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Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.

Thursday, March 17, 2022

TO BEAR OR NOT BEAR ARMS /
FUGITIVE SECURITY

Two Poems by Alex Nodopaka

NOTE: This video is NOT from Alex Nodopaka's niece's apartment but from Twitter.



1. To bear or not bear arms
 
As my niece in Kyiv
is being shelled
I write poems
based on her words*
and what I see
on our TV.
 
I hold my Siamese
the way I imagine
her holding hers.
It seems odd to me
with the repressed
memories I held
 
for over 80 years
but that's all I can do
except bear arms
and join her.
I never in my life
thought I'd say
 
Damn Russia.
 

2. Fugitive security*

A poem based on the words of Alex Nodopaka’s niece in Kyiv.
 
The daily shaking of the 5th
floor of the building
where I live frightens me.
 
Nightly I put down
a few blankets on the floor
of my bathroom.
 
The only place that offers
a false sense of security.
Wedging my head
 
between the toilet
and the wall for protection
I try to sleep
 
despite the rumbling
keeping me awake.
 

Alex Nodopaka originated immaculately in Ukraine in 1940. Speaks San Franciscan, Parisian, Kievan & Muscovite. Mumbles in English & un poquo de Madridista. He sings in tongues after Vodka, has studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Casablanca, Morocco. Presently full time author and visual artist in USA.