Spaces

Does the sky complain when the clouds invade heavily on her?
She just stands with dignity, allowing the sun to shelter her with warmth
The clouds are not at fault
They spend their life being pushed around
De burden their sorrows by giving us rain

Does the sun complain when he must depart the sky to allow room for the moon?
Two lovers, the sun and the moon
Can’t be together, yet together forever

Does the moon complain when the stars outshine her beauty?
For a dark night needs light
The moon allows the stars to perform their duty

Sometimes there are spaces that cannot be occupied
By more than one or two
Each one must respect and allow the other to do

Once upon a dream

Shabby chic velvet chairs
Dark spiral stairs
Psycadelic dance floor
Booze on the pour

Tall and confident she stands
Short skirt
Tall heels
Short is how I feel
"Let's dance" she commands
No big deal

Sultry black locks caress her breasts
Almond eyes fixed on me, not looking away
Oh her eyes
Anaesthetise... mesmerise
Electric tunes, I'm on the rise

Sticky bodies jive side to side
She pulls my curls, gripping them tight
I gasp as she encircles me, nowhere to hide
Our torsos meet, as we slide

Trickles of sweat brushing bare shoulders
Fumes of perfume lingering closer
I'm meeting her beat
Hands on hips, a rhythmic repeat

She drinks me with her eyes
Undressing me slowly with her smile
We stand like this for a while
She's beautiful
Spectacular

Distracted am I suddenly
A silhouette stands staring
Nonchalantly smooth
A glare so overbearing
He's looking
Absorbing

Envelops me in shudders
A piercing chill
His eyes meet mine
Sending a shiver right down my spine

I know him
A distant memory, now blurred and thin
Who are you?
A soul I once knew

Bright lights and big stage
Distracting me, I can't engage
He's fixed on me, as I on him
A sea of confusion
Up surface and swim

She whispers in my ear
I can barely hear
"He wants ..."
"He wants... "

Awake

Untitled

There are times when someone can be your umbrella
But also your rain
So much pleasure
Yet also pain

There are times when a year is not so far
A week longer than any healing scar
There’s closeness in distance
Come close and there’s no memory or existence

There is a peculiar bliss in letting out some tears
A laugh cannot fully unleash our deepest fears

There are times when you seek strength in others
Doesn’t a temple stand on independent pillars?
A shoulder will shelter you from your demon
Being alone ultimate freedom

There are times when broken pieces can be put together
But they prick your fingers
Their pain forever lingers

Sand is free and easy
Until water marks territory
Caging her
Weighted and uneasy

Do You Have The Balls To Take The Blame?

The media, politics and in business the favourite pass time of most individuals is to find fault in someone or in a situation. All one has to do is turn on the television and in all the reality shows there is a segment where someone is blaming someone else, to find who is at fault. It has been statistically proven that Narcissism has risen by 30% among college students since 1979. It has been observed that levels of self- confidence are on the rise, but this confidence must be linked to honest self-assessment and actual achievement. Can we say that there is a dip in clear-eyed humility and a failure hat keeps us from seeing and correcting our shortcomings. Are we turning into narcissistic individuals and simply blind to the word responsibility, accountability and even our own self-conscience? Could one replace confidence for cockiness?

You know what I actually think? It’s turning into a problem from both ends. Let me give you an example. Jane and Anna are good friends. What Jane and Anna have in common is both belong to a culture where everything is about themselves and their problems and their universe. Jane fails to recognise Anna’s needs on a few occasions and ends up causing pain to Anna, resulting in a bad misunderstanding, fuelled by this need to blame one another. Anna is consumed by her own universe and wishes for attention, she has high expectations from her relationships. Jane is also in her own universe and fails to recognise Anna’s needs and doesn’t pay attention to her friend. Who is wrong? I think both are. I will come back to this narcissistic way of life later. What needs to be addressed is how a problem should ideally be tackled in the first place.

One of the hardest things to do in life is to accept blame for something that has gone wrong. It’s interesting how when we are successful, we are more than happy to be the centre of attention. Yet when a disaster has occurred, we are quick to put the attention on someone or something else. If you actually accepted the problem and took the fault upon yourself, you’d be fixing half the problem right there. There are very few people who can be strong enough to accept blame and take responsibility when something goes south. What is it that makes us shirk from this blame? It can be a combination of your ego and fear. When a child does something wrong, it’s his fear of being told off that usually makes him find an excuse to shy away from his responsibilities. As a grown up, you find your pride can get in the way and a lie could mask the truth and remedy the problem. Both are wrong approaches to dealing with the solution I’m afraid. If you are going to create road- blocks then let’s discuss these now.

Blaming others – As I said earlier, it is far too easy to pinpoint and attack the evil in others than to examine the evil within yourself. It doesn’t matter what has happened or how it has happened, how are your going to tackle the consequences? When you decide to blame someone, are you not giving up complete control of the situation? Yes your ego feels lighter when you can put the blame on someone else, but don’t forget you are still responsible for the occurrences.

Making excuses – Oh I love this one! All my excuses make perfect sense to me, but the only thing that makes sense to both of us is the truth. Basically when you make an excuse, all you are doing is blaming a circumstance and not a person. 

Complaining – What is this constant obsession with taking part in criticism of every little aspect of your life. I am sick, I am tired, I am bored, I am fed up… you are being outright negative and using complaint as a defence mechanism to cover the facts. Man up and face the world, buckle up and show up when you are responsible. It’s so easy to simply say I am going to get an asthma attack if you keep yelling at me. Reframe your thoughts and put some perspective on how the other person is feeling. 

Victim of circumstance – well in this scenario one is simply doing the opposite of taking responsibility. What we are doing is giving up the control on our own lives. Imagine if a multi-million dollar company decided to simply give up and sit back because a few things went wrong. Is your life not even more valuable than these companies?

I’m sure all of you can identify very clearly with some or all of these roadblocks and if you have a clear conscience you will also admit to using them from time to time in order to escape from the blame. 

Taking blame vs. taking responsibility

There is an interesting phenomenon in the use of both these words, depending on how you read or use them can have a different effect on your mind. Taking blame is like giving a sting or pinch to someone else and there is a bitter flavour in the use of this word. Taking responsibility almost implies taking ownership and feeling pride in the matter. It is like having the ability to respond in any given situation. Do you see the difference in the tone? 

Solutions

The first thing to do is accepting responsibility and confess what went wrong. Sometimes you are not completely at fault, but if damage has occurred and you are involved; the responsibility is yours to take. Avoid roadblocks because all they will do is make you skate around the problem and probably make a bigger mountain of everything. Also, the truth comes out eventually, so don’t be fooled by the masks you are attempting to use in order to tranquilise your ego or supress your fear. 

Try to solve the problem, whether it is a company project, a misunderstanding or helping to rekindle a meaningful relationship. Once there is a solution on the way, it is a good time to give your explanation and make the other person understand what your thought process all along. Be humble and don’t forget the fault / blame / responsibility is still on you. Quite often the scars that remain from the disaster are a consequence you have to live with. Make your peace with them and move on.

I would like to add further insight into moving on. I think there are people in your life you will probably hurt a lot, often those you love the most. You don’t mean to hurt them, but the outcome results in pain. If this keeps happening, well perhaps those individuals are meant to remain in your heart but not in your life. Apologising wont make you a smaller person, it will earn you respect and then you can move on. 

I have written this article with more conviction than many of my others, because I truly believe our society has forgotten how to take the reigns on significant problems and they choose the easy way out. We have turned into borderline narcissists because what concerns us more is what others will think of us, our appearance, our food choices, our song selections, our every move during the day. Ring a bell? Social media! The #selfie syndrome resides within all of us and whether you like it or not, we all have a Jane and Anna in us. 

Facebook as the name suggests is the book of your face. A book, which you are constantly trying to filter, look better, enhance, and appear more flattering, and you only want to see the book when your face looks good. If we apply this on a regular basis, you will ultimately forget to address your flaws and leave them in recycling bin. 

Ultimately this way of life catches up with you and truly weighs you down. So, lets all try harder to examine ourselves and detect what effect your actions and thoughts can have on others. Do you have the balls to take the blame now? 

Blur

Some days I hide in my incoherent bubble
I drink my wine
This only adds more trouble

Some days the pieces are in my hand
I throw them far out
To watch them land
They get lost in the sand

Some days I don't want to be found
Solitude bound
Fuzzy figures all around
No sound

Some days I want to cry in my sleep
I want my dreams to hear my weep
Drown those tears
Far and deep

Some days I want to lose all my breaths
Live a thousand deaths
So I can just start fresh
And breathe again

Some days don't come everyday
But when they do
You have to let go
And be true

Some days it's okay to not be okay
Go for your walk
Have that invisible talk
He's always listening

Adieu

He said bye to her

She held onto his last word

Never had those words come on her lips

Like they did today

"I love you" she said

It locked in her a paralyzing sadness 

Bullied

Bullying, it hurts you know
Bullets on your self-esteem
The last one chosen on a team
I cannot even scream

“Brown girl”
Look down, I wish I could reply and hurl
“Your hair smells”
It probably does
I’m not blonde or white
I don’t have a right to be right

Walk into class
Walking on shattered glass
Words of poison spat in my face
I wish I were invisible
And had no trace

The day has only just begun
No, it’s not going to be fun
“Oi Paki”
“Why’s your accent so tacky?”
Bleeding tears from inside
I want to go and hide

I lie in my bed
My veil has been broken
Unmasked the burden
I’ve admitted the unspoken

I don’t want to be here
I don’t want to live in this fear

Bullying, it’s real
You lose the ability to feel
Where ever I go, whatever I say
Who cares anyway?
I have to pretend I’m okay