Biopsy:

Alex Nodopaka originated in Ukraine-Russia in 1940. Studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Casablanca, Morocco. Full time author, artist in the USA. His interests in the visual arts and literature are widely multi-cultural. However, he considers his past irrelevant as he seeks new reincarnations in independent films if only for the duration of a wink… ok, ok maybe two!

One a Day Rides Again

Wood is as indifferent as love to human

emotions, whether feeding the fire, reaching

for the sky, or poking its nose

where it isn’t wanted by Puritan

deliberation—that altarboy instinct of the

hypocrite for sacramental wine,

Mary Jane’s buds, or the forbidden

fruit, handmaiden to the love

of old Saint Pete, clandestine

shoving match of a turd from

one anal cavity to another—

and thus One A Day steps in, drunk

as a lord to greet condemnation; Mae

West on his arm in glory to the highest

titters in her feather boa and puts

mettle to her petals, sending that dummy

some cue from her belly he’s all too

happy to receive, being pleased

to please:  “A little bit lower to the

left;” of course he gets to a point where

bees write their own laws

of pollination, ignoring Pope

Pius gesturing in the background

like Moses at the backwash of the Red

Sea—inattention he can stand less

than abomination—and as inquisitors

rush in to show them the door,

Dummy looks up to find Mae alert

and sending furiously, “How are they

gonna stop people from putting

holes in the wall?”

Setting bells

ringing in the bellfry like vampire

bats from the hump of Quasimodo

in a gypsy heat—

stirring up the fear,

disappearing in the dawn

Continue reading →

When The Mask Falls

Most days it is so easy to fake happiness. You get used to the act when that’s all you’ve known. People tend to react better towards those that are happy and just a little melancholy. I think it reassures them that I am brave for not turning into a crying mess whenever my depression and PTSD go on overdrive. Almost all of my therapists say that while I have serious problems, I am remarkably normal compared to others. And I guess that is a compliment. I work very hard to create this image of a brave, sarcastic girl who does not have the time to care about most things.

But the mask does come off. And in those times, the stark difference in my personality surprises even me. It is hardest for me to appear normal during those anniversaries of trauma. Sometimes I can pull it off, at least during the day. Today is one such day, and instead of using my usual piece of glass to carve out some notches on my skin, I am trying to write about it. Continue reading →

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

We are all storytellers, as we all narrate our worlds to ourselves to make sense of our experience.

J.D. DeHart plays with fantasy and reality in a set of fun, readable pieces inspired by Greek myths, fairy tales, leaping dolphins and swordfish. He wonders whether imagined characters could handle real life, and simultaneously whether reality enters the realm of legend when it becomes a memory only shared by some. As the last piece points out, one does not need to go farther than a simple trip outdoors to grasp that the human experience is not the only vantage point from which to experience reality.

Mahbub illustrates the visceral way we experience the emotions associated with the cycle of life – fear, romantic love, grief, disappointment and creativity. His speakers blur the line between real and psychological experience.

Gale Acuff recollects the kind of disjointed, fanciful ramblings we experience during childhood. Joan Beebe also speaks from a sincere yet imaginative, although more mature, perspective about friendship, creativity and the foibles of sleepy humans.

J.J. Campbell’s poetic speakers seem to suggest that one might as well dissipate into insanity and addiction, as the supposedly normal lives around us are likely fake.

Christopher Bernard’s novel Amor I Kaos, excerpted here, relates the tension between sheer despair over the world’s evils and the strength and hope needed to continue loving someone. Vijay Nair brings us along on a journey of romance that is modest physically yet expansive on a spiritual, psychological level.

Alyssa Trivett shows us non-sentimental glimpses of everyday life in the American heartland – cars, headache medicine, drugstores, railroad tracks, coffee cups and the open road. Kahlil Crawford shares a side of Vermont that even many Americans rarely see: the rural areas with farms, pickup trucks and generations of Italians descended from immigrants who struggled to get established in a new land.

Allison Grayhurst contributes a wide variety of poems that together comment on the cycle of life for human and other beings: love, childhood, grief, extinction.

Rick Hartwell also finds connections between the human world and that of other species, with little vignettes from nature and a thoughtful piece on spirituality and Buddhism. Donal Mahoney honors his father’s latent Catholic spirituality, recollecting how he called for a priest even before a doctor after a serious accident.

Sofia Benbahmed recollects the attitude shift that helped her overcome anorexia, how she reinterpreted her relationship with her body. Michael Robinson also shares a tale of survival, making it through the cumulative effects of a lifetime’s exposure to violence with the help of his wife at the time.

Keith Landrum criticizes nationalism and war fervor, a narrative that he believes has overtaken his country’s imagination. Jeff Rasley advocates for civil dialogue, rather than battle, across the political spectrum.

Akinmade Abayomi Zeal brings conflict down to the interpersonal level, describing a once-loving relationship that has been broken by unresolved disputes and anger.

J.D. DeHart also reviews poet Evelyn Blohm’s new collection Central Park Rhapsody and Oasis, a work which reflects on the solace that can be found in nature and describes the world with gentleness.

Laurie Byro reviews Christopher Bernard’s collection Chien Lunatique, mentioning the delicacy and skill of the poet’s craft as well as the emotional and intellectual levels on which Bernard’s writing can engage readers.

And, finally, J.K. Durick reviews Dale Wiley’s novel The Intern, looking into both the tale of political intrigue and suspense and how the author developed the tale of his young protagonist.

We encourage you to interact with the storytellers here by leaving comments and asking questions about their pieces.

A Modest Proposal to Cure what Ails the Body Politic in Facebook

A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Abraham Lincoln

The almost-deadly attack by a gunman at a Republican baseball practice on June 14th briefly focused national attention on the dangerous level political polarization has reached in the US. But it’s been trending upward for decades.

Since the 1970s, ideological polarization has increased dramatically among the mass public in the United States… There are now large differences in outlook between Democrats and Republicans, between red state voters and blue state voters, and between religious voters and secular voters. These divisions are not confined to a small minority of activists — they involve a large segment of the public and the deepest divisions are found among the most interested, informed, and active citizens.

Alan I Abramowitz and Kyle L. Saunders, The Journal of Politics, “Is Polarization a Myth?” 2008

Many of us thought Obama was an inspiring figure, as the first African-American President, and he would unite the nation and reverse the trend of polarization. It didn’t turn out that way.

And now, an even more polarizing figure holds the office of President of the United Sates. The extremity of our angry national division is summarized in “Polarization in 2016” by Matthew Gentzkow, Stanford University.

Continue reading →