[font="]This is a piece I wrote and got censored from the 'literary journal' in my university ( The American University of Sharjah)... they said it was a provocative piece. So now as a graduate, and I found this forum, I decided to share it with you. Let me know what you think Either way. :H [/font] [font="]In life, there is beauty, but most do not see it. The song of the Earth falls on deaf ears. Never have they known what it is like to live, to feel an overwhelming joy; so intense it consumes you entirely. Never have they let their souls soar and dance to the music of life. Never have they broken free from the cage of stagnation that they crawled into from their cribs. Never have they experienced the touch of the spirit. Never have they known the flame of being. [/font] [font="]I feel the song flowing through my veins, desperate for release…but I suppress it, for the sadness I would suffer when they extinguish my light is too great for my soul to bear. Only within these walls do I allow the spirit to remind me of the taste of release. I do not call it my spirit as it is not my own. Nor is it that of any conjured god, for it is a free spirit, and thus cannot be owned. It joins me from time to time, to remind my bleeding soul of the song of the Earth, erasing the memory of man for a short while. [/font] [font="]But alas, this release is short-lived, and the spirit is forced to flee, less it be captured by the keepers. My light is extinguished once more; my healing wounds torn open yet again. [/font] [font="]I am forced to forget the spirit and the spirit abandons me. My soul yearns for reunion, but I am forced to suppress its anguished cries. I am left alone in a polluted reality where the Earth sings no more. The only sounds in this desolate world are those of my weeping soul. [/font] [font="]I grieve in silence, lest they drive their knives in deeper. Their poison runs through my veins, turning the song into a fading memory.[/font] [font="]I see a world where brother kills brother, blinded by greed and lust. I see a world where pillage has become virtuous and charity a sin. I see a world stricken with corruption, pain and poverty. I see a world where love is forgotten and injustice rules supreme. [/font] [font="]What has become of man I ask my heart. Silence. There is no answer, only unshed tears…[/font] [font="]…I close my eyes to the world for the pain is too great. The flame is extinguished. I exist in stagnant solitude.[/font] [font="]… I hear a distant sound. It is persistent…[/font] [font="]The spirit has come, but I cannot see it. It speaks to me but I cannot hear it. It has been too long. I have forgotten the way, my memory faded. [/font] [font="]I struggle to see but my vision is blurred, and the sounds indistinct. [/font] [font="] [/font] [font="]Remember what you had forgotten…[/font] [font="]I open my eyes. [/font] [font="]The sounds are clearer, the images sharper. [/font] [font="]A distant song creeps into my consciousness. I feel a movement within. I do not remember and I do not understand.[/font] [font="]My heart is fearful at first, and I start to withdraw, seeking the sanctuary of my previous existence. [/font] [font="]But my soul has awakened from its stupor, the memory still alive within it.[/font] [font="] [/font] [font="]Remember the song, says the spirit, and there will always be hope, for there cannot be darkness without light. [/font] [font="]Eventually, man shall tire from his reality[/font] [font="] Eventually, man will hear…[/font] [font="] [/font] [font="]I remembered the long forgotten words, suppressed in my solitude…[/font] [font="]… In life, there is beauty, and in beauty, there is life…[/font] [font="]My wounds are healed and I am reborn. The spirit has joined me once and for all…[/font] [font="] [/font] [font="]A tiny flame ignites. The Earth sings once more. The cage door is open, and my soul is free to soar. [/font]
unfortunately people are much less tolerant over there. My guess is that they didn't understand it.. who knows?
"Never have they known the flame of being." "...they extinguish my light..." My light is extinguished once more..." "...for there cannot be darkness without light." "A tiny flame ignites." Maybe they thought it was a reference to smoking weed? It's the only thing I can come up with. I thought it was an ok piece. -alberto
I dont think it was sensored more like it had a small explosion - flew up in the air with a big trail of smoke following it - crashed down to earth -then burst into flames and fizzled out before the end of the first paragraph
maybe as the story was read out a young boy dressed as an elf ran out and smacked the sensors in the balls with a lump of wood as audacious as the stories use of political language and a second or two afterwards their mouths locked in the open position and they stared in pain and disbelief as it was read out - suddenly a guy dressed as santa clause whacked them on the back of the neck with a dead trout. Perhaps they just hate it when that happens and banned it because they prefer the type of gentler thing thats read out to an audience while the reader rides around the stage on his pet Yak named Franky
After reading it, checking out the university website and reading up on the journal I came to the conclusion that this piece probably wasn't censored. I could see it being rejected by the journal but rejection isn't censorship. Hell, I wish I could say that my writing was censored in Canada because it was provacative. Just my two cents.
like I said it just shot up in the air crashed to earth and burnt up not sensored just gently raised a smile and a polite wave
