READ MY ULTIMATE MAGAZINE POST - Something posted most days - keep visiting!
What’s on today: A post inspired by a Writers’ Island prompt. Have you had a go yet? … inc: a touch of flash fiction, Guru Tony on the mysticism of rivalry, and the inevitable poem
YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY
LOST HIGHWAY
The sun blazed down on us. In all directions the desert spread, as if a calm sea. Yet also a treacherous mistress, I knew.
It was unusual for one so young to lead an archaeological team, but I wasn’t the normal kind of archaeologist anyway. ‘You must be mad,’ Rachel had said as I proposed the expedition. But her rebukes were also the sweetest things. It was as if she respected me for my abilities – quite normal for an under-grad.
At least, that’s what I thought, then. It never occurred to me that only seven years difference in age was nothing at all – or that her feelings for me were much deeper.
But I digress.
The ancient city had been discovered decades ago, and it was thought there was nothing more to find. But I had been fascinated by the myths the locals told – of a lost highway leading to the Temple of Eternal Love. Which was why I was thought unusual. After all, archaeologists were to concentrate on facts, not myths. But it had become embedded in my heart that I must find this temple. And Rachel agreed to come with me.
For a week we searched for signs of the highway without success, and as we searched, I must admit, I did become closer to Rachel – thought, for a moment or two, that we could be more than just friends and colleagues, but I soon put it out of my mind. And then came the seventh night.
It was an unusual darkness …
… and as the wind came up, a sense of wonder took me over. It began to howl, and bit by bit, I saw the sand seem to separate, and beneath it, a highway seemed to appear.
I walked on, the sand clearing in my path, and it wasn’t long before I came to the door. My excitement was intense, and I could hear myself shouting as the adrenalin pumped, as I held out my hand to the door, ready to push it open …
It was, of course, a dream, for as I opened my eyes, an agitated Rachel was shaking me, looking, worriedly into my eyes. Yet also, the Temple of Eternal Love was obviously a metaphor, focusing the mind, and symbolizing the love of a man for a woman. Something I realized in that moment of enlightenment when I pulled her to me and we kissed.
© Anthony North, April 2008
ROAD TO NOWHERE
Round and round and round they race,
fighting, always, for first place;
Round and round and round we go,
where we’re going we don’t really know;
Round and round and round I see,
we’re all in love with the exciting Grand Prix;
Round and round and round our thought,
as we create the lives we wrought;
Round and round and round we bare,
the Grand Prix a symbol of our flair,
racing like idiots so we might dare,
but like the driver,
going nowhere
(c) Anthony North, April 2008
Have you tried my current affairs blog?
EYE ON THE WORLD
Stay informed! Super short comments! Now give me yours!
Latest Posts:
******************************
GURU TONY
The Mysticism of Rivalry
Rivalry is good. We are all aware of this. A rival ‘ups’ your game; demands that you try harder - takes away the cosiness of your comfort zone, your satisfaction that you’re trying your best.
Often rivalry improves more than your own standards. Take debate. Ideas are thrashed out, leading to all sides being heard, and a balanced view arising. In politics, such debate is how societies are regulated, proving the importance of such rivalry.
Yet rivalry can be a religious thing.
Some elements, here, are obvious. God verses the Devil – an understanding of good and evil. Indeed, mystical traditions such as alchemy are grounded in rivalry.
Alchemy is about opposites, best symbolized in the alchemical image of the face of the beautiful young woman on the reverse side of the face of the wise old man. Rivalry, it seems, is more fundamental in the religious sphere.
The idea of good verses evil led to western ideals.
Fundamental to our way of doing things is the idea that things can be normal or abnormal. What is ‘normal’ is whatever we see ourselves as being. Everything else is abnormal, or wrong. This is rivalry in concept, in philosophy, in our very bones.
Yet this form of rivalry can also lead to persecution, to conflict, and is maybe the wrong way of looking at it. In eastern philosophies, rivalry is seen in terms of influences towards preservation and destruction. Yet they are held together by a life force which provides balance.
Maybe this is how rivalry should really be seen. For in balance, each side is weighed, but the conflict is stopped. I think we could learn a great deal from eastern mysticism – the west’s rival, as it were.
Copyright (c) Protected, April 2008
******************************
SOME OF MY RECENT POSTS
The Photo - A Cass Nova detective story, plus an essay on dieting.
How To Understand Death - Everything you wanted to know about - well - death
The Bounce - A short piece of Sci Fi, plus a poem and ‘what is a parallel universe’?
