Hi everyone
Thank you for reading and for your input over the last year or so. Please continue to read at http://glipho.com/alfriendo
Zero zeal
18 March 2013
Situation:
sly, cunning, conniving,
sneaky little gurgles emanating evil thoughts
create the stinging cold within my bones.
The feeling furiously flows,
viciously; slicing at my soul.
Unrelenting unease grows
and razors away parts of my whole;
seemingly never to be ameliorated.
Nevertheless, a query makes its dwelling
inside the core of my validity.
Possible for it ever to be alleviated?
The cold within my bones
freezes up my essence –
and seeps into my arteries.
Functionalities about to seize;
limbs – wintry; never heating up,
withholding pulse from the core.
Despite the balmy, steaming, overflowing cup,
I can’t warm up anymore.
© Annalinde Louw
photo credit: tricky (rick harrison) via photopin cc
An ode to Johannesburg (2013 Edit)
6 March 2013
This image is my property. Do not reproduce. Thank you!
Too many people let South Africa’s mysterious beauty pass them by…
Johannesburg – your mysteries are many… your wonders are untold. Your secrets float upon a once-stifled breeze and enter the minds of the uneasy crowds holding back and throbbing their lives towards some further, some higher, some more; some other platform whereupon they wish for their hearts to be further, higher and more… simply more. No further description is necessary in this mad, sane, fast and slow dash for meaning. Reality is medication for the insane – their confused minds desire to see the truth, the sadness, the meaningless puddle of swampish broth we’ve created. But I, I choose to dream. I choose to smile. I choose to laugh. I choose to shine a light in the darkness that surrounds us. I choose to embrace this life. I choose heart over money. I choose to embrace my unreal reality. I choose this sane madness. I choose home. I choose Jozi.
This image is my property. Do not reproduce. Thank you!
These were taken using a BlackBerry Torch camera.
© Annalinde Louw
Align your mind
12 February 2013
A line aligns with other lines, and collectively, make a beeline
for you to see the rigid, solid connectors –
the confused threads flex, then intertwine,
awkwardly dividing the masses of people
into faceless boxes, into an anonymous steeple.
And the enclosure quite suits you;
the restrictive cubicle – handy container for your thoughts.
Thoughtless, careless, you sanction
the limitations placed on you by its borders;
a convenient place to look over your orders.
As long as you accept its existence,
a perverted peace remains in your safe sanctuary;
unaware of the intense imminence
of universal bedlam, you remain automated.
Individual thought, creative drive – gone, incinerated.
STIR! AWAKEN! All the breathing beings of the Earth!
Fight for the integrity of this destination
where we find our birth, our berth.
Open your eyes, your mind’s eye…
realign your mind!
In your make-believe box, remain: resigned; confined; behind.
© Annalinde Louw
photo credit:
Downpour
30 January 2013
The skies split open; proceed to pour down
optimistic downpour: rain, the tiny splatters
straining to sustain;
a soaking, repetitive chorus
washes away the untiring dust,
rinses the determined grit off the insane,
abruptly clears away the mundane.
The heavens’ emotions drench humanity;
dejections dissipate
and melancholies melt.
Worries withdraw
and magic materialises…
Leaving the awed observers,
the elated participants and the shrewd decision-makers
bright-beaming, simply sparkling.
Fresh… finally flawless.
© Annalinde Louw
photo credit: EJP Photo via photopin cc
photo credit: Matthew Stewart | Photographer via photopin cc
Happy blog-a-versary!
14 January 2013
Happy 1st birthday to The DownLouw! It took years of determination. Many people told me my writing is bad or too depressive. The only reason I’ve grown is my talent for being stubborn, and the one or two people who said the stuff has merit. Craig, I owe you one. You were one of the first people I opened up to, and somehow, you saw through the threads of sadness, cynicism and depression and understood the writing beneath it all. 😉 Your input and encouragement kept me going despite the negative feedback I’d been receiving. Thank you, so very much!
This time last year, I finally put it ‘out there’ for the world to see… if they know where to look! 😉
I’ve been penning down my thoughts since about 2008, although admittedly some of the earliest pieces are not worth reading! My writing has undergone a few facelifts over the years, and when I look back at some of the older pieces (that are also posted with the relevant dates in the text), I must say that they carried me through my phase of depression and anxiety. When my friend committed suicide, when someone I loved as a father died, I retreated into a cave of gloom and sadness, and it was my outlet. And while my writing remains my outlet, on sunny days, and in stormy waters, the weather in the paradise of my soul has definitely stabilised. I tend to notice and enjoy the small, simple, silly things in life. I laugh a lot, and some people think I’m strange, a little crazy even; but this is the crux of really enjoying life – there will be difficult days, but if you realise that there is always a beautiful, bright sunrise on the horizon, you can attempt to be a happier, more fulfilled version of yourself. This is no self-help lecture, just a lesson I’ve learnt along the way.
I thank you, my slowly-growing audience, for your time, comments and input over the years. I hope that there will be much more for you to read in this new year.
aL
photo credit: Insomnia PHT via photopin cc
Pesky persistence
9 January 2013
A miniscule creature darts around, here and there;
in front of your eyes, distorting the air.
The iniquitous bloodsuckers, repeatedly they dare
to disturb your slumber with unequalled flair.
Irritating insect,
bothersome bug.
Pesky, persistent pest:
maddening
mistress
mosquito.
If you did not deliver a dizzying din,
maybe we’d not aspire to your annihilation.
Kindly stop vexing everyone you see:
develop a stealth capability!
© Annalinde Louw
Please feel free to add a (non-spam!) comment, I appreciate all feedback. Thank you very much for taking the time to read!
I found the images online using Google Images. Click to follow their links. http://www.google.com
A capricious breath of air
3 January 2013
So the sun’s journeys pass;
the leaves turn to warm autumn colours.
As the fronds find the end of their days
upon the ever-so-light breeze,
the totality of their purpose is revealed.
Through this momentous minute of magnificence,
they’re filled with a marshmallowy sense of ease:
its soft centre comfortably surrounds,
the calming influence, yonder –
beyond the bounds
of our grasp of Nature.
Our grasp floats away
on a capricious breath of air.
When it will be seen again
no-one can truthfully say.
© Annalinde Louw
Please feel free to add a (non-spam!) comment, I appreciate all feedback. Thank you very much for taking the time to read!
I found the images online using Google Images. Click to follow their links. http://www.google.com
The deconstruction of the mind
29 December 2012
The narrow mind finds its deconstruction
in the narrowness of its recesses,
the shrinking of the passages due to
mindless subscription to popular opinion.
Popular is hardly as popular as is popularly regarded;
the thinking and actions are time-retarded.
The deconstruction of regard
high, low or otherwise, broken into shards
of the sharpest, glassiest, most able-to-shred
the very skin of the consciousness of your Own Thinking.
Own thought is never sold,
though never have stories been told
wherein success was gained through sheeping along
singing that song, the damned popular song.
Never has milestone or breakthrough been achieved,
neither have bloodthirsty knives been sheathed.
© Annalinde Louw
Any person in South Africa should understand where the root of this piece can be found. If our society remains thinking mediocrely, we will remain in a mediocre (at best!) state where things go the way they’re going. People, become conscious, I beg you!
Please feel free to add a (non-spam!) comment, I appreciate all feedback. Thank you very much for taking the time to read!
I found the images online using Google Images. Click to follow their links. http://www.google.com
Scattered
19 December 2012
Frantic pin-pricks poke metaphorical holes in the fabric of my being;
the soft cottony material that envelops my thoughts, actions and words.
Holes stretch, become gaping voids, contents expelled into the universe,
searching for new quarters wherein to quarantine their quota of data.
I feel attached
to the world;
we are one being.
I reel, wings outstretched,
like a graceful bird
unsure of what it’s seeing.
My being is scattered across The Reality.
My mind in different locations –
drinking in all annotation
as far as the heart can see.
© Annalinde Louw
I found the images using Google Images http://www.google.com Click to follow their links.
Please feel free to leave a (non-spam!) comment, I appreciate all feedback. Thank you for reading!
The DownLouw 
Written
on 19 March 2013