"memories once repressed
surface again"
The Sexual Repression Collection (book available at: https://www.amazon.com/sexual-repression-collection-Nicole-I-Nesca/dp/1435720253) is not for the faint-hearted. The way Nicole Nesca tackles touchy matters such as sexuality, ones relationship with body, surroundings and ultimately the rest of the world can only be described as bold and straightforward. She dives into her past, rearranging her memories, choosing those fit the most to tell her story, while she keeps her eyes on the reality that is unfolding before her. The harsh reality that keeps her grounded while she is "sorting through the ruins of the past skeletal remains". Her approach to these matters is sobering, she has no delusions about how the world functions, which is best seen in poems such as "indeed" ("ask the past who will move into the new world--order"), or "hungry":
"unintentional free willing letting the virus filled propagandized agendas
ignoring bigger brother hypocrisy foaming with power handed over by me
you he she and the guy across the street now raging from cages barking"
Nesca is very much aware of the cages people are living in, boxes they put themselves in by refusing to see the truth for what it is; unforgiving, just as she is in her collection. Both towards herself and the world that she and everyone else, is bound to live in, free or caged, the choice is theirs. Well, Nesca choose to be free, and while her truth may be "inconvenient" for many, it is the one thing she is not willing to compromise. So she dissects herself and the world, completely devoid of all restrains.
"we the light that flips on an out and makes em all run."
She broke all "roadblocks" that kept her in her "respective place" and decided to bare herself and the truth about reality, as she came to know it. No boundaries, no restrictions, no boxes or cages, only the painful truth of her experiences.
"man...wounded doesn't mean dead so remove the pennies from
your lids"
But there is fragility there, underneath all that loudness and fearlessness, a real fragility layered with longing, hope, and tenderness at times.
"there will eternally
exist a space
reserved for you
***
next life...
you
will be the first i search for "
The Sexual Repression Collection will leave a mark, a scar on your carefully built reality, and so it should. Because a poet should not compromise, apologize, reason, restrain, obey, deceive or sugar coat. A poet should leave a mark on this world the only way he or she knows; with words; uncompromising, painfully true words.
"i was here"
About the Author: Nicole Nesca was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1973. She developed a love of music, painting and writing early on and continued that love throughout her adult life. While living in Canada, she completed three works of poetry and prose collected in the anthology piece, KAMIKAZE WHITE NOISE, and another two books of poetry and prose. She has been published in several E-Zines and has been a part of two anthologies. She and her husband, Tony, are the editors of the underground publishing company Screamin' Skull Press.
