#favors
In shadows deep where echoes plead,
A figure stands, a heart in need,
With hands outstretched, eyes wide with dream,
They whisper wishes, a glimmering scheme.
“Just one more favor, just one small grace,”
Yet each request a deeper space,
A gaping void that swallows whole,
The joy of giving, the burden of soul.
You hand them kindness, a fragile gift,
But soon they’re asking, their spirits adrift,
“A little more time, a bit more care,”
And what once was warmth now hangs in the air.
Like tides that rise with relentless force,
Their cravings surge, a shifting course,
When you relent, the sweetness wanes,
And gratitude turns to bitter chains.
You feed the hunger, though hollow it seems,
Each promise broken, like shattered dreams,
For every cookie, a world in demand,
Yet they stand ungrateful, their heart unplanned.
A dance of despair, a symphony bleak,
To watch them twist, a master of speak,
In silence you suffer, your spirit worn thin,
For love becomes labor, while they never begin.
Should you deny the latest plea,
Watch wrath unfurl, like stormy sea,
Their words cut sharp with venomous threads,
What once was dear turns to dread.
And in that moment, a clarity forms,
To see the trust in a tempest of storms,
Yet still you hesitate, for fear grips your heart,
To sever that bond feels like tearing apart.
But the darkness deepens with each passing day,
A cycle of sorrow, a twisted ballet,
You long for solace, for peace of your mind,
Yet feel the chains, the ties that bind.
So ponder this tale of give and demand,
Of sacrifices made upon shifting sand,
For in the dance of desire and need,
Remember, dear heart, that you too must lead.
To guard your spirit, to rise and defend,
For love, yes, it matters, but it must not end,
In shadows where they take, and never repay,
Sometimes stepping back is the only way.
Let not the asking, relentless and cold,
Leave you hollow, a story retold,
In kindness find strength, in wisdom your ground,
For those who take without thought must not hold you bound.
Nov 13, 2025
Nov 13, 2025 at 1:19 PM UTC
so now, do I, I do,
he favors the the top of my breast ,
where the spaghetti strap leads
his eye lower, to the fulsome swelling,
curves he favors in a linear
world
these magnets of human flesh are
attributes of me, unsolicited, part
of my “collegial endowment” and
yet,
no denial,
this egg of my accent,
a fullness employable, knows well,
full employment
ah, mon oeuf d'accent,
the accent of my accidental,
for lives are just linear lines
warped occasionally, nicely.
swelling in wonderful frailty,
the curvature of the human
eyes, that draw curves of
human spirit,
^that are drawn by sprites
with wickedly humorous
insight*
Dec 6, 2023
Dec 6, 2023 at 3:55 PM UTC
It was Monday, June 20th, 2022. My roommates and I are in Paris to see Olivia Rodrigo (in two days). But tonight, I was doing a favor for my great uncle Remy. Taking my elderly great-aunt Yvonne to the airport.
In RL this all happened in French but I wouldn’t do that to you - but just so you know.
“I’ve always thought of Anais as a granddaughter,” Yvonne said too loudly into my phone, which she had picked up and I was afraid she’d drop. She kept trying to hold it to her ear.
She smiled at me with her old lady dimples. “That’s sweet of you to say,” I lied. She doesn’t fool me. She’s not innocuous. She’s as mean as a snake and she doesn’t like ME at all. How did I end up doing this? I asked myself.
“No Aunt Yvonne,” I said as I gently moved the phone away from her ear. “This is a CAMERA call. Hold it out so they can SEE you.” She’s saying a final goodbye to Remy and letting a cousin know her arrival time. As the Facetime call ends, I pocket my phone with relief.
Lisa’s with us (I told her not to come) and she doesn’t speak French. So for her, this whole task is an awkward pantomime. Charles, our escort, drove us to Orly airport and he’s circling in wait to pick us up.
Yvonne walks at a glacial pace, and it took forever to clear security. Lisa and I have special tags allowing us to escort Yvonne to her gate. I offered to get her a wheelchair, but NOOOOO.
“We need to hurry –,” I began, but she interrupted me.
“Why are you wearing that skintight nothing?” she barked loudly, irritatedly, “if I had YOUR figure, I’d hide those tiny ******* (“minuscules seins,” in French, loudly). Heads turned. As I flushed with irritation, she cackled like a witch.
It’s 8pm in Paris and 30.5°C (87°F). I’m wearing a sports bra and two tank tops. Sue me. I wasn’t planning on doing this at all. We were staggering slowly through the terminal when, like a gift from God, an Air France courtesy tram pulled up next to us.
“Get on,” I demanded, “or we’ll miss your flight.” She did - as slowly as humanly possible.
When we finally got seated at the gate, she sent me for bottled water, a sleep mask, a neck pillow, sugarless lemon drops and a Paris Match magazine. “Thank you, my dear,” she said upon my return, baring her teeth at me in what I suppose was meant to be a smile.
“You should come and visit me (in Libreville, Gabon, Africa),” she suggested, “I think there are things I could teach you.” This is like that gingerbread-house invitation we read about as children.
“I can’t,” I said, with feigned regret, "I'm in school,” (I wouldn’t go there if she lived with Timothée Chalamet).
I heard a familiar voice, and I looked up to see my Grandmèr arriving with her usual entourage of 7 or 8 lackeys, a couple of frazzled Air France employees and two gendarmes.
“Yvonne,” she said, pointing to the two Air France employees, “these people will see to you. Say goodbye to Anais.”
“Goodbye dear,” Yvonne said in a fake, fragile voice. I gave Yvonne a half-hearted Paris bises (two kisses on each side) and my Grandmèr shooed me away with a hand gesture and an impatient, “Go, GO.” I’m afraid uncle Remy’s in trouble.
Yvonne and her branch of the family are the slimiest people you could ever meet. They’re billion-heirs (not billionaires - billion-heirs) who (theoretically) stand to inherit handsomely when my Grandmèr dies (I am NOT in that grubby lineup). They’re liars, cheaters and scoundrels who’d stab you in the face for an olive to put in their martinis. They're legal reasons my Grandmèr has to put up with them from time to time - but every interaction is fraught with phoniness.
About fifteen minutes later, Lisa and I are in the car with Charles racing back to Paris for dinner with our roommates. As I texted them to expect us in 20 minutes, Lisa said, “I got bad vibes from that old lady - the way she LOOKED at you when you weren’t watching..”
“YOU,” I said with a chuckle, “are very perceptive!”
Feb 6, 2023
Feb 6, 2023 at 3:38 PM UTC
Mary, the daughter of some parental friends, is on her high-school-senior college-tour and my mom (on Face Time) told me their plans called for them to be in New Haven over the weekend.
Mom, “Would you mind taking an hour to give her a campus tour?”
I rolled my eyes saying, “I barely know the place myself.”
She waited silently with obvious, parental patience.
“I’ve got a TON of homework,” I pleaded.
“I’d owe you,” she said, encouragingly.
I sighed, struggling with my new and heavy burden, “ALL right,” I groaned.
Mary and I know each other from hospital events we couldn’t avoid (her dad is an emergency surgeon) but we’ve never hit it off.
I take some pride in being able to talk about anything - from football to politics or movies to fashion but Mary’s one and only interest is guys.
Mary’s one of those girls who HAS to have a boyfriend - like there’s a municipal ordinance requiring one - and just about any guy will do. She didn’t even have to particularly like them but they had to be Instagram pretty.
So any time I’d see her (we didn’t go to the same school) she’d have a Tom or Ed or Frank in tow, filling that boyfriend requirement and due to the high boyfriend turnover rate, she’d constantly and embarrassingly flirt with other potential boyfriends right in front of Mr. Now. It was enough to shame my gender.
A typical Mary conversation:
“Are you dating anyone?” She’d ask.
“No,” I’d admit.
“You’re just shy,” she’d say, “You just need to put yourself out there.”
She was positive and encouraging, even in the face of increased competition.
“I used to be shy,” she revealed. Which I doubted very much.
Anyway, once they (her Mom joined us) were certified vaccinated, we got a student volunteer for a real Yale tour. I love the “Harry Potter” look of old campus. (COVID restrictions limit where visitors can go).
I find I already have a sense of “ownership” here and I secretly hope she ends up somewhere else. I waved as they drove off, wishing her a bucket of instagram smiles.
Oct 2, 2021
Oct 2, 2021 at 9:36 AM UTC
can we talk?
no, you're busy
you need a favor?
course, i'll be there in a jiffy
pushing and pulling me
like you're waves dragging me everywhere
i love you
but i can't keep up with you doing me like this
can we talk?
can we?
Mar 13, 2020
Mar 13, 2020 at 4:18 PM UTC
Checking in
to weigh in
the weight
of years
waiting
to burn
off
May 31, 2019
May 31, 2019 at 5:44 AM UTC
Humans have nothing at their disposal but intention
They only pass and just share their dreams an reveries
They have more stagnant contemplation than action
They pass through centuries with their pastime hobbies
Fortune favors the brave but fate sweeps the cowards
They come on stage with written scrips and pass away
A lion always dominate just on the weak jackals herds
Valiant are being dictated by the light of the eternal ray
Ordinary folk are for ordinary task extraordinary glow
Third rate remain third rate ,people who matter are great
Stage is set by very many but only one is master of show
Constant struggle is hallmark fortune doesn't come in plate
Col Muhammad Khalid Khan
Copyright 2016 Golden Glow
Sep 1, 2016
Sep 1, 2016 at 3:34 AM UTC
It’s better to go ahead with the flow rather than look for a change and desire for something new
Agreed, luck favors the brave, but not always
Especially, when the tide is against you.
It’s better to seek help when needed and in doing so, also learn something new
Expertise and experience come along with time
Something of which everyone falls short of over a period of time
It’s better to cope and deal with the changes in the present rather than lamenting upon something that went wrong in the past
A thing from past will always be remembered as a part and parcel of the past
Move ahead from the past to get aligned with the present moment of time.
At a given moment of time when the need of hour is fulfilled
Sooner or later present moment will become a thing of past
Still it will always be remembered and cherised for a long period of time.
Moments and memories from the past
A few glimpses from the past
Not only do they fill the vaccum of life, but also they give a new meaning to life.
Sep 28, 2015
Sep 28, 2015 at 10:03 AM UTC
I’m wearing the sweatshirt you cried in
and I laugh to myself as I imagine you apologizing
for the salt stains on the cuff.
I’d say I forgive you,
like it was actually something
needing to be forgiven.
And maybe you’d believe me this time.
Small steps.
And maybe you’ll believe me next time.
Proper goals.
Oct 29, 2014
Oct 29, 2014 at 11:25 PM UTC