The air is thick with loss
Loss is like a fog choking off the city from the life of the sun. Or in words better expressed, “When the sun falls behind the sumac thicket the wild yellow daisies in diffuse evening shade lose their rigorous attention half-wild with loss turn any way the wind does and lift their petals up to float off their stems and go. ” Loss – by A.R....
Read MoreEgypt, now what?
The essential revolution in the mind has already been accomplished. A radical transformation of political and economic structures would be an even more extraordinary event. But achieving it won’t be easy, as Tunisia’s example already reveals; and Egypt’s own history warns us that the foundations of despotism are deep and wide. It is now clear that our virtual vigils will have to continue long after the western media’s very recent fascination with Egypt trails off, and assorted neocons and “liberal” hawks emerge from the woodwork to relaunch their bogey...
Read MoreLessons from the life of a great revolutionary
From the tribute Trevor Manuel, minister of national planning in South Africa, wrote to the late Johnny Issel, these two quotations from Almilcar Cabral stood out, Always remember that people are not fighting for ideas. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward and to guarantee the future of their children. Claim no easy victories, mask no difficulties, and tell no lies. Johhny Issel, quoted by Manuel in the tribute, said about the struggle and the South Africa we now so liberally enjoy, What spurred us on then, this spirit of...
Read MoreTo have a friend you need first to be a friend
‘To feel completely alone and isolated leads to mental disintegration just as physical starvation leads to death. This relatedness to others is not identical with physical contact. An individual may be alone in a physical sense for many years and yet he may be related to ideas, values, or at least social patterns that give him a feeling of communion and “belonging”. On the other hand, he may live among people and yet be overcome with an utter feeling of isolation…’ Erich Fromm Yesterday: I walked through soft rain, so soft it was soundless, but not so weak that it was momentary,...
Read MorePull the trigger and stretch some more.
There are certain sectors in man’s nature that are more flexible than others. Those strivings and character traits by which men differ from each other show a great amount of elasticity and malleability: love, destructiveness, sadism, the tendency to submit, the lust for power, detachment, the desire for self-aggrandisement, the passion for thrift, the enjoyment of sensual pleasure, and the fear of sensuality. These and many other strivings and fears to be found in man develop as a reaction to certain life conditions. They are not particularly flexible, for once they have become part of a...
Read MoreA favourite: Old Photographs
On my desk is a photograph of you taken by the woman who loved you then. In some photos her shadow falls in the foreground. In this one, her body is not that far from yours. Did you hold your head that way because she loved it? She is not invisible, not my enemy, nor even the past. I think I love the things she loved. Of all your old photographs I wanted this one for its becoming. I think you were starting to turn your head a little, your eyes looking slightly to the side. Was this the beginning of leaving? By: Gabeba...
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