“A comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there.”-anonymous
Two men are stuck together
under the subway in the dark, One man says to the man next to him
“Since we’re gonna be stuck here together,
we might as well have some banter…
so what’s your name” the black man
asks the white man standing next to him The white man responds, “My name is Klearly White…” “Nice to meet you, Mr. White,
My name is Klearly Black” ” So… Do you identify as white?” Mr. Black asks…
“No, I’m just a spirit inside a white body . .. How about you? Do you identify as black?” Mr. White asks,
“No, I too am just a soul inside a black body” says Mr Black, “So now what?” Mr. White asks, “I have an idea! Why don’t you tell me more about what makes you you?
Tell me something about your humanity….” says Mr. Black,
“Hmmm” Mr. White tilts his head in thought then says, “I love walking in the woods, I love being one with nature…” ” What a coincidence!” Mr. Black says excitedly,
“Me too! Perhaps we can go for walks together during comfortable weather…” “Sounds good…” says Mr. white “Let’s exchange phone numbers…” ” Sounds good…” says Mr. black Then, suddenly the lights come back on
with one big swoosh and the train sliding doors part open… The two men say their goodbyes then walk
their separate ways…
One went North, the other went South…
Attn: Updated Bio:
Jacques Fleury
Jacques Fleury is a Boston Globe featured and internationally published Haitian American poet, theater reviewer, educator, author of numerous books of essays, reviews, fiction, poetry and literary arts student through Harvard University. He was chosen among over 4, 000 competitors from 83 countries as the Recipient of the International Naji Naaman Literary Prize for Creativity (2026)and a Certificate of Participation for his “…esteemed contribution of poetry to the anthology Water: The Source of Life (Volume IV) presented by La Fenetre De Paris.
Jacques Fleury’s book You Are Enough: The Journey Towards Understanding Your Authentic Self
It’s Always Sunrise Somewhere and Other Storiesamong other titles are available at all Massachusetts public libraries, the University of Massachusetts Healey Library, Wyoming University, Askews and Holts Library Services, the leading library supply specialist in the United Kingdom, The MIT Press Bookstore, The Harvard Bookstore and the oldest poetry bookstore in America: The Grolier Poetry Book Shop (est. 1927) has hosted great American poets E. E. Cummings and Alen Ginsberg and online bookstores worldwide such as Bookshop dot com, amazon etc…
Fifty is the new forty. In the legendary tradition of the game show, calorie & heart rate monitors are the only vocabulary you need. That & the fact that the only real mistake you can make is to wear a strapless Jason Wu dress in a creamy chiffon with a pair of off-white shoes.
CHECKING CRIME: WOMAN AS A STABILIZING FACTOR FOR THE FAMILY
Women are a great stabilizing factor in the family. It is because they are loyal to the home, and they are also committed to their kids. Men may deviate from these duties, but a woman never takes her eyes away from her children. If a woman wants that the man she marries should have property, it is less because of her own protection and more because she is trying to secure the future of her offspring. The idea of home making is integral to the vision of being a woman, not only giving birth to kids, and giving them good education –but also giving them a stable home.
It is a common passion among working women too, who have to stretch themselves too far, to work outside, and then, look for the comfort of the family members too. These days, reacting to the need of the fast households, there are companies like Zomato and Swiggy who provide food items, saving the women from the arduous work in the kitchen, yet these options are not easy. They provide food cooked for business purposes, and eaten without any sense of love or attachment. It is just to satisfy the hunger, reducing the act of eating to a mere physical activity.
We forget that like air that we breathe in, and water on which we live, food too has around it an aura of divinity. We must thank the elements for the food that is available to us. But, this sense of thankfulness is departing. Readymade foodstuffs leave a layer of toxicity, not only in the stomach, but also in our minds. The members of the household remain under stress, or suffer from the malfunctioning of the body parts. This is food stuff, not food. Perhaps, it is time we understand what it means to cook, and what it means to eat with passion and desire.
It is important to look at the criminal side of the story. In the parlance of the law, it is said that all the conflicts arise from three things: Jar [wealth] Joru[Wife] Zameen[Land]. I think that in a home, where women are not present, or where their prime position is undermined, an environment of instability and mental depravity is created. All the criminals who are seen at work with gangsters are people, who have no families, and who quench their urges by going to the red light areas, or they have keeps, who are after their money.
The birth of a daughter even in the family of a gangster sets him thinking. There are men who are running around the wedlock for the extra marital, or even for wealth creation through ulterior means, but women often stop them from these activities, and, in turn, get beaten up. Although it is an event from a film, Naam Shabana, but the incident is worth quoting. Shabana’s, [played Tapsi Pannu, father was a drunkard, and an evil character, who would come home and beat his wife black and blue. Shabana had actually killed her father, trying to save her mother from his bashing. It happens and crime burgeons where men do not listen to the women, who want a life of stability.
I am talking of this stabilizing impact of a woman in the family who loves her offspring, and wants her man to keep away from drugs and drinks, and even from red light areas. They have a preservative mind set. And they suffer, when they confront their menfolk, because men, in the patriarchal society, threaten them with divorce. They are silenced. But, try to impart their values to their sons and daughters. I wonder if I have reason to believe that all that is good, beautiful and lasting, in society has something to do with the presence of the woman.
Apart from what is happening in our society as a result of financial dislocation of families, and the evils of capitalism and materialism affecting the wedlock, those who go for marriage go for a life of steady relationship. And, if a daughter is born, it gives greater stability to the home. If we want to curb the bane of corruption and crime in our society, the most important institution that needs to be strengthened is family, love and faith.
Dr. Jernail S. Anand, with 200 books to his credit [19 epics] is a Chandigarh-based top-ranking presence in the contemporary world literature, a polymath, and a vital architect of the 21st century ethical literature whose seminal work ‘Lustus: The Prince of Darkness’ challenges the moral complacency of our era. Founding President of the International Academy of Ethics, and Laureate of Charter of Morava [Serbia], Seneca [Italy], Franz Kafka [Germany, Ukraine, Czeck Rep] and Maxim Gorky [Russia] Soka Ikeda and Mahakavi Bharati (India) Awards, his name is inscribed on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. [Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com]
J.J. Campbell’s new collection To Live Your Dreams is a collection of raw, emotional, and often dark expressions of life, love, loneliness, and despair.
His speaker often feels disconnected and isolated, describing themselves as “broken” and struggling with feelings of loneliness. Many poems express a sense of disappointment and disillusionment with life, love, and relationships, which are often fleeting and precarious. In “the twilight,” “love is like juggling hand grenades…you hope the people are entertained and the pin never comes out.”
The speaker frequently uses self-deprecating humor and acknowledges their own flaws and shortcomings. The lack of capitals and punctuation in the poems, and the non-rhyming, understated, free-verse narrative help to convey the speaker’s raw pain and humility. They also frequently use dark humor and irony to cope with emotions and experiences, including trauma and abuse they have survived. In an attempt to snatch a smidgen of hope from a barren life, he fantasizes about “being shot while getting rejection letters in the mail,” and in “count the seconds,” he recollects “explaining being molested again/to a group of people who never wanted the truth.” Finally, in a moment perhaps familiar to many writers who mine the well of their own sufferings, he reflects, “she liked my poetry/which is a sign something was up.”
Despite the speaker’s struggles, they often express a deep and touching desire for human connection and understanding. In “the one,” he reflects on a tenuous long-distance romance, suggesting with a tinge of tragicomic hope that “maybe this silly thing called love/will take care of everything.” Hope can spring eternal in a person’s heart, and we hope that he finds his way to peace and connection, one way or another. The collection’s title itself can be taken in multiple ways: while he has not yet “lived his dreams,” the fact that he still has dreams, that he can still hope despite his past and present struggles, becomes poignant and beautiful in itself.
Community and love are two-way streets, though, and perhaps reaching out to others who are struggling in similar ways could help him to find purpose and friendship. It’s clear that he’s not the only one in his situation, as he mentions support groups, counseling, and encounters with others on dating sites who seem equally broken and lonely.
In to live your dreams, J.J. Campbell offers a glimpse into his speaker’s complex and often troubled inner world. Overall, these poems convey a sense of raw emotion, vulnerability, and introspection.
