Dialogue - a poem

How do I describe a life to you,
If you've never lived it?

A sea of words rises and falls
Froths and eddies
On the shores of your understanding
And above it
So far asky
Soars the gull of this thought

How do I describe a sight to you,
If you've never seen it?

An apple pie wafts upon a sill
Warmth and cinnamon
That pinch of sourness on your tongue
And a memory
Unbidden
Is the longing for joys past

How do I describe a taste to you,
If you've never smelled it?

A piano key finishes the crescendo
Sadness and joy
A ringing in your ear that is silence
Applause as
You crave
An encore that shall not be

How do I describe a sound to you,
If you've never heard it?

Two hands brushing in the darkness
Fear and exhilaration
A shiver down the spine,
Breathlessness​,
Awakening
Promises made needing no words

How do I describe a touch to you,
If you've never felt it?

Dimly lit is the path to this moment
Incandescent, unafraid
I peer into the gloom ahead, dispersing
Curiosity
The mist parts
Revelations​, climaxes, conclusions without end

How would you describe a life to me,
If I've never lived it?

Topical Fruits

So I experienced the most vivid food memory, one that made me laugh. Standing in our kitchen, doing the gloriously icky, painstaking, and enjoyable task of making aamras (runny squeezed mango pulp is the closest English approximation, often with added sugar to balance the sour, or with a dash of milk) for dinner, I stood with one fleshy mango seed (koy) in each fist and squeezed, letting all the juice and pulp from it run into the container below. When I opened my hands, the koyi were completely juiced out. No further processing required - just dump them on the pile of skins.

I make less of a mess now...

I giggled as I realized I'd finally attained one of two food related superpowers that as a child I used to think only grown-ups have: one squeeze mango koy processing! (Oh, and let it be said that no one, but no one in living memory, ever came close to juicing a fleshy mango koy in one squeeze like my grandma, Mai aaji.)

I was transported to a kitchen from my childhood, where like a starving doggie I would wait by my mom's and my aaji's side as they prepared the day's aamras. Every discarded skin, every processed koy was handed to me for a final, slobbery clean up job. I never wanted the koy that aaji processed, because it was far too well squeezed - mom's koy however usually had a few fleshy bits still on. She spoiled me rotten, that woman...

Quantum Break - Wow!

Quantum Break is the most innovative gaming experience I've had in over a decade. Yep, I said it. An enjoyable first-person shooter science fiction (time travel) game, it is to my mind the first true 'Xbox One Exclusive' that would justify a purchase of the console. It was marketed as a hybrid video game and TV show, and what it really is, is 5 acts of gameplay interspersed with 4 slickly produced, tautly written, and very well-acted episodes. Shawn Ashmore and Dominic Monaghan deliver serviceable performances both in the TV elements and in their virtual avatars.

At His Old Man's Side - A Short Story

The following is a short story, yours to read and hopefully enjoy for absolutely free. You could just read it here on my site if that suits you - or if you would prefer to read it on your favorite e-reader please click to view and download the PDF version.

Here are some help pages that should allow you to read this with ease on your favorite eReader platform: Google Play Books, Amazon Kindle or Kindle App, and Apple iBooks. If you're more the hard copy types, feel free to print the PDF for personal/ community use, so long as you don't sell a copy for, you know, actual money!

This is my first shot at science fiction in a long time, and probably my first time writing in the first person. If you like it, don't like it, have a comment, spot a typo (I did write it in a hurry!), or have a constructive piece of feedback, I'm all ears. Do leave a comment or a +1 below!

Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

The Tale of "The Tale of the Dark Warrior"

They say some things take time. You can't hurry them up, or stall them. Like Wizards of Middle Earth they arrive precisely when they mean to. The Tale of the Dark Warrior (link takes you to the official FB page), my novella made up of several short stories has taken its time to arrive.

They (those faceless bastards!) also say good things are worth the wait. Whether my work is 'good' or 'worthwhile' or not is no longer for me to say; this I leave to you to decide. Right now I'm just relieved to be able to say - it is done!

The 134 pages/ 31,600 odd words that make up the book have taken me over 13 years to write, rewrite, (oh so many times) abandon, rediscover, fine-tune, get reviews and notes on, and (just about 48 hours ago) finalize and publish. I grew up with this book and it grew in the telling with me. Putting it up for everyone to see feels like the end of a phase of my life.

From the 1st of January 2015, warts and all, it will no longer be mine and will belong to you, dear readers. I can no longer second guess myself. I can no longer break up those long sentences, fix punctuation, elaborate on a plot point, or scythe away the fluff. It is done, but I am not done with it, and perhaps it is not done with me. Not quite; not just yet!

Indulge me then, as I pen down the story behind this little book.