A Cheap Trick A cheap trick is something like this: when I lived with my brother and our parents sometimes I took a shoe or sneaker and balanced it between the door and its frame so there was an open gap to the vestibule. (You can only do this occasionally. If you do it too often it simply won't do.) I then called out to my father to hurry and come quick he had to see this; and when we saw him at the open space we held our breath and he never even looked in he just pushed the door and the shoe dropped on his head. My brother always was in stitches after this and my father well he was bitter but didn't speak of it. Just so you don't think I'm a creep or something I want you to know that my father was very serious: he never once, not ever, told either of us a joke. Shoppers All "I'm looking for a man cut from granite one of those Jesuses found in the bars by the High Sierras." That's how one of our members put it. Everyone's looking - cooks, bakers, butchers, beauticians - for adventure and who can blame them. The sun comes up on schedule and dives down regularly like the back and forth of ping pong players. Join our website- discover what's out there. We know you value your privacy. You control exactly what you want people to see. Use our blur or mask tool suddenly you're a mystery. Or mark those special pictures of you private and share them only with those who appeal to you. Go one step further. Take advantage of our Traveling Man and Traveling Woman package. We'll arrange for you to meet whoever you pick on a Parisian street in the season of your choosing. Maybe autumn, when the chestnuts are falling and the Seine is as blue as a silk dress suit you'll want to be removing. Along the quay Parisians lie in the sun or stop at booksellers. It's exciting. Take a moment. Be indiscreet. Cheat. Everyone's doing it. Royals, too. Sign up. We'll get you started on your app. We'll help you post your sexiest picture and your most seductive text. What do you have to lose? Your virginity? The Right Stuff Redux we were in the court on the uncut grass playing ball we saw contrails above the roofs we heard a boom someone said the aircraft broke the sound barrier we were impressed we all said "wow" and then resumed the game and threw the ball home
Poetry from Hongri Yuan, translated from Mandarin to English by Yuanbing Zhang
Four Poems By Chinese Poet Yuan Hongri Translated by Yuanbing Zhang Give You A Bottle of Nectar From The Kingdom of Heaven Ⅰ Give you a bottle of nectar from the kingdom of heaven Let your flowers of soul blossom Let your bones be white and transparent Let you bathe in music of the kingdom of heaven There will be no more earthly night Let you forget that fragrance of soul That's in your home of soul That giant's yourself that are sweet and free. Ⅱ The strings of heavenly gems Embedded on your golden crown You are the giant's king from the of the Kingdom of Gold Your land is vaster than billions of seas. 3.6.2019 赠你一瓶天国的琼浆 一 赠你一瓶天国的琼浆 让你的灵魂之花绽放 让你的骨骼洁白透明 让你沐浴那天国的乐曲 再也没有尘世的黑夜 让你遗忘那灵魂的芬芳 那在你的灵魂的家园 那甜蜜自在的巨人的自己 二 这一串串天国的宝石 镶嵌在你的金冠之上 你是那黄金之国巨人的王 你的国土巨大胜过亿万座海洋 2019.3.6 Our Souls are Free and Magical Our souls are free and magical Which can reach many heavens without wings Every Kingdom of Heaven has sweet memories Oh, where there's no the word of death To protect your childhood sun The teenager's starry sky is light from the Kingdom of Heaven And in the deep of your bones old gods are smilling at you Their words are music from the Kingdom of Heaven 3.6.2019 我们的灵魂自由而神奇 我们的灵魂自由而神奇 不需要翅翼而能抵达诸多的天国 每一座天国都有甜蜜的记忆 哦 在那儿没有死亡这个词语 保护好你的童年的太阳 那少年的星空是天国的光芒 而在你的骨骼深处 古老的 诸神向你微笑 他们的话语是天国的乐曲 2019.3.6 The Stars of The Dawn When the sky gallops like the rivers you stand in the street of the city on the world look up at the sky and you could almost hear the singing of the stars summoning you in the depths of space. And the Heavens of the gods are towering lofty cities like the mountains on gold coast of time; And on the mammoth ship of platinum the rings of light twine around giant's necks of men and women their eyes are like the stars of the dawn. 2016.4.28 黎明的辰星 当天空疾驰如江河 你站在人间之城的街道 向天仰望 仿佛听到群星的歌声 在太空的深处向你召唤 而诸神的天国 在时光的黄金海岸 矗立山岳般的巍峨之城 而白金的巨轮之上 巨人的男女 项佩光环 眼眸如黎明的辰星 2016.4.28 Only the Eternity is Equal to It I am a singer from the heavens my song is silent, only the soul can hear it. Those ancient gods are the mountains behind me, they gave me the flowers of millennium from paradise, let my song mellow and sweet as the smile of the heavens; let the face of time blush and lift the veil of death; let the ancient earth reveal the true face of gold. Oh, you'll see another you, as old as the sun, as young as the dawn his kingdom is huge and only the eternity is equal to it. 4.04.2015 唯有永恒与之齐名 我是一位来自天堂的歌者 我的歌曲无声 唯有灵魂听见 那些古老的诸神 是我身后的山岳 他们赠我千年的仙果 让我的歌声芳醇 甘美如天国的笑容 让时光的脸儿羞红 掀去死亡的面纱 让古老的大地 露出黄金的真容 哦 你将看到另一个自己 古老如太阳 年轻如黎明 他的王国之巨大唯有永恒与之齐名 2015.4.4 - Bio Yuan Hongri (born 1962) is a renowned Chinese mystic, poet, and philosopher. His work has been published in the UK, USA, India, New Zealand, Canada, and Nigeria; his poems have appeared in Poet's Espresso Review, Orbis, Tipton Poetry Journal, Harbinger Asylum, The Stray Branch, Acumen, Pinyon Review, Taj Mahal Review, Madswirl, Shot Glass Journal, Amethyst Review, The Poetry Village, and other e-zines, anthologies, and journals. His best known works are Platinum City and Golden Giant. His works explore themes of prehistoric and future civilization. Yuanbing Zhang (b. 1974), is Mr. Yuan Honrgi's assistant and translator. He is a Chinese poet and translator, works in a Middle School, Yanzhou District , Jining City, Shandong Province, China. He can be contacted through his email- 3112362909@qq.com.
Essay from Zara Miller, author of the YA novel I Am Cecilia
HERO VS. VILLAINS
“Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
So, Martin Scorcese compares Marvel movies to theme parks. And honestly, what a mood.
True, this isn´t exactly the newsworthy material, Ricky Gervais discussed Scorcese´s top-notch diss of superhero culture movies during his monologue at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards.
But it recently popped up in my recommended videos because the Youtube algorithm works in mysterious ways and got to thinking – is it just about shallow screenwriting and the allure of cheap CGI action, the mindless fun?
And I realized that the problem of Marvel storytelling runs even deeper than the genius director conveyed to us out loud – that it heavily influenced the type of novels we get to read – and it´s not exactly Marvel´s fault … Not entirely.
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS
One-dimensional characters or flat characters do not change or grow from the start of the story to the end. Their purpose is to highlight the main character, to be a plot device, or a tool, and they typically are simpletons with a one point of view on life – they only see one dimension – hence one-dimensional characters, hold a simple and small perspective about life or the situation in the story. Their character is often used as a literary device to keep the narrative moving – many times when the script has written itself into a corner, or the writer has run out of effective ways to move the plot forward.
Now, Marvel, from the three-hundred and seventy-two movies total from which I´ve seen eighteen, does not suffer from one-dimensional characters on the hero side of the story. All the good guys go through trauma, they learn, they grow, they develop new opinions (ehm-ehm- some of them).
Marvel has been criticized for sucking at writing an effective villain but the problem is not the villains, the problem is the root of the Marvel storytelling – the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad.
One would think that they would take their own advice and write all the villains the way Loki is written – which is the reason (not the only one, yeah, Tom Hiddleston is awesome and all that) why audiences flock to him so much. He has a strong motivation, he´s smart and his character is a rainbow of personalities – just like a regular human being, which makes him likable and most importantly, relatable.
But Marvel is not the inventor of one-dimensional characters.
William Shakespeare is.
Benvolio from Romeo and Juliet, Gertrude from Hamlet, Shylock from The Merchant of Venice very effective plot devices with one stubborn character feature that poses an obstacle to the protagonist.
However, Shakespeare didn´t have Hollywood studios behind him to balance out the lack of personalities in his stories with raging beam in the sky and generic CGI armies. To give a complete experience to audiences, he had to support the narrative by creating strong protagonists, interesting antagonists, and villains with complex personalities (Lady Macbeth, Hamlet, Portia). And when you do that, your story not only allows for the one-dimensional character to make sense, it makes it even more immersive and realistic – because we all know that one blank person who is just sort of … there. Existing, with one opinion on all the debatable, morally grey, complicated stuff we deal with in life.
And that´s why people will never have such a raging allergy if a Marvel movie turns out bad and will keep watching them and paying for the next one and the next one and the next one.
Low stakes, low damage.
Now compare that to a show heavily driven by character development where there are no villains and heroes like the Game of Thrones.
Feel like re-watching it? No? Me neither. And no one can blame us. That show became un-rewatchable due to replacing the complexity of the human heart with a hero vs. villain storytelling and adding some explosive Marvel-type action as the final lethal, cyanide-like icing on the cake.
IN BOOKS
All the teenage apocalyptic series. Thank you for your time, good night.
….
I really didn´t want to get into this but there is no better example than the popular doomsday book series where children hunt each other in a world that no longer resembles a rational society. And they gave us all the subsequent movie franchises in which those very same teenagers are at least twenty-six years old, of course.
However, there is a silver lining on the horizon in a form of Shadow and Bone. I´ve never read the books but the popular fantasy book series The Grisha has been picked up by Netflix and the first book has been adapted in a form of a limited TV series.
And if the source material is as strong as the adaptation, we might just be plunging out of the lazy storytelling brought about by the likes of Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey.
DOES I AM CECILIA DO BETTER THAN THAT?
Cecilia used to think that being born to a small fortune, accompanied by chrysanthemums on the way from the hospital and surrounded by exploding fanfares of affection, would set her up for a never-ending life of lottery wins, parades without rain, and smooth slides on the slopes of adoration. She never realized how slippery that slope of adoration was. Maybe money was not the root of all evil. Family dysfunction was.
An Excerpt from I am Cecilia by Zara Miller
As promised last time in the first article, I would reveal a little bit behind the story and the inspiration behind writing this YA novel.
The hero vs. villain in the Marvel movies is something that was always on my mind and tried to avoid during writing. Blurring the lines in the protagonist/antagonist/villain/anti-hero characterization. Not just because it´s a lot of fun but because it makes for a rich experience.
When you find yourself disliking the hero yet rooting for them anyway, or loving the villain yet understanding that they have to be stopped – the writer is probably doing it right.
I am Cecilia is now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/I-am-Cecilia-Zara-Miller-ebook/dp/B094519D7T/ref
You can follow me on Instagram @zaramiller_author, or on LinkedIn under Zara Miller for more news and swoon-worthy fiction content. Looking forward to meeting you all!
Poetry from Chimezie Ihekuna
C- Caring is a good Character R-Resilience is the path to actualizing Recognition I- Information is Important S-Sense speaks Sanity T-Truth is Thorough I-Initiating an idea is an innovative Inevitable T-Teaching is Technical I-Introduction makes understandable a subject Interest N-Nature is the observed Norm A-Appreciation encourages Accountability D-Defining your purpose is a life Decision E- Encouragement is also useful to Empowerment P-Purpose leads to Profoundness T-Training people is a part part advancement's Totality U-Unity is Unbiased L-Love Subtly resist the power of Lies A-Availability is the engine room to Advancement.
Poetry from Jerry Durick
Pills
I ‘ve become a pile of pills
standing up here
waiting for my refills
I remember my grandmother
and her pills
they seemed endless to me
back then
“do you need your pills”
“did you take your pills”
they’d say and she’d obey
put them in her mouth with
a sip or two of water
her last days were like that and
I was too young to know what
that is like, couldn’t imagine
myself this old
passing my time waiting in line
for more pills for the pile of pills I have become.
Winners or Losers
Perhaps it’s a roll of the dice
Or a coin flip
Or one of those childhood games
Rock, paper, scissors,
But somehow, we end up winners
And/or losers.
It’s hard to tell where it comes from.
Perhaps it’s written in the stars
Or in the lines crisscrossing our palms
The Ouija Board or tarot cards.
Too often it seems like the luck of the draw
Some of us win, others lose.
I remember being given a book about
Andrew Carnegie to read.
Back then they thought that role models
Like that would move us along
Especially those of us who seemed to be moving
Off in the wrong direction.
Needless to say it didn’t work, but I still have
The book somewhere
Gathering dust in some pile of my lost projects
The millions I was going to make, the books
I was going to write, and all my inventions,
Inventions that never quite worked. All this must have been written in the stars.
Hiding Places
What happens when you lose
Your hiding places
And you must
After all these years
Move things, things you piled up
Put aside for another day
Sure you would need them
Use them
Two of this, two of that
Things you barely remember
Half empty, half full
Hiding away until now
And now you reach in
Reach over
Pull things out and try
To think of what you can do
There’s the rubbish of course
Or other places
New hiding places to set them aside
Again
Prizes you can accumulate against need
Against an uncertain future
Hiding places you won’t have to face
For years or
Maybe you’ll never have to do this
Again.
J. K. Durick is a retired writing teacher and online writing tutor. His recent poems have appeared in Literary Yard, Black Coffee Review, Literary Heist, Synchronized Chaos, Madswirl, Journal of Expressive Writing and Highland Park Poetry.
Poetry from Sheila Henry
Blue Stain
Slavery was abolished in America almost 200 years ago
but the system refuses to relinquish a sad history
binding young black men as they remain prey
and are locked up in a system to perform free labor
blue mood cops the modern day crackers
the new age slave hunters to capture them.
They clip black wrists in handcuffs
the updated version of chains once
used to shackle down the slaves
for transport on market days
now they fill prison cells to work for
masters whose guns are trained
on their backs just in case they should run.
The traffic stop a gold mine to capture new blood
a broken taillight, a freshener on the rearview mirror
tinted windows will get a white male a ticket or warning
will get a black male maimed, killed or imprisoned
driving while black/brown the underlying crime.
I can hear their deceitful voices in my quiet mind
thirsty cops wanting to get their
fix of blood on their hands excited
to get their bragging rights and to pump
their chests ‘I got another nigger today’, they boast
laughing at their conquests.
Stop resisting they shout while punching
and kicking a responsive body to pain.
How can one not move receiving such an assault to
one’s body and with punches to one’s face and head?
What a bunch of evil men are Chauvin and his kind
may their souls cry out from the heat that awaits them
when they meet their master—grateful for all the
blood they’ve collected for him through the merciless
killings they performed on black livesafter all these years reminding us againthat unfortunately black lives just don’t matter.
They say reform of tactics is needed for the bad seeds,
but how about reforming the entire broken structure and adding
some empathy to go along with that please?
The cry “Black Lives Matter” not a threat to a nation
is actually a cry for respect, compassion, empathy
it’s to spotlight the cruelty and inequity
placed on a group of people seeking to overcome
the knee on their necks to get the same treatment
as everyone else.
Sheila’s writing style can best be categorized as Visual Poetry, blending emotion and vision into a poem or story of color. Her poems and short stories are featured at Spillwords Publications, Literary Yard, Sweety Cat Press Anthology, I, The Writer, and Youtube Poetica2 series, cafelitmagazine.uk and Clarendon House Publications Anthology Poetica 2 and 3.
Synchronized Chaos May 2021: Cultivating Thoughts
First, a few announcements: We’re co-hosting a free Mother’s Day poetry reading through Los Angeles’ Chevalier’s Books on May 3rd at 7pm Pacific time. Come out to support an independent bookstore and hear liz gonzalez, bridgette bianca, Gail Newman and Lynne Thompson.
Please sign up here for the Zoom link.
Also, our longtime contributor, poet and essayist Michael Robinson, who writes about his life as a Black person in the USA, about overcoming a challenging childhood, and healing through connecting to nature and growing older, has self-published a collection of his work, From Chains To Freedom.
For a copy of the book, please contact Michael at mjrobinson@rollins.edu
We will gladly publish a review of From Chains To Freedom if someone would like to submit one to us!
May’s theme is Cultivating Thoughts. Cultivating rather than cultivated, in process rather than fully accomplished. Rather than on display in a medieval court or country club, our contributors are at work gardening, tilling the soil of experience.
Actor and humanitarian activist Federico Wardal describes an experience that was on public display, a massive civic parade in Cairo celebrating Egypt’s Pharaonic history.
Mark Blickley follows the semiconscious thoughts of a Covid patient in the hospital, while Giovanni Mangiante traces a quiet descent into madness after incredible loss.
Chimezie Ihekuna’s screenplay The Broken Mirror portrays a family torn apart by lingering resentment and jealousy.
Michael O’Brien illustrates our recent period of indoor isolation through disjointed reflections beginning with ordinary household items, while Robert Thomas takes more sensual joy in food while also commenting on grief and loss.
Thomas also shares a travel diary of a recent visit to Varanasi.
John Thomas Allen gives us a meditative piece on a past film star, looking back as her memory fades from the silver screen.
Jaylan Salah reviews a quiet film, Josef: Born in Grace, celebrating kindness and community. John Sweet suggests that real life may be as surreal as a painting of that sort, and Mark Young sends in some stylized and at times humorous art.
Some spiritual teachers advise us to remain in the moment, and this might be good advice for Henry Bladon, whose poems liken the past to garbage and see the future as a source of anxiety.
Bruce Mundhenke, in his poem and in his short story, creates a dystopian future of totalitarian control, fear, and betrayal.
Victoria Kabeya urges would-be social justice and anti-racist activists to check their motives. Are we working to dismantle systems that oppress people or simply replicating them in a different way by becoming celebrity influencers in our movements?
A few people reflect on how we experience nature.
Jack Galmitz contributes a gentle image of flowers, poignantly titled Flores para las Mueres (Flowers for the Dead). Ian Copestick writes of how the world around us can be both personal and timeless, intimate and abstract, and how the pandemic colors our perception, at least of human nature.
Spring and new life break through in Mahbub’s work, after a long period of virus-imposed isolation. And Doug Hawley recollects nearly bearing witness to the mercy killing of a coyote.
Abigail George looks over her past dating life, considering her attraction to older men. Paul Cordeiro offers up various thoughts on age, loneliness, and feisty independence.
Zara Miller points out the unreality of the romantic trope where lovers come together for no other reason than ‘destiny.’
Santiago Burdon probes the emptiness of addiction, while Hongri Yuan examines sources of creative inspiration, from within and outside ourselves.
We hope this issue will shake loose inspiration from the fertile soil of your mind. Thank you very much for reading!
Also, fyi, contributor Daniel Anaya invites interested readers to research and contribute to the world’s literary heritage through Los Angeles’ Sims Library of Poetry. More information below:
The goal of the 44 Campaign is to find 300 giving people who will donate $44 a month for the sustainability and growth of The Sims Library of Poetry. These dollars will help us keep the library open, buy more poetry books, offer events to the community, and hire much needed library staff members from our own community. We currently have two employees working for the library, and we’d love to hire more in order to expand our services and better serve our neighborhood. We’ll also put the money towards expanding our Black and Latinx poetry collection and further renovating the library space to add a reading room and office.
We are calling it the 44 Campaign because in 1731, Benjamin Franklin created the first library in what would soon become the United States called The Library Company of Philadelphia. He did so by asking his friends to donate 44 shillings a month for the creation of this library. He successfully did so, and created the first public library in this country.
The Sims Library of Poetry is the first library of poetry in the city of Los Angeles, and we endeavor to create and support a space dedicated to the reading, writing, and performance of poetry. We are looking for people who believe in the power of libraries, and the significant impact they have on the literacy of their community members.
Membership & Donations | Sims Library (simslibraryofpoetry.org)
And we have three more books from Synch Chaos contributors which we would love to see people read and review. Please comment or email us at synchchaos@gmail.com and we’ll send you a copy of any of these titles and publish your review. Please also email if you have a book you’d like to invite people to read and review, especially if you write for Synch Chaos.
Poet and essayist Santiago Burdon’s Stray Dogs and Deuces Wild: Cautionary Tales
Horror Sleaze Trash proudly presents, Judge Santiago Burdon.
“When I first read Burdon’s work I instinctively realised that here was a man who knew the score. That he was not a fake or dilettante. I could feel a bitter, hard-won experience that lay behind every line. These stories are both beautifully written and capture conclusively the humour, excitement, sadness and disappointment of a life lived on the edge. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.” —Ian Copestick”
Burdon presents a highly amusing collection of bohemian stories from the fringe. He finds literary pearls at the bottom of a dark ocean of smut and sin, propelling us into wild and unhinged terrain in a fashion similar to such luminaries as Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, and Denis Johnson. Buy this book today!” —Matt Nagin
Stray Dogs and Deuces Wild: Cautionary Tales | IndieBound.org
Sonia Das’ poetry collection Window of Hope
Window of Hope is the journey of a woman to human emotions, society and understanding life. Her path takes you to raw emotions, feelings to understand life and its significance through love, passion, sacrifice and contentment. It also talks about the purpose of life, divinity and connection between the soul and the universe.
Window of Hope by Sonia Brajabandhu Das, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Mark Wasserman’s Skaboom! An American Ska & Reggae Oral History
Musician, podcaster and author Marc Wasserman’s debut book is an exhaustive, extensive tale of the pioneers of the American Ska and Reggae movement as told by the people who lived it. Three and a half years in the making, the story is lovingly told through hundreds of hours of intense interviews with musicians, artists, managers, club promoters, writers, promoters, and the fans who were there at the dawn of the 80s through the early 90s to witness the birth and spread of a uniquely American version of ska and reggae. From a chance sighting of The Specials on Saturday Night Live in 1980 to the mighty Skavoovee Tour of 1993, Marc collects stories, anecdotes, history, gossip, and (most importantly) the feeling of what it was like to be there as groups of young, ska-crazed acolytes spread their passion and ignited a fiercely loyal dedication to a burgeoning culture. Interviews include members of seminal bands The Untouchables, Bim Skala Bim, The Toasters, The Uptones, The Scofflaws, Let’s Go Bowling, Mephiskapheles, and many more! The book also features photos, an essay from Stephen Shafer, and a forward penned by Horace Panter of The Specials.