Sometimes we publish fiction here at Tweetspeak Poetry. And we definitely give a place to student writing. This series qualifies as both. If you’re a fan of The Avengers or the Thor movies, you’ll be more prepared to enjoy The Loki Goodness Campaign. If not, you’ll still recognize a fun story when you see it. For those who don’t follow the Thor and Loki characters, it might suffice to say that Thor is the good guy and Loki is the bad guy. Except? There really are many people who campaign for Loki’s inherent goodness. This phenomenon inspired our student writers to come up with an actual Loki Goodness Campaign. Well, an actual fictional campaign. Read on.
Chapter Three
Hardly a day after this unflattering article was published, Loki received a notice from the Weekly News, stating, politely but firmly, that they must regretfully inform him his services were no longer welcome.
“What were you thinking?!” Selva Jane was as close to discomposed as she ever was. “How could you think that was good advice to give? I suppose we should only be grateful no one else did as you suggested. Some of those replies were, frankly, horrifying!”
“If they found my replies so unsatisfactory, ” Loki spat, “Why print it at all?”
Selva opened her mouth. She closed it. “I’m not sure, ” she said eventually.
Loki eyed her with suspicion. “You are hiding something from me, ” he said.
“No—” Selva tried to protest.
“You know who I am, don’t you? You can never hope to fool me, mortal.”
The woman sighed, looking a bit pale. “Well, ” she said. “The Weekly News isn’t what you’d call the most reliable of newspapers. But, it was expedient. They were the only ones who would work with you.”
“Ah, ” Loki said. He walked over to the window, and imagined the impressive size of an explosion big enough to incinerate the headquarters of the Weekly News. “Perhaps we should stay away from advice for the time being.”
Chapter Four
“There you go, ” said Nicolas, setting down the cup beside Loki’s plate. Loki was sitting in his usual place by the window, where he could watch the ludicrously paltry mortals and have his back against a wall, whilst enjoying a pastry baked by the owner, Mr. Croswell.
“Thank you, ” Loki said graciously, taking a sip of his tea. “Hmmm. Vanilla and lavender this time, is it? Quite an interesting combination.”
“It’s new, ” Nicolas replied.
“Hardly surprising, Croswell, but enough about tea. I see that look of yours—do you wish to show me something?”
Nicolas grinned. “It’s another poem, ” he said, taking a folded paper out of his pocket and setting it on the table. Loki looked over it with a quirk of a smile. “Interesting, ” he said at last. “It has talent, but the subject matter is rather mawkish…”
Nicolas rolled his eyes. “Who even says mawkish?”
“I do, ” Loki returned. He raised an eyebrow. “Is it not appropriate? I have read it in various pieces of literature, and cross-referenced it with the dictionary to make sure I knew the finer shades of the meaning.”
“Oh, its fine, it’s just not widely used, ” Nicolas returned. He shook his head. “I’d like to see what a poem you wrote looks like!”
“I have written many. Is this surprising?”
Nicolas shrugged. “I don’t know—just because you read it doesn’t mean you write it.”
Loki took a small bite of his breakfast and thought for a moment. Poetry… of course! “I’ve got it, ” he murmured at last. Loki conjured a fountain pen and began to scribble intently.
In a place of dread darkness evil raged
dealing death, ten thousand bone-beasts
riding through the land, like
rocks rolling down a mountainside.
Now the people despaired, crying in dread
to their heroes,
helpless against the onslaught.
Then came the Avengers, mighty warriors,
clad in battle-gear,
a shield of safety from the shadowed sky
striking out against their enemies.
The great captain, friend of his people
threw forth his headland of swords,
and the man of iron flying above
rained fire upon the unbleeding dead,
the terrible giant sprang into the spear-din
crushing the cries from the throats
of his great enemies.
Now the shieldmaiden shot down
many fierce foes, and the hawk
aimed from high above, every arrow true.
Soon the streets stood empty
but for the bones of the twice-slain.
Then the people came in thanks,
rejoicing for their enemies’ ruin.
Nicolas read the poem over with a slight smile. “Is this about last week?”
Loki said nothing, but grinned.
Nicolas scanned over the poem again, but then he frowned. “Where’s Thor?” he asked. Loki shrugged. “He’s the one who saved the day, right?” Nicolas went on.
“You could say so, ” Loki said.
“So why isn’t he in the poem?”
“I ran out of room, ” Loki said blandly. Nicolas looked up from the poem and met Loki’s eyes. He saw the humor in them and wondered what the mysterious man was planning now.
To be continued…
Browse the earlier chapters:
(“Friend of his people”, “headland of swords” for shield, and “spear-din” for battle came from the list of Norse kennings on Wikipedia. The phrase “dealing death” came from the peacemaker prophecy in the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins.)
Art from Superbwallpapers.com. Story by Sara Barkat and Sonia Joie.
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L. L. Barkat says
Would that many a poem would run out of room a bit sooner! 😉
That line made me laugh. Loki surely is a trickster, even in poetry. (Do you think poetry might be perfectly suited for tricksters to hang out with? I think it could be.)
SimplyDarlene says
Ladies –
Trickster? Oh, quite.
“The trickster archetype embodies the energies of mischief and desire for change.”
(p. 77 in Christopher Volger’s The Writer’s Journey — as part of TSP’s current writerly class.) 🙂
Donna says
Loki drinks Lavender Vanilla tea… and writes poetry? Has the world gone mad?! 😉
Looking forward to the next chapter, and seeing what (if anything) Loki has to say (or do) about Thor.
Keep ’em coming. 🙂 (pleeease)
L. L. Barkat says
“[He] has written many [poems]. Is this surprising?” 😉
Yes, there is something quite dissonant (and oddly apt) about Loki drinking Lavender Vanilla tea. 🙂
lynndiane says
Loki’s story made me look up the word “mawkish”…and his poem is anything but! Loki is the guy everyone loves to hate…but how can you hate anyone who writes poetry and drinks tea?