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The Apocalypse

by Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell

This is the apocalypse
A daffodil has poked its head up
from the dirt and opened
sunny arms to bluer skies
yet I am filled with
dark and anxious dread
as theaters close as travel ends and
grocery stores display their empty rows
where toilet paper liquid bleach
and bags of flour stood in upright ranks.

My stomach twists and fingers shake
as I prepare to work the battleground
the place I’ve always loved and felt at home
is now a field of droplets sprayed across a room
or lurking on a handle or a sink to find their way
inside our trusting hands or mouths or eyes
the ones that touch you when you’re sick
speak soothing words and seek the answer to your pain.

This is the apocalypse
as spring begins again
and brightly colored flowers
deploy in my back yard
the neighbors walk their dogs
and march along the quiet streets
I stretch my purple gloves on steady hands
I tie my yellow gown behind my back
my hair inside a blue bouffant
my mouth and nose and eyes are
still and calm inside their waiting shields.
This is the apocalypse.

I happened to read the story since I had to teach it to eight graders. The story belongs to the genre of the Gothic Vintage. The protagonist of the story becomes obsessed with the killing of an old man. The whole story revolves around his pathological mania for killing. The reason for killing is psycho-analytically revealed in the story. The old man has an eye that resembles that of a vulture. The evil eye is haunting the protagonist. The wealth or possessions of the man like Gold does not interest the protagonist. He visits the old man’s house several times in the night and goes through the ecstasy of the thought of butchery. And finally one night he accomplishes the mission. He decapitates the body and buries it in the wooden planks that make the floor of the house. Then Poe brings in the cops who come to house on the pretext of having heard a shriek. The protagonist at first manages to maintain his composure but in the end looses it and spills the beans to the cops that he has liquidated the old man. It’s true that Poe has been characterized as a mad genius and as a tormented artist. The protagonist is suffering from narcissistic, psychotic melancholia. The narcissism is an obsession directed with quirk of violence that shifts the mind from reason to that of passion. The protagonist is going through an intense psychotic phase of psychosis where he is not able to distinguish murder as something diabolic and goes against the Super Ego, the laws of the society. Melancholia is pining for an object that cannot be obtained. Here it becomes a phantasmagoria, the vulture-eye of the old man. The psychotic character is unable to distinguish between fiction and reality. He does not want to take responsibility of the crime and willingly surrenders himself to the police. The psychological build up of psychotic anxiety is a super rendition of art.

TAHAR NAAM TI RANJANA
(Her Name Was RANJANA)


***


Girl : " Hello !!! "

Boy : " Oh Hi there !!
So ... You're that Girl who got the special permission to visit me in this last moments of my life !!!
But I wonder WHY !??
You know that I'm going to die just a few minutes later , Hang Till Death , don't you ?? "

Girl : " Yes.. I know.. "

Boy : " Then why are you here now !!!
What do you want from me ??
I don't even know you !! "

Girl : " But ... I think you are Mithu Da.. My Elder Brother , who ran away from our home long time ago when he was only 16.. "

Boy : " No... You've mistaken !! I'm not your Mithu Da !! I'm Kaushik.. Kaushik Gupta..
BTW .. Who are you ?? "

Girl : " RANJANA .. My name is Ranjana ...
So .. You're saying you're not my Brother !!!
But .... I'm feeling some resemblance with my brother ..
I just can't point it out exactly ...
Don't you remember anything !!??
Our Home.. The Village of our childhood , named Khanjana , the River in our village , named Anjana !!!
Nothing ??? "

Boy : " Nopp.. Not a single thing ... "

Girl : " Where are you from then ? "

Boy : " I'm from Bankura district , from a village , as far I recall the name was probably Kestopur or Bishtupur , something like that !! "

Girl : " Why ? Why !! Don't you remember the exact name of your village ? "

Boy : " No .. Cause I flee from my home when I was too young.. "

Girl : " Where did you study ? What is your favourite poem to recite ? "

Boy : " Study !!! No... I went to the Junior school only .. And recitation !! I don't even know what you are talking about !!!! "

Girl : " You don't know about recitation !! No.. Then you're not my Brother ...
My Mithu Da used to always Recite Poems for me before bedtime when I was a lill kid ...
His favourite poem was This " Tahar Naam Ti RANJANA " .. Because it's so similar with the name of our Village , our River , and My Name , all same !!!
NO.. You can't be my Mithu Da ...
OK... I should leave now ... "

Boy : " Heyy .. Wait for a minute ... I wanna ask you something .. "

Girl : " You !! Now You wanna ask me something !!! What ??? You said that you don't even know me !!! "

Boy : " Yes .. But now I'm feeling curious ..
Your missing brother , his nickname was Mithu , right !!
But .. What's his formal name ? "

Girl : " His goodname was Ambujakho Mazumdar .. "

Boy : " What !! Did you just say Ambujakho !!?? "

Girl : " Yes !! Why !!!! "

Boy : " As you mentioned the name , Now I remember ...
There was this Guy named Ambuj , who used to be my room partner long time ago ...
Yes yes !!! Now I can recall all these !!! He told me about his Village named Khanjana , the River named Anjana...
And his little Sister he left in his home , RANJANA !!! "

Girl : " Reallyyy !!! Reallyyy ??? You knew my brother !!!??
He lived with you !!!
You are not joking , right !?
You're not making this up to comfort me , are you ??? "

Boy : " No I'm not ... Yes ... We once used to share rooms ... "

Girl : " What else did he say to you !!?? "

Boy : " A lot ... He used to tell me , how and why he left his home so early without telling anybody .. As he wanted to be a responsible Man who will earn for his family and then return to the home with a lot of money ... "

Girl : " Did he recite any poem too ?? "

Boy : " Oh no.. Not any poem.. Never .. "

Girl : " Why not !! What happened ?? "

Boy : " Oh.. That's a sad story ...
He always tried so hard to earn money ... So that he could return to his family...
But.. He failed ... Again and again and again ...
You know ... I suggested him to join my Gang ... But he refused to be a Criminal ... "

Girl : " What happened next ??? "

Boy : " Then one day I saw on road , a few public was beating a guy for Pickpocketing .. And to my surprise , it was Ambuj !!! "

Girl : " NO !! NEVER !!! My brother can't be a Pickpocket !! My Mithu Da can't be a Criminal !!! NEVER !!! "

I know Michael's cartoons very well, unmistakable style and sharp wit, and as it happens today I came across and posted two of his. At the same time I learnt of his sister. I was searching to see if Michael ever drew a person with two eys, and up popped his sister, Mary


Michael is know to use two characters frequently - The Duck and Vasco Pyjama:

Back by UN popular physics -- ye LAW.
Up on the Sun / meat puppets.
.. chasing the sun ) ..the Wanted
A L I V E * / empire of the Sun
..A R ] anthem of the Sun / grateful dead.
...addenda...) The beat goes on...
Postcard from Italy / Beirut
...ram it down .) J. .priest..
Sunday morning coming down / C A $ H.
... despite change the tempo of the mass
Remains Constantine & Caliente.- hot law 1.
Sunshine / Edwards
Headed for Tomorrow ) . ) .gamma Ray.
C o r o n a [ crown. / Minutemen
...hint ) Coronal mass Ejection
He ] blinded me w/ science./ Dolby
Doctor my eYes / b r o w n e.
20 / 20 / the G R A V E Y A R D
... standby...* .it's a live Exercise....
Crossfire / flowers
.. dynamite / Cruz...| . Drones } muse
.A I R P L A N E $ .} . B o B.
Machine gun blues / social Distortion.
Bang..bang..bang } Ronson & the biz. International
$hake me down / cage the Elephant
Lost in the dream / war on Drugs.
..$¥NTHES1$. } world Peace is none of your [ F ..]
.. business / Morrissey.
A R ..] .will Do. / TV on the Radio.
.. epilogue....the Original Deduction
7 7 0 7... spreading Light | field of Fire
..6654. beside..[ .. strong HEB. Dictionary.
1 0 5 3 .. house of the Sun.
...and the law & the Byrd do not McChange.

She: It's high time. What about our marriage?
He: Marriage is an outdated idea. I would be the last person to opt for the legal prostitution.
They departed.
Two decades later, the she-lovebird was happy to be all alone for the last 15 years.
And the he-lovebird was happy with his wife and two kids.

I heard from a designer he and his client are going to Art Basel to buy some expensive paintings. It's happening on Miami Beach December 1 - 3, 2022.
Today, I heard on a local station advertising the event that it's going to be huge. While I've never had the desire to go, perhaps next year things will be different. Tickets are $90 for a single day and $55 for seniors and students.



10 years ago, I did a penthouse suite for one of the vendors, who runs an online store for art and collectables.

Basel, not only happens in Miami, they have shows in Hong Kong and Paris, highlighting the works of more than 4,000 artists and 250 galleries.

Once upon a Time ..
Far far Away ..

There was a kingdom ..
There was a King ..
And ..
There was a Queen named Siya ..

One day , it was "Dol Yatra" (Festival of Colors) , the Queen Siya went out from her palace to celebrate the occasion ..

She was roaming in her gorgeous chariot ..
Suddenly she stopped seeing something ..

There on the river side , was a small cottage made out of clay ..
Decorated by flowers of jungle ..
Painted with "Alpona" (white color artistic design) ..

Queen Siya asked her maids , "Whose cottage is that ?"
They answered , "It's the home of Diya , a poor woman living in the village ..

Queen Siya returned to her palace , all very distressed ..
King asked , "What's wrong my darling ?"
Queen replied , "I don't want to live in this palace .. I want to live in a cottage made of clay .."
King said , "No problem !!"

King immediately build a beautiful new cottage all made of clay and decorated just like that cottage of that poor woman Diya ..

Queen Siya moved in there ..
But ..

She could not feel the Happiness she expected ..

It's felt all Empty ..

Another day , it was "Snan Yatra" (Festival of Shower) , Queen Siya went to the river to celebrate a shower ceremony ..

She was dressed with all gorgeous cloths , beautiful makeup and valuable jewelleries ..
Then suddenly she stopped seeing something ..

A woman was returning from the river after taking a bath , wearing a simple red lined white cloth , walking on her bare foot , carrying a clay pot filled with water from the river ..

Queen Siya asked her maids , "Who is that angelic woman ?"
They answered , "She is Diya , the poor woman living in the village .."

Queen Siya returned with so much of distress ..
King asked her again , "What's wrong my darling ?"
Queen replied , "I want to take bath in river , carry water walking on my bare foot .."
King said , "No problem !!"

King immediately made all the arrangement ..
The road was all cleaned and cleared ..
After taking a bath in the river , Queen Siya walked by her bare foot , wearing a red lined simple white cloth , carrying a clay pot filled with river water ..
But ..
As she reached home , she threw away the clay pot ..

She could not feel the Happiness she expected ..

It's felt all Empty ..

Then once again another day , it was "Raas Yatra" (Festival of Music and Dance) , Queen Siya went out again to celebrate with 100 of her maids ..
Then suddenly she stopped seeing something ..

There was a young boy , carrying a basket filled with fruits from trees , vegetables from field , flowers from garden , with a glowing smile on his face ..

Queen Siya asked her maids , "Who is that cute boy ?"
They answered , "That is the Son of Diya , the poor woman living in the village .."

Queen returned again all distressed ..
King asked her again , "What's wrong my darling ?"
Queen replied , "I want my Son to bring fruits and flowers for me .."
Kind said , "No problem !!"

After getting order from the Father , the young Prince , carried a basket filled with fruits and flowers to his Mother ..
But ..
When Queen Siya looked at her Son , she found him all angry and frustrated because of the efforts he had to make for all that ..

Queen Siya could not feel the Happiness she expected ..

It's felt all Empty ..

Queen Siya went under total silence ..
She did not even respond to the King this time ..
Then her best friend came by and asked her , "Siya my friend , please tell me , What's Wrong !?"

Queen Siya replied , "I Had It All Watever I Deemand For ..
But I Never Been Able To Achieve The Happiness I Wished For ..

So now ,
I Don't Want To Chase After The Happiness Of Diya Anymore ..

Now All I Want Is To Cherish All The Sorrow Of Diya ,
That Poor Woman Living In The Village , Has In Her Life .."

My point under consideration is the status of female gender in the renewed situation in those economies.
What I could make out is, the "Electra Complex, Jung, 1913" is subdued, reminiscences exist unconsciously though.
The worse part of the story is, they were very demanding and when resisted, they acquired some negative traits of the male gender like the arrogance and attitudes.
Their rebellion got manifested in different forms and kinds. Like, their reluctance to give birth, refutation of marriage and entering the porn industry and all that.
But one thing is certain that after proving their worth and competence, they can't be stopped...