Tag: inspiration

The Edge Of Darkness

Viktoria NikolaLeave a comment

The edge of darkness keeps a monster

That rules the wall of “now” and “then”

And on this bulwark, this imposter

Instills cold dread in nearing men

 

The air there smells of blood and murder

The wind there moans in loss and threat

One’s heart there whimpers in a murmur

One’s palms there drip with nervous sweat

 

The edge’s monster knows true horror

One’s greatest fear is his to bend

He could command one’s deepest terror

And turn one’s will to useless sand

 

Yet in its claws it holds a secret

That it can too be crucified

For all it takes is one’s defiance

A dab of courage in the eyes

 

To stand up to the dread it summons

And know one might succumb to fright

To weep and see the end as coming

Yet stay and bear the fearsome plight

 

For only then will this imposter

Yield way for one to leave the ledge

Where what-may-come lives in a fostered

Light’s warming loving waiting edge

 

Viktoriya Neverov-Krstic

2019

An Era Gone

Viktoria Nikola4 Comments

I woke to find the day was night

The mist of dew dried out

The morning jay’s song of delight

Replaced by music’s drought

 

I woke to find the trilling birds

Had flown down south for summer

The snow had come of cold curse words

And war beats of fate’s drummer

 

I woke to find an era gone

Its dreams dead for re-gift

An age had come and now twas done

And I never knew it lived

 

© Viktoria Nikola (2018)

My Favorite Pushkin Poem

Viktoria Nikola12 Comments

Like the typical Russian, I love Pushkin’s work. It’s so profound and heartbreaking and it captures the very essence of all tortured souls. Unfortunately, it’s really difficult to translate and make it sound as good in English as it sounds in Russian. Nonetheless, I tried. Here’s my favorite Puskin poem, translated by yours truly.

The Angel

By the gates of Eden, an Angel, gentle

Shone with his softly drooping head,

And in the darkness a Demon, rebel

Over the hellish ravine fled

The sp’rit of doubt and of negation

Looked at the other one of good

And in a flame of forced elation

For the first time, he understood

“Pardon,” he said, “but I have seen you

And not in vain you’ve shined me light

Not all in heaven I had hated,

Not all on earth I had despised.”

Alexander Pushkin

Translated by Viktoria Nikola

Paradox

Viktoria Nikola7 Comments

I didn’t choose to be a paradox

It’s simply so unorthodox

And seem to be a dark anomaly

A weird asserted mystery

Somehow defined by ambiguity

Make rational decisions stupidly

I didn’t wish it, but here I am

I am a lamb; I am a ram

I’m definitely undefined

Confused, refused, then re-defined

I am not sure and yet assured

That when time comes I am insured

I’m two unlikes on the same end

I am a good, which good amends

Stranger than thou, weaker than thou

But somehow plow a larger plow

Two parallels run within me

Both magnet polars, complexity

I seem to live in joyous death

Yet I take pleasure in every breath

Unsatisfied in my content

And happily at times lament

I live inside pure non-conformity

Thus love’s a burden, hence I am free

© Viktoria Nikola

The Finish Line

Viktoria Nikola3 Comments

I’m running to the finish line
And I ignore the pain
I’m running to the finish sign
Soon I will win; soon I will reign

I’m running, but the goal’s far-set
Nor do I hear my chanted name
My victory’s a silhouette
For I have promised the crowd my fame

Deep in my veins I feel the rush
Of triumph’s gold-heaving breath
And in my ears the audience’s hush
Is pumping, throbbing, killing death

Inside my heart I feel the joy
I sense the soon relief
And then despite the ache decoy
I soar, I fly, and I believe

There is no one to say I can’t
Although I hear this cry
For blessed God, whose blessed grant
Is confidence doubts can’t defy

For me, there’s no more time
I’ve won, I’ve reached my goal
I am the victor, calm, sublime
And I am great and I am whole

© Viktoria Nikola

Finding Ourselves in Nothing

Viktoria Nikola6 Comments

Between the words that are spoken, there lies a fragment of truth

Where life exists unaltered, where being roams in sooth

Where spirit finds its essence and egos cease to exist

Between the words that are spoken, before it fogs over with mist

Between the breaths that are taken, a hint of forever dwells

The shards of immortal presence, the songs of eternal bells

The nothing in all existence, the everything in a void

Between the breaths that are taken, we live, before we’re destroyed

Between the thoughts that are rising, our consciousness dares to be

Our limitless burning power, our soul’s perpetuity

Our senses in endless directions, impervious to demise

Between the thoughts that are rising, WE ARE, until silence dies

But with every quiet instant, we resurrect anew

Like the stillness of a sunrise, like the drops of a morning dew

And in these silent moments, we are love and truth and space

We find ourselves in nothing, then in something lose the trace

© Viktoria Nikola (2018)

The literati mafia

Between the words that are spoken, there lies a fragment of truth

Where life exists unaltered, where being roams in sooth

Where spirit finds its essence and egos cease to exist

Between the words that are spoken, before it fogs over with mist

Between the breaths that are taken, a hint of forever dwells

The shards of immortal presence, the songs of eternal bells

The nothing in all existence, the everything in a void

Between the breaths that are taken, we live, before we’re destroyed

Between the thoughts that are rising, our consciousness dares to be

Our limitless burning power, our soul’s perpetuity

Our senses in endless directions, impervious to demise

Between the thoughts that are rising, WE ARE, until silence dies

But with every quiet instant, we resurrect anew

Like the stillness of a sunrise, like the drops of a morning dew

And in these silent moments, we are…

View original post 20 more words

The Human Moment

Viktoria Nikola2 Comments

This moment is now fleeting, though aching for its life

It’s pulsing to its death bed, surrendering its blithe

A bitter-sweet conclusion to a severed fairy-tale

This moment we are living, our truth within unveiled

Tis like maestro’s playing his concert’s final note

The heartache in the silence before the verdict spoke

A glance exchanged by lovers before their last good-bye

Their eyes, in mind, immortal, but in time that instant dies

The last remaining ornament taken off the tree

The final gaze upon the coffin after the last eulogy

The closing of the eyelids before a long awaited kiss

The tremb’ling lips first contact before their parted bliss

Our lives are made of minutes that tear us at our core

Remind us we are mortal, we’ll face that closing door

One day that final minute will come – our final breath

And we shall realize every instant is living through its death

This moment is now fleeting, though longing to survive

It’s yearning to outlive its temporary life

And yet, despite its dimming, it burns with unmatched might

One hundred years of passion…

And then it yields to night

Viktoria Nikola

The literati mafia

I'm honored to have been asked to join the wonderful writing collective called The Literati Mafia. Thank you, dear writers, for letting me share my words with you. I'm excited and humbled to be here. And, I suppose, a first-post is in order. Here's a poem I wrote a while ago about the fleeting human life.  This moment is now fleeting, though aching for its life It’s pulsing to its death bed, surrendering its blithe A bitter-sweet conclusion to a severed fairy-tale This moment we are living, our truth within unveiled Tis like maestro’s playing his concert’s final note The heartache in the silence before the verdict spoke A glance exchanged by lovers before their last good-bye Their eyes, in mind, immortal, but in time that instant dies The last remaining ornament taken off the tree The final gaze upon the coffin after the last eulogy The closing of the…

View original post 98 more words

A Confession

Viktoria Nikola1 Comment

 

Let towers fall, let bridges crumble

Let thunder roar and lightning flash

Let comets strike, volcanoes rumble

Let heaven turn to ash

Let worlds collide, gravity surrender

Let Armageddon scream its strife

Let illness plague; let gold lose splendor

Let death rule over life




Let shackles break of all the Titans

Let chains of hell lose all their might

Let Hades vanquish Mount Olympus

Let darkness be our sight

Let stars lose foresight of what’s fated

Let every color be one hue

Let hate be loved, let love be hated

And even then…

I’d still love you




Viktoria Nikola




2013

 

Modern Fairytale

Viktoria Nikola6 Comments 
I’ll sail to the edge of the cosmos

Where the novae thunder their storm

Where light surrenders to darkness

Where love looses its warmth




I’ll walk in the footsteps of heroes

Courageous and driven in stride

When Scylla and Charybdis taunt me

I’ll shudder, I’ll weep, then I’ll fight




I’ll battle the three-headed dragon

The one with fire in its breath

Ouranos shall meet my sweet vengeance

Then Cronus, then Zeus and then death




I’ll triumph where others have failed

En guard! Parry! Then, attack!

I’ll wield that steal sword as I sail

Look forward and never turn back




I’ll voyage to the edge of the cosmos

To save you, I’ll journey that sea

But when I shall find you my darling,

Will you want to be saved by me?



Viktoria Nikola

2013

 

To All Poets

Viktoria Nikola4 Comments 
I know, my darling poet, how you bleed

A gushing wound of bloodied metered rhyme

And yet this gash is what us humans need

To deal with life possessed by pain and time




I know the ache and tears that haunt your soul

The broken heart you carry in your chest

I know that all you wish is to be whole

A modicum of joy from life to wrest




But, ah, the only treatment left for you

Is like a humor doctor t’bleed your thoughts

And for the briefest moment, you are new

Until the fragile thread of wellness rots




Accept your fate, my dearest poet friend

For with your illness you can heal the ill

And with your literary blood on lend

You might restore another’s broken will



Viktoria Nikola