A FLY ON THE WALL OF GREAT MINDS
2024
RAINER MARIA RILKE
Time flowed faster than ever
The raging wind pushing past clear skies
Billowing past his words carved in gold
A prophetic reminder of him
The hour glass full of sand
As the glass glides through the heavens
As its parts disperse into the depths darkness
The golden dust of promises is lost in time
Torn in mind and soul
The milky white waters of lethe
Within him create a savage storm
As the styx circles the abyss several times
Those who shudder within it drown
But leaking out into the light are the invincible
EDGAR ALLAN POE
A single dark feather,
Drowned in the language of death,
Lay amidst a sea of restrained tales
That kept the room sewn together.
A lone desk stood shackled in the middle,
Burdened with newfound terrors.
Discarded scribbles carpeted the floor
With the beginnings of horror.
But there was light in the room.
It crept past the curtain to reveal
The dark corners.
Poe stood static.
Unfazed by the perpetual chaos around him.
His eyes set on the moving dot
Trailing its way across his world.
GEORGE ORWELL
Austin Brown erratically shuffled across the steep walkway of runway Street desperate to escape the blowing wind that had already set the dried leaves into coils of golden snakes behind him. The hallways of The Academy For Regulated Cohesion were safe from the icy winds but not from the cold truths that defined the character of its students.
The school declared it was an intellectual haven outside the influences that could lead to the ruin of its students, but Austin knew that in this community everything circulated around uniformity. Singular identities were murdered and then newfound likeness stabilized. He found this comforting and was happy to comply.
This world revolved around a twisted funnel of truth bending and erasing lies till they were no more but the truth in all likelihood always persisted growing like strands of DNA through our bodies and minds. Austin glanced timidly at the bold doors only for his gaze to shift to the misfortune taking place silently in the alley on the side of the road where a person was being harshly dragged into a vehicle by figures dressed in white. their faces were not distinguishable but then a shrill voice pierced through his ears like a siren, unmistakably that of the sector 6 historic and political entities professor, Dr Orwells. He was a tall lanky man built strong but in ways that were gentle. He was known for his passion towards his subject and as austere as he had been lately. He had become more cynical as he seemed to second guess rules and harbour ostensibly gray loyalties.
As he was taken into the darkness Austin watched faraway from any help he could provide and as his tranquil features shivered strands of curiosity, fear and anguish knitted his mind. Through these unsettling and mystifying emotions a new mindset a new direction of thought and a new perspective grew. It was an epiphany. Austin had worshipped Orwells and joined the academy just for his tutelage. If a man like Orwells, so disciplined and devoted to the Academy, could be brutally subjected to crime without hesitation what chances did Austin have to prove his loyalty and dedication. Swiftly he turned on his heels leaving behind all expectation and autocracy.
SALMAN RUSHDIE
In the dim, caverns of the lonely sheher, through the darkest of corridors, mufakir sat dejected and disguised waiting for his guardian angel to finish taking a piss. Gabriel, his big hefty bodyguard, returned to herd him once more through the forgotten tunnels of the city of Fatwa. Full of bounty hunters set on their one goal to eradicate the race of free thinkers forever, the city had restless streets. Unmerciful murders took place trying to extinguish the only flame of hope for the city. Mufakir, unlike many others, had the luxury of his guardian angel, Gabriel.
Gabriel, as promised, led Mufakir out of the strangling city but not before making him pledge that he would not glance away or he would lose Gabriel to the twists and turns of the city. Their journey had to be silent, stealthy and swift, everything that Mufakir was not. As he fumbled through the streets focussed on Gabriel, a persistent fly buzzed around his head tempting him like the fork-tongued snake in the garden of Eden, to do what is not meant to be done, to turn back. Just as the pact they had made replayed in his mind it was broken by a mere distraction. All hope disappeared from the journey ahead as Gabriel was lost. Mufakir was left truly to his own fate.