Two Poems by Alex Nodopaka
📸VISUALS📸
— Aarian (@Worldnews195) February 26, 2022
❗️Video from inside the apartment during a missile attack in Kyiv.#Kyiv #Russia #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/SRgk0WXU5F
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.