Waldo: And the Ramblings on Man

By James Black

James Black personifies his inner struggles, dubbing them Waldo. As he grows to understand himself, he realizes that many of his troubles stem from unresolved childhood issues. It is through a migratory trip to a world foreign to him that James is truly able to see himself as he is, reflected in his choices and situations he finds himself in and the people he attracts.
Mr. Black, through an uncanny series of events, develops a close-knit relationship with his newfound friends. As he sorts through the mess inside himself, he encounters messy situations he once wallowed in. Through these relations, a wealth of memories of his checkered past are brought to the fore that not only reveals to him the key to his poor habits but provides insight to help Lorraine and Jaden through a tumultuous time in their relationship.
James experiences some of the hardships that many immigrants experience. It is in these low moments that his pride is broken and he is able to see the seed of opportunity that lies in moments of hurt and failure. Through Jamess growth process, he wrestles with the existential questions Who am I? and What is my purpose?

It isnt long before James Blacks inward journey sets him right on his journey without. Lorraine and Jaden join him on his journey to fully understand the link between his attitude and his actions in one wild roller-coaster ride. Come along for the ride in Waldo: And the Ramblings on Man!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543454925

Book preview

Waldo

And the Ramblings on Man

James Black

Copyright © 2017 by James Black.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2017915127

ISBN:                     Hardcover                     978-1-5434-5494-9

                               Softcover                        978-1-5434-5493-2

                              eBook                             978-1-5434-5492-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 10/12/2017

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

The Dark Road

The Headache

Two Way Street

Sky Raven

The Mess

The Light Bulb

Playing The Field

I Have Never Liked Trucks

Liberties Taken

Sour Grapes

The Vegan Chronicles/ Friend’s Giving

The Walk Of Faith

Kings And Queens

Insight

Pelvic Dances

A Seed Of Opportunity

Change Of Route

The Get Down

The Game

The Experiment

Being

The Beginning…

Ramblings On Man

The Cosmic Stuff

The Family

PREFACE

T HIRTY YEARS OF poor thinking has exposed me to regrettable ills and equally poor attitudes. What had this resulted in? The natural consequence would be poor actions. This work highlights some of these thoughts as observed in the author and the context he attracted, as man attracts, who and what he is. The aim of this work is to have each reader examine himself thoroughly to match thought and resulting act. The result should have him tracing every deed and thought, whether good or bad, from the womb to his present place. The text is also aimed at exposing our inclination to drift through life without purpose and right thought.

A labour of love, James Black, Barry Circle, Bloomfield, Connecticut, U.S.A.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T HANKS, A PLENTY, goes out to each person who acted as guide, mother, father, brother and friend to me, as I groped in the darkness of life. To those who gave up their couches, beds, and opened up their homes to me whilst I was in dire need, thanks. To the greats, who by way of testimony, deed, and their works, paved the way, I am deeply indebted.

Who are you?

THE DARK ROAD

"Every new beginning comes from some other

beginning’s end" ¬Semi Sonic

G ENTLY FLIPPING THE page, pulling in the new waft of air the new chapter was to bring, I suddenly looked up. The Pyramid’s album was simmering into silence. The so called greatest book ever written, by Florence Scovel Schinn slowly chimed in, tuning the listeners to a necessary beat. Browbeating, I borrowed a glance to the other side. Her negroid locks meandered along her beautiful dark skin as did the road to Boston; we were headed to The Pyramid’s show.

I wondered now what the next word should be. I was soon interrupted by my self-imposed ‘misophonia’; as, I had claimed it. In the small cabin where we sat, I attracted a cacophony of sound, owing to her toying with the worst thing man has created since wars; chewing gum! was the culprit. Or was I? As Hiroshima-like explosions escaped her mouth, there stood the danger of an entire night being ruined. As her mandible churned the gum, I felt myself stare into the abyss of her mouth and my mind taper off amidst its annoyance.

The 90’s boasted the best of everything as far as my muddled mind was concerned. The food was good, the music, the clothes and even ‘good’ was good. Cuba had an embargo, Sadam was a bad guy, Clinton was hurling blacks into prison, Mandela was free and in Jamaica, the Spice Girls rocked arena’s and Arsene Wenger and The Arsenal were a success. This was a time of clear bliss, or what the ‘tv’ showed, as I peered through a neighbour’s window back then.

The dinner table was as round as my face. My tummy suffering from the green-eyed monster’s bite, and grew round just as quickly. It must have enjoyed the DOW JONES’ boom, proliferating to a position just beyond the shorts’ waist. Mummy sat across from me, in time of plenty or little. Little did I know that Fidel’s fiddling with the emotions of the Big Stick holders would send change to my world.

Fatigued from the army and a country in apparent ruin, came this fellow in the most recent exodus from our nigh neighbours.

Splat, pop, clap clap, boom! It was as though the Tivoli Gardens incursion, not to be forgotten, came barrelling from her mouth. I painfully looked over, half grimaced. I was hurried back to the present, not with a gift but a perceived curse. No harm was meant but from where did the angst stem? I wondered. Though I desired to be speared or spared, was far from the issue. The tune of the book chimed in again as traffic slowed to a halt on this dark strait. It impressed upon me, the nakedness of the dark, to search deeper, to seek after that which was lost. The monotony of the black spaces intermitting the white lines for miles lulled me into another daze.

"Se wo were fi na wasankofa a yenki". Though Jamaica had parties that played only an ill tune, She still had many a visitor. Some came for the beaches, some to be beached and others had other destinations to reach. Waldo came for all three. The Waldo Effect was like chemtrails across a mid-spring sky. All seemed bright and beautiful, yet, the scythe swung with macabre-like results.

I often wondered what inspired the double-edged mouth of Waldo. One moment the string of his throat played a sweet melody wooing mother, whilst the next was echoing insult and injury to a frail disposition. It was an exciting prospect as a young boy to be flirting with the wiles of weapons of mass destruction; guns and bombs were in the closet.

THE HEADACHE

W ALDO WAS