Alone Love Sits

The tragic happenings in the Middle East (Syria, Turkey...) is too sad to try and  comprehend. The following poem is inspired by these happenings. I take no joy in this poem but wish to share it with all. May it all be resolved as it is to be.
- Frederika Menezes

ALONE LOVE SITS

Amid debris of yesterday
And ever rising pillars of spoken
Broken promises
Striding among memories
Hurting,
She falls…

The world that once was
No more stands
Like a watered down
Tortured
Reflection of her own self…

It is all gone
With the twist of a phrase
What is she to make
Of her pain?

Cries slip from her lips
Sobs no one hears
In her world of barefaced
Fear…

In the eye of her memory
Colors are bright
Scenes of a long past
Unravel themselves
By her willingness to replace
The dreariness of her present…

She hears the laughter
She senses the thoughts
She sees what is not
But what was…

A smile escapes from the midst
Of falling tear drops!

 Arid life is what
Engulfs her being
Unconcealed sorrow
Clings itself to her soul…

Battles she has fought
Have left their scars upon her inner whole…

My gaze is on her
I look from afar
Such beauty meets my eye
I can barely look long
Her tears are a heavy free fall…

I flee, letting her be
By her own self
Amid the crumbles
Of a history!

Unknown, untold
Bare and recognizable
Love, she sits alone…                           

                                                          ©FREDERIKA MENEZES 2013

More Power To The Broad Minds

“More Power to the Broad Minds”

             Frederika Menezes

Okay, this one’s dedicated to all those broad-minded people who more often than not find themselves stuck in a narrow street overflowing with narrow minded thoughts. It does get mighty hard navigating through the throng of all those silly, irritating and unnecessarily complex thoughts, doesn’t it? Especially if you are the only one around with no company anywhere near to match your ways of thinking, right?

Problem is that the society I live in is clogged with folks whose minds aren’t very wide so to say, and the way they think too, is kind of through horrifyingly dirty alleyways and narrow lane littered in crap.

And a lot of people do not really care that, their once no doubt clean thoughts and minds, and I refer to the time when they were children, have become corrupt and so reduced in width that not even a fine beam of clear thinking will make it through, to reach a state of expression without losing its purity!

I know how it can get and how it does get. If such society streets were chalked out on a blackboard, I mean societies containing narrow-mindedness; I’d gladly volunteer to wipe off the entire board clean.

My point: narrow-mindedness hinders life.

A lot of people mistake the broad minded as unethical, spoilers of all that is right. I have no desire to judge but I do wonder how one sees the right or the wrong through the eyes of two very different types of folks with completely different mindsets.

Just as an example, let me tell you about two of my very good friends once, a long time ago, and I mean before they got separated by their own choices in life. These two would always hang out together and between themselves, alone, they’d get along charmingly.

At parties where there are bound to be people of varied age groups, a young bunch all talking or dancing animatedly - practically living the fun, no one really put much thought to their friendship. They were just two friends among so many who were close to each other.

Nothing wrong with that, is there? Absolutely not! At least certainly not to those who possess that element known as the broad mind, which I fear is very rare in this society.

If only it could be acquired from the earth – bet that there would be a lot of diggings-around.

Or have the diggings begun already?

Getting back to my little example, one look at my two friends by a busybody who thrives on gossip and wild imagination turned the ‘nothing wrong’ into a big deal, something all narrow-minded busybodies made their sole topic of conversation at every opportunity they got.

From a simple beautiful thread they spun an ugly web but did it trap the two friends? No. It just caught the weavers – the spiders, who once started, could not stop spinning the web of narrow-minded thoughts.

My two friends were just an example to how such folk work their thoughts. It can happen to just about anyone and it does happen to those people with a high status in society. Be it a next door neighbor who might just be well off or a celebrity who’s life or way of living and behaving maybe of the unacceptable kind to the narrow-minded, gossip lovers and creators and bham! nice folk get slandered by the so called better ones and all the result of narrow – mindedness!

As if that makes a huge difference – it does not and you know, no matter what people with the narrowest minds think and say, it should not matter as long as you, the broad-minded ones know what you are doing and how you want to live your life.

One thing that you, narrow-minded folks, should know and remember is that no one has a skeleton-free closet.

Being narrow-minded will get you just this far – not far at all!

I resent gossip for it stems from narrow minds looking to stir and add chaos and disagreements.

Broad-minded folk like me will I am sure, not really bother what the rest of them say for if we do, we’ll never get out of those ‘thought jams’ on narrow-minded streets, and get on with living life on our terms, will we?

Moral of all that I have said is merely that the broader one’s mind, the farther one will get in life.

Think about it and decide whether I am wrong or right, do! 

Invitation Discrimination

Invitation Discrimination

                                     Frederika Menezes

Okay, I don’t normally do this – heck I never do this but now I have decided to give it a chance! If you haven’t figured out what I am on about, it’s writing this piece.
 So, what do I choose to write about on?

Read on friends of the written word –I daresay the answer shall be found, if indeed there was a question!

Since time in memorial man has in one way or another discriminated against his fellow human – be it friend or loved one, (yes love doesn’t always spare such things) if you thought otherwise, think again, and hard. 

Anyway, getting on – I was talking or rather listing those people man have discriminated against since human’s were aware of being capable of choice. A choice in behaving nicely or horrifically, to dress right or not dress at all, to eat good food or make all the wrong dietary choices (all these are valid reasons to put a thought in choosing) of course I know I could have left out a good many other reasons off the page but I am sure you will understand that I am not exactly trying to put together any kind of list here. Just trying to jot down a piece of a hopefully interesting read!

I actually witnessed a discrimination between two individuals once – it was a petty thing but person A would not let person B get the better of the situation – it being a seat in a bus. Not really well behaved and always  chewing gum – the reasons given by the person A for refusing to give person B a seat and standing the rest of the way to the stop (which turned out to be less than a few minutes away) or, taking another seat as soon as someone got out at a nearest stop.

I would have asked the question that’s been itching to be asked ever since this incident, how do you, A, know that the person you absolutely refused to give a seat to didn’t need it?! Was it because B was young …er than you, A? Was it solely based on appearance - did B give off an energetically lazy vibe? Did B’s gum chewing annoy you so much that you decided that if B remained standing the entire ride till it was time to get down, that the sound of gum chewing would float on the air above your head without disturbing your ears thereby making them bleed?? What?! Unfortunately, I was too far in the back of the bus to ask A any of these questions and A’s stop came up first anyway, so B really did win in the long run!
So much for A’s ugly looks and no no no behavior – ha! Would it have killed A to let B have a seat when the latter’s stop was still ways off? I am going with a big NO. How about you?

I suppose you are thinking of whether I really witnessed this incident – honestly, no I didn’t but I did make a point, I hope.

Very recently I discovered (and this is true) that a very large and affluent family decided to throw a birthday party to celebrate a fiftieth birthday of one of their many members. Now, the invitations were sent out verbally, via a phone call and email to the family’s closest friends and  other relations (of course these included close friends of the member whose birthday it was too! ) This family has a lot of friends who are close and doing very well professionally as well as personally so when one of the friends learnt of this party and that no invitation had been received by this person from the affluent family, the individual expected that the one member whose party it was to be would call or text or even email he invite personally but after waiting for days, nothing!  And the birthday bash was nearing its marked day. Bad, right?  Yes, I was thinking the same! I mean all through the years and every party, get together, picnics this person who now had no invitation, a sudden cast out now couldn’t attend this big bash or any future functions of this family – once out, you’re out – that’s how it is with certain social stupidity!
It made me wonder if maybe the person not given an invite was suddenly being viewed in a ‘snow white’s mirror’ and the oh so many pairs of eyes had begun to see the flaws in that person as being too horrible – never has an independent opinion, eats way too much at family gatherings without ever bringing over any kind of edible contribution, tells jokes that are inappropriate at such occasions, isn’t up to the mark fashion wise and so on.

Why the sudden annihilation of someone who was until very recently liked and loved by the family and its friends? The fair and very cool thing to do would have been to send the invite flaws be damned or if flaws must absolutely be ironed out, them point them out to the person and let the invited decide whether a big bash thrown by this affluent family is worth changing one’s entire character for just because these people chose to not include the close friend whom they have suddenly begun to view as not worthy of any further association.

My guess – it is the family’s loss – how often do we get to acknowledge that we are friends of fun people? And how many can say ‘oh that one is with the stuck up, I know that one!’ with a smile and a chuckle?

Well, I sincerely hope that party goes well – along with every other get together, picnic and what-have-you that family has in future.
chances are all will go smooth but let’s face it, a pebble thrown in on a very still surface of a pond is just what causes little waves of a big difference!

At the Hands of Men

 At the Hands of Men
  Frederika Menezes

For the past several weeks my mind has been a whirlwind of thoughts – much like tea leaves in boiling water which in my opinion if left too long to boil, makes bad tea!
I have there decided to put my thoughts down and make them readable, attempt to make them understandable and so…

A recurring nightmare: I, me present in the primitive beginning of human life – no humans but mere animals with slowly developing senses of thought, conscience, skills, intelligence, speech, and all that goes along with being a human being today.
Being present then I live in caves or in the open with bare shelter – at mercy of nature in all its forms to live. And of course, being of the female species, either I have borne my mate’s offspring or am an offspring in the growing myself – either way, I am conditioned by instinct to give birth, love, nurture, care and protect while the males go out and earn food by hunting. Wait Stop! What am I on about? You are wondering, right? Hang around and you will find out – if my thoughts have been put into a readable and aren’t still a whirlwind, on paper this time!

Okay, back to the nightmare.

So, one day suddenly while I am alone, perhaps having stepped out of my place of dwelling a little further than other days, I get surrounded by a group of lust sick male species and they attack me. I run for it toward the dwelling but being of a somewhat gentler sex, they outrun me and have their fun. Beating, biting, scratching, forcing me to take the brunt of their savage pleasure.
Then, once satisfied, one of them takes a weapon of the age and goes to where my young are, be it a cave or under bare shelter in the open, and whacks the life out of them, in the end whacking his own life, he falls badly injured or dead. A true hero!!
The others of the group are still attacking me, barely conscious me – they decide they want more savage fun out of what is left of me.

Meanwhile, my mate is returning from a good hunt and sees all. Approaching the dwelling place, he’ll raise the earth and chase the attackers but somewhere along the way of the ‘justice trail’ he’s brain will evolve a bit and think ‘She is just as guilty as these males, she was not to wander too far away from our dwelling and besides, she should have taken our young and run to a safer place knowing I’d eventually find her.’
So my mate returns and reviving my battered body and piling the dead offspring, he’ll roar and rage at me in accusation. In the end, my mate too joins the lusting males, now long gone but present in him and attacks me.
End of recurring nightmare. Until it recurs!

I am of the female species. I must take it – the screwing, the beating, the accusations, the threats, right? Wrong!

Are you still wondering why I say that I am present in the primitive beginning of human life? Well if you haven’t figured it out yet, its because I feel the present is the primitive beginning of human life.

What is Woman? A companion to Man. Not his play thing, or his ‘use me to vent your frustration’ thing!
Without females where would the world be? We, woman and man, are meant to be companions and not a thing less to each other.
Yes, woman has evolved, she has brains and beauty of a kind, she, given half a chance will learn and academically prove equal or better than a man. Woman can be a in a seat of power and she has been. Woman has the every right to garb herself the way she sees fit and if the right is not hers, it must be given to her.

I’ll give you this, there a few women who don’t know how to use this right and to these, the other women who do know, must impart knowledge strictly. Men, must protect and respect women – be they whoever they are.

After all, isn’t A woman, human? Isn’t a woman, Nature’s identity? Aren’t children what we all have once been, both men and women?

Yes, the End of the World, of life, is creeping closer at the hands of … yes, MAN!!

There now, the whirlwind has stopped. The tea is served and I do hope its drinkable and my thoughts readable, understandable!

Chat...You Are Missed!

Chat…You Are Missed!

                 Frederika Menezes

I have always loved to chat – it’s a human thing! Whether face to face or online or over the phone, a chat can brighten one’s spirit sometimes – only sometimes! The different points of view on certain aspects in life being exchanged, discussing favorite books and television shows, movies, talking about friends with friends – no not gossip but rather sharing one another’s friends’ names and what is most loved about the person. Maybe even introduce the friend you chat about to your chat friend! 

I remember when we first got a telephone at home – it was a marvel! It was bright red and had a dial that I would simply love to turn by inserting my finger in the right holes and numbers. How many happy moments were spent on the telephone just dialing and saying hi when my friends picked up their phones!
Simple happy times when chatting meant just that, ‘chatting!’

Today, the word ‘chat’ has lost its innocence! Be it on the telephones or on cell phones or online…only certain few folk who have sensible brains and morals still know how to actually ‘chat.’ The others use this simple word to express animalistic desires and show their daftness!

Poor ‘chat’ where has your innocence gone?

What’s different today that the sex addict, shameless pervert and brainless git use ‘chat’ to fulfill their sick desires? The answer is simply: life is too busy, the world a whirlwind and coming down to it all, easy access to chat-rooms online, chats on cell phones is satisfaction on the go with no gratification only more addiction!

One only has to enter a free chat-room online and invariably one gets hit with ‘hey cute guyzzzzz – horny girl here…pm me’ or ‘horny here…plz someone chat with me…I have my webcam ready’ and the kind of messages scrolling across, up and down your screen oh and yeah they are usually followed by a link to view webcams. Assault to the mind! Insult to the decent user of the chat-room who simply wants to have a nice ‘chat’ not view anyone’s webcam, not see any users sleaziness and definitely not talk dirty and get headaches reading sex driven messages.

Oh chat how I pity you!

One day, I deliberately logged into a free chat-room and it felt like reading the dirtiest magazine! I figured that one had to arm oneself with every moral fiber, every brain cell, every intelligent retort just to hold the porn addicts, brainless gits and shameless perverts at bay.

I thought to myself – a new age Count Dracula that corrupts the innocence of ‘chat’ and destroys values!

Of course there are times when one does get sensible people in these chat-rooms but it is rare. And when such people do make contact, 95% of them lack the knowledge of plain interactive skills but many of these are willing to learn chat skills and change, and are tolerable, harmless.

Bottom line is: Chat has lost much innocence and charm it once had. I write this to say how sad I feel that ‘chat’ is no longer the free thing it used to be – now it is a servant, a slave to perversity!

Chat, your innocent existence is missed dearly!

Brainwashers out there - Everywhere!

Brainwashers out there – everywhere!

          Frederika Menezes

I see we are both back – you to do the reading and me, well, I am back with more thoughts to voice, that I have done on paper!

I was thinking the other day about how certain people think its their obligation to make their friends, loved ones think and believe the way they do. Its like these people must have the final word and thought from themselves instilled into those they decide to brainwash.
I have no tolerance for brainwashers – you cannot tell me whatever you believe is true and what all I am doing is wrong, unless of course, its murder!

I read a lot of books – different kinds but nothing to make me hide my face in shame – the same applies to music, I love every kind of music that I find interesting.
I understand some stick to just one or two types of genres of books and music and I may try to suggest a third genre of each to them but I have never tried to drill it into their skulls! That’s just plain wrong. Plus some are just too strong headed for that task to succeed!

One day two old friends were sitting together and catching up - a natural thing to do for friends who don’t meet for years because one of them is living out of town and reinventing life while the other, is just happy with the everyday routine and little surprises that sometimes spring up from the ground of that very routine.

I happened to be around when the two friends met and it was nice to see joy being exchanged in way of greetings and comments about how little, how much each had changed and so on. Okay, it would be fair to say that I am a good friend of she who happily lives a routine once-in-awhile surprise in life. Nothing wrong with this, especially if she keeps busy and doesn’t poke around in others’ business wrongfully!

Gradually, it became evident that the friend from out of town had a mission in mind – a mission that has been etched in the mind by powerful forces. I tried to catch my friend’s eye to warn of the imminent blowout but could not get the attention required long enough to somehow convey the message.

A book lay on the table between the two friends and it was something my friend likes reading very much - tales of magic and dragons and fairies. I like that stuff myself – it’s all a great pastime and a way to escape reality when it gets right out shitty.
The out of town friend took a look at the book and asked her why the choice of reading? Adding that, the book about magic and the sort went against “Realism”- a book that interested this person and his like minded friends, but not our mutual friend as reading material.
My friend explained how enjoyable it was, took it a step further to add that there was a collection of such books that had been read very enthusiastically and were waiting to be reread. My dear friend spoke highly of the book and the series on the whole, face bright and excited to be sharing this with an old friend. He listened intently – only I knew then irritability stirring inside him.
The question was just there, waiting to be asked, only it never got asked – never saw the light of getting asked. The tirade had begun – angry gestures and exclamations about how bad the book was and the series, how untrue to “Realism” – how my friend shouldn’t be reading such stuff as it was going to bring bad forces in life and turn it bad. ‘Read “Realism”’ the out of town friend said, rather forcefully. If I know my friend I know that if anyone forces her to change her way of thinking, she has no tolerance- still, the friend from out of town went on ranting – eyes had a life of their own on this one that moments before had a melancholic glaze to them, now, they were blazing, intense – much like a waking dragon ironically!

My friend waved the ranting off and smiled – I could see how hard she was trying to keep her lips from curling the wrong way! A vein pulsed in her temple as she tried to change the subject to music. As she asked about the out of town friend’s favorite music, I could tell that she already knew the answer – hell, even I knew it!
Yes, the friend from out of town listened only to “Realistic” music and everything else came from bad influences and got created by those who were trying to ‘wipe out Realism’ – these were his words.
My friend wanted to know (out of pure curiosity only of course!) how the creators of her favorite music went against Realistic music. She asked her now increasingly annoying friend.
With the melodies and words that are used in the songs he explained – went into detail about how if one plays a song of certain genre of music backwards, it will sound like a message from those against “Realism” and how that is bad to listen to!

Well, it ended in a big ‘mind your own business and be my friend or GET LOST!’ from my friend’s expression and yes, her words as well.

The out of town friend has stuck by his beliefs – brainwashing every mind that has no firm thought matter to stick with. Still does am sure but he will restrain himself on this subject when it comes to meet his old friend whenever he comes to town now, he’ll find a subtle way to tell her how the music she listens to and the books she reads are not in the interest of her living a right life. Whatever.

End point - no matter how off the wall one’s tastes might be, do not sit one down and forcefully brainwash that person as peoples’ thoughts are their own.
Books are good – they aren’t mediums of evil and neither is music if you know how to listen to it.

What can ruin an entire life is doubt – doubt in your own beliefs, doubt in the way you live your simple everyday once-in-awhile surprise life.

Sadly, brainwashers are real – they are out there everywhere!

Each To Their Own

Each to Their Own

                                    Frederika Menezes

The world is full of different kinds of life. There’re people, animals and birds, reptiles, insects of various types and aquatic and plant life. All these come in a grand variety and it is wonderful that to certain extent, all can co-exist without much interference from the other. There are for sure some times when one kind of life form causes trouble to another – it is natural I say. The world or earth we live in is part of all living and as such, all life forms must interact, interfere and cross the line with each other at some point or other. That is, after all, what being alive is all about!

However, we humans take the number one position for being alive it seems! I say this because a great many of us are rather too social not just with other living beings but toward one another as well. Oh, we are supposed to be the ones with brains and powers to think about what is right and what isn’t.

How many of us use those powers? Oh we use our brains all right but not always for the best.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we are all bad but just that more often than not, the scales tip the wrong way.

Man is never happy until he has had his way with living, most of us I mean. That is fine – I, myself, am one of the kind but it does not mean that man can overstep all boundaries set by nature. I know I haven’t and never would – not if I can help it and many of us can help it but prefer to pretend we cannot.

What is it we, many of us, do by pretending to be unable to ‘help it’ in certain circumstances? Let’s see, we become civilized savages – invade animal terrains so we can claim them for our own selfish purposes which we are quick to point out that we’re are doing whatever it is for the benefit of all humans.

How very noble of us to be so concerned about our fellow beings! Really, though, what about those lives we have evicted and destroyed?

It’s a constant battle, this one and the losing side are the most vulnerable of the living beings – no guesses as to their identities, now are there? Sure, they might look tough and vast, vicious and capable of defense but hey! looks can deceive and do.

If we aren’t invading terrain, we are taking lives for our benefit.

Respect nature for one is part of it and if one doesn’t respect it, only means one doesn’t respect oneself!

All I have said thus far is about man vs. other living beings. Now, I wish to say a little something regarding man vs. man – might sound ridiculous but stick with me to the end if you aren’t laughing yourself to breathlessness. Okay?

Of all the stuff we folks bug each other with, the silliest and most irritating would be superstition!

Look, I have no problem with people believing in things – every one of us is not the same. We cannot all have the same thoughts, ideas, beliefs and that’s a boon. Imagine if we all thought alike on everything, what a mess!

Granted, there are some things we’d do right by if think alike on them. Things like Peace, Equality, unconditional Love and Respect toward our fellow humans, Understanding, yes well, these are but a few from the top of my head.

One thing that we should not do is compel others to believe in what we believe in or what we fear is right. Superstitious is something not everyone is and those who are must not and cannot force them others to see and think the way the superstitious do.

All brains aren’t wired the same way!

There all types of superstitions. I have to wonder how they, who are superstitious, get on in today’s world. My guess, they’re missing out on lots – this isn’t the Stone Age after all!

The best thing to do would be to keep one’s beliefs to one’s self – don’t spoil it for the non-superstitious ones because face it, this is one war you might never, ever win!