feet to cold stone - despite the tropical heat, a chill is felt
Tropical Chill [Haiku]
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In Praise of Multiplicity [Free Verse]
Everybody seeks oneness, but maybe one with everything is too much, it's a state in which one is lost, irrelevant, and unloved - all at once. Maybe it's better to be tied to the mast - like Odysseus - straining to make that dangerous connection, but unable to, the connection of non-connection, the love of longing, of trying, but not of being plugged in -- air-gapped to prevent resonance at a frequency that would shatter one's soul.
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Sea Gate [Free Verse]
The gate faced the sea. It seemed like a strange place for a gate. The sea spray of crashing waves flew up to douse those who passed through. Which way was in? Which way was out? And then I accepted that "in" & "out" were meaningless constructs, and that it was a portal between infinities.
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DAILY PHOTO: White Sand Beach, Isla Mujeres
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Wide Open Spaces [Free Verse]
out of my cell & onto the trail i walk the vast expanse, the vault of heaven above & hills of rolling green beneath my feet and clouds barge through blue skies like thoughts barge through my mind - sluggishly but inevitably
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Deep Dive [Common Meter]
To those who cling tenaciously to their own sanity: How much freedom can the sane have? How much humanity? Where's the freedom in not shouting your truth when/where you can? In pretending that the uni- verse has some sort of plan? Freedom lies in learning to ride the chaos to the depths, and learning how one can breathe denied the air for breaths.
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Misplaced Driftwood [Haiku]
on a green hillside stands a line of dead trees, looking like driftwood
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Fleeting Agoraphobia [Poem]
the world beyond my window seems so very far away like looking from a spacecraft at a dim and foggy day
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DAILY PHOTO: Bangkok Canals
BOOK REVIEW: False Guard by Merwan
Fausse Garde – NE by MerwanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
Out: November 30, 2021
This graphic novel is set in a fantastical world that combines the culture of a Southeast Asian live-in gym, a setting suggestive of “One Thousand and One Nights” supersized to mega-city scale, and some novel creative elements of the author-artist’s imagination. The protagonist, Mane, is a fighter who dreams of making it big in the big city. On the bright side, despite the prejudices against him as an outsider, Mane has the drive and talent to be a champion. However, in a universe of single-minded people (professional fighters,) his energies are split between the gym and his desire to fight for social justice. It turns out that the man leading him into a guerrilla battle against the societal elite, Fessat, is an old intra-gym rival of the gym-owner / coach, Eiam, for whom Mane is fighting.
The story is largely about Mane’s attempts to reconcile these two aspects of himself, and the travails of the bifurcated mentorship he receives from Fessat and Eiam. The fictional martial art of Pankat bears resemblance to Muay Thai / Lethwei / Pradal Serey Southeast Asian style kick-boxing, with a combination of MMA elements to appeal to the present-day reader and some creative details to make it feel more exotic.
For the most part, I found the story and character development compelling. There were some points at which it felt like there was a disjoint between the emotional displays being made and the events at hand. It’s hard to put a finger on what was off, it just felt a bit overwrought at times. Besides a desire to create a visceral story, this is probably meant to reflect Mane’s stress level, but it felt forced at times. It’s also true that Mane is a complex character – at times sympathetic and at other times an impetuous jerk.
If found this book to be enjoyable and engaging.
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