Timeless Tales

Beginnings of Love

As I gaze upon the clustered stars

Above in purest light

The sight of you appears

Oh sleepless night escape me not

Until the light of dawn

By: Donn Hoffmann
Originally appeared in Passages: Secrets of the Heart by Donn Anthony Hoffmann

Enchantment

Unsuspecting beneath the silent stars

Or in fields of fragrant flowers I am led

With sudden splendid vision I behold

Her image penetrates my very soul

To a life of love and feelings deep

Beauty and pleasure found surpassing all

Romance with me

By: Donn Hoffmann
Originally appeared in Passages: Secrets of the Heart by Donn Anthony Hoffmann

Heart of Mine

When silent nights wear a star studded crown

With moonlight splashing upon the ground

Hear my voice approaching like a gentle breeze

Like the songs of birds, listen to my words

Feel my presence

I have fallen in love with you

By: Donn Hoffmann
Originally appeared in Passages: Secrets of the Heart by Donn Anthony Hoffmann

First Word By: Mehreen Ahmed People say that the wheel of fortune revolves in two directions. That it slips backwards and sometimes moves forwards. After about three decades, old Brown’s fate was about to change today. And it happened mysteriously enough. There was no logic as to why or how things occurred; they just did, without any rhyme or reason. Circumstance lent itself favourably, leading to his success on this fateful foggy winter of 1875. A sound of fury distracted them; none other but the wind lashed across. The horses swerved a bit off course, but Brown’s young apprentice Peter handled it skilfully. Brown took his wallet out of his shirt pocket and looked at a picture. This was the picture of a little girl in a polka dot frock. He put his wallet away. Peter had been here before. They were on their way to the Carpenter abode. After about an hour’s ride, they could see their house. It sat on a vast land which was now in view. Their cart drew closer to the Read More...

By: Mehreen AhmedThe city’s spirit is aptly sensed, by none, other than Gil, in Midnight in Paris. La Ville-Lumiere or “the city of light,” as Paris sometimes is called, is full of cultural sophistication and sensuous get up; something it owes largely to fashion, the glamour glitz and a tradition of fine arts. A city decorated with gardens and a regal past, as well as a place where kings and queens have lived, ruled, and fought bloody revolutions. Just as the Tuileries and the Chateaus symbolize the splendor of the royal heritage, the huge endowment, the French revolution, marks a turning point in history, as documented in Dickens’, The Tale of two cities and Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel.Of course, we already know about the much needed French history; how the mighty rulers perished under the guillotine. However, it is quite a different feeling to visit those sites in the flesh. These streets have taken me back to the past; I see though a porthole of my mind’s eye, the Read More...

By: Mehreen AhmedOnce, there lived three friends, Una, Ulle and Ursula. While they were all outgoing, Una was a bit shy, Usha was not and Ursula, the happy medium, perfectly poised between the two. Ulle’s vivacity sometimes angered Una to the hilt. One day, they went out to have coffee and as they were looking for a place to sit down, Una said haltingly as always that she wanted to sit at the far end of the room. This enraged Ulle.“You’re really awkward, you know!” She said. “And why can’t we sit in the middle?”“Because, I’m embarrassed.”“Who do you think would look at you?”“May be no-one!”“Still you’re, the way you are! You will not change.”“I can’t change; you should know that by now.”“Now, now let’s not waste time arguing over seats,” Ursula chimed in. “Why can’t we all sit in that corner next to the wall, best of both worlds?”They both nodded in agreement as they walked through the crowded restaurant towards the semi-dark corner Read More...