Or is it all the same? Many of us have done it, taken that serene walk through a forest, regardless of the season, and found ourselves transfixed by the diversity of colors, shapes, and images that suggested grandeur and intrigue.   A Forrest in our mind’s eye conjures captivating nuances, bold strokes, and masterful interpretations of things we have already experienced and harken us back to another time in space or thrusts us forward into the unexpected. The images created by Allen Forrest are powerful and enchanting.   His range of artistic abilities and the various mediums he works in suggests a kaleidoscope of human interactions.   aaduna is pleased to be able to present an exhibition of works by Allen Forrest in the forthcoming spring issue. Here is one of his works: Oil on Canvas, Allen Forrest (c) 2015 Bring your spirit, imagination and intellect, and casually stroll through our Forrest.   Coming soon....spring 2015 anniversary i...

Delve into an atmosphere of deceit, silence, acceptance, and transformation in Sarah Khan’s story, “A Knotted Piece of Rope” in aaduna’s spring 2015 anniversary issue. Ms. Khan weaves a story that is timely and full of denial, mis-understanding, abuse, and love. Here is a short excerpt:   I was always hyper sensitive to my father’s approaching footsteps, all the time wondering what it was this time that I did wrong and how he managed to get it done right. My mother, a teacher in a government school was a hand to mouth sort of person who seemed to live under the family’s same roof like some deaf or dumb entity. How could she be so insensitive? I wondered that whenever I looked at her busying herself in the kitchen cooking dinner while father rampaged throughout the house like an angry ox, looking for some misplaced possession of his. She seemed to have sewn her lips together whenever father bellowed at her over silly pointless things. With me standing in a corner watching...

Back in the Eighties, Kool & The Gang taught many people how to party with their song “Celebration.”   How and when to celebrate has been a rich and dynamic ancestral tradition among many people and cultures worldwide. aaduna will give you a glimpse of one aspect of that rich tradition through the eyes of Peter Nakhid .   A multi-faceted New Orleans based photographer and documentarian, Peter will exhibit his work that centers on celebration, legacy, and tradition.   Here is one visual image from his exhibition featured in the forthcoming spring 2015 issue just to get you curious.     (c) 2015 Peter Nakhid, Congo Square, New Orleans See much more of Peter Nakhid’s photographs…soon in the spring 2015 issue of aaduna . Help us build community... aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates ! @aadunaspeaks

For our closing celebration of National Poetry Month, aaduna is pleased to share the opening stanza of Kamaruzzaman’s poem, “If You Ever Die, In An Invisible Gondola” If you ever die If you ever die from me - die of death Looking at my longing eyes In guise of a mystic veil, not unveiled Dead drop at the twilight hours White longish fangs, whitish eyes Of the piercing moments Will unfurl its wings of fire Setting sail in an invisible gondola At long last to carry you home To the isle of your birth, somehow Kamaruzzaman's poetry will be presented in the spring 2015 issue of aaduna slated for launch shortly. Help us build community... aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates ! @aadunaspeaks

Desi or more formally Desiree is not the Desi more formally known as Desiderio who played the husband (Ricky) of Lucy Ricardo in the situation comedy series, “I Love Lucy.” Desi St. Amant is a poet whose poems of power and enlightenment will generate reflection, understanding, and appreciation for the things in life that many of us take for granted. Seneca Lake State Park, Geneva, NY (c) April 2015, Photographer, Lisa Brennan Here is a teaser from her soon to be released poem, “Every Spring” With each winter comes a shedding a sort of forgetting of the year’s growth, labored through love. The pained drop of each shriveled leaf from this grand tree— a quiet, steady loss of a once effortless strength— piles on the ground, baring a collection of affections that have since gone dry. It stands, determined, with its exposed branches stark against the pale, chilled sky, waiting…. for absolution amidst the rain. "Spring Tulips,"...

Poetry has the power to captivate and intrigue.  In the forthcoming issue of aaduna , Marthe-Elise Bertrand will bring you into her world of words and magic. Here is one of her poems, "Deep Rest."  {Three others will grace the pages of aaduna ...coming at you in a few weeks.}   ~Deep Rest~ I tell myself That they don't care what I do, But I can't Get myself to care less about that. Instead, I dwell on the idea that I, too don't even care what I do And for once I don't feel any sadness About wanting to die Or the idea of being gone. At times When I want to die It's like there's no emotion attached I feel nothing as if I’ve Already left my body And the transition- The transition had been in progress The moment I realized a void That something was missing And I have no idea what it is. Maybe My soul will slowly detach itself From this body because Nothing in this world could suffice. Perhaps what's missing...

Gonzalinho da Costa’s poems will embrace the pages of aaduna’s forthcoming spring 2015 issue with a launch date towards the end of National Poetry Month, which is this month...April! With permission of the poet, we celebrate POETRY with a da Costa poem followed by his brief narrative that will enhance your understanding of an aspect of Filipino culture and tradition. THE RICE PLANT I held him by his slender neck To pierce him under his chin And saw white sap trickle forth Like milk spills from a tin. I shook him strongly by his thigh To feel him flail like a fish And heard his hands’ helpless sigh Like sand shaken in a dish. I bravely bent his youthful bone, Which sprang with a painful cry— I wondered how one so green and wet Should so resemble I— For I am brown and dry. Gonzalinho da Costa shares: Rice is a symbol of Southeast Asia—kindly note, for example, the bound rice sheaf in the ASEAN logo. Malays, who incl...