Letters of the Street

By Jasper Elias

Letters of the Streeta collection of letters written by a man who lives alone in an old apartment on the 14TH floor. The letters record time in the apartment and especially the mans favorite pastimeleaning upon the wooden window with either a cigarette or a cup of coffee in his hand, drifting aimlessly into the view and into his own memories. The book deals with the mans memories and his battle to escape the consequences of getting sucked into his past. Towards the end, the man realizes strength and newness through the same memories that used to eat him, and he sees his run-ins with life as blessings and his eventualities as arbitrary stumbling into grace.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: May 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482848885

Jasper Elias

His is that rare voice that can subtly cause you to reach out to your own history, your past, and recreate those scenes over and over again through near-endless poignancy and charm—be it in the darkness of a struggle or in the innocence of just being alive at a moment in time.

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LETTERS OF THE STREET

Jasper Elias

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Copyright © 2015 by Jasper Elias.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Partridge India

000 800 10062 62

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

CONTENTS

ATTACHMENT

64 AZARIN AVE., 93702

ESTRANGED

EVERYBODY IS WAITING

FORTUNATE ONES

INFINITESIMAL TOUCH

INSOMNIA, PT. 1

PEANUTS & JAZZ

STAY

THE BALANCE

THE BEAUTY OF A PROMISE

THE FACES OF MY POSSIBILITIES

SOVEREIGN QUARANTINE

THE ONE NIGHT STAND

THE VIEW

FERVOR

A MINUET

AN ODE TO JESS

COEXISTENCE

BURNING CANDLES

EVERY TIME IT RAINS

COMPARISONS

IT IS ALWAYS LIKE THE BLUES

CONVENIENCE

INFINITESIMAL

LONGING

OF SPIRITS AND REASONS

THE RACING GREEN MINI COOPER

THE ESCAPE

TRAITOR

WHEN A GOOD THING GOES WRONG

UNSUNG SONG: A SONG OF THE PAST, AN ALMOST POSSIBLE FUTURE AND THE PRESENT PART I

YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN

IN BETWEEN THE LINES

INSOMNIA, PT. 2

THE GREAT DIVIDE

OLD HABITS

PROCRASTINATION

QUIET NOISE

THE AZURE LEATHER HAT

THE BAYONET

THE FATHER’S DAUGHTERS

THE SHELTER

THE WORTH OF WEATHER

THE UTOPIAN BEDROOM

UNCANNY

UNSUNG SONG: A SONG OF THE PAST, AN ALMOST POSSIBLE FUTURE AND THE PRESENT PART II

TO JANE, Z. L.; WHEREVER I MAY FIND YOU- PART 1

TO JANE, Z. L.; WHEREVER I MAY FIND YOU- PART 2

TO JANE, Z. L.; WHEREVER I MAY FIND YOU- PART 3

YOU HAVE LIVED

THE WOODEN STEEPLE

THE WALL

THE STRIPED BLANKET

SHOW ME

THE HAUNTING

RESIDUAL AFTERMATH

FALLING IN LOVE

FREE WILL AND LESSONS LEARNED

MY SIDE OF THE FENCE

PLAIN AND SIMPLE

STAINED GLASS WINDOWS

THE FAITHFULS AND GOD’S DILEMMA

THE GIFTS

DELIVERANCE

UNSUNG SONG: A SONG OF THE PAST, AN ALMOST POSSIBLE FUTURE AND THE PRESENT PART III

UNSUNG SONG: A SONG OF THE PAST, AN ALMOST POSSIBLE FUTURE AND THE PRESENT PART IV

EVERAFTER: THE FALL OF FAITH

ABSENCE REALIZED

BETH

THE SEARCH

A QUARTER PAST MY LIFE

SHOPPING IN PARIS

DETACHMENT AND ITS WAIT: ETERNAL ABSENCE

UNSUNG SONG: A SONG OF THE PAST, AN ALMOST POSSIBLE FUTURE AND THE PRESENT PART V

LETTERS OF THE STREET

THE GRAMOPHONE AND YOU

TO JANE, Z. L.; WHEREVER I MAY FIND YOU- PART 4

TO JANE, Z. L.; WHEREVER I MAY FIND YOU- PART 5

TRAVELING LIGHT

ABSENCE 365

FREEDOM PATH

THE SLOW LEARNER

BENEVOLENCE

DRINKING WHITE WINE

DETACHMENT AND ITS WAIT PART 2

OLD HABITS, PT. 2

FINDING VATSA: ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE

AFTERTHOUGHT

COLD FEET

TRANSITORY

THE ONE COMING NEXT

DEAR SELMA

LET GO

PROCRASTINATION, PT. 2

REMEMBERING DAISY

MONDAY

STUMBLING INTO GRACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my good friend and advisor, an amazing author himself, Mr. Eugin Robinson, who was the one responsible for where this book is today.

I would also like to thank Marian Fidel at Partridge Publishing for pushing me to get where I am today for without her, this book would never have seen the light of day.

And last, but most definitely never the least, I would like to thank all the readers who buy this book for without them an inspiration of any kind would not mean a thing.

For my lovely sisters,

Deborah, Isadora & Angeline,

Who have always

Believed in me

ATTACHMENT

There isn’t much I can say

About the place that I live in

Or the way that I live

There is a very deep

Sense of belonging

That I have

With my apartment

The walls are a shade of

Pale Chamois Suede

And the ceiling is white

The kitchen is cozy

Despite the lackluster

Shelves and

The sparse crockery

The living room

Is quaint

There is faded olive green

Wall to wall carpet

That is worn in

The middle

The center sees an

Old green couch

That once probably

Matched the near lively

Wall to wall carpet

The living room is bare

Except for the couch

And my forty-two

Hanging on the wall

But of all the places

That I love to be in

Nothing will ever come

Close to the bedroom

Fourteen floors above the

Maddening crowd

With its

Warped wooden planks

That creak every

Night past nine

There is an old painting

Of tropical fruits

Hanging above the

Wrought iron bed

And a little table on

The right

There are three

Large Wooden Windows

Upon which I love to lean

And

Everything reeks of her

Every room is

A reminder of where

She has been

Every wall a mute

Spectator to an

Operetta that ended

A long time ago

The place just would not

Be the same without

The memories

Not the least bit

I love my apartment

64 AZARIN AVE., 93702

The Summer, its leaves, the trees and your gaze

The sunshine, its hue, the streets and their chase

The windshield, the raindrops, the lines on the road

The cracks on the pavement, the cricket, its ode

Things I miss every time you say goodbye

The Spring, its blossoms, your hair in your face

The blankets of pollen, its bouquet of praise

The evening, its chill,