Four Love: Act Three

Act Three

By an open field, filled with trees, plants, flowers, insects, birds and many other species. Sun is shining, weather is sweet.

Enter Agape & Storge

Storge Mellifluous is the bird’s tweeting from up high. The celestial notes open a chamber that breathes love inside of my throat. A beautiful sound, awakening my senses to the possibilities in this field.

Agape Each petal holds appreciation of its owner’s recognition. An infinitely complex and beautiful flower looks incredibly simple from the outside, however it is a multi-cellular storehouse that gives more than it takes.

Enter Philia & Eros

Eros We got caught up with a silver winged butterfly that had golden round spots and was swooning ethereally from plant to tree to flower. The sight was one of magnificence; an orchestra that birthed aesthetic wonder at the redolence created.

Philia The nature of all this in front of us reminds me to let everything take its natural course. Metamorphoses happen in a lifetime, a caterpillar, slender and small, turns into a free-flying butterfly and dances for fun, seeking delightful play in an enchanting trance-like state.

Agape All singing from the same hymn sheet here. Let nature decide our lives for ourselves, its course exposed to the five elements of wind, air, fire, water and earth. Humans have a tendency to analytically overcomplicate their decision making, only being secure within pre-determined frameworks of reference and not willing to give in for the sake of others. Stubbornness like a bull that doesn’t want to move anywhere.

Storge It’s such an insignificant trifle to hold on for dear life in situations that can never be resolved. Boosting your own ego, protecting yourself from insecurity and playing the power game leads to corruption of the sprit, broken family ties and maniacal two-sidedness to personality.

Eros Like water off a duck’s back, the penny drops when in extreme peril, fleeing danger and reassessing the consequences of your actions.

We are surrounded by beauty here in its original form, don’t you think? Art is an imitation of nature, capturing the essence of it through a medium.

Phila Art is the expression of the imagination, a direct transference of the mind and a communication guide that brings people together: friendships are made listening to music under blooming trees; lovers go to the theatre to serenade; family all go to the gallery, each taking something different from the experience; and communities are heartily joined by poetry, its eternal teachings catching fire within the souls that transcend boundaries. A wholly communion; shared connections that outlive our existence.

Storge Art for art’s sake. The artist struggles, the image of solitary seclusion in a damp and unlit room, malnourished and aching from head to toe is not an uncommon one. They are walking paradoxes, starving themselves to become full of creative energy.

Agape And troubled minds too, they have, spitting out society’s phlegm, reversing the mistakes of yesterday’s sorrow, representing something another hasn’t seen and trying to earn a living from a personal, emotional piece of work. Selling ideas and thoughts takes a piece of the heart away. Doing it for the sake of freedom and love, abstracted and purely ideal reasons, is the real artist’s claim to fame.

Enter Maid

Eros She wears a golden crown on her forehead, has pigtail hair and a face to match any princess. Thus, nature brings her forth to us, oh heavenly beauty!

Maid I am pleased to meet the acquaintances of all four of you here. May I have your names?

Eros She is Storge. (pointing to Storge)

Agape He is Philia. (pointing to Philia)

Philia She is Eros. (pointing to Eros)

Storge He is Agape. (pointing to Agape)

Maid What a pleasant day it is to take a stroll by the countryside and meet four strangers who have regal names to match their inviting expressions. Forgive me for talking out loud, I have a penchant for an overactive imagination that lets slip on the occasion.

Eros That happens to me too! Affable, you are, and you go by the name of?

Maid My name is Maid. I look after my owner’s household and am supporting myself independently as a housewife, a gardener and occasional actress.

Storge A woman of many talents! What roles do you play?

Maid Oh, just the ones that I can relate to, like a house servant, or working-class characters who have dignity and try to stick up for themselves. It’s niche, but I am particular about these things.

Agape You sound scrupulous and mutiny is on your lips. The poor have for centuries been tacitly oppressed by the rich through hierarchies of power and control. Why do you, as a Maid, put up with this and continue the servile relationship that has tied the hands of those wanting to escape the system?

Maid Because life presents an illusion of choice, and you have to play your part, maintaining the function of society. I believe rebelling with angst doesn’t get you anywhere, as people are stuck in their views and hardwired to formulate certain perceptions of themselves and others.

Philia Everyone, have a look up at that giant oak tree. There’s a solitary bird, namely a Skylark, who is singing a tune. What does it know of the poverty trap, or the refusal to stick up for your own principals? Animals have a conscience to survive, mate and feed themselves, living by basic commandments and not concerning themselves with existential dilemmas that lead to self-doubt and crippling anxiety. The dread of action lacks resolve. Nature is king and queen if you let your unconscious unfurl like a palatial garden, bearing fruit with age and tending to it with experience; then your livelihood will be in concordance with a serenity of mind, heart and will.

Maid Oh so majestic are your words Philia! Just like I hear at the theatre, reminding me of times gone by where I’ve been swept away by the depth of meaning and been taken onto another island, full of ripened flowers and insects that are kind to them.

Enter Memory

Memory Do not forget, for my name is Memory. Without me, you would feign to have an identity. Past, present and future, all are connected in symmetry. The hippocampus stores me and imagination lets me roam free.

Agape I like the sound of Memory.

Philia Wait! Let me count: one, two, three, four, five, and six including myself. This is a new record to remember!

Memory Each living being has the container of everything that has gone before it. We have the ability for total recollection through photographic memory; tapping into creation’s centre by retracing the evolution of our species. That white plant with a yellow head that you see ahead of that tree, has its memory in the roots, germinating from seeds that have dispersed. Every perception that we perceive comes from causation, contiguity and resemblance. Therefore, all experience pre-dates any meaning we attach to our reality.

Storge Time keeps on slipping away. I rewind the moments like a cassette tape, hissing and weaving through Memory, although far too often, I either displace the thought with something fabricated, or fill in the missing blanks by dreaming it up. Is that a common phenomenon?

Eros Yes, to my mind it is. I agree on principle that it is possible to remember everything, however we’ve grown to forget certain dislikes, guilts and embarrassing parts of ourselves to adjust with daily living. If every break-up was etched in Memory, who would want to start a new relationship?

Philia Point being we have the capacity in theory but protect ourselves in practice from exposing our wounds to the wind. Painful times are easily removed from a conscience, although they leave a lasting impression.

Maid I associate all forgetfulness with ironing. The bedsheets, torn linen, that need impressing.

Memory Repetition can be a medicine; the best way to capture the image would be through association, building a nexus of connections that are regularly visited creating a wealth of ready information to draw from.

Maid There are many drawers in the home I inhabit. They open and close like my eyes. The difference is that one gets full and unmanageable, whereas the other just needs clearing every so often.

Agape The hedgehog over there (pointing with real tenacity) is prickly, grey and likes the summer. Will any of us remember what I just said beyond that moment? Sometimes we would rather capture the moment and imagine nothing went before or after it, thereby making it eternal. Isn’t that what art tries to convey? A semblance of the eternal.

Memory Though I disparage from concomitant fraternising, I bring my two hands together to salute you on that remark.

Agape I love it when Memory is on my side!

Memory Short and sweet was my part,

For I will creep into your heart,

Forget, and you shall pay your dues,

Remember, and you shall be my muse.

Exit Memory

Storge A very cellular song. Heart to heart connection, an invisible tapestry to your next of kin.

Maid My hair is knotted like the branches of a tree. Forget me not, though farewell it is from me. Bye!

Exit Maid

Philia She doused her flames in imagination’s fire.

Eros And tended to her weeds, killing all desire.

Exeunt

Four Love: Act Two

Act Two

Outside in a square courtyard, surrounded by walls from houses. Spacious, with light trickling in from the sunshine.

Enter Agape, Storge, Philia & Eros

Eros Within the air that we breathe, there is sustenance for life. If we take that away, would there be any meaning in this world?

Philia Surely not. We fabricate meaning from the things we deem to be important to us. Man is at the centre of his universe, dictating his terms according to his needs. The same can be said of woman, for that matter, with the slight exception that they do this indirectly.

Storge The bane of misunderstanding stems from a lack of appreciation of another’s perspective. Feeling superior or inferior to another’s lip service, their snarled gait or cold face provoking tension to any new incomers.

Agape Underneath all of us, is a common strand of understanding. It can be on an atomic, molecular, chemical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual dimension. We are made of the same basic building blocks, however it is augmented in different ways. As babies we feel no prejudice nor harbour grudges over another. These are learnt behaviours, conditioned by our influences and triggered by habit. A sure way of knowing this is to make eye contact with another soul you haven’t met before and greeting them with a smile: a miracle takes place.

Storge I hesitate to agree, but I do.

Eros Remorse underpins our moral systems these days. Buying sugary products for gluttonous obesity, stimulating pleasurable chemical feelings at the expense of being reminded of how it is tantamount to killing yourself. Why do humans have the ability to do ill to themselves with the prior knowledge that it will only lead to further guilt?

Philia A tough egg to crack, that is. The nature of morals allows for this kind of vicissitude that swings like a pendulum.

Enter Teacher

Philia Take your imaginary hats off everyone, this guy looks like a real professional!

Teacher Good day to you all. The breeze is imperceptible, tactile is the air brushing my skin in a smooth stroke, the sunlight warming my eyes to the people we have here, it is a wonderful day to be alive.

Storge Are you high?

Teacher High on life, my friend. Educating minds on the infinite galaxy means you always appreciate what you have.

Agape I take it that you’re a teacher?

Teacher By profession I am, by name, I am, by the very fabric of my existence, I am.

Eros What can you teach us about attraction and repulsion?

Teacher That the two are different sides of the same coin. Magnets are the same as humans; we either attract or repel based on whether opposite or same sides are put side to side. Like good and evil, one needs to exist for the other to be present.

Eros That’s what Dream taught us! I can go along with this. Get swept up by the torrents and cascade down the merry path to enlightening my consciousness.

Agape Breaking the fourth wall, are we?

Teacher To put it bluntly, yes you are.

Philia That settles it. Let’s pack our non-existent bags and find a retirement cottage in a rural, verdant village to commune in, without distractions; only the sound of the birds and an ocean of green to behold.

Teacher Back to the subject at hand, we build mountains of resentment trying to please someone we like. Get lost in affection or admire jealously from afar in an isolated prison.

Eros Impressionable, though you are, these are the makings of our emotional traumas, the cycles that we all have to experience in order to live more fully. How do we know what’s right without knowing what’s wrong by making mistakes? Surely, the best way to learn is from your own experience.

Teacher I’ll give you that, however those prized mistakes you proudly talk about can cause stunted growth, an immaturity that ends up repeating itself in a shameful, embarrassing method. The theory provides a backbone to the practice, and the practice lends the theory credence.

Philia My first instincts, I always trust. A gut feeling, viscera, intuition. There isn’t a theory behind it. Only felt by the heart and the mind. And the gut, come to speak of it!

Storge Excuse me, for my unpardonable exclamation earlier, Sir. I have a funny sense of humour and a tumour of doubt spreading through my thoughts.

On reflection, I agree with you. We all learn from each other, holding up a mirror to help find ourselves.

Teacher That’s quite alright, my friend. As the moon’s reflection is seized upon the water, the transitory and illusory form of nature is realised. If we all take a step back from this cosmic drama, and look into ourselves for guidance, comfort and justice, the world would be ground upon peaceful actions, in my humble opinion.

Agape Rather sentimental and idealistic, but I like the idea. This discounts the mentally deranged, fragmented souls who have various reasons to have grievances that shut them with a lock and key in a prison of demise. Unfortunate are those, born into evil karma, like a mother who dies at the beginning of a baby’s life, or the severely disabled, who have neither eyes nor ears to speak of.

Philia Agape, you always bring it back to the hopeful optimism, but I dear say this is an example of realistic pessimism!

Agape Not pessimism, Philia, but the understanding that not everyone gets a fair crack of the whip. We all face different conditions that are external and uncontrollable. The magic is to live within it and keep a smile on your face. A meditative monk in a fast-paced bustling metropolis.

Eros Surely we are bound to the fetters of carnal desire and attachment? It is an evolutionary survival trait we have developed over millennia, that has kept our species going and created many loving relationships erstwhile.

Storge Yes, but it is something we have outgrown in the modern age, what with its rampant overpopulation and need to create fear with every desire. I feel the concept in and of itself, is harmless and pleasurable, however when taken in relation with the wider economic, social and environmental contexts, it becomes used as a tool for conditioning and keeping us in place.

Teacher There’s little to contribute here as you seem to have most boxes covered. A natural inclination to desire a mate is unquestionable in my eyes, however a desire to possess material wealth, cars, bungalows and sexual partners in abundance is something that is unhealthy. These lead onto further suffering that is tied up with longing and craving. It really depends upon the end goal behind the intention; whether you’re satisfying a basic need or consuming a want for your own superfluous satisfaction.

Eros That is questionable. How do we draw the line between need and want? It is a murky, abstract distinction.

Philia Without recourse to religious, or otherwise authoritarian guidance, whether it be your parents, the law or your friends, an innate morality has to be instilled from birth through careful exposure to the various elements at play, along with a guru or spiritual teacher, who guides you in the right direction; one of benevolence, humility and wisdom.

Teacher Self-vindication is the premise for an exit. With that, my friends, I leave you to carry on.

Agape Thank you.

Exit Teacher

Agape Affable, effusive character. A man with a few lessons to teach.

Philia You could say that again.

Enter Time

Philia This is rather unexpected; an untimely entrance.

Time Fear not, for I am Time.

Philia Does this person think they’re God?

Time History is a passage of time. There is infinity, there is eternity, there is also a stopwatch. I am measured as a unit, pitted against Space as a concept and laughed at by philosophers. Your existence depends upon me. I chart human progress better than any of my contemporaries, for there are none and I have outlived all of them. Not one person has escaped my grasp, including all species, plants and animals. Under my dominion, you can either run for your lives or realise that I am nothing.

Philia Time certainly acts as God. God with a stopwatch. Ha!

Agape Well behind the subordinate, haughty speech is a propitious message that Time can be defeated.

Storge Philia, I’m glad you asked the condescending rhetorical question, otherwise I would start feeling like the joker in the pack.

Philia Perhaps you are Storge.

Time Have all of you forgotten about who I am?

Eros Hold your horses, Time’s more needy than a prostitute requesting money!

Philia Ah, there’s the trick! If we learn to ignore Time, it wouldn’t affect our lives as much.

Agape There’s something in that. A ribald joke Eros, but that’s to be expected coming from you. Time craves listless attention, the more time we take up thinking about Time, the less time we have to do the things that we’d like to do in our lives and experience it for what it is.

Storge I feel like this act is going to take a little more time than the last one.

Eros Not if I have anything to do with it!

Time The impertinent imprecision you all are showing with your lack of knowledge will be against the wits of your brain cells. Stupidity is ignorance’s cure for being sad.

Storge And malevolence is your vice that you don’t want to deal with, for it exposes your identity naked. Time, we cherish you when beating our neighbours in a race but loathe you when put into an examination hall.

Philia When I meditate, I break free of clock time and enter duration. If Time be a concept, surely we can measure it in many different ways. Intuitively perceiving a moment, a duration over an experience counts as much as a backstroke swimmer beating her own record.

Agape The red setting sun flushes with pink, the white moon dances in an ocean of pitch black, the invisible air flies forever as it knows of no time, or concepts that are bound to it.

Eros Dispelling myth with poetry. A double negative or fighting fire with fire? Syllogisms say absolutely nothing. We end up circling ourselves like the serpent eating its own tail.

Time High ho, it is time to go,

Follow my path and gently tow,

The beginning and end

Of all creation’s intent,

Farewell, I shall be with you in eternity,

Never get rid of me, for all of infinity!

Exit Time

Philia If that was time’s best efforts to cast a hex upon us, I’d rather share my bed with Dream any day of the week.

Eros Kudos for recognising one’s own strengths and abilities, however jousting aloud in front of four horsemen isn’t going to go down well with the crowd. Reputation is a sucker.

Agape In this strange trip we’ve had, Dream and Time have crossed paths with us, presenting their cases and adding spice to our conversations. The settings have provided an amphitheatre and backdrop that correspond with the unconscious mindstates in a metaphor. Am I reading too much into this?

Storge Even if you are, it is an exercise in revelation, sharpening the blunt knife of observation and cutting it into raw, unadulterated patience, seeping goodness from the heart and something to remember.

Agape, Philia, Eros Patting ourselves on the back again!

(they pat each other on the back)

(all four characters fall silent, looking up at the sky)

Exeunt

Body is a Temple

Peeling skin off fingers like sweet potato fries ready cooked

The epidermis forms a layer of cuticle, acting as a bridge of cartilage

Two lips close as a mouth and open for kisses like a flower

Ten toes wriggle under bedsheets, checking for the warmest spots to rest on

Knees and elbows join tendons together, creating supple movement and rotation

Like branches extending from the trunk of a tree, standing rooted below

 

The circular frame of a face is an oval mirror holding pairs in symmetry

Spherical head reminiscent of the globe it lives upon, tilts around the sun

Facing it in light and hiding it in darkness, four seasons emerge as temperament

Spider webbed hands hold attention’s centre, concentrating efforts with dexterity

Gateway to manipulation, used to greet others and make uncertain signs with

The naval protects digestion’s tract, smooth on the surface but harsh inside

Churning away using acid, it is the softest and the hardest part

Away from view, backsides are separated by a vertical line

Like a book opened, supported by the spine, it makes for easy reading

The legs lead onto two feet, straight at the base, carrying the body

Onto distant destinations, they are the wheels that propel the vehicle forwards

 

Two nipples, either side of the chest, are sensitive to wind, giving out milk

Behind where the heart lies, blood is pumped back and forth

Whilst the lungs facilitate the breath of life, a gaseous exchange, connecting with the world outside

Arms swing round, muscles abound, rotated by the shoulder, housing hairy pits inside

Between the legs and the naval, is the defining region that determines gender

With the anus on the flipside being common to both males and females

The penis or the vagina lets out fluid, and is the basis for survival through procreation

Travelling through the mind

Warmth rises, oxygen heats the mind, disposition curdled beyond summer nights

Weapon turned around and removed at once, icy passages melting in saunas

Reflection pieces together jigsaw puzzles, bagged up as onion baskets, mixed with thyme

Been travelling for so long, so goes the song as the heart weeps its own tears

Of sweat dripping down shaven backs, clipped feet and moisturised hands

We live as one before separating to go our own ways in this boat called life

Sailing through blue rivers and white oceans, crystals emerge from underneath the stones

The wheel of ignorance spreads its arms wide, its legs thin and mind above stars

Reaching out, not in desperation, cajoling compassion through the eyes of wisdom

Monkey magic climbs upon branches of green trees, creating music through singing bowls

Moments lived in harmony, peace unites us all to go search for meaning

Shiva’s cosmic dance and Buddha’s transcendental enlightenment gives me universal energy

Fingers touch triggering chemical release, head feels lights and heart feels warm

A state of being unmatched by words, experience comprehends tanktop of meaning

Moving in eternal circles of love, our expressions put window panes into perspective

As a lullaby whispers effervescently into the silent night, stay true to yourself without any doubt.

Four Love: Act One

Act One

Inside a large white room in a house.

Enter Agape, Storge, Philia & Eros

Agape It’s the season for melting hearts by the fireside. I looked outside earlier to see sunrise crawling up behind a giant river, shimmering in effulgent orange-grey. A spectacle to behold, I thought, for all humanity to wake up to.

Storge What makes us four unite? Is it love, or something deeper that hasn’t been uncovered? I seek the light.

Philia Beyond these four walls, what happens is unknowable to us. We can only concentrate on our lives here, a mutual existence reared to birth wisdom. Agape, I did see the sun rise today; it was rather splendid.

Eros I hesitate to speak for others, therefore I shall let my own thoughts be known to you all. I am, one might say, deeply in love with someone. Though this be an ice breaker, I’d like to warm up the conversation by saying yes to Storge’s final question, that it is a matter of love that has united us here on this very day, which has already been lit by the touch of the Sun’s eternal presence.

Enter Farmer

Farmer Toiled hands, dirt I show to you all. See the hard-pressed fingers that have just planted green beans in the fields. I suppose the four of you have been moping existentially about your love lives and coming to uncertain conclusions that only end up with more problems than solutions. Excuse me, it’d be Good Morning, I should have said.

Agape Well that’s quite alright. How was your morning other than the obvious tiresome repetition of bruising your soiled hands? It must take a gallon of energy to muster up the strength to do it every morning.

Farmer Ah, there’s the rub! For I do it for the sake of keeping my family alive, to help my love sleep at night, to be able to share in friendship’s delights and for the sake of humankind, offering hope through nature’s cycle that harvest the food of the Gods! Isn’t it clear to see?

Agape, Storge, Philia, Eros Yes, it is! You’ve dispelled our myth.

Eros Frankly, this was a timely, obtrusive intervention that sought recompense for the melodramatic opening lines about this and that, but nothing in particular.

Philia Well put, Eros. Singing the praises of divine intervention. A fatal attraction.

Storge Comical at best, misanthropic it is.

Farmer A wry bit of humour does the heart a world of good. I stood gazing at the moon last night, which I fondly remembered at the breakfast table this morning, biting into a piece of toast.

Agape Egg yolk reminds me of the sun, like the one Philia saw this morning.

Storge What did you have for breakfast this morning Philia?

Philia Rosemary sweet potato, oven baked crisp, next to a semi-circular dish of white rice, topped by a giant splodge of ketchup.

Eros Sounds delicious.

Farmer Those potatoes best be grown to full maturity! That breakfast of champions is a bit rich for my taste buds, used to porridge from oats and cow milk, eaten heartily, with a cup of tea drunk to wash it down.

Eros Moving away from nourishment, what is your lover’s name, Farmer? Is he as strong as you are?

Farmer A little nosy, I must say, but his name is Prince. An earnest man who listens to others, sometimes to me, and not to his children. Prince is strong… at wielding his opinions onto others and making sure he has the last word when it comes to our marriage.

Philia Somewhat troubled, I infer from the judgements you have made. Cast a hex upon a lover, make them give in to your wishes and fulfil promises that can never be realised. Sound familiar Eros?

Eros Don’t know about that, myself. When it comes to equanimity, I resolutely back it to the edge of a precipice. Give and take.

Farmer Romance has breathed a fire that keeps my paws on the ground searching for meaning and fuelling my heart’s adrenaline.

Philia (wistfully turning away towards the wall) As morning breaks upon my window, I can see it all. The melting snow and the glorious profusion of rays flickers solar peace into the soul.

Agape Who knew poetry to be so contrived?

Eros I did. I do. I know.

Storge The shakers and movers of this world appease one another endlessly; flattery and platitudes populating the tongues that lie in deceit in seeking favours. The ones who don’t look to profit from another and wants to care for someone without attachment is empathetic and human.

Agape I second that statement.

Farmer Sententious stuff, do all your conversations have to involve some grandiose verbiage?

Eros The irony bit my hand and fed it to a dog.

Farmer One can’t argue with that.

Philia Finding order in agreeable peace is what nation states have tried to dictate between each other, although conflict ensues as they fail to see eye to eye. Peace is when war has temporarily halted- for a European who’s history lies in bloodshed, fear and retribution, that’s about right.

Agape Humanity needs to come to a unilateral dissolution of all arms and put private interests, ideologies and history aside. Holding onto past grudges can harm future progress, isn’t that right Eros?

Eros I’m past all of that soppy, emotionally draining stuff. Melodrama for the sake of melodrama. Twists, turns, drops and deaths at the expense of misfortune. I’d like to be on equal terms with you all. That one time when I ran away with a pomegranate beauty named Dido, I went into a cold rage at her indecisiveness and stubborn reluctance to requite our love. For I felt whatever fate had decreed for us should be satisfied by my heart’s content. Oh vanity! Falling into the clutches of her arms wilting at how it isn’t how it was meant to be.

Philia Erotic love, seduction and the madness of aesthetic pursuit. Not always, but sometimes. Yes and no. Know then don’t know. Whimsy taking over.

Farmer Seems that this is a disagreeable conversation to enter so I take my hat off to leave the premises. A circular chat, nonsense really, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Have a jolly good day all!

Exit Farmer

Storge Death and birth are inseparable. So much is our fate here in our bodily forms on this Earth that our Sangsaric existences have accumulated both good and bad karma.

Agape The way out of it is to reach a clear white light of illumination, surfing astral planes by ending sorrow, withdrawing from attachment to everything, including ourselves.

Eros How do we present ourselves to others in society then? Surely, we are social creatures, of habit too, that need comfort and affection from others.

Philia I accept Eros’ argument, but you can have it both ways. By going deeper into yourself and releasing all attachments, you can also create strong, intimate bonds with lovers, friends and family members.

Agape Paradoxical though it is, life and death are just one of the many pairs of opposites we have to live with. Whether to approach someone or walk away. Whether to smile like the moon or frown in disdain. Whether to chop trees down or plant new ones. Universal suffrage taken.

Storge Like the sun that rises to set, everything progresses across time and space.

Enter Dream

Storge What do we have here?

Dream I am Dream. My existence is between waking and sleeping. The unconscious remnants of the psyche play out with expressions, scenes full of emotion that display heroic triumphs and desolation’s row. I think life is a Dream. The picking up of a silver spoon between mouthfuls of delicious food initiate the seeds of imagination’s change. All artists admire and revere me. Poets rather fancy the thought of me. Wind rushes through feathers settling on snow. I am the last piece of the puzzle.

Philia To my surprise, this character is speaking in ineluctable, incorrigible riddles.

Eros Talk about eclipsing our last conversation with the farmer with this one! Oh, how beautiful you are, Dream. I lay my head to rest at night, just so you can enter me and fill my ceilings with fantasy’s paradise.

Agape Someone has been shot with Cupid’s arrow!

Eros Funny. Everyone has to give up to something or someone at one time or another.

Storge Dream, whilst you’re here, do you see any hope for humanity?

Dream Yes, I do. It is faint but flickering like a beam in the darkness. Reality is what you make of it. My apparitions haunt the downtrodden and throw the joyous into a reverie of ecstasy. The defining factor behind not getting caught up in the pool of misery is to fortify your conscience with purity.

Agape Easier said than done, though I have to plead innocent to the sentiment.

Philia Old men, bruised by divorce and life’s many pains, live in cardboard boxes. A nun takes a young man out on a salacious date. Tricksters pawn their mother’s purse onto doting strangers. An elephant tramples a snail hiding under cover. These are some of the long list of injustices we see day to day.

Storge As the world turns, cyclones become hurricanes, volcanoes erupt without consent, earthquakes forget to hand in their notice, rain pours from clouds that have condensed doubt from the seas. The shifting landscapes of nature are cyclical, some destructive but some absolutely necessary to the maintenance and preservation of the world as we know it.

Dream Would it be permissible to say that good and evil are co-existent because they are the same thing? Ultimately, we all have to discover our own reasons as to why we continue living in a world that perishes, gets used for short-term gain and ends in a sorrowful death? For me, it is a matter of perception. If we open our unconscious minds to eternity, knowing everything to be a mere illusion, then we can find the thing we’ve been looking for the whole time. The white rabbit that leads you to discovery.

Eros Wise words you speak. I am enchanted by your way of speaking, such truths ring loudly in my ears.

Storge Prescience doesn’t come easy, but here it is folks.

Dream That’s my cue to leave. And like a dream, I enter and then depart.

Exit Dream

Philia Pleasant exchange.

Agape May it long continue.

Exeunt

My Life

I.

Colouring in the missing pieces, I drip with sweat, glistening like a river

mere words cannot take me out of existence, its decor paints illusions of brilliance

chiselled soil, baked in the glow of the sun’s radiance, dries to be crumpled

washing lines tethered between two poles dangle fleetingly, coming to a still rest

in the law of inertia, doing nothing is better than filling up time with habits

every pore beads out water on my skin, an angelic flower that thirsts for rain

and wind to blow over, dry scalps become scaly like a lizard rolling over in the equator

painfully aware of shortcomings, wearing the heart on a sleeve concealing nothing

naked truths stand bruised, battered by raging tempests that break off rocks

peril is lived in, vulnerable conceits are unmasked, uncovering envy and jealousy, spite and hatred

fondness blows cover, once real intentions are discovered, places to hide become harder

a stone mason builds walls, solidifying secrets and acting with an earnest demeanor.

II.

My body is a temple, sacred as the oceans

dipping my toes into ancestral heritage, tracing their footsteps, discovering prisons

that have shaped understandings, brokered tied hands, beat backs slacking and sagging

tentacle moonlight crowning shifts in perspective

not troubling the established order for fear of retribution

little lies told to oneself, foregoing scrupulous consciences, seeping milky blood

reticent, unheard of, a mirage ridden upon a camel seeking water in a desert

afraid to open up in case of discovery, being laughed at or made to feel different

acceptance of our insecurities can make you completely human

green blankets wrapped around in, sheltering from the cold storm that sends shivers down bones

tacit systems are inbuilt to communicate emotions

they break down requiring insurance, paying to keep a failsafe active when in need

corridors stream two way traffic, a decision whether to make eye contact at the split of a second

unashamed for who I am, talking to you all with a pen.

III.

Ironic rebuttals at the comedic expense of yourself

may seem funny at first, but constant repetition tires out the will

I used to count to three before jumping on my bed

lift the toilet seat at superstition’s request

scared to give myself up to another,

scratching my arms in an anxious fret, a cat that walked away from the scene

putting dodgy fences up, hesitant when someone who was confident inquired

about my sex life, past relationships and any romantic encounters

I was a lost teenager, alone in the world

angry that others couldn’t see where I was coming from

giving into bullies, steamrolled and trampled on as I believed I was a bigger man

who saw what Gandhi thought before reading it

and knew the Bhagavad Gita without a page being turned

I fell in love many times, idolising from a distance

realising the trap I created, wanting to escape it

doomed to die, taking on suffering as a lifelong opponent

giving myself up to dream in the stream of consciousness, where love’s spirit took hold.

Relocation

profile sheets stack up, cardboard matchsticks light flames around prudent eyes

casting light into the future, pick pencils up by the dollar, selling a fortune

presenting marketing slogans by capturing images, shutter closes at the break of dawn

familiar sunrise waiting under clouds of vapour, thawed restless to the core

samsara rotates, shadows form upon walls, impermanent like seashells white hanging softly

decimation. chipped away at constantly, icily thins the pavement creating spontaneous sheets

trodden on stealthily, fractious ideas carve an open smile into a proud rose

shoes dirtied by brown mud, require cleaning to keep up the social charade

positioning the in-step with a rubber sole, setting foot, licencing procrastination tools

yanking open a sluice of time, thank fiction for rubbing its hands with imagination

towels dry on their own, much like tears, rinsing out the water slowly

stress balls because you can’t go at your own pace, orange diadems provide safety net

to hold languorously, swaying ocean boats capsize others’ ruddy potential

in a trance state lived in the present, motivational speeches don’t come cheap these days

whether your glass is half empty or hall full, the analogies only work when you follow them

objectively existence may be freed by moving location, in reality you’re seeking a change of mind

Nepal

The land of vertiginous mountains meet impoverishment in a city of sandy streets,

cobbled up beyond our very own recognition that likens asphalt to bubblegum tapes,

beautiful birds chatter evanescently in the background, the foreground contaminated by my brain,

seeking to understand using patterns and boxes, conformity designates illicit swings

bopping to and fro, restless is the canon fodder barking aloud beyond blue skytops

purview lugubrious, sheets put down over cumin fried rice and mango coriander chutneys

the politics of poverty beckons the question as to why the rich are getting richer,

whilst the poor struggle to rise above their contained ceilings

appropriated unconsciously from the moment of birth to condition our habits

and refrain from challenging the status quo, its pity gloating, hardwiring fear

an exercise in patience breaks many but frees some, walk the tightrope of love to reciprocate

build an army of resilience within yourself, search for what makes you YOU every day

scaling green amphitheatres cushion musical soundbites digested as lentil curry

this country has spectacular views, humble people and a spirit that is immutable

transmitting redolences of iniquity to supersede our hearts tied to devotion.