From the “Introduction“:
Preliminary banter from the author..
Firstly, this is the very REAL Jacques Fleury, not ChatGPT or AI generated jargon and neither is this book! With the advent of technology, these types of warnings, unfortunately, become necessary. This is my fifth time stepping up to the book podium, and what do I have to say to you that’s new?
Well, we will have to see… Let me start out by saying what I’ve learned since the last time I authored a book length letter. As a reminder, the last book I wrote was “You are enough: The journey to accepting your authentic self ” and that was about three years ago and a lot has changed in the world and in my life since then… Like it or not, we are all embroiled in the shark-infested tanks of a new type of reality… It is as if the whole world is at war; whether subjectively or objectively, and you are either a witness or a participant, directly or indirectly getting hit by the bullets of racialized socio-political and economic injustice while world leaders compete for political dominance at the expense of the shunned proletariat. Not to mention the persistence and pervasiveness of the continued healthcare crisis fueled by remnants of Coronavirus variants among other newly discovered viral threats, all at the monster’s ball of world chaos!
Among the most troubling of all is the banning of books for not adhering to the demands or the expectations of those in power positions, even heads of states! All while ignoring and/or challenging our constitutional rights to freedom of the press and freedom of speech in our United States of America! Hence why I am writing yet another book simply to “tell the truth”. Nevertheless, with a continuation of compassion, understanding and even more importantly a sense of necessary levity tethered with humbled humility and erotic sensationalism to mitigate our chaotic chasm.
Some of the stories come with screaming orgasms, some will come with gut wrenching laughter, some will evoke your sympathy; all in an artistic effort to combat the notion of cosmic unrest. Some will bring dignity to the disparaged, direction to the dislocated and directives to the disenfranchised members of our society. I also continued my studies of spirituality, history, and random facts for nerds, and I will present to you what I have learned hoping to distract and educate as political conflicts and interpersonal and societal relations conflate along partisan lines internationally and within the United States.
The state of the world sometimes puts me in a state of dysania every morning… making it hard for me to get out of bed…but then I think to myself “…at least we’ll always have PIZZA!” Just seeing if you were paying attention… I am not here to wag my fingers and harangue you about how bad THEY are or how good WE are. Or how “we” or |”they” are to blame for the way things are. The truth of the matter is, we are all capable of being fallible to the fragility of our humanity.
and it would be an exercise in futility to punish or blame each other for our predestined vulnerabilities. I am simply here to lay out the facts juxtaposed with the myths and hopefully mediate the conflation between the two… in brand new prose poetry. Some of the things I have learned since my last book will be evident in the following stories, essays, reviews, poetry and writing prompts in this book; where retro philosophy meets contemporary challenges, where politics and passion, lust and love, desire and danger collide! So grab your soon to be quivering “thighs”, your K-Y along with your political eye and enjoy!
When it comes to the ways of Earth dwellers, William Shakespeare said it best in his play Julius Caesar, “The fault lies not in ourselves but in our stars that we are underlings…” You may interpret that as you wish.
One must learn to cultivate and sit into their own sense of self-centered peace. “You were never promised ease. Life is not meant to be soft, it is meant to sharpen you, to break what is false and leave what is real…” (From Stoic Diary podcast on YouTube) The hits will come left and right top and bottom, as you endure, dents of wisdom will possibly strengthen you to your soul’s core viscera and when it comes to learned life lessons, wisdom and edification, the prose and poetry in this book will offer you a plethora of that.
These narratives in this publication promulgate the mobilization of progressivist ideologies rather than regressive antiquated notions of protracted inequality, that some see as “making America great” for some while “the others” stand on the sidelines with the scowl or chagrin grin of the miserable and the oppressed. Perhaps that, in and of itself, is the conundrum of a democracy: you can’t please EVERYBODY while enduring the persistent and often pernicious governmental policies, arguably motivated by political partisanship rather than focusing on regulatory solutions to benefit ALL Americans regardless of political affiliations, social class or ethnic identity.
I looked up the opposite of “a great person” on AI and one protruding term that came up was “asylum seeker!” Why is a person “bad” because they’re seeking asylum due to circumstances brought on through no fault of their own in their home countries?! However, that is AI for you; it is a mixed bag when it comes to the answers you will get. My mother told me this Haitian proverb in Haitian Creole: “Se yon sitiyasyon ki fe yon aksyon” which translates to “It’s a situation that brings about an action.” The political and economic chaos being “the situation” and the asylum seekers being “the action.” Just like it was for the pilgrims and other European immigrants who sought and are still seeking “asylum” in America similarly due to religious, economic, and sociopolitical unrest in their home countries.
FYI or for your information, “K-Y”(as mentioned above) when used pertaining to sexual activity refers to K-Y Jelly, a brand of personal lubricant used to reduce friction and enhance comfort during sexual activity. While its original purpose was surgical lubrication… But in Japanese slang: “KY” stands for “kuuki yomenai” (空気読めない), which translates to “can’t read the air.” It describes someone who is socially unaware or insensitive.
In other words, someone who is NOT socially conscious, which, for this purpose, would be antithetical to this book’s mission as an exaltation of understanding, compassion, cultural-sexual-political awareness and social justice. It’s genre subversive and decidedly “different” which is totally my brand of serious yet facetious, bookish yet lowbrow series of stories, essays, reviews, poetry and creative writing prompts dripping with sexual fluidity and societal nonconformity. Social outcasts and weirdos will feel as if they belong for a change and that somebody somewhere out there “gets” them. So, what are you waiting for? Get to the reading…
Wake-up or get WOKE!!!
Jacques Fleury, 2025