tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48860569767548092692024-03-08T03:09:50.866-08:00Bob Elvis the Writerbob elvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01886244437158108862noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886056976754809269.post-28584555358889710132024-01-18T06:35:00.000-08:002024-01-18T06:35:37.054-08:00<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What to Do With Your
Heart<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What will you do with that heart of yours?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Will you scrimp and save it away<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Padlocked safe in the larder of your breast,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Eked out in miserly morsels<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The nett of it rotting in perfect parsimony?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If such is the inclination,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deny it even this stale crumb.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Condemn the noble organ to its base and vital task,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ticking off the meaner moments of a life<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unsullied: unadorned both.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Is this truly a trade worth the making?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why ensnare the heart?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why set it round with traps and caveats?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once uncaged, this bird of paradise may fly free<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Or, liberated, home again embroidered with its mate.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, why hoard your chips?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stake all on a red or black<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And trust only that you’ll break the bank.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Safe above the puppet master and his pierrot<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Take to the trapeze and eschew the net.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Flame like a meteor if only for the instant.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love like your heart was meant to be broken.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love generously.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love freely.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love boldly and dangerously.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Above all, love foolishly,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For love is all that there is.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">(Thanks to the amazing sufi poet and philosopher Rumi for the last two lines)</p>bob elvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01886244437158108862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886056976754809269.post-82847934116327417532020-11-03T09:16:00.009-08:002024-01-03T08:25:07.573-08:00Dodo<p> This brief piece is my take on the cautionary tale. The subject matter might seem child like, the style and language are most definitely adult (I hope). I trust you find it to your taste. </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Dodo<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Once upon a time, or maybe twice, at a time even
before such things were written down, the tragic tale is told of a singular
bird and how it earned its name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
no cause to doubt the veracity of this story since it was recounted to me at my
grandmother’s knee one day in that precious hour when the spent day is bidding
a sleepy, satisfied <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">au revoir </i>to a
cloudless night waiting in the wings to unfurl its bejewelled canvas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She, in turn and by tradition, had received
it from her grandmamma, a recognised <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">savant
</i>in her community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now I lay it
before you that you might take it as a nonsense, pure entertainment or,
perhaps, a truth that’s worth retelling; to each of you as you see fit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">All was a cornucopia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It teemed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It overflowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foliage, flowers and fruit brawled playfully
for their fair share of light, shade, moisture and heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fecundity filled every corner and crevice
with beasts great and small of every shape and hue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Existence was certainly a matter of rampant
superfluity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say it betokened
uncontrolled havoc could, of course, never be inferred, for this would suggest
an infallibility too far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
notwithstanding this, there was, however, some cause for concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things could not be allowed to overstep the
limits of tolerance and, whilst direct intervention might be perceived as
somewhat heavy-handed, an infringement of innate freedoms, there was a need for
– how might one phrase it delicately? – a degree of ‘local management’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was needed was a creature who could be
relied upon to convey Their requirements without appearing to speak <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">directly</i></b>
for Them; a safe pair of hands – claws, hooves, trotters or fins for that
matter – to smooth the reassertion of a modicum of order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so the call went out, hushed upon the
breeze through the whispering leaves, crashed upon the shores by the cavorting
waves and chattered by the babbling, gossiping brooks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Rooting aimlessly among the detritus of exotica far
beyond his own drab absence of note came a bird - one consigned to the edges of
creation – who stood out in no particular, part and parcel only of the
background against which the carnival of life was played out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he heard the message as he happened to
waddle past a crowd of deeply bowing grasses:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Wanted, one who might communicate with all creation
that all might live in harmony.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It was an ambitious remit, to be true, and
none-the-less worthy but, though the wording conveyed no sense of exclusion,
his first reaction was to dismiss it summarily as most definitely <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i></b>for
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The decision made, he mooched off
further into the thicket in front of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, as he mooched, he thought,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Why not me?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Good sense might have provided him with more than one
eminently plausible answer to his rhetorical questioning but these were drowned
out by a sudden sense of self-belief fuelled by a tide of unexpressed
frustration at his lowly station in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, whilst the euphoria of the possible cast a shroud, no matter
how nebulous and temporary, over the crystal clear image of the probable, he
was not completely blind to the likelihood of their being other candidates for
the position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, by way of preparation,
he set out to meet with them surreptitiously to gauge their approach to
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would engage them in innocent
conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No-one could possibly
guess at his true motivation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The most obvious choice would be the lion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was of established pre-eminence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he was also irascible and somewhat
unpredictable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the bird approached
with caution, halting at the edge of the clearing amid the brush in which the
massively muscled creature lazed with his similarly endowed entourage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a collective twitching of ears at
the arrival of the outsider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
leader swivelled his head sending a succession of waves through the thick mane
which framed his regal face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing who
it was he sneered,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“What do <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you </i></b>want?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Tripping clumsily over his fear the bird replied,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Well, er, nothing really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just wondering if you had heard the
news.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“What news?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now interested, but not deigning to show it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“They’re looking for someone to communicate with all
creation so that everyone can live happily or, er, something like that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Pah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not interested in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i></b>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m far too busy being king of the jungle to
worry about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now go away.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Rather nonplussed by the reaction of the lion the bird
slowly turned and trundled away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took
himself off to the very edge of the ocean where he had heard that the great
whale held sway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lying just off-shore,
his huge length seeming like a floating island, the whale snorted intermittent
jets of spray high into the air.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“What,” snort, “can I,” snort, snort, “do for you?”
Snort.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Creeping as close as he dared to the extremities of
the fast incoming waters, the bird yelled at the top of his voice to be heard
over the noise of the capering waves,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I was just wondering what you thought of the news.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“What,” snort, “news?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“They’re looking for someone to talk to the whole of
creation so that everyone can live in peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Something along those lines anyway.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Oh,” snort, “that.” Snort. “Sorry,” snort, “Too busy
trying, “snort, “to catch enough,” snort, snort, “of these pesky little krill.”
Snort, “to keep me going.” And with one final snort and a massive flip of his
tail he was gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Surprised, but encouraged, by the answer the whale had
given, the bird travelled to the foot of the beetling cliffs at the end of the
plains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking up he could just make
out, soaring majestically on the uplift of the warm air, the profile of the
eagle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flapping his own stumpy wings and
hopping chaotically from one clumsy foot to the other he tried to catch the
eagle’s attention horribly aware that the great predator might just mistake him
for a meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly the eagle stooped,
hurtling down the sheer face of the rocks toward the flopping, flapping
visitor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he saw exactly who it was he
spread wide his wings pummelling them powerfully against the air and pulled up
short.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Oh, it’s you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What are you doing out here?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I just wanted to talk to you about what They are
looking for.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The eagle frowned pensively,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“You mean about wanting someone to communicate and so
on?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The bird nodded feverishly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“You came all the way out here just to ask me that?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">More nodding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“That’s of no interest to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am as free as the air itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why should I bother with anything like that?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Oh, no reason.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">With a mighty beat of his wings the eagle took to
flight leaving the bemused bird to his musings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Curiouser and still more curious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No-ne seemed willing to take up the challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His optimism swelled as he journeyed far away
from the ocean’s shore, beyond the plains fringed by the lofty cliffs into the
steaming jungle and out of the other side until he reached the Great
Gateway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shimmering iridescent, it
glided open at his nearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without
hesitation he entered and the gates hushed silently closed behind him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And there They were, seated on a raised platform
looking down imperiously at the bird, who felt, suddenly, very alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“You have come about the position.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was most definitely a statement of fact
and not an inquiry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bird nodded
furiously anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“You understand what it entails.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another statement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More nodding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“When we have need of you We shall make you
aware.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And go he did, as expeditiously as his stocky frame
could manage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Once more outside the gate, he heaved a huge sigh of
relief and elation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had given him
the job without demur or delay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
foregone conclusion it all seemed in retrospect as, indeed, it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He puffed out his chest with pride at his
achievement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He fairly frothed with
excitement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">At home, amidst more familiar surroundings, he
contemplated the unique position in which he found himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thrill of power and authority coursed
through him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He preened and pouted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He caught a reflection of himself in a puddle
and a thought struck him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he was to
be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really
</i></b>effective he would need to impress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How could he possibly do that dressed in the dun coloured weeds that
were his every day wear?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely they
wouldn’t begrudge him a fine set of clothes to perform the position with
appropriate gravitas?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he voyaged back
to the Great Gateway which, as before, swung open to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were, of course, there waiting for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barely had the notion of speech tapped at the
door of his mind’s-eye than One spoke,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Your wish for clothes is granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As the gates closed behind him, he looked down at
himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every inch was shimmering
colour, and all tailored to fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he
moved, the myriad rainbows mutated ecstatically in kaleidoscopic motion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hurried to the nearest water the better to
regard his image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gasped at the
sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here was truly a suit made to
impress!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Again home, and the novelty of his apparel slightly
dimmed, the bird gave himself to thought once more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he were to communicate Their messages to
best effect, he would need a voice that was equal to the task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tried his own out for size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An awkward squawk was all that he could
manage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would never do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given the severity of the situation he felt
sure that They would oblige.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, he set
off for the Great Gateway once more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Through the gates and before Them the bird made to
speak but One raised a hand – and perhaps just the one eyebrow - in mild
reproof intoning,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Your wish for a voice is granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Although his case had been clear as daylight yet still
he was surprised at the ease and speed of Their acquiescence. Barely outside
the gates he drank deeply of the pristine forest air and essayed a rather timid
tonic sol-fa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music that he made was
of the sweetest, lightest wine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
encouraged to change key and try once more with added <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">brio</i>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bright top notes
ringing sharp as a bell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He trilled,
chanted and carolled all the way home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The morning found him deep in thought once more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Impressive to both eye and ear he might be
but these attributes would be as nought if he did not have the bearing to
complement them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could only reach
the same conclusion as he and he hurried to the Great Gateway to put the
proposition forthwith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He could not be sure but where, hitherto, he had been
greeted with near complete impassivity, was there perhaps the merest hint of
exasperation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe a hint of
disappointment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He dismissed such
considerations in the instant that it took One of Them to agree a third time,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Your wish for bearing is granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The bird backed out of Their presence and scampered
through the Great Gateway pausing long enough to hug himself for the sheer,
unalloyed joy of it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He simply could
not wait to start practising.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Nor did he.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
very next day, without commencement of official duties, saw the bird strutting
through the forest, chest and chin thrust forward in an affectation of supreme
importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a look of indifference
which teetered on the very edge of disdain he surveyed each creature upon his
path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These, in their turn, scratched
their collective and individual heads in bemusement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was that about this bird which was as
familiar as a lifelong habit and yet the manner and raiment marked him out as
something exceptional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more he
spied, from the corner of his gimlet eye, what he perceived as respect and,
quite possibly, awe, the more the bird primped and postured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all this he accessorised vocally with,
“Good Day”, to each and all, now in a sonorous baritone, now with capering
merriment, occasionally with a hint of menace or, again, with a companionable,
cajoling warmth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This caricature of eminence once passed, the creatures
gathered in knots and clusters to discuss the identity of this personage at
once so recognisable and yet so strange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One story has it that it was the Owl who, by the application of that
wisdom and perspicacity for which he is noted, first clarified the
mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others say that it was the wily
old Fox, he who made it his business to know everything about everyone, always
who bottomed the conundrum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who honestly
can say?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But revealed the truth was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the chattering classes broadcast it
throughout woodland, pasture, plain, river, sea and ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bird heard, and his self-aggrandisement,
thus nourished, bloated yet further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the blindness of his new-found arrogance, the bird could not, indeed did not
want to, see that his appearance and demeanour sat ill with fellows accustomed
to one of much humbler mien.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The day came when the first edict was revealed to the
bird for onward, and outward, communication to the furthest corners and to
everyone and everything that lived therein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It concerned the sequencing of watering habits at the seasonally swollen
rivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The existing free-for-all,
amongst other drawbacks, risked the lives of smaller creatures, and the
premature drying up of the waterways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The new, streamlined system would organise and stagger the arrival of
different species and super-sets of symbiotic relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The programme would work to the benefit of
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Though the ever presence of the
crocodiles would clearly need further work!)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The bird received his mission with excitement, pride
and a deal of trepidation despite the gifts with which he had been
endowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Expectations would be sky-high
and he was determined that he would not be found wanting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave the matter his utmost attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its every detail he committed to memory,
breaking the whole down into more readily assimilated portions, practising
these by rote and finally reassembling the totality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He rehearsed a plethora of possible
deliveries, seeking out the most appropriate and nuancing these to the finest
degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His coat he would burnish to a
diamantine splendour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would comport
himself with dignity in all things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These would be bravura performances for each would be modified and
modulated to accord with each distinct audience, and circumstance, the better
to convey the essence, and particulars, of the message.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This narrative need not be populated with the
specifics of how the bird acquitted himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Suffice it to say that he gave his all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The degree to which he succeeded is attested to by the calm which
attends the enjoyment of the fruits of the rainy seasons at the great waterways
of the planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This said, there would be
those who aver that this had more to do with the excellence of the message than
its messenger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Having accomplished his first task, the bird was keen
to underscore his presence and so, in the absence of further official
demands<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>upon his oratorical skills, he
wandered the paths far and wide accosting unsuspecting gatherings and
addressing them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fortissimo</i>; welcome
or, more usually, not.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The second directive concerned the timing and
destination for annual migration and subsequent return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The current confusion saw a sporadic
blackening of the skies as a myriad different families took to the air with
attendant late arrivals, no-shows and casualties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Popular landing sites saw a superabundance of
arrivals, more than could effectively, or comfortably, be accommodated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A more commodious programme was set out with
allocation of departure time to specific groups who would circle in a holding
pattern until, a flock having agglomerated, they could journey forth to a similarly
allocated terminus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Again the bird practised from the dawn chorus until
the dying notes of the day that he might do justice to the significance of the
assignment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He weighed the task
complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He left no appurtenance
unaddressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Word-perfect and polished,
he took the message to the last crack and crevice of land and sea.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">But witness the mighty gatherings, the organised
clouds that seasonally swirl above before the trek to warmer climes for
evidence of the efficacy of the decree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hear too, though, the muted, but massing, mutterings that style might
just be becoming the enemy of substance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">They saw the implementation of their plans and were
encouraged to make pronouncements on such varied issues as, fishing rights at
the frozen extremities of the worlds, light and airspace in the steaming
jungles and leafy forests, and the moderation of temperatures across the
continents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bird delivered them all
with never-faltering verve and virtuosity, each presentation and performance,
and each such exhibition, underpinned by incessant, and somewhat annoying,
practise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gloried in his role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His audiences, sadly, increasingly, did
not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The palate of their attention
became jaded with the too-rich fare of his declamation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, little by little, those to whom he
was meant to be the conduit for a greater sense of order, peace and
tranquillity, became inured to the blandishments of the emissary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The despatches went unheeded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Progress in the great project stalled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They saw all, and were not pleased.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It was made known to the bird that They required his
presence and he duly made the long journey to the Great Gateway to present
himself before Them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One spoke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“We asked only that you communicate with all creation
that each one might live in harmony with his fellows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you asked for a better appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You asked for a better voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again we agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You asked for a
better bearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once more we
agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With all of this you have failed
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The audience, and his tenure, now both unquestionably
at an end, the bird turned and made his sorry way back to the Great
Gateway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outside he chanced to see
himself reflected in a small pool of standing water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All trace of his splendid apparel was gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made to sing his sadness in melancholic
melody but all that came was a caustic croak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still, he had his pride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would
bear all with propriety and restraint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, try as he might, his stiff upper lip refused to set and the tears
of frustration coursed down his face to drip, unchecked and inelegantly from
the tip of his beak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was nothing
for it but to make the flight home in disgrace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But as he flapped his wings for take-off he realised that this too was
now denied him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only he had been
himself, he thought ruefully. Now, not quite bird and not at all mammal, he
wasn’t even that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a heavy heart,
and even heavier tread, he clumped back whence he came…..Doh, doh, doh,
doh…….Dodo. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>bob elvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01886244437158108862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886056976754809269.post-28357502868301867502018-11-26T09:02:00.002-08:002018-11-26T09:02:29.628-08:00Another excerpt from 'Jig Doller'
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<b><i>This is another excerpt from my novella 'Jig Doller'</i></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<b></b><i></i><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
'One afternoon he was wedged onto
a seat in the municipal park, knees splayed, elbows resting thereon and pushing
up forearms as pit props to a very heavy head.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>His eyes, overhung by straggling brows which sieved the sunlight,
brooded unseeing over the lawn before him.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>A flashing detail to his right, too peripheral to be seen with any
clarity, broke into his ugly reverie.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Without shifting his precarious house of cards, he skewed his vision in
the direction of the interruption and made out a small gathering of children
seated like acolytes before a messiah.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Their gaze was fixed upon the stooped figure of an old man with skin the
colour of weathered teak who was sat astride an old tea chest.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In a voice which seemed to be dredging up
from beneath the turves themselves he was crooning a song to the beat of which
three dolls were dancing, somewhat erratically, before him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The audience was transfixed, breaking their
reverential silence only to gasp or whoop with delight whenever one of the trio
executed a particularly sudden or outlandish manoeuvre.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
Slowly, painfully, Joe unfolded
himself and rose, rather hesitantly, from the bench.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He shambled over toward the entertainment,
coming to rest at the back of the gathering, weaving slightly in the tepid
breeze.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Several of the children looked
round uneasily at his approach but, as his mooring was several paces behind
them, chose to ignore him and return their attention to the show.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As he watched, Joe felt the stirrings of an
emotion that he only vaguely recollected.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>He could not recognise it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Time
had not treated it well.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But it felt
good, wholesome and steady.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And then the
show was over.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The aged performer stood
up, stowed his troupe and its dance floor away in the packing case, and moved
off – Joe did not notice where – and the small crowd, suddenly animated, broke
up and dispersed, chattering merrily into the onrushing evening.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Joe too turned away, somewhat saddened, and
ground out the distance back to his inimical household.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
Quite by chance – or, at least,
that’s what Joe professed to himself – there he was again next day, on the same
seat in the municipal park, at exactly the same time of day, observing a small
knot of children begin to gather on the<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>grass away to his right.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A slight
tingle of their excited anticipation seemed to communicate itself to Joe even
at that distance and, before he could give the matter any thought at all, he
was wandering over to wait with them.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>The group in front of Joe had probably doubled in size by the time the
gaunt, black man appeared before the crowd and set down the old packing case he
was carrying.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>From the recesses of the
box he fished out three painted dolls and a plank.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Deftly he flipped the tea-chest over and set
himself down upon it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The jointed limbs
of the dolls jerked in brief, uncoordinated spasms as he positioned them on the
plank.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The chatter of the children
lulled to a low murmur, then ceased altogether as the old man, eyes half
closed, began to sing, at which point, as if by magic, and in perfect time to
the music, the three dolls began to sport and play merrily upon the
plank..<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As the voice rose, the steps of
the puppets became more pronounced and the enjoyment of the audience more
audible.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Joe was totally consumed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He was the adult, appreciating the dexterity
of the jig doller; his uncanny ability to perform the several tasks of his art
to perfection at the same time.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He was
the child, thrilling to the kicks and waves of the dancers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And he was the embittered old drunk, his
heart warming, ever so slightly, at the innocent joy of the youngsters who were
being so royally entertained.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
Joe would have been unable to
explain why, but that evening’s trek back to the house seemed less doom-laden
than of late.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The several night caps he
gulped back before retiring had recovered some of their savour.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Though the nightmares which infested his
bedtime hours still doused him liberally, their curdling violence was, to some
small degree, moderated.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He slept a
little.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
It was only after several visits
to the park that Joe plucked up the courage to sit amongst the children to
enjoy the dancing dolls.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>His presence
was a distinct novelty to the youngsters but his obvious happiness so chimed
with their own that their acceptance of him was soon complete.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Joe, for his part, experienced a deep sense
of sincere fraternity that had never before troubled his existence.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He chortled his amusement along with
theirs.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He swayed in unison with choruses.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He echoed the whoops of delight.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And he felt the disappointed satisfaction
that descended with the completion of the show.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
It must have been a month later
when Joe, having gravitated, by degrees, to the front row of the audience,
approached the old dance master as he was decamping at the end of his
performance.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He wanted only to see the
dancing dolls close up but, in that, it seemed to him as though he would be
asking for the world and all of its riches.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>He felt the full weight of a crushing refusal before he had even begun
to fashion the bare bones of a request.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Joe physically faltered.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The old
man looked up and beckoned him forward.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Joe tottered haltingly on, as though being dared to look over the sheer
face of a dizzying cliff, then stopped again within touching distance of the
dolls which lay sprawled now upon their dance floor.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The puppeteer studied Joe momentarily, then a
pair of plump-pillow lips first pursed then ballooned a brilliance of ivory and
occasional gold.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Without a word being spoken
Joe’s cracked, shaking fingers were suddenly being masterfully, but gently,
moulded into control of the dancers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
packing case seat had been vacated and Joe was installed upon it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Timidly, gnawed with embarrassment, he began,
unconvincingly, to beat the plank upon which the three performers limply
stood.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>At first their movements were
slight, frustratingly haphazard.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As Joe
plied the plank with greater confidence, but with no demonstrably increased
skill, their steps became ostentatiously arrhythmic.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Joe’s initial diffidence had all but melted
and he was hammering away at the plank, dolls’ arms and legs flying madly in
all directions, when he noticed a solitary straggler from the audience watching
intently.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The brio and bravura of Joe’s
performance crumbled.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Now anxious to be
rid of the dolls, he looked round in alarmed confusion for the old man whose
place he had so rudely usurped.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He was
nowhere to be seen; had vanished as though never there.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>His entrails knotting and convulsing with
panic, Joe groped blindly for what to do next.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>His first thought was to upturn the tea-chest, throw in the dolls and
their plank and, leaving them to their fate, escape as quickly as his raddled
legs would permit.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But the eyes of the
child were still upon him, now almost expectant, demanding.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>From some dark corner, Joe felt impelled to
salvage a shrivel of dignity.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sweeping
together as much of the dry husks of self-control as he could find, Joe stood,
dislodging, in the process, the beam on which rested the dolls, fought for his
balance, clung onto the dancers, then leant precariously over the tea-chest and
wrestled it over.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>With another lunge for
the floor he recovered the plank and put it, along with he dolls into the
box.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Trying vainly to make the pantomime
of minor disasters look as though it was part of a well rehearsed ritual, Joe
took up the tea-chest and, studiously avoiding the gaze of the young onlooker,
struggled away across the park.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
Joe was desperate not to be
noticed but managed to achieve quite the opposite effect.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>His already laboured gait was accentuated by
the awkward load he was bearing and his attempts at haste only made matters
worse.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The plank, protruding from the
mouth of the tea-chest seemed intent on tripping him and the sharp edges and
corners of the box bit at his shins and ankles until Joe could feel his broken
skin catching then freeing, by niggling turns, on the nap of his trousers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Pedestrians gave him a wide berth as he
zigzagged brokenly along the pavement.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>He breathed a huge sigh of relief – between groans and gasps of pain –
as he rounded the corner into the alleyway behind the street on which his house
stood.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The latent, furtive shame which
had drawn him onwards dictated that he hide the package at the back of an
outbuilding in the yard, just as he had, in recent times, concealed from his
sisters the bottles of whiskey which he would seek out at later, more
propitious date, and unseen moment, in order to introduce them to the
house.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Having covered the dolls, board
and packing case with an old tarpaulin and still sweating profusely from his
exertions, he hobbled back round to the front door and, attempting a sang-froid
which was manifestly beyond him, he rattled his key clumsily into the lock and
let himself in.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Dreading that he might
come face-to-face with a glacial inquisition, Joe tried to creep noiselessly
down the passageway to the parlour.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In
the silence, the dead thudding of his insensate feet seemed, to Joe, to
reverberate throughout the house like a series of dinner gongs.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He cringed into the walls and so proceeded,
in small bounces, along the border of the corridor to the darkened room in
which he could, at last, claim asylum.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
Still wrapped in his overcoat,
Joe deflated into his armchair and sat motionless for a few moments staring
upwards toward the ceiling.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He felt
himself beset by a tortuous conundrum – the more intractable for being one of
his own making.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He had taken possession
of the jig doll show and now, for no valid reason that he could think of, he
felt horribly committed to doing something with it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Equally forcibly, he felt himself totally
incapable of actually doing anything with the contraption.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Indeed, now that he thought about the dolls,
ensconced in the darkness in the old storeroom, he felt strangely intimidated.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Having wandered around the issue more than
several times, and having poked it sharply from numerous angles, he made the
momentous decision to do precisely nothing.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>And slid from his pocket a half bottle of whiskey which, without the
assistance of a glass, he duly despatched, thus blurring and soothing the irascible
edges of the problem to that fine line of drowsiness over which he gratefully
stumbled to his usual restive slumber.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
The second hand morning
acknowledged Joe with distaste as he wrestled himself free of the old armchair
and made for the kitchen where he confidently expected to find, thinly
disguised as a jar of pickles laid down for Christmas, a bottle of cheap,
blended but perfectly potable whiskey.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>However, though he rummaged at the back of the cupboard over a phalanx
of guardian chutneys; though he emptied the contents of the shelf out onto the
table and inspected each jar intimately; though he balanced precariously atop
the lame, old ladder-backed chair with the thinning raffia seat and thrust his
head into the cupboard; though he did all these things, Joe was unable to find
what he had hoped would provide the early lubrication of the day.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Surrounded by the rubble of his excavations,
Joe was forced to conclude that the sisters had intervened.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Shaken, and shaking, he slumped down into the
chair and rubbed his abrasive chin with uncertain hands.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He had no great desire to encounter the two
women gloating icily – as doubtless they would be – over their victory in this
latest skirmish but he felt ill-prepared, in his dry state, to attempt a bid for
freedom through the back door.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As he
pondered his predicament with growing anxiety, a vague, vagrant recollection
stumbled across him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There had been, in
the store-shed in the yard, a collection of old bottles.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Quite possibly, amongst them, there might be
a little something to ease him onto the streets.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This ray of hope glowed but briefly since
this particular train of thought brought back to him a vision of three dancing
dolls, a packing case and an old plank, all lurking menacingly beneath a
tarpaulin in the same outbuilding.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Ensnared in a completely disproportionate maelstrom of contrary forces,
Joe froze, great gobbets of sweat brimming from every pore.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The sudden sound of two sets of feet like
lugubrious drumbeats moving evenly down the passageway broke the impasse long
enough for Joe to snatch up his coat, spill into the cobbled yard and tack
deliriously across to the gate breaching it just as two grim faces loomed
across the kitchen window.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
Joe’s credit was still good at
Macey’s where a double served to restore a measure of equilibrium.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>From the softer side of a second large one,
he could readily agree that his fear of the dolls was totally irrational.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>His dread of the two sisters, however, was
not and was to be heeded at all costs, but that was a different matter.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>No, the puppets had no hold over him, he
concluded, and he would do with them what he wanted, in his own good time –
which wasn’t now.'</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<b><i>I hope that you have enjoyed this sample from 'Jig Doller'. If you want to read the whole story get in touch with me at bob.elvis@hotmail.co.uk. I look forward to hearing from you.</i></b></div>
<b></b><i></i><br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>bob elvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01886244437158108862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886056976754809269.post-84231755270464815342017-07-22T11:19:00.004-07:002017-07-22T11:21:32.873-07:00A Love PoemThis poem was written specially for my son's wedding:<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Love</b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Love:</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A Walkman of a word.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A slip it in your pocket and forget it</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Sort of a word.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Easily missed among the clutter of emotions,</div>
<br />
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Small change that changes nothing,</div>
<br />
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Least said soonest ended,</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
To coin a phrase.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Love:</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A slack-jawed imprecision of a word.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A tossed away tissue; slightly (sadly) soiled</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Sort of a word.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A silver filling in the gap-toothed smile,</div>
<br />
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The near forgotten, pretty-polly reflex.</div>
<br />
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A cross stitch in time,</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
So to say.</div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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Love:</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A dark-eyed dissembler of a word.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A shape-changing juggler of truth, hypocrisy and half-truth</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Sort of a word.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
The shuffling, shifting smoke of mirrors.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Leave the skulking skeletons in the cupboard</div>
<br />
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And the bones of your sleeping dogs lie,</div>
<br />
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If you get my meaning.</div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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But only hone this half-a-heartbeat,</div>
<br />
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Set the target fair.</div>
<br />
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Lard it with significance</div>
<br />
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And lay the entrails bare.</div>
<br />
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Infuse the weakling word with heart and soul.</div>
<br />
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Alloy in it your dreamings; make them whole.</div>
<br />
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Lived in mighty fullness,</div>
<br />
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In the full glare of truth and beauty,</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
It will become your crucible of ages,</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
The purest form of alchemy.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>bob elvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01886244437158108862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886056976754809269.post-37278566231178212152014-01-26T09:06:00.001-08:002020-03-28T08:18:57.169-07:00PublicationsThe following publications of my work are available direct from me. Please contact me by e-mail on <a href="mailto:bob.elvis@hotmail.co.uk">bob.elvis@hotmail.co.uk</a><br />
<br />
'Old Friends': A set of 8 short stories depicting a harsh, melancholic but realistic view of enduring old age.<br />
Price: £3.00 + £1.00 p&p<br />
<br />
'The Village': Presenting a vision of village life through 8 vignettes of those who live it.<br />
Price: £3.00 + £1.00 p&p<br />
<br />
'Significant Others': 8 short stories demonstrating various aspects of relationship.<br />
Price: £3.00 + £1.00 p&p<br />
<br />
'Re-Told Tales': An illustrated re-presentation of traditional stories.<br />
Price: £4.00 + £1.00 p&p<br />
<br />
<br />bob elvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01886244437158108862noreply@blogger.com0