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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The crows... Part 3

#FWF Free Write Friday: Famous Last Words
 
“All people dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake in the
morning to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous
people, For they dream their dreams with open eyes, And make them come
true."
- D.H. Lawrence
My brother recited a verse off a poem by D.H. Lawrence as per the Perera family tradition at the weekly brunch table. Fortunately it was one of my favourites, so I tolerated his corniness for once without my usual constant interruptions. The table was set with my grandmother's favorite linen tablecloth, with lavish silver embroidery. My mother's silver tableware crowded the table, the ones she had brought here to Canada when we migrated. My family would usually lay out the fine china when we had important company and especially when they wanted to impress someone. Well in this situation, it was the Fernando family... Outside by the deck overlooking the peaceful lake is where we would usually entertain, provided the weather was great. Mother nature was seemingly kind to us over the last couple of days, the sky was calm with much blue and few grey clouds. The Sun was at it's peak but not too warm, as the wind picked up the gentle cool air. It was a good day to be outside.

The Fernando family was another traditional Sri Lankan family living in the city of Brampton whom unfortunately had 2 single daughters. The misfortune was my brother's and mine as they were looking to get hitched. Which meant either my brother or I was about to get pimped out by my grandmother. As my mother started to pour champagne into the glassware, it was now my turn to share with the family and guests something I found fascinating. This was an interesting form of entertainment my step dad found crucial to add on to our Sunday morning festivities. A form of entertainment my brother and I would try to mock most of the time with unusually gruesome facts. But considering the fact that there was a 99.99% chance of being the one pimped out! I decided to share a few medical facts with our boring audience.
"So... I went to the doctor yesterday and guess what!? I have IBS! That's irritable bowel syndrome for those who had no clue what is was. I guess I would be enjoying a lot of flatulence from now on... Cheers!! Back to you Joseph!"
My grandmother almost choked on her bread while my mother spat out her champagne on to my brother, Yoshi's face. The Fernando's were rather surprised by my proclamation but my step dad was beyond furious. I think one of the girls felt nauseous while the other found it funny. Now there's a girl after my own heart, one with a good sense of humor. My attention was quickly drawn to my step dad who was either about to explode due to the intense anger he was bottling up or suffering from a bout of constipation. His eyebrows were directed toward his nose as his forehead wrinkled like an old ladies' macerated skin. Staring at my face with his habitual look of disapproval, he implied his disgust. That was nothing new to me! Mr. Fernando being one of his close work buddies, Joseph probably felt embarrassed by my act of oversharing.

My brother, on the other hand was drenched in a mixture of saliva and champagne, yet he couldn't help but snigger after seeing Joseph's face. My grandma was amazing at defusing potential family calamities like this, after seeing the old demon's face she jumped in with an awkward shrill of a laugh. 
"HAAAAA HEEE HAAAAA NNNNNHHEHEE!"
Personally I felt like she had swallowed that ugly cat of hers.
"My grandson can be quite the joker. Well let's not get distracted by his charm... Let us toast to our health and get to this lovely meal Joeanna has prepared for us."
"CHEERS!" roared the masses and suddenly the spoons, forks and knifes started to clutter the dishes. Devouring the meat, potatoes and the immense variety of cooked vegetables, my mum had prepared was a prerogative for me, especially after I moved out of the house. My cooking was still under crucial implementation, which my mum knew. A fact I was quite embarrassed about after giving my ex food poisoning. So my mum would always make it a point to prepare a great feast every Sunday when I would visit. Unfortunately for me the dead crow this morning, put me off all the food!
An awkward silence snuck up on all of us as everyone start to occupy their mouths with the food on the table. My mum's food often did that to people, but this was different. The breeze was much colder and I could feel shivers sprint along my skin to my spine. I looked toward the direction of the lake and saw deep grey clouds storm the horizon, like a team of horses galloping toward us. The silence was quickly interrupted by a faint "CAW!".

Then... "caw, cawww CAWWW!!" I would hear them from every direction, a murder of crows every where I'd look.

Friday, August 09, 2013

I ask for...

 
I cry...
I scream...
I pray...
& I cry...
 
I ask for reason...
I ask for understanding...
I pray for your grace...
I call for your embrace...
 
I seek memories...
I seek moments...
I follow those dreams...
Sharing stolen visions...
 
I ask why them?
& ask why not them?
I ask for more time...
I ask for more life...
I clench on to this faith...
& I fall no more...
 
I summon much courage...
& seek you in the heavens...
I finally open your book...
& let myself break down...
 
I remember you...
I will always remember you...
I think of you...
I will always think of you...
With every moment,
That my life grows...
That my spirit glows...
I will look up to you...
So you may see me,
So you may look back down on me...
& forever live in my heart...
& in my life...

By Yoshith Perera

 
Dedicated to my Aunt...
Who said her goodbyes to us this week...

May your heart,
Be at peace,
May your soul,
Dine an eternal grace...
May your spirit,
Sore to the blissful heavens...
& live in our hearts,
Till our eventual rests...
 


Saturday, August 03, 2013

The crows... Part 2

#FWF Free Write Friday: Word Bank
This week’s FWF prompt is a word bank:
blanket – falsetto – cumbersome – cinema – coins

Waking up from a nightmare tends to take a toll on you, especially when it's the same one over and over again. But this time it was different, it was more vivid and way more troubling... My own personal horror movie in my head. I blame all of this on my friend, Jenny. She dragged me off to watch "The conjuring" last week and ever since then I've had the worst sleep ever! Unfortunately I can't blame my nightmares on it, they've been around for way longer. It would have been much better if my ghosts mourned with a falsetto voice rather than a real life cinematic experience in my head. Never did I awake, feeling so estranged from reality. My body conscious of the trauma the birds had ravaged, there were bruises everywhere.



Sitting up from bed, I sighed!

"Today's Sunday! Family brunch! My stepdad! Prrrrrrrrrfht....."

Opening the window blinds by my bed, the light just hammered my face thoughtlessly, avenging all the darkness in my room. It was amazing outside, the sky was a blanket of clouds on a light blue sea of possibilities. It always calmed me when I would stare into the universe. Silent, calm and thrilling while the clouds themselves roam the upper atmosphere as if they were guarding someone or something...

It was finally time to take on the cumbersome task of getting ready. Cumbersome because of my mother constantly ranting about how I should and shouldn't dress myself and most importantly because of that troll I call a "Stepfather". He was going to be there, he was going to keep bitching about everything. The coins of money he'd spent on me, what I've got to get done, everything I had to get done and probably more...

I stomached the thought of it all and mindlessly dragged myself into the washroom.

"Shitt!!!!!!" I screeched as I stumbled on something.

A pile of black feathers? Did I go to Jake's costume party last night? Even if I did, I highly doubt that I would wear a head of feathers. On further inspection it was not just a bunch of feathers, but feathers bound to flesh. A crow... To be more precise a dead crow... My bathroom which had no windows harbouring some dead crow...

"Cleaning this up is just gonna take longer..."

Thursday, August 01, 2013

A picture...

 
Is it what we wanted together?
Or is it just a dream we saw together?
Were they just moments we shared?
Or were we finding ourselves together....
 
 
That picture we really wanted,
Sketched by 2,
Painted in reality,
Flawless truths and bitter memories,
For all to see,
On this canvas of reality...
 
A fortune of hearts,
On this sea of life,
I see...
I meet...
But something's wrong,
For me, it's strange,
I feel...
But not the same...
 
I fall into you,
In my dreams of you,
I vanquish demons,
& rescue heroes,
All for you,
But I only wake,
To a lonely bed...
 
Lost...
A feeling,
Broken...
This emotion,
Follow the crumbs,
And find me please...
Cause all I do,
Is look over my shoulder,
Waiting for you...
 
 
By YOSHITH PERERA