Recently, I came across some poems by Nicholas Leonard on TikTok and was immediately struck by their honesty and depth. Nicholas is a writer from Massachusetts with whom I have the pleasure of collaborating on YouTube by narrating his stories. This post is written to share his work here — not just to give it space, but to celebrate it. There is a common denominator in the three poems, or better yet sonnets, I’m sharing —  the reclamation of authentic humanity against systemic dehumanization. Each poem exposes how institutions distort our innate magic, connection and legacy. But crucially - all three end with a unifying call to action, a redemptive defiance, a manifesto to live. But those are just my thoughts. See what you make of them. Nicholas Leonard’s Note: “I like writing short stories and novels, but there’s something about writing sonnets that feels magical. It gives me that feeling I’d used to get in church when I was a little child, the feeling where...

 Here's a piece from my latest narrated horror story. Full version is on my YouTube . Wandering Oscar , a horror story written by Stephen Sinclair is a gothic fantasy drama about immortality, guilt, and redemption.  Set across five centuries and rooted in the mist-laden fens of England, WANDERING OSCAR follows Lord Henry De Quarterly , a brilliant but arrogant Elizabethan nobleman who defies death through a forbidden ritual — and pays a terrible price. 

 "The Madman"  is a fascinating and deeply ironic poem by Georgios Souris from 1888.  Souris  begins by describing the "Madman" (a British visitor) weeping at the sight of the Parthenon's missing marbles  (the artifacts removed by Lord Elgin   in the early 19th century and shipped to Britain , and now held in the British Museum  in London)   and then writing to Queen Victoria to return them to Greece. This action of the Madman  represents Western romanticization of Greek antiquity. Souris mocks this performative grief, highlighting its irrelevance to contemporary Greeks. The madman’s unsolicited letter - "Who told this fool to write about the marbles?"  -  to Queen Victoria underscores foreign interference.  But Souris' pen doesn't stop there. While critisizing the British, he also cauterizes the Greek apathy and indifference - " we do not care at all, no one has asked anything of him, no one want...