Shark Attack

If you are into swimming, you should know
That a great white attacked a man offshore.
He dove in from his boat, and to his horror
There was a great white waiting down below.
‎
But our diver did not show fear.
He told the shark: “You are not welcome here.”
And just so that his point would be clear,
He poked its snout with his fishing spear.

He backed against a reef and stood his ground,
Though that shark must’ve weighed a thousand pounds,
And every time it tried to come around,
He poked and poked and poked it in the snout.

The shark, he thought, mistook him for a seal.
He almost became that monster’s meal,
And only his resolve and strength of will
Had gotten him alive through that ordeal.

But there’s another angle to that story:
A shark was swimming though its territory,
When suddenly, without saying: “Sorry,”
A man fell in and scared off its query.

The shark was puzzled by the whole affair;
‎Such an occurrence was extremely rare‎
As far as it knew – humans needed air.‎
It wondered what the man was doing there.

But every time it swam up to find out
The human rudely poked it in the snout.
This human was aggressive.  No doubt
It’s best to warn the other sharks about it.

With its pride injured and it’s snout sore,
It dutifully went about its chore,
And now all the sharks around know
A human has attacked a shark offshore.
‎
Copyright @ Julie Deshtor 2014‎

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Lost genius. ‎(What bothers me about modernity – Part 2)

Part 2: Overcrowding

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I am not going to go into the usual concerns associated with the word: the impending doom of dwindling resources; the inevitable competition between various human populations; the destruction of habitats and species; the potential for catastrophic epidemics; the wide-spread loss of reproductive drive in those modern human societies, where religious beliefs are not a major factor influencing reproductive choices.  All these issues have been studied, documented, debated, and addressed in literature, educational films, and big screen productions.

‎

One aspect of over-population I have never seen addressed is ‎the devalument of geniuses. ‎

 

Awe-inspiring leaders, daring reformers, great poets, fabled military minds, legendary explorers, brilliant scientists, revered ‎prophets, extraordinary beauties, men and women or inhuman strength and endurance, saints, saviors, geniuses of all sorts and fashions – where are they today?

 

They still exist, no doubt. Statistically speaking, there are more of them alive now than there ever was before.  ‎If we are to estimate the population of ancient Athens at roughly 250,000, and claim that one super-human athlete per generation was born in Athens, than, estimating current world population at 7,125 billion, roughly 28,500,000 super-human athletes are alive today!

 

How many of those can you identify right now? How many Nobel Prize winners do you know by name? Me, personally – less than a dozen.

‎

The modern geniuses are all around us, I am certain of it. But they are lost amidst the crowds. Diamonds are only precious if there is a shortage of them. They are worthless in an over-saturated market.  

 

How many Homers, Shakespeares, Jesuses, Napoleons, Aristotles, Darwins, Caesars, Elizabeths, Charlemagnes, Mozarts, Augustuses, da Vincis, Genghis Khans, Galileos, Ciceros, Teslas, Joans of Arc and Bismarcks do we pass every day on the street, never realizing that it was greatness sitting next to us at a local Starbucks?  ‎Too many.  They go unnoticed and unrecognized, indistinguishable from the multitudes.    ‎

 

‎The 21st century has created an interesting paradox, where brilliance often goes by unseen, yet those people who would like nothing more than to be left alone find themselves stripped of all privacy. But that’s the subject of the next post. ‎

The Julie Deshtor author website is up and running

I finally did it – my Julie Deshtor author website is up and running.  You can find it at http://deshtor.com as well we http://juliedeshtor.com.

Coming up next is the “Letters to Phoenix” Goodreads book giveaway, followed by a press release – and I will keep you updated on those as they come.

Also, I am working on releasing a Kindle version of “Letters to Phoenix”, and so it will soon be available in the ebook format.

I’ll keep everyone posted of all the updates.

What bothers me about modernity – Part 1

I have decided to start a new series of post regarding the things that bother me regarding the modern world. Any thoughts and comments are welcome.

Part 1

What bothers me about modernity is the dissipation of normal human social structures. Man is a social and family animal. Human initial (even prior to modern medicine) longevity has permitted for several generations to co-exist, passing on knowledge and traditions; blood and marriage bonds always have been the ce‎ment that held societies together. That interconnectedness is quickly fading, and we are getting a new species of man in the developed world, the solitary hunter type. Grandparents move to Florida or to a retirement home, the kids move out at 18 to another city, and a babysitter is responsible for nurturing of toddlers. Not one babysitter, but usually a quickly changing myriad of different ones. In our vastly overcrowded cities we often find ourselves completely alone, with no family to fall back on and no tradition to carry us forward. Grandparents cannot not pass their wisdom to the next generations, because they are in Florida! Lol. Old age is treated as an embarrassment, rather than a value. And that is just to begin with. The next topic would be overcrowding, but I will leave that for another time.

Mountain Echo

“The Execution of the Mountain Echo,” Vladimir Vysotsky: translation by Julie Deshtor:

Upon mountain slopes, which the daredevils consider their Mecca, their Mecca,
Where winds blow wild and jagged peaks puncture the sky, puncture the sky,
There once had resided a good-natured mountain (mountain) echo –
It used to respond to a cry, desperate human cry.

When loneliness swells in your throat and cuts off your air (your air),
And your lips let out a sigh that nobody can hear (that no one hears) –
This quiet plea for help the kind echo would pick (would pick up) with care,
Preserve, amplify and deliver it right to your peers.

Were they beast or men – high on poison and drunken on ale (on ale)?
They didn’t want anyone to hear them howl and brag (howl an brag),
And so they conspired to cripple the mountain (mountain) vale.
They tied up the echo and they silenced it with a gag.

It went on all night – the obscene bloody orgy of violence.
They stomped on the echo and yet no one heard a sound.
By morning a firing squad executed the echo in silence,
And boulders, like tears, rolled down the face of the mountain.
And boulders, like tears, rolled down the face of the mountain.
And boulders, like tears, rolled down the face of the mountain.

Copyright@Deshtor 2013

I am pacing…

I am pacing like a caged panther.

I am growling at the crowd.

White-hot, glowing, molten anger –

Let me go, let me go, let me out!

 

I will break free somehow, I swear,

of the present which makes no sense,

like the infamous whistling arrow

I will shoot for Eurasian grasslands.

 

Keep your progress and keep your science –

things that I do not understand;

here the sky is embossed with diamonds,

here the death mounds observe a silence

over endless expanse of land.

 

Here the Scyths and the Mongols mingle

their shadows and their blades;

here the wings of a passing eagle

brush the ghosts in their graves.

 

Here the soil is rich with slaughter,

here wild horses still roam,

here the Danube’s primeval water,

like the wraith of the Empire’s boarder,

still keeps Nomads apart from Rome.

 

Here wind drowns out the sound

of the hooves and the battle cries.

There are memories in this ground;

in my own Mongoloid eyes.

 

Leave me here and do not meddle –

I’m at home in the sea of grass.

Give a horse to me – keep the saddle –

just the horse, that is all I ask.

 

Copyright @ Julie Deshtor 2012

Getting your shit out of my house…

Getting your shit out of my house –
Like stench of rot out of my mouth:
You were so sweet, such a good boy,
I now know it was a ploy
To take my family and life.
Of course you took me for your wife!
I had the things you never had –
Real friends, a loving mom and dad.
You played your part, and I was blind:
You were so nice, you were so kind!
Without decency or pride
You lied and lied and lied and lied.
Though for one thing I will take blame –
I didn’t recognize your game.
But that’s alright. You went too far.
Now we all know who you are.
Live your own life and don’t touch mine.

You don’t deserve a better rhyme.

copyright @ Julie Deshtor 2013