Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back poet, writer and visual artist Rachael Ikins of New York with two poems and two photographs exploring “Dreams.”
Wings was one of our cover finalists. A dramatic edge of cloud, white and pale orange, lies between blue sky and deep blue storm clouds. Rachael captures that strange cast of light produced as storms slide past areas of clear sky…the darker the clouds the more brilliant the light becomes. It’s quite surreal. Venus and Cloud Bowl, taken at sunset or sunrise over a lake, reminds us of Magritte’s The Empire of Light in that time is suspended and we can’t tell if it is day or night. The tree line is quite dark, while the light-gilded clouds and blue sky not only dominate the air, but are reflected and intensified by the water below. Venus winks from the upper right.
Following Venus takes us to the first of Rachael’s poems, “Venus is a Vampire,” a sparkling bit of nightmare. “Someone left a dream in my hand/ without permission. I woke to pounding tympani.” She takes us scurrying breathless across dark fields. “Venus is a vampire, sharp white teeth carved of baby bone/ sucks poetry from the earth.” By the end we begin to understand that we are running with Venus, not from her. We too, have that vampire nature.
“Consequences” sees hope in a dystopian world where books are banned and knowledge is not honored. “The poem fell asleep mid afternoon blissful/ as it floated on the edges of dream. Yesterday/ it marched with thousands. A world without books./ The poem is homeless.” Hope is a young girl smuggling books into a secret wooded place where she reads. No matter how much the authorities strangle the love of words and the worlds they form, they can never eradicate them completely. These things inhabit a part of the human mind that is boundless and unfettered, the irrepressible imagination.
Experience Rachael’s delightful gifts in Synkroniciti’s “Dreams” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Rachael Ikins is a multiple Pushcart nominee, 2018 Independent Book Award winner, 2024 winner 2nd place Northwind Writing Awards, and activist author/artist of 13 books. Her cats and dogs remain unimpressed with this and will sit on the keyboard if she works past their mealtimes.
Her artwork has appeared in NYC; Paris, France; and Washington DC. Syracuse University grad, member Bayou City branch NLAPW. Associate Editor of Clare Songbirds Publishing House, Auburn, NY and Chicago City Press, Chicago, IL.
Beautifully written
Thank you!! It’s inspiring to write about such wonderful work.