Stout as an old oak he sighs with the
exasperation of one tiring of chiding the
unbridled energy of a child. The small
boy, in the very temporary charge of his
grandfather, charges belligerently
through the crowd of his playground
peers. Curiosity aroused, demands to
be lifted, squirming to the heights, to
dangle precariously, screaming soon
enough for immediate rescue.
Park squirrels and small dogs are
fodder for his animated, raucously
shrill shouts, rushing headlong
toward the wary animals. Enthusiasm
undaunted by their skillful avoidance
he turns to clambering precariously
on swings and slides, emphasizing
entitlement with emphatic shoves.
Distracted and attracted by each newly
noticed entitlement, the boy rushes hither
and yon, greybeard clumping behind,
breathlessly. Nothing seems to stump the
child. He is rude and unconcerned as only
a child can be who has never taken heed
of gentle reminders from loving parents
that he must be aware of others as they
are of him. There is nothing frail about
this child's overarching ego propelling
him onward to the invention of discovery.
His assured ownership of all he surveys
on the adventure of life, his pursuit of
adept manipulation of objects that pique
his curiosity endlessly consuming
until boredom suddenly strikes. He caroms
off onto another enticing tangent, the elderly
man admiring, wishing he could capture
the passion and the energy, forgetting
that at some distant time he did.
Our original equipment
inherited at the birth
of the species still resonates.
Primeval humankind learned
survival techniques as the
primary imperative. Those
that prevailed, claiming
scarce resources, survived
to leave their genetic
advantages to an unbroken
line of successors, and
in turn practising the
winning formula for
succession through oppression,
denial of equality and
opportunity. To those victors
most certainly went the spoils
and for them life was good
and as it should be. Not
quite so for the far less
advantaged by Nature's
generosity. Their struggle,
their survival continues
vexingly, against the odds
of disadvantage. Bigotry,
xenophobia, racism,
persecution of castes, class
and gender, and the visceral
misery of oppression of the
meek by the bold and the
mighty continue to reveal
Nature's mischievous mystery.
A life of deprived misery lends itself
readily to the impoverished downtrodden
of an ignorant, militant and indigent class
to be complicit in readiness to demonstrate
to the world at large their impassioned
support of their very own oppressors;
foreign benefactors they may be, as
opposed to home tormentors, but unity
is paramount, so 'Kill The Enemy!' prevails.
A tyranny that restricts basic human
rights for those it oversees, is still
capable of manipulating the marginalized
by appealing to their tribal instincts in
defiant threats to presumed outside
usurpers of sovereignty. The sovereign
dignity of the homeland paramount.
The masses, whose needs are ignored
and whose debilitated existence is of
no concern to their dictators, yet prove
to be immensely useful when their
righteous ire and religious sensibilities
are turned in wrath against an outer,
non-tribal source which, in sympathy with
their beggarly plight offers aid seen to be
delivered by their own ruling elite.
The realpolitik of the grimy street
soiled with the accumulated waste of
dire neglect and misfortune is easily capable
of instilling pride of nation and fond
tradition in a misbegotten caste intimately
familiar with plague, pestilence and
starvation redolent of their heritage.
And from the lisping lips of children
is orchestrated venomous belligerence,
and diabolical curses as they course
along a capital's thoroughfare, hoisting
aloft the flag of defiance, chanting
"Death to the Enemy", naming foreign
countries whose humanitarian aid has
prolonged their lives but whose very own
governments have blatantly taken credit.
What is life, but our
very existence; because
we are here, there is
awareness of being,
of time and the elements
of the greatest mystery
of all, in that we
know: Out of nothing
came the grandeur of
existence when a sublime
spark of energy created
the chaos of sizzling
gases, molten rock and
metal to agonizingly
slowly coalesce, creating
within the vast space
of nothing something,
existing within time and
yawning infinity an
equally immense being
of substance hosted within
that great gaping expanse
without end, and from
some primordial gathering
of infinitely minute matter
the chemicals of life
quietly, insistently, stirred
and became the beginning
of being and life
and it is as we know it.
The comfortable arena of denial
does its critical function proud;
saving the ego from extreme
distress and pride in self from
a needful introspection.
To void oneself of the indignity
of failure to become responsible,
one indulges in these plaintive
shirkings of cause and effect of
unacknowledged acts initiated;
sins of unrewarded commission.
But all such habits have
consequences, when paranoia breeds
defensive contempt and the slow
degradation of relations slide inevitably
from emotional intimacy to brittle
distrust and breakdown.
Convinced of faultless demeanor
an open trustingness leading to a
soft vulnerability; poor abandoned
soul, the world has turned a deaf,
uncomprehending ear to your
incomprehensible suffering miseries.
Face yourself. Speak clarity to
your reluctant inner self, unwilling
to delve deep to solve the mystery of
your goodness, charity and compassion
overwhelmed by others' cruel deceits,
not your own delusional conceits.
Be kind to yourself as a start and those
who find it in themselves to care deeply
for you as a cherished kin whose genetic
inheritance you carry in excess; find the
way to be less rapaciously irascible with
them as with yourself in despair.
Shed your bitter rancour, there can
be no grace there, nor salvation from
a lifetime of self imposed, aggravated
unhappiness with the induced conviction
that life is your uniquely personal hell.
Life is a heavy burden, a tired
succession of heart stops on
the journey to despair for too
many who began their passage
believing it would be otherwise.
They recognized at various
bends in the road a challenge,
an opportunity and rose, they
felt, to the occasion. Sometimes
the occasion slipped right by,
leaving the disbelievingly
incredulous survivor adrift.
They struggled forward, ever
determined to grasp new promises,
but those too, fate grasped from
their eager fingers. Yet the bereaved
hand remained an open appeal,
pleading with the spirit not to
surrender. We see these weary souls
around us, mechanical smile, blank,
uncomprehending eyes, faces
creased in the desperation of
empty existence, hungry for notice.
Their need so raw it cannot
be a mystery. There is little to be
done for no one can unravel a life
lived without joy. But little will
also herald the brief relief that
acknowledgement brings, with
inclusiveness. A welcome, however
brief and mere facade will still
reassure, found in a greeting of
genuine gladness, a sincere smile,
a lingering conversation, and an
acquaintance's fond hug, whether
physical or inherently implied.
This world of ours is an awfully
frantically busy place, its
inhabitants obsessed with
their various preoccupations
all geared to fulfilling aspirational
choices made of free will and
the urge to succeed, taking
little notice of the inconveniences
posed by the casual unexpected.
In Germany, fate has caught
up to destiny with a 90-year-old
former SS assassin sentenced now
to life in prison. In Bangladesh,
a man, enraged his wife did not beg
his assent as Islam decrees before
embarking on a college degree,
taped her mouth, then proceeded
to amputate her right hand
in a righteous rage of entitlement.
Twenty-six unfortunate passengers
on an overloaded boat that
capsized in Nigeria have been
recovered by authorities. Among
the dead, a 6-year-old child. Of
those rescued who lived, was a woman
who proceeded into childbirth in a
successful full term pregnancy.
In Japan, a precocious one-year-old
toddler demonstrated his cool
mettle by directing his plummeting
body into shrubbery after his father
deliberately discarded the child at
their apartment's 10th story height.
The child, face scratched, wept in
disfavour of the peculiar new game
his father introduced to their union.
Finally, at a New York-based,
high-profile advertising agency,
two elevator occupants stood by as
another woman accessed the elevator
incompletely, her body only half
within as the door slid closed and the
elevator ascended, crushing its
unfortunate almost-passenger.
