Essays, poetry and art by Monika
The Downfall – The Blue Angel (1930) This dark tale of love, morality, and obsession might seem trivial, and antiquated in today’s world of highly eroticized, and violent depictions of human interactions, but it still holds [ . . . ]
I love Susan Sontag’s essay “A Woman’s Beauty: Put-Down or Power Source?” as it relates to a subject I am deeply passionate about, women’s equality. Susan Sontag wrote this piece for Vogue magazine in 1975 and my [ . . . ]
The Double Life of Veronique (1991) Review Krzysztof Kieslowski’s masterpiece, “The Double Life of Veronique” (1991) is neither your usual action-packed movie, nor a chick flick. While Roger Ebert describes it as a film about [ . . . ]
An unfamiliar sound wakes me up. I stare in the darkness for a long time trying to decipher the glowing digits on my alarm clock and note that it is only 12:27am. This startles me [ . . . ]
This Thanksgiving was unlike any other. Each year, we either invited people to join us, or we were the guests. This time, however, we stayed home and made a feast for just the three of [ . . . ]
Penelope is one of the most known women in the history of literature. She is Odysseus’ wife and a lonely, yet faithful, queen of Ithaca, who had waited almost twenty years for her king to [ . . . ]
Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012) was a Polish poetess and a recipient of 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Despite her rather large popularity in her home country she was a reserved person who liked the privacy of [ . . . ]
About three years ago, I went to a party that was held in a beautiful park-like setting in a rural area of North County San Diego. As I was strolling around the host’s immaculately landscaped [ . . . ]
I stare at you coldly as I walk away Your smile, so alluring, once stopped me dead Let silence be the last act of our play We both spoke words we did not mean to [ . . . ]
He tried to understand why this was happening to him. The sensation of abandonment and an unanticipated bitterness filled him to the brim. The house was deserted and he didn’t like its numbing silence. The [ . . . ]
This is a story that dates back to 1996. ~~~ It was a busy afternoon at work, and I was getting ready to leave. I smiled at the thought of a nice warm summer evening [ . . . ]
My body is what I am, and at the same time, it isn’t. The fact is, I get to use it and enjoy it for a lifetime. It can give me an immeasurable amount of [ . . . ]
She looked at yet another profile. The photo was of a good-looking man with a warm smile. There was something in his eyes that kept her coming back to it. She gazed at the picture [ . . . ]
After my last breakup I thought I would like my solitude. Yes, I do like it but I am also missing conversations with other grown-ups, that human connection that makes life a little more exciting. [ . . . ]
In my twenties I believed life was about an adventure, passion and an untamed potential I perceived in every living thing. I savored life’s essence dancing my way through the effervescent white nights in Norway [ . . . ]
“No, I am not broken.” This thought crosses my mind when I am packing up my belongings again. The movers arrived and we are loading my few possessions into my SUV. “I lost so much [ . . . ]