The Unseen Blossom by Zlaikha Y. Samad and L’Mere Younossi
L’Mere Younossi and Zlaikha Y. Samad’s The Unseen Blossom
The Unseen Blossom is a story that is both magical and a love story. The story is about Princess Zuli and Lamar, a shoemaker in Kabul. They are both chosen to go on an enchanted journey to find the elusive blossom of the Fig Tree. Along the way they go through gardens of enchanted trees, plants, animals and fish. They have realized that in another life, their souls have been interwoven to be soulmates for eternity. Their role is to learn how to bring unity and peace to their world. This is the most wonderful and delightful story that is perfect for any age. The message in the book is completely relevant in today’s world. We can all learn from its message of unity, peace and love.
Push him down. Crack his head like an egg, blood yolk on the cement. Push the old man down on the pavement.
Dominate, so shameful. Was that worth it? Really? Is that your training? Push old men down. Protester down, peaceful protester down, his blood on your hands.
A slap on the wrist, paid leave, is that punishment for assault?
Captive Wind
You cannot hold the wind captive. If it dies, it will kick back up later. It will pick up the pace in a hill, gently at first. When going downward, pity to those who stand in its path.
Do not take it lightly. You cannot hold the wind captive for too long. Its ghostly breeze will topple you. Its memory will be imprinted in your thoughts. If you fear the wind, you better bundle up to the neck.
It will leave you in misery. It is a sea wave on land, and it could strike softly or with immense cruelty. It will slap your forehead like a backhand. The wind does not play. You cannot hold the wind captive. It will make a great escape and bring silence a world of sounds.
Drowning in Fire
As if drowning in fire, burning through and through, it is clear that passion and desire are running through my veins.
No amount of water can slow down this inferno. Night cannot cool me off. The water in the moon is not cold enough.
Like a burnt stone under ashes I remain. I am a shadow of flames burning like stars. My passion and desire are burning for her. I throw myself into a lake of fire and I go down to the deepest depths. I come up still burning from head to foot.
I take my agony to the frozen lake, halfway from the frozen mountain. A flaming shadow follows. I close my eyes and she is still there, the woman that I burn for. She is there when I am fast asleep in my sub-conscience, in my dreams, she is the burning woman, and I am the burning man, burning in splendor.
Author Ike Boateng, performing spoken word in his hometown in Ghana
The
Genesis of what commenced in a suburban community of China has been described
and called by some as Wuang Wild Fire
– WWF spreading across the length
and breadth of the globe. Thus, like invisible terrorist causing unbearable
soul damages and demise of the entire human race from Asia to America, Europe
to Africa, beside across the oceans to Australia as well by the airwaves of
flights to countries of the continents. Indeed, the news of its occurrence and
how lives were affected in Wuang, China dated December of 2019. In fact, its
severe deadly approach to multitudes in China made the ‘Word Health
Organization – WHO’ came out with a name Corona
Virus – CV as simplified
initials. However, ‘Corona’ as a literal parlance means ‘Crown’. Well, in terms
of how it relate to this virus still unknown and vaccine undiscovered. Once
again, WHO also came out with it short pronunciation name CoViD-19 which is explained: Co
= Corona, Vi = Virus, D = December, 19 = 2019. To some world medical Doctors the
‘D’ stands for Disease though. As far as this article is concerned then CV simply means Corona Virus as I used to title a Spoken-Word poem recording
dubbed: ‘Oh CV!’ which can be
listened to via the following web-link: www.soundcloud.com/ikeboatofficial/ohcv
– Of course, not the CV many known as Curriculum
Vitae attached to some employment application letters.
Around
the world over, in everything there is good and bad, right and wrong, or even
positive and negative. Therefore, The CV
Effects brings to bear both the Negative and Positive sides of this
global CoViD-19 pandemic as it
pictured in African perspective. Although, many lives have been lost in Europe,
America and other continents than Africa, there is still need to bring readers
to the CV positive and negative
effects. Lo, to the curious minds, Positive in this context is not when someone
is tested and he or she carries such fatal virus in the blood stream coupled
with its symptoms of the body system. Aside, not negative when a person has
contracted the virus. But contrary, in view of right conditions or states it
has brought human-kind and made many, especially on the continent of Africa.
The Positive
Ten – TPT (+10)
1.
It has taught both young and old the critical need as well urgency to wash
hands thoroughly with soap under running pipe-borne water or usage of ‘Veronica
Bucket’. Hitherto, some proceed to eat meals without regular hand wash even
after visiting nature’s call, be it public or private toilet.
2.
To the religious minds, in the Christendom – It has established the possibility
for the faith-oriented ones to learn to pray on their own and for themselves
even to intercede for others respectively. Thus, no dependency on Pastors or
Priests to pray for them in times of critical spiritual conditions as there are
no social functions or gatherings such as Church service, crusades etc.
3.
It has also changed peoples habitual drunkenness as some often go to secret
spots, bars or even pubs at even dawn times to engage in alcoholism
i.e.(Excessive in-take of alcohol). That means positively there is nose-dive of
people being piss-pots in order not to affect their health status.
4.
Generally, those in Africa particularly the sub-region often refrain from
covering their nostril even though pollution of different forms in the
atmosphere hinders respiratory process. Thus, regular usage of ‘Nose Mask’ or
‘Face Mask’ has prevented many from inhaling other poisonous substances in the
atmosphere through the nose or mouth.
5.
There has been decrease of over-population problems in some countries of
Africa, America, Europe, Asia etc. It obvious over-population bring about other
economic hardships to the human society, thus some sort of positive death
effect any way.
6.
To those seeking ‘greener pastures’ in some European or American countries
there will be many job or work opportunities for them to travel in enhancing
their human resource-based when the
whole pandemic pass away and people have freedom of movement.
7.
Nowadays, there is reasonable usage of handkerchiefs and tissues to cover nose
and mouth when sneezing or coughing, as in times past some folks thought it was
just some sort of involuntary action in life.
8.
People have learnt the act of physical or social-distancing and isolation when
it comes to buying and selling at public places as some form queues during
customer service i.e.(Food Joints, Banking Halls and other places) which are
often crowdie and congested, aside demands proper-spacing at public areas.
9.
Being frugal on funeral and burial services in Ghana particularly has advantageously
changed as those dead are buried quickly like the ‘Islamic way’, not kept in
mortuary or morgue. Also, without mounting canopies and organizing of
wake-keeping, playing music during funeral-related activities.
10.
Similarly, those who spend huge-sums of money on wedding, engagement and
birthday parties has changed dramatically as only twenty-five (25) people are
accepted during social gatherings with regard to government directive.
The Negative Ten
– TNT (-10)
1. Obviously, the bad or negative impact of Lock-Downs on some sub-Saharan
countries such as Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ivory Coast has been a
bitter pill to swallow, especially those working from hand-t0-mouth on daily
basis. Both, the partial and total Lock-Downs
have made many remained hungry at various homes since they couldn’t reach-out
to work so no means to make money for their livelihood.
2. The death of individuals, some known
relatives abroad and those popular show-biz celebrity and other professionals
such as Musicians, Actors, Doctors etc. have left sad indelible marks on the
minds of many as grave-yards are equaled to ancient castle-gate or door-way
of no return to life.
3. No regular cordial forms of hand-shake salutation so some have sense
of emotionalism and unseen feud of hatred being a negative sign rather than CV symptoms itself.
4. Badly, no classroom form of education to study as schools and other
corporate institutions, supermarkets, malls have generally close-down for so
many months in Ghana, and other parts of the world. But, those with no
knowledge about computer-related online learning or studies that means when
there is possibility of examination it will be to their ‘negative’ disadvantage
since they can’t fathom certain topics in the curriculum. Aside, would need
professional teacher’s assistance.
5. Some company employers have also laid-off workers, staff members and
abrogated or cancelled contracts of personnel as consumers are not patronizing
products and services rendered to the masses. More so, the international
Airline industries as well Maritime agencies of ports and harbours are not in
regular operations affecting the entire global economy.
6. Family members and friends who have made monetary promises to send
financial support to relatives in Africa are facing hard times due to uncertain
Lock-Down restrictions and
conditions.
7. There have been sky-rocketing prices of products at market-places,
especially sanitizer becoming mostly sought after CV preventive and protective product on the continent of Africa and
beyond. Unimaginably, it has also affected some other food stuffs and products
previously on little demand.
8. The increase of pre-paid electricity unit buying, as school boys and
girls supposed to be at school during classroom hours are at home watching
television and using other electrical appliances to the disadvantage of parents
suffering to pay other utility bills. To some parents, noise-making at home has
been on higher-heights as children playing and hitting objects aimlessly keep
disturbing them.
9. Unknowingly, some government officials and those at front-line of
work to ensure cure or possible healing process of the CV disease are rather making money to engage in different projects
and use during political campaign rallies season. A couple of weeks, whilst at
an audio recording studio at Top Hill of Kasoa, information revealed that some
people with negative test of the CoViD-19
are falsely quarantined in order to ensure more donors funding support.
Unhealthily, monies giving by both local and global organizations are channeled
to different projects to the ‘negative’ disadvantage effect of the global Corona Virus – CV pandemic.
10. Last not but least, some of us with other talents in the Arts performing industry are not getting events gig booking coupled with other benefits due to the negative side effect of Corona Virus – CV pandemic as there are no special social shows and programs to ensure participation or performances.
A line from Bruce Sterling
A London based electronic
music producer uses
Ukrainian water pipes &
huge funnel clouds to
create movie special
effects. She calls this a
non-populist activity, for
she sees the resultant out-
puts as works of scientific
art. There are images of
wreckage & personal
belongings, the inner
workings of cells. Debris
in the air, but an FX
hurricane manages to keep
the place looking spotless.
A line from Léopold Sédar Senghor
A user-centric evaluation
framework means older
people have more problems
learning new systems, even
when there is improved
access to a variety of
language structures. We
noted an anomaly: re-
dundancy on both the
systems & user side means
that nominal data is never
uniform in the interval
between successive work-
outs. When you're indoct-
rinated, not even a lullaby
will smooth the readings.
A line from Stormy Daniels
I usually stay away from
writing self-centered self-
help articles, let the feed
dogs pull the triangles into
position. That center triangle
is very critical. But, different
houses, a different set of rules
for the game of Go. A year
of headlines about Russian
interference; & I feel like I'm
running through a minefield
looking for red lines to remove.
A line from Cyndi Lauper
In the Darwinian world of
the digital switchover, broad-
casters were evacuated due
to a major embolism, possibly
the biggest thing to happen
since the introduction of color.
Don't blame the government—
the High Court judgement was
flawed. Amnesty International
has been sounding the alarm
for more than a year that the TV
channels had strong incentives
to grow their audiences through
human trafficking. Now they sit
there, heels on fire, cutting every
cost without fear of any penalty.
Review of No Friend But the Mountains, by Behrooz Boochani
Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend But the Mountains
The seamlessness of borders, and the seamlessness of bodies; these are one in the same in the opening words of No friend But the Mountains. For, as we begin this book, after what appears to be many months of pointless fleeing, on foot, by truck, we are on a boat, in Boochani’s mind, along with several other people fleeing persecution in their countries, lost in the swish-swash of the sea.
The sea swells as it bends, it burns as it also churns. Such is the great power of equity; to render all in the horizon as infinite, to make it all feel like endlessness, to take many bodies, from many corners of the world, and to make them on this boat One Thing. In this case the word we give to these people, who were previously Kurdish, or Sri-Lankan, or Burmese, is ‘refugee.’ A person who is state-less. A person who happens to be in between countries.
In Boochani’s case, this is not the transnational-ness of a privileged First Worlder or even of an intellectual exile. Just for wanting to flee ethnic persecution, Boochani is immediately sent to Manus Island, Australia’s answer to Alcatraz. It is a grueling and harsh prison ruled by the most militant of guards. We see fathers of an old age lose their children, the dignity beaten out of people who were once the proudest, and the most flamboyant of characters, stripped to the peels of what they once were.
Boochani chooses to tell his tale in chapters, with strips of first person narration interrupted by sparse, poetic reflections. The language of the narration itself is professional, insightful, and well-crafted. I was struck often by the simpleness and yet beauty of sentences, such as on page 78 of my Kindle edition, “I was probably the lightest traveller in the history of all the world’s airports. It was just me, the clothes on my back, a book of poetry, a packet of smokes, and my manhood.” Another one was on page 143: “A killer is a killer; violence oozes out through their blurred, diluted pupils. I’m convinced that the soul of a killer is reflected in their eyes.” Like seashells on the coast, sentences like these are everywhere in the book. Whether this comes from the innate Persian of the original manuscript or the translator’s hidden talents is hard to gleam, but regardless, the coarse rifts of insight studded through the language made this a stunning text to read.
As per the poetic interludes which bifurcate the text, I had more mixed thoughts. In general, I enjoyed the musings on nature, life, and thought, but the amount of ones which felt earned were less than the ones that were repetitive and self-indulgent. With certain stylistic choices, I think it is always best to err on the side of less than more, and to choose the ones with the most poetry and thought behind them. The one which I thought was the most impressive was Boochani’s invocation of the mountains in a pattern of a dream.
“The ruckus of our terrified group / The sound of weeping in the background / The beating of waves / The petrified, silent screaming / The tormented wailing / Waves rocking a cradle containing a corpse / All within a domain of death and darkness / My mother is present / She is there alone / Travelling over the ocean or emerging from within the waves? / Where is she? / I don’t know / I only know she is there / Alongside me / She is afraid / She is smiling, and she is weeping / Shedding tears from years of sorrow / I don’t know / Why is my mother cheerful? / Why is she weeping? / I witnessed a wedding celebration with rituals of dance / I witnessed lamentations that dictated demise / Where could this place be? / Grand mountain peaks covered with snow, full of ice, abounding in cold / I am there / I am an eagle / I am flying over the mountainous terrain / Over mountains covering mountains / There is no ocean in sight / From all ends, the territory is completely dry / The presence of ancient chestnut oaks / The presence of my mother / She is always present.” (p. 29-31)
In the case of this particular transition, Boochani’s fleeting language creates a willful transition between the puncture of the boat and Behroonani waking up after. It inserts some surrealism into an otherwise grounded story, and the transition works in setting up the scene that follows after, Boochani being very much in prison. The others were sometimes too pseudo-poetic. For example,
“I am on the threshold / Entering the labyrinth of death / Perhaps the essence of death involves war / Both living and dying at once / I swim through my own hallucinations / All these images / The constructions of my own mind.” (p. 39)
Boochani has these thoughts right as he is entering the water again while a guard chases him. The scene would have been much more interesting if Boochani took the risk of describing the brunt way he is fished out of the ocean, but instead, the poetic interlude undercuts the drama and makes it feel abstract.
Though, I would have preferred more graphic descriptions of the boat going under that more pseudo-poetic underlines.
Characters are not given names in Boochani’s books, but archetypes. In a book like this one, where people have had their humanity humiliated, but are still very much human through and through, I personally believe this works to great effect. It also made certain characters stronger for me. There was Maysam the Whore, a flamboyant dancer who could have easily been a character out of a Dostoevsky novel. Maysam the Whore is both shamelessly flirtatious, and also the proud source of many a tease. The story of the Father of the Months Old Child is realistic and all the while heart-breaking. Boochani’s abilities to characterize are impressive, and I would love to see what he would do if ever he wrote a novel. Each of these characters who are never given name are given more than that: they are entire identities, as well as entire entities.
All in all, No Friend But the Mountains is one of the best books that I have seen published in the last few years. I don’t know if it is emblematic of the sad fact that memoir is often more powerful than fiction these days, or if it is because Boochani and his translator are just that talented of a team, but the observations on each and every page are enough to fill term papers on, and one could spend equally as many hours reflecting on the narrative’s embedded poetry. The book finally ends on a rebellion set on the prison. Like Odysseus facing the Cyclops or Arjuna facing Karna, the prisoners, the aboriginal Papus, and the Australians face off as well, giving the sense of tension akin to the best of ancient literature. Humans fight for their lives, as well as for what they believe to be right, but most importantly, the dignity of love. After all, what is life without hope? And what happens to that hope, if it ends before it has been given the right to inspire, or to the right to show its light?
