{"id":13040,"date":"2024-04-19T18:09:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T18:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/?p=13040"},"modified":"2024-04-19T18:09:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T18:09:39","slug":"adventures-in-verse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/?p=13040","title":{"rendered":"ADVENTURES IN VERSE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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That time I featured at the Twisted Poets reading series.<\/p>\n

Too busy to blog lately as I’m in writing and editing mode, this one of my latest efforts.<\/p>\n

AVATARS & ADVENTURERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are warriors, from Beowulf\u2019s might
\nto the steel resolve of #MeToo,
\ndefending our realms on the ground,
\nin fields, swamps or office towers.<\/p>\n

My tag was Tomboy; armed with long
\nlegs, a hard head and will of iron,
\nintrepid as any FPS avatar,
\nI carved sagas and slayed<\/p>\n

with a wooden stick turned bazooka,
\ndefending our makeshift fortress
\nagainst marauders, human or beast,
\nbattle-sweating and vanquishing foes.<\/p>\n

We braved treacherous ditches,
\nlecherous uncles, concealed glass shards,
\nblizzards, bumps, badger holes, bug bites,
\nthin ice, the vertigo of sky-high train trestles,<\/p>\n

the ambush of leeches
\nand the stench of skunk cabbage.
\nMasters of evasion we dodged coyotes,
\nbears, thundering big rigs, sinister wells,<\/p>\n

stumbling, squawking inebriated
\nparental units and lurking lone dudes
\nbeckoning from their Pintos
\nin desolate parking lots.<\/p>\n

Unrelenting scouting missions led us
\nto caves, derelict farmhouses,
\nlooming, gnarled trees, and the vast,
\nechoing unknown of storm drains.<\/p>\n

Our non-linear escapades were bound
\nby no script or code. No one lagged or rage-quit
\nand when trapped indoors we engaged
\nin ancient rites of Rummy, Crazy 8s and checkers.<\/p>\n

My son, a paladin forged in digital fires
\nembarks on galaxy spanning quests, every challenge,
\nevery boss fight a step toward connection,
\nbonds formed through adversity.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s learned to navigate, strategize,
\ncommunicate and persevere,
\nface down demons with a continent-
\nspanning team of allies united in purpose.<\/p>\n

Beneath the gaze of the sun
\nor the glow of screens,
\nwe share a legacy of adventure,
\nresilience and ceaseless discovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            That time I featured at the Twisted Poets reading series. Too busy to blog lately as I’m in writing and editing mode, this one of my latest efforts. AVATARS & ADVENTURERS We are warriors, from Beowulf\u2019s might to the steel resolve of #MeToo, defending our realms on the ground, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13040"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13040"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13050,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13040\/revisions\/13050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}