Merchants

They will be remembered for ages, for what they brought to the shore, and what they took. The merchants were hungry for power and economic control. They brought in cheap goods, made people dependent and ruled business on the shore. They snaked their way through all sites where the locals thronged, and extracted secrets. The … Continue reading Merchants

Bonding

Where are the gloves? Ohh! When did you injure your hand? I’m glad the local pharmacy is delivering kits home. We need to go to the main gate to collect our parcels. Isn’t that nice? I envy those who have dogs. They are allowed to take their pets out for a walk. Heard you got … Continue reading Bonding

Survivor

It takes weeks to get all the details right. All the walls, windows and wires are now in the right place. He scrapes off paint, repaints certain lines as he recalls those days. During a coffee break, he wonders if things are still intact in the same place, or if the city exists only in … Continue reading Survivor

Confinement

The phone buzzes… someone wants to check on my well-being. I switch off social media notifications. The frequency is higher than normal. I like seeing the well-dressed news reporters on television. There’s a normal life out there somewhere – people dressing up for work, interacting, going live … I say my gratitude for the internet … Continue reading Confinement

Help me

You want to say something, but need an amplifier and decoder for your messages. You fly far and wide, and know a lot more. We can benefit from your wisdom, but choose to use derogatory terms about the size of your brain. Maybe it’s envy for your power to conquer the skies… Maybe it’s our … Continue reading Help me

Forgiveness

Most spoke of the low but omnipresent rumble of water, or its dulcet lap against a hull, but that was not how he missed the sea. There’s a huge difference between the view of a fisherman, and a tourist on the beach. Tourists have never had the privilege of befriending water, manipulating it, cutting through … Continue reading Forgiveness

Enlightenment #writephoto

“Those who reached there have never come back.” “Are you referring to those stones?” “I always wonder what they hold. Are they the intellectuals and knowledge-seekers who disappeared from the world? Do the stones represent disappointment on ignorance and arrogance in the world - a world they once cherished as their own? Does it become … Continue reading Enlightenment #writephoto

Business Development

The candidate has a record of business failures. I don’t think I’ll hire him, but curiosity gets the better of me. “What went wrong with the restaurant you opened downtown?” “We closed it at lunch time, as someone told us later. But I do care about my employees.” “And what happened to the gas station? … Continue reading Business Development

Rewiring

I always knew I’m wired differently – the eternal rebel who looked down on compliance as sub-par to existence on this planet. It was the frantic attempts at rewiring that amused me. Parents, teachers, partners, colleagues, children … all of whom that I was an aberration to be ashamed of, a mistake to be corrected, … Continue reading Rewiring

Lambent #writephoto

When I walk in the dark, feeling things and measuring footsteps, I know how light defines the parameters of existence. The world is whatever light helps me to see. Whatever I can’t see does not exist. Glowing, gleaming, flickering, blinding, soothing, illuminating – it is the context for all that I see and understand. “Do … Continue reading Lambent #writephoto