Patrick M. Ohana
Bio
A medical writer who reads and writes fiction and some nonfiction, although the latter may appear at times like the former. Most of my pieces (over 2,200) are or will be available on Shakespeare's Shoes.
Stories (531/0)
Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 27
This new series has its history in the form of several short stories, several poems, and a 13-part series that is linked at the bottom via Part 26 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed to play the role of a fictional character also called, Anthi, as she had played in the first series, but in this series with the specific name, Anthi Kanéna, having chosen it herself. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Futurism
Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 26
This new series has its history in the form of several short stories, several poems, and a 13-part series that is linked at the bottom via Part 25 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed to play the role of a fictional character also called, Anthi, as she already did in the first series, but in this series with the significant name, Anthi Kanéna, which she promptly chose, perhaps for my soul. To perceive is to suffer. Aristotle
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Futurism
Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 25
This new series has its history in the form of several short stories, several poems, and a 13-part series that is linked at the bottom via Part 24 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed to play the role of a fictional character also called, Anthi, as she already did in the first series, but in this series with the full name, Anthi Kanéna, which was chosen by her. Alcohol makes other people less tedious, and food less bland, and can help provide what the Greeks called entheos, or the slight buzz of inspiration when reading or writing. Christopher Hitchens
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Futurism
Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 24
This new series has its history in the form of several short stories, several poems, and a 13-part series that is linked at the bottom via Part 23 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed to play the role of a fictional character also called, Anthi, as she already did in the first series, but in this series with the full name, Anthi Kanéna, chosen by her. The only sounds when ‘gan the West to burn, and the red sun upon the seas to ride, I stood upon the soil of Greece at last! Oscar Wild
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Futurism
Graveyard Pleasures
Deacon could not bear the death of his wife, Heather, his marigold flower, his little Sun, his universe. She had been gone for three years now, but to him they seemed like three days, not even twenty-four hours. He did not have a child laughing with the warmth of her heart, an offspring crying with the tenderness of her tears, a progeny living with the rhythm of her breath. He only possessed the memory of her existence and her grave.
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Poets
Inner Literary Peace
I began writing poetry in my early teens, even proposing to my first English teacher in high school to write her a poem instead of an exam. She agreed and gave me an A. I wrote poetry from time to time following this initial brush with success, both in English and French, but never considered myself a poet. I published a few poems throughout the decades that followed, but it was only in my mid-forties that I adopted poetry as a means to attain some inner peace from the usual and unusual tribulations of life. I had studied Shakespeare extensively at the undergraduate and graduate levels and thus had embraced the sonnet as my favourite poetic form. I wrote over a hundred sonnets in the past ten years, but it is in 2020, during the ongoing pandemic, that I discovered the acrostic: a poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word or more by the end of the poem. This poetic form became my new passion, as I challenged myself to write acrostic sonnets, acrostic alexandrines, and much longer acrostics.
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Poets
If a Difference of Age Disturbs Your Relationship
This newer century has not been any kinder than previous ones in terms of the bias towards women in unions involving a significant difference of age between the partners. It was never a piece of chocolate cake; some even call it a slice of cheese cake. For some foolish reason, people tend to eye a couple where the woman is older than the man with mockery and reproachfulness. It is still held in numerous little minds that both partners in a relationship should possess the same age or a slight difference of a few years. Women are expected to be younger than the men they live with or marry, and if this clause is not respected, the women in question suffer from their society’s hypocrisy, and often, from the weakness of their companions. The solution to this ancient problem is mathematical: the Law of Averages. However, its effectiveness resides only in the minds of the couples involved. Society’s beliefs are so difficult to alter that a solution seems almost impossible.
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Humans
The Old Valise
Frank was a learned, postmodern man who aspired during most of his life to live in calmness, tranquility, and peacefulness. He loved synonyms. This sweet, kind, middle-aged man spent most of his time in the library reading any book that contained some kind of wisdom. As a librarian, he had access to a large quantity of books, old and new, ancient and modern. His quest for knowledge accompanied him to several kingdoms. Besides the English, he traveled to the French, Spanish, Russian, German, Italian and Portuguese realms of literature. Although it nourished him with great joy, he felt that time was pressing, suffering immensely from an acute fear of death. There was so much more material to measure, and literature was literally legionary.
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Fiction
Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 23
This new series has its history in the form of several short stories, several poems, and a 13-part series that is linked at the bottom via Part 22 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed—this is probably the last time that I repeat it—to play the role of a fictional character also called, Anthi, as she already did in the first series, but in this series with the full and timely name, Anthi (Flowers) Kanéna (No Body). She smells better than any flower and her body is forever in my mind. Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks. Winston Churchill
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Futurism
Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 22
This new series has its history in the form of several short stories, several poems, and a 13-part series that is linked at the bottom via Part 21 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed—methinks that I did not mention it enough—to play the role of a fictional character also called, Anthi, as she already did in the first series, but in this series with the full and significant name, Anthi Kanéna. Every day is Valentine’s Day in my mind, with blue-and-white Anthi (“flowers” in Greek). Greece is a good place to look at the moon, isn’t it? Leonard Cohen
By Patrick M. Ohana3 years ago in Futurism
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