Top articles
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Flamin' he goes
His long neck might get some mistaken. His strange black curved bill had him nicknamed ugly-mouthed-Joe. His pale colour, between pink and white, sometimes bright red, seems to fade in the bright sunlight of the African afternoon. The two long sticks...
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La reproduction des libellules
Anisoptera, la libellule, a la belle vie. D'un vol souple et chaloupé, il se pose sur une feuille au ras de l'eau et étanche sa soif. Ses grandes ailes translucides laissent passer la lumière, véritables vitraux médiévaux du règne animal. Son enfance...
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Big guys
They go round and round, showing off their new bride, their new ride. Flashing their cash at whoever’s watching. “Those huge sunglasses on that nose, won’t cover up for the emptiness inside that head of yours, you know”. You know what they say sometimes:...
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More rain
The skies are so heavy with clouds One can feel the pressure The wind blows from the East With a violence so great It petrifies kids on their bikes Streets in slow-motion Cars racing home queueing The weatherman warned you Walk out with caution If needed...
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Pikabooh
He walks under the stars, his tail raking the sand behind him. Ranks of ants form an endless line in the dark of the trees, the desert wind blowing dead branches over the dunes. His head is lost among his strange hair. Hair… not really, more like giant...
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Hunger
Flies are buzzing around his head. The heat is unbearable. Drought after drought, the passed years have taken a huge toll on the land and its inhabitants. His swollen belly is suspect. His eyes are wide open, crying for help. Humanitarians go around,...
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Bring it out
Bring your feet to the ground, toss that bed sheet away from your sleepy body. Open the shades and let the sun shine in. Open your eyes and think about the lazy day ahead of you. Brew yourself some coffee or enjoy the one prepared by your beloved partner....
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Broadway and Third
Sitting on a wooden box that once belonged to some piece of furniture, the sign at his feet says something like "Please help me with a few coins or a sandwich". His beard is not white like Santa's but grey like a stormy skyline. People pass him by at...
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Unconventionnal vision
He was born with three eyes. Two regular ones on each side of his nose like everyone else. One on the back of his head. Thus a peripheric vision. Laughed at as a child, he then took self-confidence classes, martial arts training and became expert in the...
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Remote control
Glued to her couch, a full table of junk food in front of her, she dozes in front of the screen. Taking in TV shows as some would swallow down pill after pill of Valium. Not even trying to understand the meaning of what she’s watching. Channel after channel,...
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Flawless British melomania
I was born in 1981. The very same year in Saô Paulo, Queen was setting a new world record: 130 000 spectators at a single concert. The next year, ‘The Wall’ was on the screens for the first time and got everyone stunned – lyrics and artwork they’ll remember...
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To kill or not to kill
April 4th 1945, Washington D.C., USA. In the Oval Office, four men are sitting in the presidential sofas and talking aout the future of the modern world as they know it. Are present: Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, Robert Oppenheimer,...
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The big picture
Can’t you see it? I might appear young and fearless, adventurous and hazardous in my choices sometimes. But I can see it now, clearly as the sun setting over the city’s high buildings. A child is coming, it will change everything. The big picture. A family,...
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The long distance runner
S ilently racing through the park, his shoes gliding in the mud I n the morning his breath forming like miniature clouds L istening to an old record of The Message in his earphones, L onely he runs, not hearing the cars jamming the streets I gnoring the...
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Baobab sitting
The sun is high in the cloudless sky. The heat is killing, shrinking shadows to a mere spot on the dusty ground. No rain for weeks and the elders have called up a meeting. The shade of the baobab is the center of the village and the chosen point for all...
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Green morning
Buffaloes peacefully grazing in the fields. Kids on their bicycles racing each other on their way to school. Marine uniforms. Farmers at work since sunset, ordering rice paddies, cleaning and digging out new sprouts, carrying on their never-tiring backs...
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Simple pleasures
The smell of freshly cut grass or asphalt after a summer rain. Sunset over baobab trees or sunrise over ocean dunes. Hot coffee after lunch or first cigarette after breakfast. No leaves in the trees, a red and orange carpet on the ground. No sound from...
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New year's eve
Every year the same thing: people drinking and dancing and just before midnight, checking their watches, the final countdown. Rising glasses of champagne, looking in the eye, kissing and hugging, yelling at the top of their lungs the same phrase: Happy...
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Dreaming of some other place
Lying under coconut trees with a fruit cocktail in my hand, the warm sun heats up slowly the sand underneath by feet. Seagulls for neighbours and giant blue and red crabs for friends. The sound of the waves breaking on the reef out at sea like a childhood...
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Leather-faced old man
First we need to set the scene properly. A gas station in the middle of nowhere, a few four-by-fours lined up at the one and only pump. Lost in the African desert, it’s the only gas available in a perimeter of more than 200 km. An old man sits by the...
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Hell yeah!
Rock ‘n’ Roll generation beating the pavement with their army boots and leather jackets. Raised with AC-DC or Metallica in their milk, they grew up eager of loud music, guitar solos and powerful riffs. Some of them took part in a band once, with more...
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Thick mist
Drove to work early. That’s half past four in the morning. Clear sky. Stars and such. Absent traffic. Looked out the building around eight. Pure snow. Cotton air. No visibility. Till eleven, like damp smoke out there. Must have been a hell of a drive...
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The grudge
They’ve been fighting for as long as anyone recalls. The matter in question isn’t known to anyone anymore. The books are different, the motives are similar. They wear traditional outfits on both sides. They have the same belief: that them only are allowed...
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Man in the woods
A car parked by the side of the road. No one around. The snowing has stopped a few hours ago. Heavy clouds passing by with great speed. The trees, heavy with snow, stir in the wind like giant snowmen. The road is gravel, far from the main track, no other...
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Bang your head to that tune
Whatever music you like, you know what I mean. Certain songs make you smile, others make you sad. Put on Colorblind or Mad World and make sure you’ve got a boxful of tissues ready by. Play anything by Wyclef, Vampire Week-End and get ready to get your...