In this infinity of darkness
Hidden in deserts of death
Lies a speck, a grain of meaning
We live single moments in an eternity of existence
We've got one second to pose
One second before curtains
One breath, one life
To be spent in a circle of suffering
Among knife-bearers
Murders and thieves
Greed and hate, I lurk in shadows
Which bear my name/
I live in blind whispers & in shame//
Of the person I am/
The people I've known & the people I am//
My lands where mine have bled
The fields which mine have made/
The ruins of mine great legacy
To be spat on in disgrace,as devils of our race//
I walk the streets at night/
I've never seen the light until I met Christ//
#poetrywasmeanttobedeep
By: Lone Ketumile
b
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Friday, 24 May 2013
The Lord of The Flies(Book Report)
Have you ever wondered what would happen if all books in the world were to disappear, if all the information of almost all important discoveries completely erased. If all the adults would disappear and live behind the teens and the little ones, by themselves, what would happen. I have thought about that a couple of times and wondered if mankind would rediscover civilization again.
Well, that is almost what happens in “The Lord Of The Flies”, a classic novel by William Golding. The setting of the story is during the time of the world war. Because of the bombings in London, some children were taken into an airplane to be transported to some form of safe place. Now the book doesn’t tell us all this, you have to infer, using the extra information provided. The plane has a problem on the way and the children have to be evacuated mid-air onto an Island, and are scattered all over it.
The book starts as Ralph and another boy called “Piggy” meet up near the lagoon under the cover of tree and thick growth of creepers and forest bed. “Piggy” is a fat boy who wears glasses and throughout the story comes out as the smartest of the kids but not strong willed enough to be the leader. He had specifically told Ralph that he wouldn’t want the other kids calling him “Piggy,” the name his schoolmates used to call him at school. But when the other kids came, Ralph called him “Piggy” nonetheless and the name stuck. Piggy found a beautiful conch near the beach and recalls how his other friend back home used to have one like this. He would blow into it to produce a sound. He reveals his intelligence as he tells Ralph he could use it as a horn to call the other boys.
After calling all the boys together, Piggy begins counting them and trying to get their names. (acting maturely for a boy his age) A group of boy-scouts that we come to know as the “choir” emerges from the forest marching in formation. Their leader Jack, asks Ralph where the man who blew the horn was. It is during this meet that the children make a vote by a show of hands as to who should be the leader, all members of the choir obediently vote for Jack, whilst the rest go with Ralph. Ralph is voted as the leader, he had the conch and called everybody there. He was also strong and attractive looking.(Piggy believed he deserved a chance too since the whole thing was his idea, but like a I said, he isn’t that strong willed) Jack also felt he should be the leader as he was already leader of the choir. Ralph placated Jack by telling him the choir still belonged to him.
The book is all about these children trying to set up some form of government. When they had their meetings, there was the problem of everybody speaking at once. They thereforedecided that whoever held the conch at the time could speak as everyone else listened. You could only speak when you had the conch in your hand. The other main theme or idea the boys conceived (or Ralph to be more specific) was that it was necessary to have a fire at the top of the hill that was on the mountain, so that the smoke could be a signal to a passing ship. They use Piggy’s glasses to start the fire. A rota was set up of the people to take turns to make sure there was always a fire. The choir was in charge of hunting for the little community, as they had discovered there were wild pigs on the Island. They were never able to kill a pig at first until Jack suggested that they had to camouflage. By these events, the book shows how analytical and proficient the human mind is. A quality that up to know still differentiates animals from mankind.
The group wants to return to normality, so they start building shelters so as to have a place to sleep, like a home. The small kids were having nightmares, and talked of monsters that existed in the Island. This part of the book gives us a glimpse of how the human mind tries to make sense of the things around it. When the mind doesn’t know what something is, it turns that thing into fear. One time a pilot fell from the sky as he’s parachute was torn and landed near the fire. The twins who were in charge of the fire fled the scene and perpetuated the idea that there was indeed a “beast” on the Island.
One time Jack has taken those who were in charge of the fire for hunting, leaving the fire unatended. A ship passed by the Island, but then there was no smoke signal. Ralph and Piggy were exceedingly angry at Jack. All he seemed to want was to hunt pigs without the slightest indication of wanting to be rescued. The character of Jack could be taken to demonstrate how in modern times, people of power could use the resources of the state to advance their own ambitions, to the detriment of the whole nation.
Bitter rivalry grew between Jack and Ralph until Jack leaves the group, taking the choir with him. They find new shelter in a cave, resulting in their new home being called “Castle rock.” They hunt pig and host feasts to entice members of the other group. This is quite similar to how rebel groups form in our modern times. We get a group of people who are displeased with the administration and decide that they’ll form a country within a country. Just as these rebel groups would sabotage the efforts of the government, we see Jack (chief, as they now called him) and the choir as they rampage Ralph’s little community so as to steal Piggy’s glasses they need to make the fire with. Isn’t this similar to what other countries do in espionage, when they send their agents to spy in on the intelligence of their enemy country?
Things get out of control as they start taking their savage game seriously. In the game, they pretend that of them is a pig that they have to stab with their spears as they chant:
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!”
At one of these feasts, Simon, one of the kids comes to try and tell them that there was no beast after all, but a dead pilot. Caught up in the madness the game created, the boys actually speared liite Simon to death and fled the scene in shock. The body of the boy is taken away by the tide. Ralph and Piggy are now officially outcasts. When they visit Castle Rock to try negotiate to get Jack to return Piggy’s glasses, Piggy is crushed to death by a rock that the guards set rolling on him. Ralph runs for he’s life as it is quite clear Jack’s malicious intentions. The choir at some point sets the forest on fire with the attempt of smoking Ralph out of hiding. As Ralph head to the beach in his flight, he meets a sailor, his “tim cruiser in the distance.” The sailor had seen the smoke rising as the Island was burning.
It is not strange that in the end a smoke signal, something they’ve been failing to maintain, enabled their rescue. It is fascinating to see how by each act, the children are shown to become less and less sensitive. Becoming more and more disconnected with their caring human selves.Killing or maiming became easier and natural, something that was not the case as when they first arrived on the Island.
My Opinion
The book was well written and engaging. But like all other novels that are based on events that occurred eras ago, I found it difficult to identify with much of the reasoning and thinking of the characters. Also, the book didn’t stress much the gravity of death of Simon and Piggy. I enjoy modern books more….
Well, that is almost what happens in “The Lord Of The Flies”, a classic novel by William Golding. The setting of the story is during the time of the world war. Because of the bombings in London, some children were taken into an airplane to be transported to some form of safe place. Now the book doesn’t tell us all this, you have to infer, using the extra information provided. The plane has a problem on the way and the children have to be evacuated mid-air onto an Island, and are scattered all over it.
The book starts as Ralph and another boy called “Piggy” meet up near the lagoon under the cover of tree and thick growth of creepers and forest bed. “Piggy” is a fat boy who wears glasses and throughout the story comes out as the smartest of the kids but not strong willed enough to be the leader. He had specifically told Ralph that he wouldn’t want the other kids calling him “Piggy,” the name his schoolmates used to call him at school. But when the other kids came, Ralph called him “Piggy” nonetheless and the name stuck. Piggy found a beautiful conch near the beach and recalls how his other friend back home used to have one like this. He would blow into it to produce a sound. He reveals his intelligence as he tells Ralph he could use it as a horn to call the other boys.
After calling all the boys together, Piggy begins counting them and trying to get their names. (acting maturely for a boy his age) A group of boy-scouts that we come to know as the “choir” emerges from the forest marching in formation. Their leader Jack, asks Ralph where the man who blew the horn was. It is during this meet that the children make a vote by a show of hands as to who should be the leader, all members of the choir obediently vote for Jack, whilst the rest go with Ralph. Ralph is voted as the leader, he had the conch and called everybody there. He was also strong and attractive looking.(Piggy believed he deserved a chance too since the whole thing was his idea, but like a I said, he isn’t that strong willed) Jack also felt he should be the leader as he was already leader of the choir. Ralph placated Jack by telling him the choir still belonged to him.
The book is all about these children trying to set up some form of government. When they had their meetings, there was the problem of everybody speaking at once. They thereforedecided that whoever held the conch at the time could speak as everyone else listened. You could only speak when you had the conch in your hand. The other main theme or idea the boys conceived (or Ralph to be more specific) was that it was necessary to have a fire at the top of the hill that was on the mountain, so that the smoke could be a signal to a passing ship. They use Piggy’s glasses to start the fire. A rota was set up of the people to take turns to make sure there was always a fire. The choir was in charge of hunting for the little community, as they had discovered there were wild pigs on the Island. They were never able to kill a pig at first until Jack suggested that they had to camouflage. By these events, the book shows how analytical and proficient the human mind is. A quality that up to know still differentiates animals from mankind.
The group wants to return to normality, so they start building shelters so as to have a place to sleep, like a home. The small kids were having nightmares, and talked of monsters that existed in the Island. This part of the book gives us a glimpse of how the human mind tries to make sense of the things around it. When the mind doesn’t know what something is, it turns that thing into fear. One time a pilot fell from the sky as he’s parachute was torn and landed near the fire. The twins who were in charge of the fire fled the scene and perpetuated the idea that there was indeed a “beast” on the Island.
One time Jack has taken those who were in charge of the fire for hunting, leaving the fire unatended. A ship passed by the Island, but then there was no smoke signal. Ralph and Piggy were exceedingly angry at Jack. All he seemed to want was to hunt pigs without the slightest indication of wanting to be rescued. The character of Jack could be taken to demonstrate how in modern times, people of power could use the resources of the state to advance their own ambitions, to the detriment of the whole nation.
Bitter rivalry grew between Jack and Ralph until Jack leaves the group, taking the choir with him. They find new shelter in a cave, resulting in their new home being called “Castle rock.” They hunt pig and host feasts to entice members of the other group. This is quite similar to how rebel groups form in our modern times. We get a group of people who are displeased with the administration and decide that they’ll form a country within a country. Just as these rebel groups would sabotage the efforts of the government, we see Jack (chief, as they now called him) and the choir as they rampage Ralph’s little community so as to steal Piggy’s glasses they need to make the fire with. Isn’t this similar to what other countries do in espionage, when they send their agents to spy in on the intelligence of their enemy country?
Things get out of control as they start taking their savage game seriously. In the game, they pretend that of them is a pig that they have to stab with their spears as they chant:
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!”
At one of these feasts, Simon, one of the kids comes to try and tell them that there was no beast after all, but a dead pilot. Caught up in the madness the game created, the boys actually speared liite Simon to death and fled the scene in shock. The body of the boy is taken away by the tide. Ralph and Piggy are now officially outcasts. When they visit Castle Rock to try negotiate to get Jack to return Piggy’s glasses, Piggy is crushed to death by a rock that the guards set rolling on him. Ralph runs for he’s life as it is quite clear Jack’s malicious intentions. The choir at some point sets the forest on fire with the attempt of smoking Ralph out of hiding. As Ralph head to the beach in his flight, he meets a sailor, his “tim cruiser in the distance.” The sailor had seen the smoke rising as the Island was burning.
It is not strange that in the end a smoke signal, something they’ve been failing to maintain, enabled their rescue. It is fascinating to see how by each act, the children are shown to become less and less sensitive. Becoming more and more disconnected with their caring human selves.Killing or maiming became easier and natural, something that was not the case as when they first arrived on the Island.
My Opinion
The book was well written and engaging. But like all other novels that are based on events that occurred eras ago, I found it difficult to identify with much of the reasoning and thinking of the characters. Also, the book didn’t stress much the gravity of death of Simon and Piggy. I enjoy modern books more….
All my life (literature)
All my life believed that the world was round
I believed that hard work pays, that the world played fair
I believed that aliens existed, and that mankind wasn’t alone
I believed that my father was superman, and my mother, superwoman
I believed that a pauper could become wealthy
That hard work could accomplish that
Because they say “no pain no gain”
I believed I could walk on water, if I wanted
I believed that I could climb mount Everest
That I could walk on the moon or swim in the river Thames
Just because my hair has turned to cotton
That my skin, become canvas and my bones, POP
That my eyes went milky and my mind a labyrinth
Doesn’t mean I should stop believing
Believing that a man can hold up the sky
That a man can walk on the moon
That he, if he believes, can move a mountain
If he holds tight to that which matters, that which keeps him going
That which keeps him treading and thirsting
That very thing he calls belief
For the world...
Is whatever we make it out to be.
I believed that hard work pays, that the world played fair
I believed that aliens existed, and that mankind wasn’t alone
I believed that my father was superman, and my mother, superwoman
I believed that a pauper could become wealthy
That hard work could accomplish that
Because they say “no pain no gain”
I believed I could walk on water, if I wanted
I believed that I could climb mount Everest
That I could walk on the moon or swim in the river Thames
Just because my hair has turned to cotton
That my skin, become canvas and my bones, POP
That my eyes went milky and my mind a labyrinth
Doesn’t mean I should stop believing
Believing that a man can hold up the sky
That a man can walk on the moon
That he, if he believes, can move a mountain
If he holds tight to that which matters, that which keeps him going
That which keeps him treading and thirsting
That very thing he calls belief
For the world...
Is whatever we make it out to be.
Sowing & Harvesting(poem)
He wakes at the crack of dawn
his trusted beast knows its time
time to toil under the sun
to heave and pull
to weave and pant
the whip cracks and the sun burns
the whip cracks and the plough churns
it churns the soil on and on
on and on and on it goes
his feet sank and his sweat rank
Now the deluge came and the seeds grinned
the branches budded and the fruits ripened
the hands grabbed and the hands pulled
the teeth, sank and the teeth ground
juice erupting and exploding
tentacles teasing the taste buds
the man reminiscing the sun and heat
beast and plough, whip and soil
all the time thinking….
after the ploughing comes the harvest
his trusted beast knows its time
time to toil under the sun
to heave and pull
to weave and pant
the whip cracks and the sun burns
the whip cracks and the plough churns
it churns the soil on and on
on and on and on it goes
his feet sank and his sweat rank
Now the deluge came and the seeds grinned
the branches budded and the fruits ripened
the hands grabbed and the hands pulled
the teeth, sank and the teeth ground
juice erupting and exploding
tentacles teasing the taste buds
the man reminiscing the sun and heat
beast and plough, whip and soil
all the time thinking….
after the ploughing comes the harvest
Lobatse Hospital For the mentally challenged(joke)
Lobatse hospital found itself inundated with patients and was under pressure to release some of its well bettering patients as there was not an abundance of rooms. The staff decided to conduct a test to determine which of their patients could be discharged. In a room with white walls, they used a black marker to draw an image of a door with a handle. They called a number of the patients into the room and told them that if any of them could open the door they drew on the wall, they could go home. The staff sighed in disappointment as all the patients rushed to open the door.
There was only one patient who was still seated, giggling and laughing at the others. The staff was hopeful about him so they asked him why he wasn’t trying to open the door like the others. He laughed some more and said “They can’t open the door"he said matter of fact. They asked him why is that and he answered;
"Because I have the Keys!""
There was only one patient who was still seated, giggling and laughing at the others. The staff was hopeful about him so they asked him why he wasn’t trying to open the door like the others. He laughed some more and said “They can’t open the door"he said matter of fact. They asked him why is that and he answered;
"Because I have the Keys!""
The Vicar and his horse(Joke)
The Vicar of the Parish of Little Wallop had his new horse trained to obey commands. It was trained to gallop when he said “praise the Lord,” and to stop when he said “Amen” and a whole other commands. The Vicar set off to the mall to buy supplies that his wife said they needed for the evening Bible Study.
“Praise the Lord,” the Vicar said to the horse as it began to gain ground in its gallop. When he reached the store he wanted he said “Amen, “ and again the horse obliged and came to a stop. In the store the Vicar was delayed by the retailer was happy to see the Vicar coming to his store. When the Vicar realized he was late for the Bible study, he burst out of the store and mounted his horse.
“Praise the Lord!!” he kept on saying, each time the horse increasing its stride as it ascended the mountainous region. Almost too late, the Vicar remembered that there was a precipice up ahead. He screamed “AMEENN,” and the horse came to a screeching halt, nearly sliding clean over the cliff. The Vicar, wiped sweat from his forehead, looked up the sky and said “Praise the Lord.” The horse obliged.
“Praise the Lord,” the Vicar said to the horse as it began to gain ground in its gallop. When he reached the store he wanted he said “Amen, “ and again the horse obliged and came to a stop. In the store the Vicar was delayed by the retailer was happy to see the Vicar coming to his store. When the Vicar realized he was late for the Bible study, he burst out of the store and mounted his horse.
“Praise the Lord!!” he kept on saying, each time the horse increasing its stride as it ascended the mountainous region. Almost too late, the Vicar remembered that there was a precipice up ahead. He screamed “AMEENN,” and the horse came to a screeching halt, nearly sliding clean over the cliff. The Vicar, wiped sweat from his forehead, looked up the sky and said “Praise the Lord.” The horse obliged.
The Three Turtles(Joke)
Some time back, three turtles had been planning on going for a picnic at the lagoon nearby. They had their food packed comprising of bottles of coke, cheese sandwiches and other delectable. The three of them Ben, Girth and the youngest Billy set out for the picnic. They took three days to get there. They set their picnic table and food. Suddenly it dawned to them that they had forgotten the can openers, of which without they couldn’t have their picnic. They asked Billy to go back and collect them.
“No,” said Billy, “If I go, you’re going to eat the sandwiches.” They argued with him and still he insisted that they were going to eat the sandwiches if he left. Seeing that he wouldn’t win the debate, he agreed to leave.
Billy would take three days to get home and another three to get back. Three days elapsed, then four, then five. The sixth say came and went. Billy can’t be perfectly on time, he may be a day late, they mused, all the while never touching the sandwiches though they were famished. The seventh, eighth then ninth day came and went and Billy was still no way to be found. Now it was clearly evident Billy was not coming. The two decided to eat the sandwiches and go looking after him. As they were about to plant their teeth into the bread, Billy jumped up from behind a tree and shouted;
“Seeee!! You’re eating the sandwiches, I’m not going!”
“No,” said Billy, “If I go, you’re going to eat the sandwiches.” They argued with him and still he insisted that they were going to eat the sandwiches if he left. Seeing that he wouldn’t win the debate, he agreed to leave.
Billy would take three days to get home and another three to get back. Three days elapsed, then four, then five. The sixth say came and went. Billy can’t be perfectly on time, he may be a day late, they mused, all the while never touching the sandwiches though they were famished. The seventh, eighth then ninth day came and went and Billy was still no way to be found. Now it was clearly evident Billy was not coming. The two decided to eat the sandwiches and go looking after him. As they were about to plant their teeth into the bread, Billy jumped up from behind a tree and shouted;
“Seeee!! You’re eating the sandwiches, I’m not going!”
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