapplause. Sky continues with his final three:

"Poetry is fine
It spreads hapiness to all
Through rhyme and through verse.

I am a poet
I can make some haikus too
Or rather some more rhymes.

To work not at all
Seems to be all man's downfall
Perservere through ends."

Snapplause gradually dissolves into applause. Skysoul comes to the front of the stage and takes a bow.

"That was wonderful, Skysoul! So before we continue on to Robert Frost, we will cut to a quick commercial. Don't go anywhere!"

Fade Out

The screen is black. Lightning strikes through an empty sky just as the Greatest Battle Music 'Battalions Unite' begins to play.

"It was a year ago on April eighth that it began." Raindrops begin to accentuate the music.

A second strike lights up a stage. The stage is covered in paint and, for dramatic effect, leaves.

"It was a year ago that our story began."

A paw steps onstage, disturbing the leaves. Soon, more and more paws join them. You can only see hind paws, and no faces.

"On April eighth, we begin again."

The leaves blow up to conceal identities as the camera pans around the mysterious cats. A pair of sentences flashes across the screen as the music reaches its end:

Coming to a computer near you.
On April 8, 2012, it begins.

Fade In

Back onstage, Bluestar has taken the position at the microphone. After the applause dies into snapplause, she begins.

"A tree's leaves may be ever so good,
So may its bar, so may its wood;
But unless you put the right thing to its root
It never will show much flower or fruit.

But I may be one who does not care
Ever to have tree bloom or bear.
Leaves for smooth and bark for rough,
Leaves and bark may be tree enough.

Some giant trees have bloom so small
They might as well have none at all.
Late in life I have come on fern.
Now lichens are due to have their turn.

I bade men tell me which in brief,
Which is fairer, flower or leaf.
They did not have the wit to say,
Leaves by night and flowers by day.

Leaves and bar, leaves and bark,
To lean against and hear in the dark.
Petals I may have once pursued.
Leaves are all my darker mood. "

Snapplause arises and dies before Bluestar continues to her second poem.

"How countlessly they congregate
O'er our tumultuous snow,
Which flows in shapes as tall as trees
When wintry winds do blow!-

As if with keenness for our fate,
Our faltering few steps on
To white rest, and a place of rest
Invisible at dawn,-

And yet with neither love nor hate,
Those stars like some snow-white
Minerva's snow-white marble eyes
Without the gift of sight."

And of course her third and final (and the most famous):

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

There is applause for this well known poem. Bluestar stands and bows before passing the mic to Goldie.

"So that's our episode for the night! Our last words are not really a poem, but they are truly something to live by. So here it is: 'Dance as if no one were watching, sing as if no one were listening, and live every day as if it were your last.' We hope that you enjoyed the episode. See you next time on Tailed and Talented!"

Performers: Skysoul, Bluestar, Goldenheart, Unihorse

Performance Type: Poetry Reading

Various Haikus by Storm in the Sunny Sky
Various Poems by Robert Frost
A Traditional Irish Proverb

Hosts: Goldenheart

Heart of Gold Crew

Goldenheart, Host: Calico she-cat with golden streaks and gold eyes

Blackdream, Costume Mistress: Black she-cat and amber eyes, Goldie's best friend

Unihorse, Make-Up Artist: Yellow tabby she-cat with pink streaks and green eyes, Goldie's little sister

Flametalon, Head of Security: Red tabby tom and brown eyes, Shrewswoop's elder brother, Goldie's tom best friend

Poppylight, Guitarist and Orchestra Conductor: Auburn-furred she-cat and brown eyes

Shellblaze, Goldie's Second-in-Command: Light gold tabby tom and blue eyes

Sagefoot, Head Camera Cat: White-furred tom and hazel eyes

Duskfern, Director: Bluish black she-cat and blue eyes

Thrushtail, Disc Jockey: Brown tom and brown eyes

Shrewswoop, Head Techie and Choreographer: Elegant light brown calico she-cat and hazel eyes, Flametalon's younger sister

Shadeleap, Manager: Purely black tom and green eyes

Roseheart, Chef: Pinkish-cream she-cat with black paws and blue eyes, Goldenheart and Unihorse's mother

Mossrock, Producer: Black tom with gray streaks and brown eyes, Goldenheart and Unihorse's father

Security Team: Eaglethroat (cream-colored tom), Ivyfang (white she-cat), Rosesong (pinkish cream she-cat)

Camera and Techie Crew: Cedarflight (golden tabby tom), Mossdawn (gray she-cat), Foxstorm (yellow tabby tom)

Part the first: Thank you to Sky for giving me the idea for this story by answering my PMs in haikus. ;)

Part the second: If you know (or think you know) what my secret is, please DO NOT say it in a review. If you can't hold it in, go ahead and PM me.

Part the third: Happy Spring Break for those who are on it!

Part the fourth: Thanks for reading and review!