Be the change you want to see.

day 8 Prompt: Yokai

Yokai is a word I looked up:
I don't know Japanese culture.
Bits. Fragments, only, really.
Kitsune the only example I recognized.
Dim memory that :demon: in that millenia old culture
Means something quite different
than what I might assume.
*
Trickster? Demigod? Supernatural being of uncertain motivations?
Is Yokai more like the Fae of Irish tradition?
Or Coyote in Southwest North America?
*
My ignorance is large.
I don't even know if the word is singular or plural
(I'd guess plural)
Wondering could I compare Loki, Hermes, Anansi, in the same category
(are there female Yokai?)
*
Seanan McGuire has a character who's Kitsune.
That's pretty much my whole experience.
*
There's a whole deep mythology I'm missing.
I may never understand.
*
I forgive myself for my own ignorance
and I pray I'll be lucky enough
or kind enough, or careful enough
that others will forgive me for my ignorance, too.

Poem a day
Haunted Object, Day 7

The skull clattered on the mantlepiece.
An unearthly voice cleaved the darkness:
...repent...
said the voice, as ice crystals formed on the windows.
*
Shivering, and full of nameless fears, I replied,
"wwwhat? what should I repent, dread spirit?"
*
The bones rattled again, in a decidedly impatient fashion, I thought.
*
...repent your lies... repent your drunkenness and debauchery ... repent that hole in your heart where compassion should be! ... repent your betrayal of the American Dream!...
Gradually growing louder, it finally yelled, ...and repent all of your actions, which have besmirched your family name!...
*
after a moment of terror, the penny dropped for me.
*
"Oh honey. You're haunting the wrong family member. I'm BRITTANY Kavanaugh. You obviously want my punk-ass bitch cousin Brett, who never met a beer he didn't like or a girl he didn't lust after in his heart."
*
The moment of silence that came from the clattering skull could have been characterized as sheepish.
*
...very well then...
*
The temperature of the room slowly began to increase, and my breath stopped fogging in the air.
*
...you may pass. my apologiesssssssss for the error...
*
Best believe I was out of there faster than a Republican denies responsibility for his or her actions...
*
*
*
Apologies for bringing current events into it, but I'm going with the first prompt interpretation that hits my brain, and I thought this was funny. it's better than the rage I've been swimming in, I'll take it.

Day 3: prompt is Cryptid

slinking forth from the forest
blending with the trees
gliding soundlessly towards where you were
*
you never saw
you never heard
the wind rippled
that alone showed my passing
*
the fire was warm
comforting
mesmerizing
you played guitar and sang
irresistibly i was drawn to you
*
it was only after i embraced you
that i noticed the music had stopped
only after i withdrew
that i noticed the fire was out
and the chill froze my heart
and the ground, and your body
frost covered dull blackness where fire had been
*
i killed what i loved
without knowing i could, or would
untouchable forever
untouching forever
my fate, my ignorance and how it played out
*
i wander now
so far from mankind
what am i?
doesn't matter.
i pay for my thoughtlessness
with aching aloneness
*
i swore nevermore to snuff out life
even at the cost
of loving ever again.