PARA-DICE by Konstantina Theofanopoulou

There are few images 

that come clear in my mind

when I think of paradise.

It is Nina Simone, singing Baltimore

and Miles Davis playing the Sketches of Spain

Homer composing the Iliad

And el Camarón tearing off his shirt

while smoking pot.

And when the tune changes to

Serge’s Decadanse,

you are there.

Whenever I think of paradise,

you are there.

Konstantina Theofanopoulou has a long name, but I am sure you can pronounce it well if you read it twice. She was born in Greece and lives in the East Village, New York. She holds a PhD in the neuroscience of language, and currently works as a Post-Doctoral researcher at Rockefeller University. You can read her poetry in her monthly column on Natural Selections magazine, on poetry magazines (Lumiere Review, Eneken), on her IG (@newyork_rhymes), and listen to her poetry in podcasts, like the Hack Sessions (Spotify). Her poetry has been awarded twice (Minoan Publications Award, Panhellenic Poetry Award).