The Next Step

It is often stated that there comes a time in everyone's life when they know what needs to be done and they have to garner enough courage to do it. I have had a few of those times in my short times already and am now getting the itch to gather up my tent and get a new coat of dust on my sandals.
Life has been good to me and has given me the opportunity to follow my passion of putting feelings into words and channeling them to people's hearts, but I feel I have something much more important to channel at the moment, without which I will never reach the literary plateau on which I long to stand my shanty one day. What that is belongs to my heart to disclose when the time is right.
My hope, however, is that as I sail the empty seas with the winds edging my silken sails forward, I will have the courage to tame the golden dragon from whose lips I hope to entice the sweetest of life's blessings. I have but a prayer and a pailful of tears with which to entreat fate to give heed to my cause and deliver to me the galactic prize. Fear not for my folly, nor cheer for my demise for what is was inscribed on the blueness of my heart before the beginning of time, and your sorrow and jubilation would be more than a few eons late of their time. The words of old now ring incessantly in my ears; "The cowards never start, the weak die along the way, and only the strong survive." Here's to the cowards, the weak, and the strong...may the lesson of life be etched on our memory for eternity.
I have taken the first step...but I'm still chillin like these fellas!!!

A Time to Treasure

Most of you know that I finally came to meet my mom for the first time in twenty-six and a half years last month, and that she has been staying with me for the past five weeks. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you also might be aware that I took her to see several places around the Northeast such as Niagara Falls, New York City, Onondaga Lake Park (the setting of my Salamander short story series), The Zoo (my first ever visit to a zoo), etc. What also I touched on was the visits from my cousins and uncle, entertaining our neighbors (twice), locating the local Russian/Ukrainian store in town, going to see a Christmas play, and the numerous, entertaining yet uber-competitive Monopoly and Sorry games.

Today, my mom returned to her native Moldova as her vacation is nearly over and we had extended her stay here for an extra twelve days. There are a lot of things I learned from her and I realized her and I share more than the titles of mother and son. The time we spent together was filled with laughter, drinking, eating, playing, and exploring. I now look back and realize there is nothing to be sad about her leaving; we had a great time and it's time for her to go back so we can both focus on our other aspects of life - mainly professional- and prepare for the next time we meet. We both have visions of a future that involves both of us and now we set off to work out the individual bits of those visions so we can fuse them together in unison soon.

I can't cry, not because I don't want to, but because crying would be disrespecting Existence for this chance many people don't get, and would also show me as unappreciative of that chance. I will see her again and, if I don't, who am I to question and cry over what wasn't meant to be?
As we headed to the airport, Prince's "1999" was playing on the radio and fewer songs would have been appropriate for the moment as the words "Life is a party and parties aren't meant to last" spoke to us about our moment together. This was a party but now it's time to head home and prepare for the next party.  
So, tonight I'm going back to writing and reading...I'm going to toss back a few shots of her special, homemade cherry liqueur in celebration of our time together. I will offer a prayer of thanksgiving and move on to tomorrow without a hint of sadness in my step because I have - truly - had a time to treasure.

Not Again...Catch Up with scenes from Sankara: My Brother, My Enemy

The past month has really been filled with blessings for me and I can't possibly show my gratitude. My computer is the only one functioning here, so I've had to write in my notebooks so that my mom and Nadia can use the computer, too. I have enough poems for my March collection, and I have completely revamped the Sankara play to a form that is both theatrical, poetical, and excitical...smile with me there, lol.
I also have to say it's 5 am here and I'm tired from a night of writing and poker, but before I leave, maybe I could post a speech from my Sankara: My Brother, My Enemy play...I hope you enjoy it.

President Mirrount

 Look around you and observe

the creeping tide threatening

to drown your home and family.

Stretch but your arm and grab

the line I offer in faith

of a future shared between

my household and yours.

Hear the thunder from the Southern shores

whose birth will soon overtake time.

Heed not the doubts of your mind

for the heart is easier to satisfy

than thoughts of unattainable dreams.

Come, hold my hand

and feel the warmth

of a pleasant future

with stores of indefatigable food

and nights of unquenchable rest.

These are but an iota of that which

awaits the silencing of the hopeless drum.

In this scene President Mirrount, the leader of the former colonial nation, is enticing Capitaine Copa - Sankara's second-in-command - with promises of safety and wealth to betray Sankara.

In the next scene, Copa has finally given in to the action, but his heart still pains him.

Copa

O that I would be a rock

unmovable by the coming storms.

Would I to become soaked

by the deluge threatening the horizon

and see my fields chocked by the waters

whose rage would have doomed my flocks?

How do you - or I- save a wretch like I?

I am now trembling at the still shadows;

cowardly seeking refuge from an enemy's chamber.

What is to be shall be

but from my forced will.

A shadow, but I am, to wither

and pass with the memory

of him to whom I was an imitation.

Goodbye, faithful brother;

farewell to the land of our fathers

whose toll was your sweat and tears,

which your blood now joins

in the holiest of sacred trinities.

In the end, Copa gives in and accepts to betray his friend and former comrade. Something is still gnawing within, however, and I am playing around a lot with this "guilt" in the play. Sankara might have been wrong when he told his wife that: "Fear not the whispering of mongrels for they have an owner to whom they whimper for an insult and morsels of discarded crumbs...We are the ones to be feared." I want to examine the thought that maybe "mongrels" should be feared and dealt with before they wreak havoc.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well, and I promise to start updating regularly again.

Poems

As I pointed out previously, I will be posting some rough drafts of poems I'm working on and see what people think.

Time to Catch Up

It has been a while since I wrote on here due to several unlinked factors, but which all conspired to keep me off here. My mom has now been here for almost three weeks and we are all enjoying the company of my cousins (who have been here for nearly a week), my uncle (who came to visit for a day from Canada), and our great neighbors.
I have received many family heirlooms from her and I now feel a stronger connection to her side of the family...now I have to brush up on my Russian and gear up for my visit up there in the summer.
I also received, as a gift from my mom, a new Canon Rebel 500D (Rebel T1i) camera with the 18-55mm IS and 55-250mm IS lenses, but my goal is to take and sell a few pics to buy myself a quality "L" lens. I'll keep you folks updated on that.
I keep repeating that I consider myself to be an artist, rather than just a writer or a poet or playwright, so the camera will give me a chance to utilize my artistic skills through a different medium.
I think I said this before, but I am planning to release an e-book of about 50 of my poems through a collection titled "Visions of a Homeland: Poems in Exile" at the end of March. I want this collection of poems to showcase a small piece of my culture. Our people’s history extends from one end of time to the other; a period as indescribable as it is enjoyable.
I will be posting updates often. I hope you are enjoying the start to this new year.