Its Denizens

 

The density of the tree growth in the forest

is impressive and so is the topography

called a ravine yet so widespread that

there are many ravines, many rivulets

at each of the valleys sided by steeply

sloped hills that shelter the rarely-seen

animals for which the forest is their

natural habitat. Accessibility to the

forest not far from a large urban area

is far from difficult with many points

of entry for the curious and those who

enjoy exploring along with their equally

curious companion animals eager to

lope along the trails that emerged long

ago when animals and then people began

to launch a presence in the byways and

hidden areas of the forested ravine. It is

where teens meet secretly at night to

light fires both to sit around and smoke

weed and drink, occasionally to torch the

hollowed-out interiors of majestic old

pines. It is where fleeting glimpses of

deer and foxes, raccoons and skunks can

be seen as they slink from trail to under

story. It is where nocturnal animals hunt

the owls and raccoons and a new breed of

coyote whose heritage is wolf and coyote

and when dusk enters and night falls it is

best to find shelter from the eerie silence.

 

 

The Utility of Strangers

 

If I were reading a book and it became

too intense I could put it down for a

break, but confronting me was no book

but an irate stranger whom happenstance

has placed before me as he waxes

indignant over the state of world affairs.

I did nothing other than to be there when

he was also there in that public place

where books line the library shelves

my presence somehow goading him to

approach and ventilate his distemper with

the times. In the process revealing more

than any stranger might want to know

outside the pages of a novel yet his

eagerness to reveal himself kept me

prisoner to his rants as did the bristling

bulk of his aroused presence with no

easy escape beyond courtesy for who 

am I to shun anyone in such obvious need

as this man born in Cuba to a barefoot

doctor, himself attending university in

Russia travelling to Tunisia because he

spurned Communism and atheism. As a

Christian he found no comfort sojourning

in Tunisia despite its cosmopolitan flair

ending up in my country, now his impression

of its glaring faults mystify and enrage him

as he acquaints me passionately with

every one of his disappointments in life.

 

 

Qualms

He is but a vain, ignorant and shallow man

who confuses the dignity, honour and

power invested in the office he holds with

attributes that he does not himself 

exemplify. It is, above all, the power in

the position temporarily his that he feels

reflects the glory of an absent intellect

and inability to but mock the cerebral

functioning of those superior to him

holding positions meant to guide his own

while his quixotic decision-making sends

quavering shivers down the spines of

world leaders for any decisions he makes

in the full fallibility of his flawed character

through the intrinsic majesty of his office

inevitably impacts the stability of the free

world upon whose freedom the decisions

emanating from his office traditionally

guarantees. He is a madman run amok

and the dilemma is that lawful democracy

and the people's will placed him in

such authority that others can only hope

he will in due time be but a footnote in

history which cannot pass soon enough.

 

Humanity's Salvation

 

No event can contend with the emergence of 

new life fresh with the dew of spring's

awakening to excite, awe and delight for there

are scant few observers and participants alike 

who are not taken with the birth of a dimpled 

child much less new births of any creature 

presenting as an exquisite immature version of the

maturity that will eventually overtake them.

Without doubt it is monumentally fitting that 

the whole of creation appears to be fixated on

the birth of a child as a momentous occasion 

in world history leading to the emergence of a 

worldwide religion. The elder version hailed

as the Prince of Peace delivered his universal 

message in a transmission of earthly life as a 

gesture from the God of Abraham. And how

peculiar it is that it had to be a Jewish child 

whose identity as the voice of God transfixed 

vast multitudes. How much more peculiar that 

those worshipping multitudes chose those of 

the Prince's heritage to single out as unfit for

habitation among the faithful, to view them 

with scorn and derision while hailing the 

miraculous deliverance proffered by the Almighty

through a Jewish heritage as a light unto the

world in one fell swoop gifting the world with

the brilliant light of salvation gratefully 

accepted while rejecting iniquitous Judaism.

 

Insufferable Insubordination

 

The ultimate order of power lies in the

capable hands of none other than nature

the ultimate creator. As vast as the universe

is, it is in fact but a laboratory where nature

devises her scenarios, arranges chemicals

and mixes her uncountable elixirs to produce

galaxies, their suns and the planets that

revolve around them leading her to turn

toward the micro-level of inspiring new life

forms upon them to study the properties that

evolve and transform. On one planet alone

that we are most familiar with she has 

created and disposed of billions of living

species most found to bore her and thus quite

expendable, leaving a remaining ten million

to prove their value to this most exacting of

creators who just happens to ferociously tend

to minute details in guiding her decisions. 

Much is known of human predecessors. Much

much more is unknown and will not be known

as nature, afire with the spirit of creation

creates endlessly and disposes with casual

ease. She may now be bemused that the

upstart human race has evolved as a most

impudent and insubordinate creature which

in its spoilage of nature's resources threatens

her primacy and the existence of all that

thrive, on this her least mysterious planet.

 

Wholesomely Yours

 

What could possibly be more comforting

than to know that no matter how you

disport yourself, irregardless of the

manner in which you may be regarded by

the rest of the world your family will always
stand by your side. As an ego restorative there

is nothing quite like an abundance of allies

who share a significant quality that you also

are part of and as brothers are foursquare

with you. Sudan's ruler may be regarded as

a mass murderer, but there he is pledging

loyalty to you, Syria's butcher. And though

the Arab League's 22 member-states saw

fit to disown you Bashar al-Assad, blood

will always win out even if sectarian ties

separate you for you are Arab born and as

such belong to this distinguished gallery of

thugs and mass murdering states ruled by

royalty and tyrants and sheiks, military

leaders and backgrounded by the clerics

who never hesitate to issue deadly fatwas

against any who deny the world of Islam's

basic tenet of bringing peace to the world by

embarking on a jihad against the nations of

war deigned such for refusing to submit. You

Assad, will be enjoined to rejoin the Arab

League for their members have missed your

presence and in an act of magnanimity now

pledge to endorse your honoured presence.

 

Meddlers

 

 

Busybodies, they are here, there

and everywhere. Vigilant

to a fault in ferreting out

instances where they can intervene

knowingly proffering

an unsought solution to an

absent problem. Quite possibly

these are insecure personalities

seeking attention even admiration

certainly affirmation that what

might elude others is plain

to their way of thinking. They

have all the answers to all

the questions that bedevil society

quite aside from the fact that

no one has sought their opinion

and when it's given it is viewed as

an inappropriate and irritating

addition to a situation viewed as

quite complete as it is. They flatter

themselves as philosophers. Those who

prefer civility will grimace and pass on

while others with justification will

plainly reject the gratuitously smug

interference with a well-chosen

phrase of contempt. Perhaps we see

in ourselves a glimmer of the very same

predilection successfully subdued

a discomfiting awareness of a

similarity between ourselves and the

maddeningly insistent bore society

collectively holds in contempt.