No Apology

So much ingrained eloquently expressed hatred to expunge~ On either side of the equation ~ A superb piece of writing that brings to light the terrible inferences some people have to endure just to survive ~On either side of the equation~ Love to all ~ ❤

Mehreen Kasana's avatarMehreen Kasana

On my way to class, I take the Q train to Manhattan and sit down next to an old white man who recoils a noticeable bit. I assume it’s because I smell odd to him, which doesn’t make sense because I took a shower in the morning. Maybe I’m sitting too liberally the way men do on public transit with their legs a mile apart, I think to myself. That also doesn’t apply since I have my legs crossed. After a few seconds of inspecting any potential offence caused, I realize that it has nothing to do with an imaginary odor or physical space but with the keffiyeh around my neck that my friend gifted me (the Palestinian scarf – an apparently controversial piece of cloth). It is an increasingly cold October in NYC. Sam Harris may not have told you but we Muslims need our homeostasis at a healthy…

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Friday Fictioneers~~ 100 words on the pictured prompt~~ THE RETURN

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Photo prompt supplied by The Reclining Gentleman on Word Press

THE RETURN

by John Yeo

Here we lived on this side of the lake. Even the ducks seemed to know, and would not come near. The condition we suffered caused physical disfigurement and disability. The monks who looked after Mary and I kept their distance. They insisted we pray and immerse ourselves in the water many times during the day and night to wash away our sins. Mary and I met here in the leprosarium  and fell in love. Together we watched the sun  rise and set over the lake many times. Our spirits return here often to immerse ourselves in memories of the past.

Copyright © Written by John Yeo, All rights reserved

Edited and revised 28/10/2014

Peace 🙂

PICK UP

SKY CRADLE

by John Yeo

I climb upwards and upwards, breathless,
I work my way to the top
The view from up here is priceless
It is a very high life from the cab.
Over two hundred metres high in the air
I am lord and master of all I survey,
The hoist is like a mechanical chair.
From high above, the city looks drab.
My machine is equipped with the finest hoist,
A huge bucket, wire and chains.
In the high stormy rain the air is moist
The sharp winds cut and viciously stab.
The signaller below, when the load is ready
Calls on the radio. Lift off. Lift and shift!
I manipulate the levers, keeping steady
Guiding the pick-up to the target slab.
It is a lonely contemplative life at the top,
There is much danger in my working conditions.
One false move and the load would drop
Causing much death and mayhem, below.

Copyright © Written by John Yeo All rights reserved

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Photograph courtesy of Google images

Volumes of Life

This is the latest “Picture it and Write” prompt from Ermilia’s blog

Picture it & Write

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As usual the picture is supplied and credited by Ermilia

VOLUMES OF LIFE

BY JOHN YEO

Every second of our lives is recorded in the volumes in the Universal library. The angelic guide led me to my personal shelves. Many dusty leather bound volumes containing a record of every word I have ever uttered, every thought that has ever entered my head, recorded here in my own personal files. I nervously fingered a couple of these tomes and I muttered to the angel.

“I have made mistakes in my life, and certainly taken many wrong turnings, how do I get these expunged and removed from these comprehensive records?”

My spiritual guide replied, “Removal of the events that have already happened is of course impossible. My advice to you would be to strive for excellence in everything you do in the future,”

My mind was a turmoil of negative reactions to the sure and everlasting knowledge that  there are, and never have been, any secrets. Every action and thought, is recorded and stored eternally.

I said, “Then is there no forgiveness for even the most minor of our transgressions, destined to be forever recorded in this depository of past events”

“Forgiveness starts with you. Forgive yourself first, then others will find the example of the serenity and peace of mind that will flow from your inner strength”.

The cruel example of eternal forgiveness was a man ruthlessly slain, calling for universal pity and forgiveness.

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”

 I looked again at the many volumes containing the growth and changes in my life. Watching them slowly disintegrating and turning to dust.

I then realised that the books were a metaphor, the past was irreversible and unchangeable.

I found faith in the realisation that the end of my ever changing story was many, many volumes in the eternal future.

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Copyright © Written by John Yeo, All rights reserved.

FRIDAY FICTIONEERS ~ 100 words on the pictured prompt ~ EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

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PHOTO-PROMPT Copyright Douglas M Mcilroy

 THE SEA OF STORIES

BY JOHN YEO

 Every article, alive or dead, is physical matter made up of universal molecules, part of the whole. Each section has a unique story to relate. Every seashell was once a part of a life-form and has lived through a story. Timeless pebbles illustrate seas where waves washed and polished them over and over again. Empty wine and water bottles, beg the question, who consumed the contents? A timeless clock sits above the scene, displaying jumbled numbers obscuring the time. The artist constructed this work of art using driftwood from wrecks, and material from the seashore. Thereby hangs another tale.

Copyright ©  Written by John Yeo. All rights reserved

Five sentences on~~ “FALLING”

This is the latest prompt from Lillie McFerrin~   http://lilliemcferrin.com/five-sentence-fiction-falling/

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FALLING

by John Yeo

The tension builds among the sky-divers as the aeroplane cuts through a cloud filled, steel blue sky.
Mentally checking through the procedure, with the final thought, has the chute been packed correctly?
Suddenly, with a whoosh of air the fuselage door is unlocked and open, revealing a panoramic view of the countryside below.
Go, go, go, then the leap into space and the air, with the exhilaration flooding through the mind as the fall begins.
The cord is pulled, the chute opens, and the slow steady falling to earth begins, falling  through the clouds to the earth below.

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Written by John Yeo © all rights reserved

Velvet Verbosity ~ 100 Word Challenge ~~ Jester

 

 THE JOKER

by John Yeo ©

Michael had a reputation for fun and laughter, everybody loved his sense of humour and went along with him in his merriment. Often when we were down in the dumps, an off-the-cuff remark from Michael would lift our spirits to new heights. His brand of humour was not a bullying, vindictive cruel variety, all the laughs were gained by pure quick-wit, from unusual situations. There was another side to Michael that he never displayed.. A deeply sad thoughtful side. He struggled desperately to keep this sad side under control. The jester played the joker, to trump the face of despair.

Written in response to the 100 word challenge from Verbal Verbosity~~ JESTER

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PICTURE IT AND WRITE~ THE SEEDS OF RELEASE

This is the latest Picture it and Write prompt from Ermilia’s blog.

__picture it & write


As always the image is provided and credited  by Ermilia

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Photograph by Steve Rosset titled ‘Nature’s Surprise’

The Seeds of Release

by John Yeo

 My very good friend Peter is a Botanist, we spent 5 years in college at the same time where we became very close friends. I studied Medicine and Natural Sciences. We were both keenly interested in Botany and the undiscovered plants hidden deep in the Brazilian rainforest. My father is an industrialist and decided to fund an expedition to allow Peter and I to follow our dreams, for a share of any profits.
 We arrived in Brazil, where we met a man named Luiz, who we took to, immediately. He was a native from the rainforest and he offered to be our guide and expedition leader, and help us get the expedition together. In the name of Science, we made the trip into the depths of the rainforest to search for medicinal plants.
 Luiz was an expert on the rainforest folk lore and we trekked for miles through the almost impenetrable jungle. We reached a distant village, that looked like a permanent camp-site, after many days of onerous travelling. We met with much danger on our travels and survived.
 As we approached the village a poisonous snake suddenly pounced from the trees above and bit one of our bearers in the face. The shaman from the tribe, was summoned, and quickly arrived and produced an unusual hairy pod full of shiny seeds, he quickly ordered the bearer to swallow one of the seeds. Following this the injured man lay very still. We were enthralled.
 “These are the seeds of despair”, he proffered the strange hairy pod open and full of round shiny seeds.
 “The seeds of despair, whenever the mind is sad or in a black abyss, these seeds will chase the illness away”.
 We were overcome with joy, here was a cure for depression. The black dog that affects so many people in the Western world.
 The wise old shaman then went on to say these wonderful seeds would cure the effects of memory loss and the slow deterioration of the old and aged people.
 We could not believe the implications of taking home a cure for Alzheimers disease.
The learned shaman then began to speak of another world where happiness reigns and sickness and death no longer matter.
These magical seeds bring instant transportation, and a very quick passage to heaven, where the cure is complete.

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Copyright © Written by John Yeo, All rights reserved.

Memories of Schooldays

FIRST DAY IN THE JUNIORS

by John Yeo

The day is here, Mum is near.

I can hardly suppress a tear

My uniform is new and clean

Off to attend my very first day

In the Junior school.

 

We don’t go far, in Dad’s car.

My Mum called me a star.

Concrete playground drab and drear

Many children going my way

To the Junior school.

 

Dad says goodbye, I will not cry

I make a friend and by and by

The bell goes and the teacher arrives

With a smile. “Hello! I’m Miss Prim

Here in the Junior school.

  

An oblong block,

Then a chalk-filled duster

Both throw up clouds of chalky dust.

Inkwell and dipping-pen with

Blotting paper that soaks up inky blobs.

A wooden desk with an inkwell

Initials gouged in the lid.

Silence as the register is called

Before the lesson begins.

My thoughts stray from the subject.

Until with a blunt request.

“What do you think, boy?”

I feel flustered and I bluster,

“I am not too sure, Miss”

I daren’t reveal my thoughts.

“Go to the back of the class”

“Stupid boy!”

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Copyright © ~ Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

Velvet Verbosity~~100 word Challenge~ “CLOAK”

A Cloak of Ignorance

by John Yeo

The day was beautiful, sunshine in mid-Spring, with life in abundance.
We met to discus the future of books and the threat of the electronice devices that would inevitably make the printed word redundant.
Suddenly a voice from the audience  boomed.  “If you trust the bulk of your words to machines, to the flick of a switch, then the words are vulnerable to energy supplies.”
Magically a  cloak of darkness descended on the gathering and the countryside around.
Day was turned into night.
Unexpected, unheralded , a total eclipse of the sun.
A sign of the return of the dark ages?

Written by John Yeo in response to a prompt by Verbal Verbosity

http://www.velvetverbosity.com/blog/2014/10/6/100-words-398-dorrie-and-the-blue-witch

All rights reserved ©

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