Song of the Week: Flesh and Blood

Ilene Kristen's "Flesh and Blood"


The ways of the world we don't understand
Everywhere leads us to why
Hold on to the earth with your own two hands
And never say goodbye

Following Ilene's participation in POZ magazine's AIDS Walk fundraiser at Prohibition last May, a staff member remarked that she is a "force of nature." Coining a phrase from Brokeback Mountain's advertising campaign nothwithstanding, it is an accurate although hyberpolic description of a woman whose heart is unique and universal at one and the same time.

One gets the sense that she's an old soul that will go on forever holding on to the earth with her own two hands. Her performances -- last year at Prohibition and subsequent gigs at The Triad -- showed all who were there that she is indeed worthy of all that.

This week she brings her acting talent to the Upper West End speaking out on war:

Flashback is a theatrical event that gives a voice to six woman who survived a war that their husbands did not. In their own words, these remarkable figures reflect upon the loss of their loved ones and the multi-generational fallout of war