Thought Provoking Writing

By Winston Cockburn

Thought Provoking Writing is a literary collection of life experiences and lessons by Winston Cockburn also known as The Writer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664191181

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Copyright © 2021 by Winston Cockburn.

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.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Biblical quotations and references are from the King James Bible, KJV, public domain

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

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/24/2021

Xlibris

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Contents

EVENTFUL COMPENDIUM: VOLUME 1

Book One

Walking A Tightrope

Preface

Walking A Tightrope

Cautionary Note

Introduction

Chapter 1 Retracing One’s Ancestral Past

Chapter 2 Eking Out A Living

Chapter 3 Establishing A Foothold

Chapter 4 Setting Down Roots

Chapter 5 Line Of Succession

Chapter 6 The Recipient Of The Labor

Chapter 7 Immigration

Chapter 8 Shuffling Of Priorities

Chapter 9 Abandoning Ship

Chapter 10 Complexities Of Intricacies

Chapter 11 Reality Of The Real Estate

Chapter 12 Default Ownership

Chapter 13 Gathering Of The John Crows

Chapter 14 Writing On The Wall

Chapter 15 The Cautionary Light

Chapter 16 Connecting The Dots

Addendum

About The Writer

Book Two

Crises At The Nook

Introduction

Chapter 1 Nook on the Hook

Chapter 2 Hearsay

Chapter 3 The Intervening Years

Chapter 4 Sound the Alarm

Chapter 5 The Unsettled Years

Chapter 6 Moments of Truth

Chapter 7 Troubled Times

Chapter 8 Time Out

Chapter 9 Contacts with the Authorities

Chapter 10 Miracles

Chapter 11 On the Road

Chapter 12 Reset

Chapter 13 Help on the Way

Chapter 14 The Never Ending Goodbye

Chapter 15 So Long

Chapter 16 Postscript

Glossary

Book Three

Belmont: Taking The L Out

Words of Caution

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Place To Be Misplaced

Chapter 2 Belmont In Her Own Right

Chapter 3 Belmont The Beautiful

Chapter 4 The Children Of Belmont

Chapter 5 The Migrating Children

Chapter 6 The Immigrating Children

Chapter 7 The Ungrateful Children

Chapter 8 Better Days Ahead

Chapter 9 Not The Last Word

Chapter 10 A Tribute To Ma Bel

EVENTFUL COMPENDIUM: VOLUME 2

Book One

Skits And Tidbits: For The Ages

Introduction

Chapter 1 Skit 1: The Money

Chapter 2 Skit 2: The Brown Girl

Chapter 3 Skit 3: On Love

Chapter 4 Skit 4: What was his name?

Chapter 5 Skit 5: Name calling

Chapter 6 The Bathroom Anecdote

Chapter 7 Making A Request

Chapter 8 A Mother’s Advice

Chapter 9 A Wife’s Advice

Chapter 10 A Son’s Question

Chapter 11 A Father’s Advice

Chapter 12 Courtroom Scene: Merita Anderson versus Esmie Smart

Book Two

Forty Misunderstandings: True Anecdotes

Word of Caution

Preface

Chapter 1 How To Make The Letter a

Chapter 2 Stop Your Bad Behavior

Chapter 3 The Flying Shoe

Chapter 4 The Eye

Chapter 5 Di Key Encounter

Chapter 6 Love

Chapter 7 Spelling Miscarriage

Chapter 8 The Sugar Bandit

Chapter 9 The Bottle Thrower

Chapter 10 Time To Speak And A Time To Be Quiet

Chapter 11 Marriage Proposal

Chapter 12 The Funeral

Chapter 13 The Sleeping Duo

Chapter 14 The Duppy Raiser

Chapter 15 Two Sleeping Policemen

Chapter 16 Unscrupulous Contractor

Chapter 17 The Donkey Episode

Chapter 18 Bway Yu Afraid

Chapter 19 The Retaining Wall Contractor

Chapter 20 The Table Turn

Chapter 21 Hallo Man

Chapter 22 The Stinking Toe Topsy Turvy

Chapter 23 Catch A Man Fiasco

Chapter 24 Big Bway And Big Gal Story

Chapter 25 Greed Ran Amok

Chapter 26 Upholding Reputation

Chapter 27 Waning Days

Chapter 28 The Tipsy Customer

Chapter 29 Mamita Pum Pan

Chapter 30 Ice Cream Trick

Chapter 31 Telling The Truth

Chapter 32 The Sheep

Chapter 33 Respect

Chapter 34 The Tightening Shoes

Chapter 35 The Tingling Feet

Chapter 36 Lizard In The Pot

Chapter 37 Child Support

Chapter 38 School Boy And The Cook

Chapter 39 Remember The Dream

Chapter 40 These pages had been intentionally left blank

Glossary

Appendix

EVENTFUL COMPENDIUM: VOLUME 3

Book One

The Weary Traveler: Southbound From The Big Apple

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Behind The Story

Chapter 2 The Big Apple

Chapter 3 The Rat

Chapter 4 Leaving The Big Apple

Chapter 5 The Bus Trip

Chapter 6 The Push Into Richmond

Chapter 7 The Birth Of A Community

Chapter 8 The Great Encounter

Chapter 9 The Messy Penny

Chapter 10 The Road From Richmond

Chapter 11 Raleigh-The Place

Chapter 12 Concluding Thoughts

Glossary

Book Two

January In Chicago: 2019 Encounter

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Windy City

Chapter 2 Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 3 Watching From The Perch

Chapter 4 The Place

Chapter 5 The Time

Chapter 6 Separating Facts From Opinions

Chapter 7 Stepping Out Momentarily

Chapter 8 Retreating From The Outdoor

Chapter 9 The Spinning Wheel

Chapter 10 The Unending January

Chapter 11 Until Then

Chapter 12 The Flight

Chapter 13 Iron Bird Landing

Postscript

Glossary

Book Three

The Hive And The Workplace

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Hive

Chapter 2 The Queen Bee

Chapter 3 The Drones

Chapter 4 The Workers

Chapter 5 The Workplace

Chapter 6 The Chief Executive Officer

Chapter 7 The Supervisors

Chapter 8 The Workers

Chapter 9 Concluding Thoughts

Chapter 10 TidBits

Glossary

Book Four

Growing up in The Land of Wood and Water

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Early Years

Chapter 2 The Years of Decisions

Chapter 3 The Awakening

ON LOOKER POEMS

Book One

Poetic Verses: Jamaican Bad Apples

Introduction

Chapter 1 Jamaican Society

Chapter 2 Rise And Fall Of Scammers

Chapter 3 Jamaican Bad Apples In America

Chapter 4 Bad Apples In The Big Apple

Chapter 5 Unification Of Jamaican Bad Apples

Chapter 6 Registry For Deportee With Criminal Records

Chapter 7 Reconciliation And Reintegration

Chapter 8 Home To Roost

Chapter 9 Dawn Of A New Day

Chapter 10 A Testimony

Glossary

About The Writer

Book Two

Ad Hoc Poem For Generation Z

Introduction

Chapter 1 Generation Z

Chapter 2 Tattoo

Chapter 3 Chattel

Chapter 4 Mistletoe

Chapter 5 Body Piercing

Chapter 6 Preview on Dreadlocks

Chapter 7 The Rastafarians

Chapter 8 Dreadlocks

Chapter 9 Debacle

Chapter 10 Drug War

Chapter 11 Separation and Isolation

Chapter 12 Hidden Camera

Chapter 13 Food and Diet

Chapter 14 The Internet

Chapter 15 Food Cartel

Chapter 16 Footnote

Chapter 17 Wagging

Chapter 18 Gender Identity

Chapter 19 Questions and Answers

Chapter 20 The Family

Chapter 21 More On The Family

About The Writer

Eventful Compendium:

Volume 1

The Writer

This volume is dedicated to the memories

of Hannah and Harold Cockburn

Introduction

As The Writer travelled along the lonely highway of life, he realized that no one owns anything but everyone is a caretaker of something. Consequently, The Writer tends to use sparingly apostrophe.

Book One

WALKING A TIGHTROPE

Walking A Tightrope

The Writer

This book is dedicated to t-1 and his siblings

Preface

Walking a tightrope demands poise

In spite of all the noise

Walking A Tightrope

Walking a tightrope is not for frolicking

Lest someone fall and take a licking

And although the clock is ticking

There is no time for one to be panicking.

2) Walking a tightrope requires civility

And there should be no triviality

Nor any sense of a hint of partiality

Only governed by morality with no pomposity.

3) Walking a tightrope is tight

And along the way there may be a fight

But one should always do the right

In plain view and in sight.

4) Walking a tightrope is not cool

And no one should play the fool

For hard lessons are learned in school

Later to be a valuable tool.

5) And don’t present yourself to be vulnerable

For that will not be admirable

As you will become miserable

Later to become totally separable.

6) Be careful not to flink

As it could be the last wink

Occurring in the moment of a blink

Faster than anyone could ever think.

7) Abstain from all intoxicating drink

Morphing the consumer into a fink

Thinking that there is a rink

Wishing that there was a mink.

8) So don’t be a jink

Get paper, pen and ink

And write down all the kink

Before they go down the sink.

9) Walking a tightrope allows no room for error

And those who walk cannot entertain horror

Lest there be only the reign of terror

Giving way to a scene of shear sorrow.

Cautionary Note

The writing style is uniquely crafted within the framework of semantics and syntax so that the reader becomes an active participant instead of a passive reader. To begin with, the reader is at liberty to graze the material freely presented.

Secondly, The Writer is influenced by the American spelling and British spelling and at times both are used so much so that at first sight a word may be deemed to be misspelled but not so.

Finally, The Writer is not a grammarian although he went to grammar school. He uses punctuation sparingly so that the reading experience would be enhanced. Nevertheless, for the English purist do not be upset just insert your own punctuations.

Introduction

Don’t burn the bridge behind you had been a time tested truth in time memorial, yet it seemed as if the veracity of the basic core of this self-evident truth had been tested and even challenged throughout the ages by every generation particularly those who have neglected the historical evidences that have been indelibly etched into the psyche of human existence.

It is not by happenstance that each person has a unique and specific birthplace,*thus life’s journey in reality is walking a tightrope and this work is intended to take the reader on a journey of a particular group.

*Read Belmont:Taking The L Out by The Writer

Part 1

ANCESTRAL PAST

Never forget one’s ancestral past even if it is distasteful for therein lies the encapsulation of one’s history including genetic makeup and in a nutshell everyone ought to be beholden to the ancestral past that chartered the course for each individual. Moreover, without any finger pointing it is astute to declare that everyone has a sordid ancestral past since all have sinned and fallen short although in the eyes of the world some maybe propped up by vainglory.

Be authentic and present oneself as one truly is without all the trappings and makeup of the make belief world that are luring and deceptive that placate the mindset of so many too full of themselves. Therefore, tell the truth and walk a tightrope for the road is narrow and tread by only a few brave souls.

Chapter 1

RETRACING ONE’S ANCESTRAL PAST

It was during the academic school year of nineteen ninety six that a simple classroom assignment at a primary school in Raleigh, North Carolina took on a life of its own. The assignment was on ancestry. In the class was an American, born in the state of Texas that had his interest peaked, for although he was born in America, his ancestors were Jamaicans and so he flew to Jamaica to do research for his assignment. Interestingly his ancestors were from three different districts in Jamaica, namely Cassava River in Saint Catherine, Mount Charles district and Belmont district in West Rural Saint Andrew. Coincidentally, the young primary school researcher was named Andrew.

The districts of primary concern were visited and the old living relatives of the young researcher’s ancestral past were interviewed to paint a picture of the historical milieu as it became self-evident that their subsistence in an agrarian setting had paved the way for their progeny to do more with less and always be thankful for the little provision of life.

It was an eye opening experience for the young researcher. The stay in Jamaica ended and the researcher returned to the United States to complete the assignment and turned it in without any fanfare. He was in a somber mood as the research revealed that the ancestral

past was riddled with ordinary people, some of whom did stupid

things and there was no royalty or anyone noteworthy.

Like the other assignments turned in, the young researcher received a good grade for ingenuity and originality. But…but with the assignment completed, turned in and graded that was only the beginning of a slumbering movement that was later to be awakened and encapsulated in variations of the old adage that it takes a child to lead.

Chapter 2

EKING OUT A LIVING

The young researcher without realizing it, had uncovered a hidden nugget. He was only able to interview those from the ancestral past that remained in the districts. The way of life though superior to that of their ancestors as seen through the eyes of the world was in reality the same. The cloaking mechanisms had simply changed and overcoming them was the enchantment of a feeling good mentality. Whereas the ancestors were farmers eking out a living in an agrarian setting and in essence were enslaved by the land as they were servants working the soil and the land was their master overseeing them toiling, the interviewee were in the same predicament although some were small businessmen such as shopkeepers, skilled workmen such as masons, plumbers and so on, for they were held together by the same glue, that is the land. They were enslaved by the ancestral land and had become guardians of the same.

Chapter 3

ESTABLISHING A FOOTHOLD

There is a yearning within every human being to have a sense of belonging and such strong desires expressed themselves in family relationships, organizations and so on for the common good of the unity of purpose. Even the dark side of life realized the power of a sense of belonging and had tapped into it so that there are gangs, hate groups just to name a few.

The ancestral past had ensnared the concept of a sense of belonging and had exacted a toll from those who consciously or subconsciously adhere to the tenet that the family name and reputation is at stake so much so that in an agrarian setting the land becomes the master and must be protected from strangers with ownership preferably changing hands within the biological family.

Therefore, it ought not to be surprising that the young researcher was able to gather a great deal of information on the ancestral past that paved the way for his existence. The land occupied in the districts that he visited were by those akin to him and his ancestral past.

Chapter 4

SETTING DOWN ROOTS

It is of vital importance that the health of a flourishing plant is dependent upon the proper functioning of the root system, and while the root system is beneath the surface of the soil the old adage out of sight, out of mind does not hold water. The root system serves to anchor the plant and provides essential raw materials for the plant to make its own food that also has its mark on the carbon footprint essential in the affairs of global warming.

In like manner, the family may be likened to a plant with the part above ground level as the ancestral web:the trunk, branches and leaves as the proliferation of families. However, the root system is of utmost importance as it represents the ancestral past deeply rooted in the land. Thus for an in-depth understanding of the ancestral past it is incumbent upon The Writer to establish the relationship between setting down roots and one’s ancestral past.

Somewhere and somehow and for whatever reason a parcel of land become the property of a person or persons. Soon a place of refuge was to be born that provided shelter and even food as anchors were dropped in location so much so that a house became a home and the birth of a family. Then there were the births of children and the land occupied became vital as stability was established. The family grew in number and as time progressed some members moved away but a remnant remained on the land and became the tie that binds the ancestral past to the land. Ownership, surnames and so on may change but the biological relatedness or genetic makeup of the family occupying the specific land can be traced back to a common ancestral past and herein lies the importance of setting down roots. For example, family farms passed down from generation to generation clearly demonstrate the ancestral past and setting down roots on the land.

Moreover, the aforementioned situation takes on a life of its own especially in circumstances where the availability of land is limited and the demand greater than the available land. Such is the case in Jamaica and those who stayed on the land for a myriad of reasons and those who migrated and immigrated are locked in a silent undertow war while there is no solution on the immediate horizon. Is it a silent struggle of attrition? Time will tell but the ancestral past must be preserved in practical ways such as preservation of ancestral burial sites and even creating trusts for land.

Chapter 5

LINE OF SUCCESSION

There is an old anancy story that once upon a time there was a monkey in a tree overlooking the road. Travelling on the road was an old lady travelling on foot and carrying on her head a container with wet sugar. The container fell and spilled the content and as she stooped down and tried to gather the usable portion of the sugar, she kept on saying:What a trouble?

The monkey on the tree was observing the entire episode and as soon as the old lady resumed her journey and was out of sight the monkey disembarked from the tree, tasted the wet sugar and enjoyed it. Then the monkey set out to the market to find:What a trouble? The monkey thought that what a trouble was the name of the spilled wet sugar.

Soon the monkey arrived at the market and started to ask for what a trouble so that some of it could be purchased. The vendors were unable to help the monkey until…until. There was a wise man at the market who overheard the monkey and he approached cautiously and informed the monkey that he could help. The monkey was delighted and expressed grateful appreciation as the wise man excused himself in order to get the requested product:what a trouble.

Out of sight, the wise man got a gourd of which the inside was scooped out. In it he carefully cut out several small holes and placed several wasp nests. Then he wrapped it carefully and returned to sell what a trouble to the monkey. The monkey was elated and paid for the product, but before leaving the wise man told the monkey that he should go to a secluded area and climbed up a tree and made himself comfortable before opening the package and enjoying what a trouble.

The monkey expressed gratitude and left in haste. It was not before long that the monkey arrived at a secluded area and followed the instruction that was given. The rest of the story was historic and the monkey was left with serious injuries, and from that day onward monkey had learned a lesson, never again did he go to the market asking for:What a trouble?

In a similar vein, the line of succession as it pertains to ancestral past is echoed in the monkey story:What a trouble? The oldest in the family is always presumed to be the heir apparent particularly in preserving the ancestral past and when responsibility is abrogated there is disarray that may spiral into utter chaos. Moreover, the complexity is compounded when the responsibility is legally assigned to the oldest and there are many others with interest at stake, all of whom stand aside, except one with moral responsibility acting in such a manner as to preserve ancestral past and who is viewed by the others as acting in a capricious manner while watching and criticizing from the sideline.

Oh! What a trouble? And indeed it is a trouble for all parties

concerned that seemed to be caught in a dragnet. Ouch!

Part 2

CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS

There are ha ha moments when it seemed as if time is an illusive thing that has imprisoned the human spirit and is acting as the prison warden with strict directives uniquely designed for each individual, the basic building block for the family unit. And while several attempts have been made to tame time they have been futile since time is a continuum into infinity and the attempts aimed at quantifying it, initiating it, and even assigning it punctiliar qualities are to no avail. Even the way that time is expressed in terms of tenses, namely was, is, will be or simply put:past, present and future without any further complication such as present past, present future and so on reveal the complexity in attempts to put a handle on time.

In like manner, the ancestral family tree is like a chip from the old block and in reality the past, present and future are in a state of flux and they all comingle, so much so that events happened in the past still send shock waves in the present and will continue as tremors into the future.

Therefore with the aforementioned backdrop walking a tightrope is in essence like time as the onlookers hold their breath and expectantly wait for the drop of the other shoe. The irony of the whole unfolding of the events summed up best in an old Jamaican song:

Time longer than rope

You take it for a joke

Fool always shout

But the wise just shut his mouth.

Chapter 6

THE RECIPIENT OF THE LABOR

There are times in history when events occur that may seem to be glitches but in reality were foresight or downright prophetic pronouncements in time and space with ramifications foggy at best as if peering into the picturesque mountainous countryside on a misty morning. That was the scene in the year nineteen hundred and eighty five on a rainy dark night in early October at a somber family gathering after the burial of a father who had joined the ancestral past family. He was the caretaker of the land bequeathed to him by the ancestors and the torch was then passed on to the progeny but in a strange way as if holding on to certain of the bequeathed belongings in that certain parcels of land were left to several children with each having all rights and privileges. The eldest child was given the privilege and others may see it as a curse, to administer the Will. Ah!

Several years ago in the early nineteen eighties living in Houston, Texas The Writer listened to talk radio and Talk Net was the favorite program. The host, Mr. Bruce Williams would always insist that leaving real property undivided for more than one siblings is inviting trouble. In the case of the aforementioned father it was leaving undivided real property for eight children and the property contained the burial sites of several family members of the ancestral past including the newly buried father.

There are also conflicting views about real property inherited by family members that have burial ground. One such view is that it should never be sold as it would cause a cascade of bad luck upon the seller. Therefore, the recipient of the real property with burial ground becomes the custodian until such time when in turn the said real property is bequeathed to one of his progeny so that there be a chain of custodians. In the situation of the father, the custodian inheriting the real property were eight, with each having different plans and united by one umbilical cord, the land. Motionless as a cloud they stood and in a holding pattern whether to deliver rain or transport water as the onlookers below try to read the signs of the time.

Chapter 7

IMMIGRATION

It has been said that one of the main exports of Jamaica is her people, and while there are doubters the historical record supports the fundamental truth of the astute observation. There are consequences associated with the immigration process and beyond any reasonable doubt is the stark reality that one of the most lasting negative impacts of immigration is that a crisis is at hand, a brain drain, that allows the brightest and best trained to leave the island for greener pastures resulting in a shortage of professionals including teachers and nurses on the island. The scraps from the tables sent to Jamaica in the form of remittances are only for the licky licky as the real need is in service in a personal touch. When a teacher or a nurse for instance is needed, money can’t render that personal service. Life is more than money, and he who writes in not pointing fingers or casting stones lest the condemnation and judgement be more severe for so often it is easy to write the right and castigate that which seemed to be morally bankrupt.

Furthermore, immigration has exacted a heavy toll on the ancestral lineage and ultimately the glue that binds, namely the land. The immigrants become the birds of prey from a distance and those who stayed to be caretakers of the