youngwritersandpoets

YEAR 5143, EARTH:

THE CONTINENTS HAVE JOINED TOGETHER TO GIVE BIRTH TO TWO DISTINCT SUPERCONTINENTS: THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN LANDS, COUNTRIES ARE NOW KNOWN AS AREAS (IDENTIFIED BY ALPHABETS) AND EXACT LOCATIONS ARE GIVEN NUMBERS.

COMMON LAWS AND ORDER MAINTAINED OVER ALL THE PLANET BY SPECIALISED UNITS UNDER THE COMMAND OF “THE WORLD GOVERNMENT”-ALL LEADERS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HAVE JOINED HANDS TO SOLVE SOME WORLD PROBLEMS SUCH AS POVERTY UNDER THIS NAME, BUT THE ORGANISATION GAINED POWER AND THE TRUST OF THE POPULATION AND THUS STARTED LEADING THE WORLD

DUE TO OVERDEVELOPMENT, MOST NATURAL LANDS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED, INCLUDING A HUGE PART OF THE AMAZON (REPLACED BY SYNTHETIC LANDSCAPE OR TANGIBLE HOLOGRAMS), BUT SOME AREAS STILL EXIST WHERE THERE ARE NATURAL DOMAINS+ BACKYARD CROPS OF SELF-SUSTAINING FARMERS

ARTIFICIAL RURAL AREAS EXIST WHERE PEOPLE DO NOT RELY ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (ROBOTIC, WEAPONRY, TRANSPORT) BUT FUTURISTIC TECH IS PRESENT IN BACKGRUOND IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

WITH ALL THESE IMPROVEMENTS THE HUMAN RACE HAS BEEN ABLE TO TACKLE ALL PROBLEMS WORLDWIDE EXCEPT ONE: PEOPLE’S FEAR. OF WHAT ONE MIGHT ASK… WELL, EVEN WITH ALL NEW RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES, WHY HAVE STRANGE EVENTS NOT STOPPED? WHY DO PEOPLE STILL SEE GHOSTLY AND DEMONIC CREATURES? WHY DO SOME PEOPLE DISAPPEAR FOR SEVERAL DAYS OR EVEN A FEW YEARS AND THEN COME BACK WITH ABSOLUTELY NO MEMORY OF HAVING ACTUALLY DISAPPEARED? BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: IS THERE A PLACE WHERE ALL THESE EVENTS FIND THEIR ROOTS….?

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AN ARTIFICIAL REGION IN THE SOUTHERN LANDS. ALL FAMILIES HAVE CONTINUED TO LIVE IN THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY, BUT ONE FAMILY DISTINGUISHES FROM ALL: THE BLAKE FAMILY…

ON HIS BED AT HOME, A 12 YEAR OLD BOY IS HAVING A NIGHTMARE:

ARMORED SKELETONS WITH GREENISH YELLOW FLAMES IN THEIR EYE-SOCKETS AND SWORDS OR REAPERS IN THEIR HANDS ARE RUSHING IN EVERY DIRECTION, LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THEY PROBABLY WANT TO DESTROY. IN DOING SO, SOME OF THEM WALK THROUGH HIS BODY. SUDDENLY, A HODDED MAN IN ROYAL MEDIEVAL CLOTHING WALKS TOWARDS HIM AND LOWERS HIMSELF TO SPEAK A FEW WORDS TO THE CONFUSED LITTLE BOY IN A PRIMITIVE LANGUAGE. THE BOY ONLY SEES A SHADE OF HIS STERN-LOOKING FACE WHEN EVERYTHING AROUND SEEMS TO EXPLODE. THE BOY BREAKS FROM HIS SLEEP AND OPENS HIS EYES A LITTLE BIT TO SEE A DARK SILHOUETTE LOOKING AT HIM. HE WAKES UP IN PANNIC AND HIS HEAD HITS THAT OF THE SILHOUETTE. THE LATTER GIVES HIM A KNOCK ON THE HEAD:

“OPEN YOUR EYES IDIOT! ITS ME! GOT TO GO TO SCHOOL, JASON”

JASON, WHO IS NOW AWAKE, RECOGNISES VERONICA, HIS CLASSMATE AND ONLY FRIEND.

HE CONCLUDES IN A SLEEPY VOICE: “SO YOU’RE NOT MOM…”

VERONICA SLAPS HIM ON THE EAR, PROPELLING HIM OUT OF HIS BED: “NICE OBSERVATION, IDIOT! MRS. BLAKE!!”

JASON’S MOTHER COMES INTO THE ROOM WITH A LARGE CONTAINER: “BREAKFAST IS READY, LI’L GENIUS.”

JASON MOVES TO THE BATHROOM AND VERONICA AND MRS BLAKE TO THE KITCHEN TO SET THE TABLE.

JASON LATER JOINS THE TABE WITH A CONFUSED LOOK. MRS BLAKE, DRINKING HER COFFEE: “SAME DREAM AGAIN?” JASON: “HE SPOKE TO ME…” MRS BLAKE FREEZES BUT SUCCESSFULLY HIDES HER SHOCK. SHE SMILES: “AND WHAT DID HE TELL YOU?” VERINOCA INTERRUPTS: “THAT YOU ARE AN IDIOT…” AND GIGGLES WITH MRS BLAKE. JASON: “I UNDERSTOOD NOTHING… HE SPOKE IN A WEIRD LANGUAGE.”

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AT SCHOOL( 21^ST CENTURY STYLE), JASON SITS COMPLETELY AT THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM. HE SEEMS ISOLATED FROM THE OTHER STUDENTS. DURING BREAKS, HE MEETS VERONICA BELOW A HUGE CHERRY TREE WHERE THEY HAVE LUNCH AND TALK. BUT THEY ARE USUALLY DISTURBED BY OTHER STUDENTS WHO SIT IN THE SURROUNDINGS… “IT’S HIM…, YOU KNOW? THAT GUY…” “YEAH, I HEARD IT FROM MY PARENTS…” “HIS FATHER…”

JASON ALWAYS GETS UP AND MOVES TO THE STAFF-ROOM OR MEETS TEACHERS HAVING LUNCH IN THEIR CLASSROOMS TO DISCUSS IDEAS WITH THEM. IN DOING SO OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS, HE HAS GAINED QUITE SOME KNOWLEDGE. HE IS ACTUALLY AT THE SAME LEVEL AS PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND REASONING. AFTER SCHOOL, JASON WALKS VERONICA TO THE LOCAL PLAYGROUND AND THEN MOVES TO AN ISOLATED LABORATORY WHERE HE MEETS PROFESSOR LONG, A SPECIALIST IN PSYCHIATRY AND PART-TIMER IN THE DOMAIN OF SUPERNATURAL EVENTS AS A HOBBY.

PROFESSOR GIVES JASON A STERN LOOK: “SO EARLY…? LOOKS LIKE I’LL HAVE SOME TROUBLE WITH YOU AGAIN… WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!”

JASON: “YOU IMITATE THE LANDLADY QUITE WELL…”

BOTH BURST INTO LAUGHTER. PROFESSOR: “SO, HOW HAS IT BEEN SINCE OUR LAST MEETING?”

JASON: “I’VE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON YOUR THEORY… I FOUND THAT NOT ALL PEOPLE WHO WENT MISSING IN THE PAST 1800 YEARS ACTUALLY CAME BACK, AND AMONG THE ONES WHO RETURNED, HALF WERE JUST PRANKSTERS. FOR THE OTHER HALF… WELL, THEY CLAIMED TO REMEMBER NOTHING THAT THEY HAD EXPERIENCED, BUT ALL REMEMBER HAVING SEEN A PURPLE AND BLUISH PLANE IN FRONT OF THEM. A WHITE SPIRAL APPEARED INWARDS TOWARDS THE CENTRE OF THE PLANE JUST BEFORE THEY FELT SOME INVISIBLE FORCE PULLING THEM INTO THE PLANE. WE CAN TEMPORARILY CONCLUDE THAT…”

THE PROFERROR EXCLAIMS: “A PORTAL! A PORTAL GOT ACTIVATED AND PULLED THEM SOMEWHERE.”

JASON: “THE TERM VORTEX SEEMS MORE APPROPRIATE. SOMETHING TRIGGERED THE OPENING OF A VORTEX TO_” JASON STOPS ABRUPTLY WHEN HE NOTICES THE PROFESSOR LOOKING EXCITED LIKE A CHILD.

THE PROFESSOR DECIDES TO SPEAK: “REMEMBER THE PROTOCOL INTRODUCED AROUND 2270?”

JASON: “ALL LIVING HUMANS SHOULD HAVE AN E-D 55 CHIP IMPLANTED INTO THEIR LEFT ARM… BUT THIS HAS BEEN REVOKED AS THE CHIPS WERE SHOWN TO BE DANGEROUS NEARLY A MILLENIUM AGO.”

THE PROFESSOR: “YES, BUT WE CAN USE DATA FROM THAT PERIOD AS A SAMPLE TO REACH SOME POINT… WHAT DO WE HAVE?”

JASON, FROM HIS NOTEBOOK: “PEOPLE WHO WENT MISSING SHOWED NO SIGN OF LIFE EVEN THROUGH THE CHIPS…MEANING THAT THEIR CHIPS WERE NOT DETECTED BY ANY DETECTOR MADE FOR THIS SPECIFIC PURPOSE.”

PROFESSOR: “AND SINCE THESE DETECTORS ARE FOUND SIMPLY IN EVERY CORNER OF THE EARTH…”

JASON: “THESE PEOPLE WERE NOT ON EARTH AT ALL!”

PROFESSOR: “ANOTHER PLACE… ANOTHER WORLD!! … BUT THIS DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHY SOME PEOPLE NEVER RETURNED…”

JASON: “DEVELOPPED A LIKING IN LIVING THERE… OR PROBABLY DID NOT SURVIVE.” JASON HAS A LOOK AT THE CLOCK: “IT’S ALREADY TIME! GOT TO GO…”

PROFESSOR: “THREE HOURS ALREADY GONE DISCUSSING??”

JASON: “YOU HAVE A DOCTORATE IN PSYCHIATRY! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT WHEN WE REALLY GET INTERESTED INTO SOMETHING, OUR BRAIN TAKES THE TIME TO RECORD EVERY DETAIL OF THE ACTION AND TIME SEEMS TO SIMPLY FLY…”

PROFESSOR: “I’M HEARING THIS FROM A TWELVE YEAR OLD KID’S MOUTH… ISN’T THAT STRANGE?”

JASON: “SEE YOU SOON PROFESSOR. GOT TO GO…BIRTHDAY PARTY.”

PROFESSOR: “?”

JASON: “YEAH. SHE’S A GIRL, SO WHAT?”

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BACK HOME TO GET READY

JASON GETS DRESSED IN DARK BLUE JEANS AND AWHITE SHIRT. MRS BLAKE: “YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING WEIRD TODAY.”

JASON: “THESE CLOTHES DON’T SUIT ME?”

MRS BLAKE: “WHEN YOU WOKE UP AND WERE BEING THRASHED BY HER…, YOU DIDN’T KICK BACK AS YOU USUALLY DO…”

JASON: “MOM, THAT CAN’T BE CALLED THRASHING. SHE WAS KIDDING. BESIDES IT’S HER BIRTHDAY TODAY… SO, SHALL WE GO?”

MRS BLAKE: “IF YOU SAY SO… OR IS IT THAT YOU LIKE IT WHEN SHE DOES THAT?” (HUGE LAUGHTER)

JASON TURNS RED: “MOM!!”

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AT THE PARTY

JUST LIKE AT SCHOOL, JASON IS ISOLATED TOGETHER WITH HIS MOTHER. ALL THE LADIES PRESENT KEEP WHISPERING THINGS ABOUT THEM. NO-ONE KNEW MRS BLAKE WHEN SHE FIRST ARRIVED.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. IN FACT, NO-ONE EVER SAW HER ANYWHERE BEFORE. WHEN SHE CAME INTO THE VILLAGE, JASON WAS ONLY A FEW MONTHS OLD. HIS FATHER HAD DISAPPEARED FROM EARTH YEARS BEFORE HIS BIRTH. MRS BLAKE HAD A HARD TIME LOCATING THE BLAKE MANSION, THE KEY OF WHICH WAS MYSTERIOUSLY WITH HER. NO-ONE ACTUALLY BELIEVED HER AT THAT TIME, BUT THEY LATER HAD TO AS JASON STARTED SHOWING CHARACTERISTICS OF A TYPICAL BLAKE: SPIRIT POSSESSION. JASON WAS ONLY SEVEN WHEN A GHOSTLY-LIKE FIGURE ATTACKED HIM AND MRS BLAKE ON THEIR WAY HOME. SOME OF THEIR NEIGHBOURS WHITNESSED THE SCENE. THE GHOST GOT HOLD OF MRS BLAKE’S NECK AND TRIED TO STRANGLE HER. JASON’S EYES TURNED BLACK AND THE TIP OF HIS RIGHT FINGERS WERE BURNING IN A PURPLISH FLAME. HE STROKE AT THE GHOST ONLY ONCE NEAR THE HEART AND IT DISINTEGRATED INTO WHITE ASH WITHIN A FEW SECONDS. JASON IMMEDIATELY LOST CONSCIOUSNESS.

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NEAR THE END OF THE PARTY, THREE MEN IN GREY SUIT ENTER THE SCENE. NO-ONE NOTICES THEM AS THEY SEEM NORMAL. SUDDENLY, THEY SHED THEIR SKIN AND APPEAR AS GREEN-FACED DEMONS. THE GUESTS ARE IN TOTAL PANIC. THE DEMONS RUSH TOWARDS VERONICA AND TRY TO TAKE HER WITH THEM. JASON (IN POSSESSED FORM) HITS ONE OF THEM DOWNWARDS ON THE HEAD AND BREAKS THE NECK OF ANOTHER ONE. THE THIRD APPEARS A FEW CENTIMETRES ABOVE JASON’S HEAD AND IS ABOUT TO STRIKE HIM WHEN A HAND GETS HOLD OF HIS LEG AND THROWS HIM BEHIND: “I’M BACK AFTER SO LONG AND THIS IS THE WELCOME I GET?”

ALL THE LADIES KEEP STARING AT THE NEW GUEST IN HIS GREY-GREEN TROUSERS AND TIGHT BLACK T-SHIRT. THE MAN SURELY HAS A TALL, WELL BUILT BODY AND IS GOOD-LOOKING. THE LADIES SURROUNG HIM AND TRY TO FLIRT. THE MAN GIVES THEM A CONFUSED AND SCARED LOOK: “BE CALM PLEASE… THIS IS NOT PROPER. BESIDES I DO NOT WANT TO GET KILLED BY MY WIFE…”

HE TURNS TO SEE MRS BLAKE, WHOSE EYES ARE RIVETED ON HIM WITH A DARK LOOK AND A MURDEROUS AURA EMANATES FROM HER BODY.

MRS BLAKE: “SO, YOU’RE FINALLY BACK, DUNCAN! DO YOU KNOW HOW DIFFICULT IT HAS BEEN FOR ME TO RAISE THE KID ALONE?! ALL THAT IS BECAUSE OF YOUR FAULT..!”

JASON JUMPS ONTO DUNCAN’S SHOULDERS AND STARTS PULLING HIS CHEEKS, EARS AND HAIR IN ANGER: “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME, DAD?!” DUNCAN GRABS JASON BY THE BACK OF HIS COLLAR WITH HIS LEFT ARM AND PUTS HIM DOWN: “HAD SOME BUSINESS… HOW ABOUT WE WENT HOME? I’M HUNGRY… HAVEN’T EATEN ANYTHING DURING THE LAST TWO WEEK-”

ONE OF THE DEMONS RISES FROM BEHIND HIM AND SPEEDS FLIES TOWARDS JASON BUT DUNCAN RAISES HIS FOREARM UP. THE DEMON GETS STOPPED BY THE FOREARM AND A PIECE OF HIS HORN IS PROJECTED TO VERONICA. THE DEMON CLOSES HIS RIGHT WRIST. THE PIECE OF HORN SUBLIMES. THE FUMES RELEASED IN THE PROCESS TAKE A CIRCULAR SHAPE JUST BEHIND VERONICA AND A VORTEX OPENS, PULLING HER. DUNCAN: “CATCH HER!” JASON JUMPS TO GRAB HER HAND BUT THE PULLING POWER OF THE VORTEX INCREASES, SWALLOWING BOTH KIDS. THE VORTEX COLLAPSES BEFORE ANYONE ELSE HAS THE TIME TO ACT. DUNCAN GIVES AN STUPID LOOK: “HMM? LOOKS LIKE THEY GOT TELEPORTED…” TURNING TO MRS BLAKE: “IS THERE SOMETHING TO EAT?”

MRS BLAKE KICKS A TART INTO HIS FACE AND SENDS HIM CRASHING INTO A WALL: “HERE YOU GO!”

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IN ANOTHER WORLD

IT IS NIGHT TIME AND A TORRENTIAL RAIN IS PREVAILING. LIGHTNING KEEPS STRIKING EVERYWHERE. A GROUP OF TEENAGERS IN MUD-STAINED CLOTHES AND ARMED WITH SWORDS ENTER A SMALL HUT IN WHICH A SHORT OLD LADY IS BUSY ADDING ALL KINDS OF STUFF INTO A CAULDRON ABOUT TEN TIMES HER OWN SIZE. IN AN OLD, HORROR-FASHIONED CASTLE IN THE SAME WORLD, TWO WOMEN ENTER A ROOM GUARDED BY HUMONGOUS CREATURES. WITHIN THE ROOM IS FOUND A LARGE CYLINDRICAL GLASS VESSEL IN WHICH A MAN WITH A MOSTLY DESTROYED BODY IS BEING HELD IN A FLUORESCENT FLUID. THE WOMEN: “THE ORACLE HAS SENT NEWS…” (THE MAN OPENS HIS EYES.) “ HE IS BACK.”

THE OLD LADY IN THE HUT TURNS TO THE TEENS AND GIVES ONE OF THEM A SPHERICAL CRYSTAL: “GIVE IT TO LUCAS…, AND TELL HIM THAT THE DEVIL WILL ARRIVE SOON.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. INDESHWAR. A. BAHADOOR

Dear bloggers and readers,

I was surfing the net when the idea of looking for the greatest poem ever written hit me.I immediately looked for it and came to conclusion that it is :

“Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Meaning of the Poem

Basically, the narrator tells someone he esteems highly that this person is better than a summer’s day because a summer’s day is often too hot and too windy, and especially because a summer’s day doesn’t last; it must fade away just as people, plants, and animals die. But, this esteemed person does not lose beauty or fade away like a summer’s day because he or she is eternally preserved in the narrator’s own poetry. “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” means “This poetry lives long, and this poetry gives life to you.”

From a modern perspective this poem might come off as pompous (assuming the greatness of one’s own poetry), arbitrary (criticizing a summer’s day upon what seems a whim), and sycophantic (praising someone without substantial evidence). How then could this possibly be number one? After the bad taste of an old flavor to a modern tongue wears off, we realize that this is the very best of poetry. This is not pompous because Shakespeare actually achieves greatness and creates an eternal poem. It is okay to recognize poetry as great if it is great and it is okay to recognize an artistic hierarchy. In fact, it is absolutely necessary in educating, guiding, and leading others. The attack on a summer’s day is not arbitrary. Woven throughout the language is an implicit connection between human beings, the natural world (“a summer’s day”), and heaven (the sun is “the eye of heaven”). A comparison of a human being to a summer’s day immediately opens the mind to unconventional possibilities; to spiritual perspectives; to the ethereal realm of poetry and beauty. The unabashed praise for someone without a hint as to even the gender or accomplishments of the person is not irrational or sycophantic. It is a pure and simple way of approaching our relationships with other people, assuming the best. It is a happier way to live—immediately free from the depression, stress, and cynicism that creeps into our hearts. Thus, this poem is strikingly and refreshingly bold, profound, and uplifting.

Finally, as to the question of overcoming death, fear, and the decay of time, an overarching question in these great poems, Shakespeare adroitly answers them all by skipping the question, suggesting it is of no consequence. He wields such sublime power that he is unmoved and can instead offer remedy, his verse, at will to those he sees befitting. How marvelous!

K.VENCATACHELLUM