A Picture & 100 Words: Finding Peace In Yemen


Finding Peace In Yemen

Abdulraoof paces the burnt-black rocks under a dragon blood tree, its sap oozing from the bark — a natural healer. This mysterious land, where 37% of plants and 90% of reptiles exist nowhere else, feels like a secret Earth kept for herself. An Egyptian vulture stands nearby, curious about our invasion. Our guide runs his fingers across the tree, gathering blood-red resin on a fingertip.

As we hike in the searing Socotra sun, Abdulraoof takes light and steady steps in rubber sandals as we struggle to find footholds.

He pauses before he speaks, gathering his words like a child collecting stones. He stops to remind me to sip my water. Minutes later, he places two fingers on his forearm, making a circular motion.

“The sun is the greatest threat on the island.”

He keeps a close watch over the sun and the hearts beating around him. Unlike the others, he has seen places like Istanbul and Muscat. He studied in Saudi Arabia.

“Did you think about staying in Saudi Arabia?”

“No, Socotra is home. My family is here. There is real peace here.”

We arrive at a natural infinity pool, narrowly outpacing the sun. The marine layer has obscured a sea-born horizon. Bright red freshwater crabs move away from our passing steps, scurrying into the deep. I shed my clothes and dip into the water.

There’s a solitary dragon blood tree at the apex of a nearby mountain. The moon glows above it. It appears to dangle from a nearby cloud.

Gone is the longing for another moment — a time other than now.


Unsubscribe · Preferences · Buy Me a Coffee

A Picture & 100 Words

Through words and images, my newsletter captures my dance with the universe as a creative professional. The goal is to enrich your life in some small way, whether by transporting you to a faraway place or embedding you in this moment. Sign up to gain early or exclusive access to photos, ebooks, prints, articles, and other creative leaps into the dark.

Read more from A Picture & 100 Words

The Friend Who Believes In Nothing A Bolivian dancer at Carnaval de Valencia I have a friend who believes in nothing. He is unfazed by the 1:4 trillion chance of living a human life, and the seven trillion functional nerves in the human body. The way everything fits together. He ignores those among us who have seen signs or received communication from beyond the confines of the living world. He is very pessimistic, to the surprise of no one. His heart is closed. His energy field is a small...

The Joy of Losing Oneself A girl in Warsaw, lost in a floating sea of bubbles. Feeling lost? Good. That means you’re searching. Searching means you’re on the edge of something real. I beat my mid-life crisis to the punch. At 38, I had a successful marketing business. My income was increasing by the month, but I spent almost every waking hour at my desk. I was lost. I booked a flight to Greece without a plan. On a tiny island, after five days of fasting, I interrogated myself and scrawled some...

He Wrote an Entire Book... With His Eyelid A Monarch butterfly outside of Spadina House in Toronto Jean-Dominique Bauby was 43 years old when he suffered a massive stroke. When he woke up, he was trapped inside his own body—completely paralyzed. Trapped in—and by—his mind. He could, however, move one thing: his left eyelid. Doctors called it “locked-in syndrome.” His mind was intact, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Most people would have given up. Bauby didn’t. Instead, he wrote a book,...