Please join Synkroniciti in welcoming back poet, writer and visual artist Gabriela Manolova from Sofia, Bulgaria. We are excited to feature a poem and two artworks in “Recovery.” Halves 1 and Halves 2 are explorations of the same scene, the first in oil on paper and the second in watercolor on paper. Two figures stand facing one another, their arms around each other’s waists. These figures are humanoid in shape but featureless. One could interpret them as lovers or as aspects of the same person–the second would be more Jungian in approach. They are fascinating studies, especially taken together, as the oil painting centers more on the contrast between darkness and light while the watercolor invokes thoughts of fire and water. Both illuminate the idea of yin and yang and how we contain opposing forces within ourselves.
Gabriela’s poem, “Passersby” is about how trauma from abuse continues to manifest itself in survivor’s lives. “Walking down the street of newfound freedom,/ I keep hoping today will be the day this stops and I begin./ But then, barely a minute outside—God, there it is./ A familiar unwelcome shadow, the old life trails behind me,/ always less than half a step behind.” She is so open and vulnerable, making beauty from pain. “Shadow stretches like a tentacle,/ wraps my throat, gentle at first—like always./ But soon its grip tightens, alive as memory,/ roaring the same relentless refrain—/ or else, or else./ I bow my head so I can’t see his cruelty/ reflected on others, innocents turned into monsters.” Shame flourishes when we are alone, isolated and silent. When we connect our experiences they become easier to bear. Gabriela’s poems speak with great resonance and create safe spaces in the reader. This is empowering and transformational work.
Encounter Gabriela’s art and poetry in Synkroniciti’s “Recovery” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Usually a prose girl, Gabriela Manolova turns to poetry whenever something too fleeting or painful to be fleshed out in novel-length demands to be expressed.
“I approach prose as problem-solving, an intentional, analytical exploration. Writing poetry is altogether different. Like running into a sharp edge in the dark—a line hits you, and suddenly, you’ve found something you didn’t even realize you were looking for. My work’s kept circling back to the same themes, pointing me to that which remains unresolved. Love, grief, identity—all the unavoidable things, really.”
When Gabriela isn’t poring over her manuscript, she’s bopping to jazz or hiking mountain trails—grounding her mind through movement and letting her feet take over for a change.