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Devastating The Obvious

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Posted: March 28, 2008, 12:23 pm by dobvious

Father’s sister is at it again . Struggling to understand the whys and how’s this decision has been arrived at .Her eyes have tears . She says that she hasn’t had this many tears since that fateful telegram from Burma came . How quickly she enrolled to class to learn the tongue of the missionary only for her eyes to read that her then romeo had taken the early train to meet the Maker . She says that her prayers had been answered only to be snatched again . Now she calls doubt on the true nature of the Creator as referenced by the missionary faith . Why , after she had christened the son his name , his name . She wonders again in exclamation by the name of the Makers son . Why . Perhaps its time she goes back to the forest - she points out . This new found faith with all its complexities keeps on making it hard for her to come to terms with the happenings .

***

In typical teen nonchalance Mercy confesses that she doesn’t know the responsible party . Some told me that the prophylactic reduced the joy and at times the smell of latex made me want to puke , she reports . So I can’t really tell , she continues while biting her now overgrown nails .

Is he gone ?

I tell her yes . Where to sign ? I show her . Good - she says . Do you think I will get the exams ? No , but I have already spoken to the headteacher . Says they will take you in the second term

Thank you , she says .

They ache , I know , got you some valium here, that should take away the pain . The sister also says that you empty them .

Mmhhh she grunts as she falls back to sleep .

*****

Its much more than the wakings up at night . Unfair . Just think of what would have happened to you if Mum did that to you . This is different .She can’t even remember who was responsible how do you expect this bunch of naive to become a mother . Why do you want to take my name again . I made the call . Surely what space will that baby occupy .Within no time we will have someone to send for salt and matchboxes . They are expecting our call . The instructions are clear , no breastfeeding , to ease her pain she would have to express it . Its a tough call .But the best decision for all . You and your new found freedom generation , cant even understand or comprehend the gift of life .

*

The handover goes on without a hitch . I note an SUV parked outside .Inside there are these two gleaming faces . Unlike in Diablo Cody’s well rehearsed take on the subject matter they show no traces of a plastic smile . She touches the dimple and tears fill her eyes . One would think they source the tears from the same duct as father’s sister . He on the other hand offers his hand in thanks. From what is to be gathered he is stepping forth into a good realm - I think of the boy . Four years we have waited , four years , Oh Glory be to God . The man starts exalting his Maker .

I step back unceremoniously , my task is done . The balancing act . One broken heart , two elevated souls a disillusioned teen and one young one . These are indeed the ways of the world .

It has been a long day , lets stop by Anita’s for some ginger roiboos. - Millicent says as she brings the car to life . You’ve been here all this while , I ask her - Yup ! she quips ,just like your shadow . I smile .Deal I say - to the tea .
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Posted: March 25, 2008, 4:16 pm by dobvious

In his memoir as he lay wait for the death to come take him , Tabitha’s husband mentioned in passing about the mark of greatness in the studded field that we find ourselves in . That the recognition would only come in the face of owing up to the power company what came from the work of your hands . Else anything else would spell doom for ambitions .

**

Millicent quivers at this - suppose she uses she sun or a lantern . Where will the dues be paid . Will it follow that she will not be able to bask in the glory .

****

The night’s calm is pierced by the sudden noise from the typewriter . Fitting in between the crickets silence it does not take a frequency but rather it goes on and on , only pausing for a moment to think . A harmony displaced the bats soon find that their peaceful fruit eating retreat is interrupted by this mechanical mess that does not seem to shudder at their sonic pitch . Soon the night is filled by this rather unruly symphony . The click and clack from dear old Underwood , the un mutated relatives of the vampires with their pitches together with the mating cicadas and crickets . It it was during the rainy season the without a doubt the frogs would have joined in .

At last the torrent doesn’t stop . A flow of constant has its way through and the papers almost cover the floor . At the end of each line the cranking up of the manual carriage return gives a rather orgasmic and refreshing feel . This was the missing link .

***

Eight hours past , there still was no change . The nurse had made six trips so far . Two two him and three to the high powered executive who I heard that was suffering from a dislocated hip sustained during a round of golf . Now how does that come into play . Was it a case of a high profile 360 swerve , or the unlikely occurrence that the events following yesterdays after party were too much to bear for the aging hips and that any grand shift would in this case bring him here . It wasn’t so hard to place the social status of the inhabitant of room number 3 , already there were three flower vases full and a dozen of get well soon cards not to mention the constant hummer of top range motor vehicles . The last trip the nurse made was to see me . In the usual sense her eyes gave her in . Anything I can do she asked . I hesitate before blurting out the obvious . Yes . Pray with me .

***

Everything and anything from the past flashes past. So this is what they mean by the word nostalgia . Time to indulge again . Bring forth a world with no thesaurus or any form of spell checking . This does engage the eye and filter out any from of mistake . Not like the ill formed tenses that come forth from programmed word processors . To a mistake , the white out checks in .Senses brought back to life by a squeezed sense of high To an out of place paragraph then the play is all but redone . Hours to fine tune after which the “-30-” falls into a relief place like the sun drained fields of the desert welcoming the evasive short rains .
one word

Posted: March 20, 2008, 12:10 pm by dobvious

The cursor blinks with intent . Seems it has mastered the by the second disappearing act . Looks like it has in its mind a taunt . See if you can catch me .

Thirty six minutes and the blank stare at the screen is still being met by hemorrhaging blank thoughts . There was this grand idea that was fabricated last night at the bus stop . Yet no word on how to start the first paragraph comes up .

The lack of activity sends the screen to its well earned break , a flag like window manifests itself in the middle before breaking into pieces only to re manifest itself in smaller flags . The iteration continues for sometime and soon the whole screen is filled with the flags .

I envy the creativity engine bequeathed to the soul that had this vision . It was not far off from the one I had . Well crafted paragraphs and weighted idioms , catchy phrases and fancy one liners .Classy words to the envy of any computer powered thesaurus . It was the one to get it off the mark . A vehicle to take us there . If only we could get past the stones …

These stones were the cause of the constipation .

***

The Sunday deadline passed without the expected fanfare . The window by now was minimized and other things followed . This embrace of technology another stone in the shape of distractions .Pop ups and flashy banners .Not to be blamed for wanting to get that extra inch . Perhaps a return to the basics will do . Agenda items for next week . 1 . Dust the old Underwood Five and or 2. Buy a ream of foolscap’s and ink for the fountain pen from Anita’s kiosk .
asking questions

Posted: March 19, 2008, 11:39 am by dobvious

Having eyes fixed at the short stemmed skirt at the sixth minute of the interview was something I had envisioned minutes after walking in . And her continuous graze upon the testimonial and updated cv lifted off some engineers site of the net left me with very little to do . Her wall had no clock but a mural which later Millicent would tell me was worth much much more than the figure I had floated as my projected monthly cheese take .

In between the entire sixteen minutes she had engaged in enough mmhs and okays not to mention the shift in her sitting positions , at whatever angle the view was captivating . at one point her raised eyebrow nearly caught the sight of the eyes trying to get a peep . She smiled and repositioned herself .As I hurriedly looked for something to engage in- sanitize the eyes from what they just saw , a picture of her boy when he was two . Thanks to the birthday cake photo .

Impressive I must say - she begun ,as she pulled herself into position on her desk . Says here three years in Guinea and two in the Cameroon . Your French must be well polished .And here it says Lead Project head for the Gray Initiative . You are quite the guy .

Hiding behind a blush I humbly accept her complement .

And whats more , says here you do speak the national language … How well I might wonder she poses .

Well enough to craft a paragraph of two .

That’ s nice , she goes . My adventures into that language are however not that exposed , The best I can do if fuck up tenses like these politicians on a TV interview .
We both laugh

So maybe I will be teaching you a word or two.
Most definitely she goes again as she piles the papers together , my associate will be getting in touch with you tomorrow to fine tune the details of the project .
the parting of ways

Posted: March 11, 2008, 10:56 am by dobvious

When we hit the jagged road our ears breathed a sigh of relief , for more than thirty minutes the journey was characterized by the loud screaming of a female voice who according to sources was    partially deaf and had four years ago served to conclusion a stint in prison .Her music if it could be termed as that was a mere interpretation of the words mother and fuck coupled with several inflectional suffixes to the tune of synthesized drums and a throat irritating bass line .

****

The sixteen year old girl next to me has her lips all synced to the lyrics, you would think a neo rendition of Morvan and Pilatus in their hey days . Her lips stop when she notices my intent look. I smile back , understanding her position seeing that I was in a similar place roughly fourteen or sixteen years back .Unlike her modern day freedom which made it easy and open to indulge in the broad of day our past was more conservative and the radio would have none of it . Thanks to the omni present bleep that made the unfriendly to radio friendly to complete bans we had to feed our addiction through other means .

***

With the sugarhill gang and simmons revival   finding us in our toddling prime and having missed the Grandmaster Flash light we fell full well into the anger revolution.

In those days the vitriol being poured was to some extent more potent than the one being consumed today . The anthem of perpetrating the act of that word again (fuck ) to an arm of the law perhaps the shining example to the degree of rot if you may . Yet naively we embraced it, unknowingly elevating the misplaced poets to near mentor ship and cult status . Weekends had us cobbled at Kageshe’s place by then the only safe place where we could consume the weekly dose of the music vids dubbed weekly over the same tape . The aspirations to be like them, dress like them sound like them and even be them grew by each minute as we watched the realizations of words .

And so it followed that it became our culture . The sixties and seventies were best defined by theirs why would it follow that we break the tradition . We were barking dogs when the call came ,cats when the need to please the masses arose . and even unforeseen incarnations as bones when the collectors called , among a host of a myriad of characters that when envisioned we became. Like shape shifting mutants off a marvel Comic book .

Slowly her voice fades , I stop the hand reaching to the player . Let it be I say to her . Bashfully she retreats . In comes a slow beat dubbed over what would pass as a synthetic remake of the one who two years back had a Dancing wish with his paternal kin granted. These tunes take me back to the memory lane as the head finds itself bopping to the swift beat , a trip that is rudely interrupted by that voice

Is it her greatest hits collection I ask ? No she says with a bit of confidence but with untold suspicion still evident in her tone ,perhaps wondering just when did dad develop a love for the art . Reading her mind is all but easy as through time i have mastered just how to interpret how the eyebrow movement had a connect to her thoughts . I smile back .

It would have to go back to sixteen years ago , I begin as I break into her second sentence . Not fair she says . I apologize in earnest as I beg her to start again . She confirms that is just a release to mark her tenth anniversary with the record label . The hits release is slated for the fall . I nod with a rather its nice to know ok .

The murrum patch clears just as the third track is setting the pace . Almost unknowingly I find my head nods to the head ringing beat as it transports me back to the place before the grand separation took place . She notes and laughs , Dad ! she says since when did you dig that .

As I was saying , it was sixteen years ago . She pulls herself up and notes - well what happened her voice all dressed up in an eager thirst .

And I begin recounting the love affair through its up and downs . Masking the escapades that changed the lifescape forever .Promising though that in one of the coming days that too would be laid bare .

Before long we start seeing traces of white and blue - let me off here she says , I will walk the rest of the way plus I see Anita over ahead we have some stuff to talk about .

Be sure to brag to her about your aging hiphop paternal mess - I shout as she slams shut the door . Will sure do she echoes with a beaming smile . As I watch her strap her bags and goes back to the institute i am filled with a unfamiliar sense   pride . A couple of meters ahead she looks back and waves cheekily . Staring time is over . I revive the engine and start the journey back home

—–

excerpts from the largely incomplete piece - The Hiphop Divorce - 2007
how high

Posted: March 11, 2008, 9:31 am by dobvious

Enough to have grown men fiddle with talcum powder and its affiliates just to make sure that the dampness does not cloud and turn innocence into something similar to a burn .