WHEN YOU MEET THE ONE...

When you meet the one,

Your eyes meet .. and say,

"Alas! My search is done!"

And your heart melts,

And your hands shake,

And you look away,

For your cheeks make a rosy display..

You trace your imaginary fingers,

down and around those tender teasing lips..

You imagine, yearn, beckon the warm embrace..

"Come to me, please. 'Tis you!"

You're the one..

The one whose hair,

rugged and rowdy as it may be,

Ev'r pleases the eye,

Whose hazel eyes speak to you, sing to you,

that lovely lullaby,

that sends you into sweet slumber,

into those loving arms,

From which you seek solace, affection,

warmth and protection..

When you meet the one,

From a million miles away,

In a picture,

a chance digital encounter,

And playfully think, "Hey! let's imagine our union,

..Just for fun!"

CONSIDERATION (A CONTINUATION OF "THE PLIGHT OF THE WOUNDED ELLY'" )

CONSIDERATION:

A play by Jude M.

Casting:

Hassan

The Hills

Amir

The Injured Elly

and, Man

The Man, a tourist at a five-star Safari Lodge is enjoying lunch at the garish dining hall overlooking a picturesque panoramic view of the Savanna outback, in all its wild and rugged glory.. animals roaming, exotic birds chirping, and... an injured elephant.. limping sluggishly to a nearby water hole. And just as it takes the first refreshing sip, it turns, and, as if aware of being watched, looks right in Man's face.. and their eyes 'connect.'

The Injured Elly: Man! Hey! Man! You, yes, you... looking at me so apathetically, so dismissively, so indifferently, from your lofty lodge.. Are you not unlike the walnut I trample beneath my feet, all dark and hollow? Have you no droplet of remorse in your heart, if at all you possess one? Are you not as barren and starved of emotion, as this dry red African earth I call 'maskani,' my dwelling place?

Man: Why do you call to me, you lonesome, pathetic, down-cast excuse of a beast ? ..with those weary eyes, as if begging me to toss a morsel of my 'five-star' Hors d'oeuvre  in your direction? Are you not but a prop in the Savanna landscape before me?.. Do I not pay to watch you roam and chew and tousle trees? Aren't you, if I'm not mistaken, but an object of my entertainment?

The Injured Elly: I am indeed, if you say I am. For clearly you see not beyond my grey, scaly casing ..as do the birds, that mock me, taunt me so, with their cheeky chirps, and sneering chuckles..

 A lack of connection.. is that not the definition of 'insensitivity' ..of a lack of consideration?

TO BE CONTINUED..



THE PLIGHT OF THE WOUNDED ELLY'

Let's sail away into forever, said Amir to his loyal friend, Hassan.

...TO BE CONTINUED.

And the school break has began

"...Call it magic, call it true..."

That's what's playing in my head as I write this.

I'm not really wondering whether there is such a thing as magic, on one hand because of my Christian faith, and on another because this is indeed one those points in my life, in our lives, where ...there isn't a whole lot to be immediately hopeful for.

I'm not complaining. I've come to appreciate all the blessings in my life. As we all should.

Magic.

I ended my mock exams yesterday on a poor note, with a predicted failure in my math exams. It used to be my thing, but there's something about the IBDP that just.. leaves no room for indulgence.

I sit here wondering what my future will be, for my initial hope for applying early with my MOCK exams are now next to dashed. And ..my heart breaks, for things.. a lot of things are just not going as planned.

As I look above me there a whole bunch of slogans and mottos that I put to encourage me when working.. and one in particularly reads: "YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SUCCESS; YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!"

In essence, there is no magic. At least not in the world of schooling and education.

You DO have to work.. and the same applies for life in general.

And yet.. and yet I shuffle through. Uninspired. Trapped. Dishonest to myself and to the world.

I sometimes fantasize about 'the one' ..

".. call it magic, when I'm with you..."

Is that where the 'magic' lies? In relationships? And what do they have to do with success in school, work, life?

If only I knew!.. Me, who isolates everyone around me, breaking advances, bonds.. but really I'm isolating myself. It kills me to know and yet do nothing, out of perceived powerlessness.

I think.. if I can't have power on relationships, if I can't control them.. then I can at least control what's controllable - my grades, my Uni application, my future!

The musings of an African boy... one who seeks to travel to the 'Western world' and take in their superior teachings, which will somehow pave the way to a successful future.

And when I get there, then what?

I'm doing that thing again, where I escape from now, and travel to the future.. where all my hopes and dreams and plans and successes are stored.

And what do I have to show now?

What's so good about now to appreciate it?

I look around me and all I see is work, and assignments, and daunting chores, and an endlessly growing to-do list of things to cross out.

Is life really all about this? Is there no magic?

Recently, I've been asking myself: "Who am I really if not for my perception of self, for the memories I've made, and for the physical encasing I have assumed as my body?"

What do I have to claim as 'me' after its all said and done? After ..life?

And yet, at this moment, a slave-driving part of me thinks: It doesn't matter; you're way behind on today's assignments and the last thing you can afford to do is start veering off asking essentially unanswerable questions!

And I agree. It's so in my nature to expand my thoughts from the immediate to the intangible. And so I concede. And say goodbye for now, for indeed my assignments will not finish themselves.

...

Jude.


P/S:

Magic for me.. is an insight, a hope for good, for beauty and possibility and colour and a greater purpose, and as it stands, the burden of menial obligations is extinguishing, even drowning, that flame of magic that keeps us all going.