***

man is a fire

every time I burn with shame when I see a bird pecking at bread crumbs at a bus stop

children’s bread and milk are poured from heaven onto the rain earth

minced meat at the meat market screams

***

in the morning I watched fish bones on the shore

autumn crying to the crunch of ears and bones

the heart turns inside out in the hope that aluminum birds

also fly home from warm countries after wintering

***

platinum night in the back of the head

who breathes rose petals into the crown of the cemetery?

perhaps this is another hanged or unborn brother

maybe it’s a local jesus

maybe it’s mom who smiles with raindrops

it would be nice if it was someone good

but black and white don’t exist

there is only a synthesis of colors

it would be nice if such an abstract love corresponded to a non-abstract world

and at night a cemetery emerges from under the pillow

and flowers dream of growing not for the sake of mourning ribbons

the night goes on a journey

morning will never come

***

I press a laptop key unknown to me and hope to summon the spirit of the deceased grandfather in this way

what you do not understand: the life of the elderly is death

I would like to live forever but I’m too poor for that

I would rather not love but I need to fill the void inside my chest

I would like to be an inanimate object but I move like a worm

I’d rather live like a worm with no limbs so I wouldn’t be forced to take death in my hands

my grandfather promised to play with me after work and didn’t come back

the cast-iron milk of the night covered his eyes

after lunch it is very dark outside

***

my feet are stones

I step on the leaves by force

I feel a crunch under my feet

whose bones turned out to be leaves?

why is the tree silent?

why does the bush not wave its branches with its hands?

whom I trample under my sole on the way to death?

I Remember

I remember the Winter of 2011 when a group of local poets visited Bernadette Mayer at her home in Nassau.

I remember how cold it was.

I remember the only heating source in the converted open school house living room was a pot belly stove.

I remember thinking no one had cooler anecdotes of New York City poets from the sixties and seventies than Bernadette did.

I remember she spoke of her friend Joe Brainerd’s book I Remember.

I remember the deserted St Croix, Virgin Island beach my mother and I used to visit when we lived on the island.

I remember how I felt when I heard The Rockefellers were going to build a resort hotel on the site.

I remember thinking that Ferlinghetti was going to live forever.

I remember thinking I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

I remember watching the Brooklyn Dodgers play the New York Giants on the first TV we ever owned.

I remember having the mumps and my cousin coming over from next door to make sure I got chicken pox also.

I remember seeing every prewar western every made.

I remember seeing hundreds of noir classics.

I remember seeing King Kong eleven times in one week on The Million Dollar movie.

I remember my cousin saw it thirteen times.

I remember watching the Joe McCarthy House of Unamerican Activities hearing live on TV and, while I didn’t know what they were all about, not really, I thought McCarthy was a bully and a dick.

I remember my mother hiding a copy of Tropic of Cancer in her secret desk drawer and sneaking looks at it when she was at work.

I remember not getting what he was writing about but that it was dirty.

I remember she had a copy of This Is My Beloved also but she didn’t hide that book away.

I remember reading that all the way through when I was like ten and thinking the fireworks he described were pretty cool.

I remember how cool the black and white the fireworks display at the beginning of Manhattan

was the first time I saw it.

I remember that one of my cocktail waitress saying she saw the movie and it sucked.

I remember she said “…and it wasn’t even in color.”

I remember knowing how to read when I entered first grade at the Catholic school in Christiansted.

I remember I was the only one who could read in first grade and how much the nuns loved me.

I remember how it felt  to be the only non-Catholic in Catholic school.

I remember the first time I read, I Remember.

I remember the baseball game in 1965 I took my girlfriend to see.

I remember there was a centerfield to home to second base triple play in that gam and how she said, “That was a nice play.”

I remember that was the first time it had ever happened in a major league baseball game and it has only happened one more time since.

I remember I still loved her anyway no matter how unimpressed she was.

I remember the first major league game I took our kids too and missing three innings when Jose Cruz hit me on the cheekbone with a high foul ball while I was yelling, “I got it, I got it.”

I remember I would have been blind in my right eye if I had been wearing my glasses.

I remember they wanted me to go to Flushing General.

I remember a nurse telling me once if you have a choice between going to Flushing General or Bronx General and dying, die.

I remember burning my hand when I accidently hit my hand on the pot belly stove that Bernadette asking me to stoke.

I remember it hurt for weeks after.

I remember reading the memoir of Pasternak, I Remember.”

I remember seeing selections from Roman Vishniac’s, A Vanished World, at the State Museum of New York at Albany and crying.

I remember reading poetry at the reading Against the End of the World just down the block from the State Museum.

I remember seeing an exhibition on the Atomic Bomb age at the museum and seeing my first Laurie Anderson work for art, “The Singing Brick.”

I remember writing a poem against the end of the world called the Singing Brick.

I remember it was in a musically themed, against the end of the world book of poems called, Stop Making Sense.

I remember the first poem I ever published in sixth grade, in the mimeo class reader, The Fledgling.

I remember the poem was a pastiche of the song Old Dan Tucker.

I remember duck and cover drills in Centre Avenue Elementary School.

I remember how stupid they were given how close we were to New York City and how many huge glass windows there were in all the classrooms.

I remember the poem I published in the group photo/poem book commemorating our trip to Bernadette’s house.

I remember the title of my poem was, “Emergency Drills, Centre Avenue Elementary School, East Rockaway, N.Y, 1958.”

I remember the first time I saw Throne of Blood in grad school.

I remember the first time I saw Hiroshima Mon Amour in grad school.

I remember the first time I saw the Japanese movie, After Life.

I remember seeing four Brooklyn Dodgers home runs in a row.

I remember we didn’t get the foul ball that Jose Cruz hit me with.

I remember torrential rain on a tin roof on St Croix.

I remember playing spin the bottle and never being kissed.

I remember the high school psychologist telling me I should practice Rorschach inkblots so I could take her test.

I remember refusing to take the test because I thought it was stupid and I didn’t see anything suggestive in those blots.

I remember her telling me I second guessed myself all the time.

I remember her telling me I should trust my instincts because my first thoguht was almost always the right.

I remember how useful an observation that turned out to be.

I remember every two weeks for three years in the nightclub trying to guess which of the new band members was the drummer.

I remember I was only wrong once.

I remember thee guessing game as a process of elimination until you found the crazy one; he would be the drummer.

I remember seeing my first Bergman movie.

I remember seeing Last Year at Marienbad three time in four days in grad school.

I remember not paying attention in my first psychology class lesson in college on the Stanford Binet test.

I remember the teacher trying to make an example of me by giving me the block test graduating in difficulty as the numbers increased starting at six of ten.

I remember I did six, seven, eight and nine as fast as she could put them in front of me.

I remember how stunned she was.

I remember not mentioning having taken that test less the three years ago along with every other test they had on offer.

I remember the summer I first heard Leonard Cohen’s song, Suzanne.

I remember seeing the photo exhibit Requiem by the photographers killed in Vietnam at the Eastman House not long before 9-11.

I remember that exhibits was as quiet as a funeral and all the people who were crying at it.

I remember it was how I felt when I finally got to see The Wall in DC.

INTERVIEW WITH JOHN P. PORTELLI, February 2025

John P. Portelli is a Maltese-Canadian poet and fiction author, and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. Besides 11 academic books he has published 10 poetry collections, 2 collections of short stories, and a novel. His literary work has been translated into English, Italian, French, Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Romanian, and Spanish. His collection Here Was was short-listed for the 2024 Canadian Book Club Award. He lives between Malta and Toronto.

1. Please share your thoughts about the future of literature.

For me literature is an essential part of being human. Its future? I am not a fortune teller! But I am afraid that the ultra capitalist and individualist mentality of our present way of living, to me, does not augur well for a healthy future for literature. For example, it is getting even harder to sell poetry books, and publishers are feeling in the pinch. But there will always continue to be literary authors. Whether they will be appreciated is another story.

2. When did you start writing?

I started writing poetry when I was 16 years old. My initial interest was in poetry and essays.

3 .  The Good and the Bad. Who is winning nowadays?

It depends in which area of life?  In general, however, I think we are on the verge of a new fascist period in the West. When I read authors like John Dewey and Bertrand Russell who wrote about the conditions in the West in the 1930s, unfortunately I see lots and lots of similarities to what is happening today. Unless you are part of the dominant conservative “culture” people are marginalised. Colonialism is still alive and strong! God help us.

4. How many books have you written and where can we find your books?

I have written 11 academic books, 10 collections of poetry (some published in translations), 2 collections of short-stories, and a novel. Some of my work is available from Amazon, others from Horizons Publishers in Malta and Word and Deed Publishers in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

 4. The book. E books or hardcopies of books. What will be the future?

I think some people will still prefer hard copies of books. Given my weak eyesight, I prefer hard copies.  But more and more people are used to reading on line. For me, as long as people read, that is fine.

5. A wish for 2025?

True and lasting peace in the Middle East. The Palestinians do not deserve what they have been going through since 1948! And this wish does not mean I support Hamas.

6. A phrase from your book or a book you like?

“The opposite of a civilised society is a creative one”. Albert Camus from his essay “Summer in Algiers”.

7. Recent and future publications?

In 2024 I have edited a collection of poetry in Maltese on Gaza. And also I published a collection of poems with Ahmed Miqdad, a poet from Gaza. The profits from the sale of these two books have been donated to Gaza. I am now also editing a collection of poems in English by international poems on Gaza and Palestine. Again, the money from the sales of this collection will be donated to Gaza. The book will be published later this year by Horizons in Malta and Daraja Press in Quebec.

Thank you so much.. …. EVA Petropoulou Lianou Author Poet Greece

Financial Literacy and Saving Money: A Path to a Prosperous Future

Murodjon Asomidinov is the son of Farkhod

Tashkent region, Bostonliq district,

 9^th grade student of a specialized school

                                                  Abstract

Financial literacy and saving are crucial elements for ensuring personal financial well-being in today’s rapidly changing economic environment. This article examines the concept of financial literacy, its importance, and the role of saving in paving the way to a prosperous future. It discusses the importance of making informed financial decisions, the impact of saving on individual economic stability, and the significance of investing for long-term wealth generation. By improving financial knowledge and applying these practices, individuals not only enhance their income potential but also adapt more effectively to economic changes in society. This article provides insights into how financial literacy and saving contribute to a stable and prosperous future.

Keywords: Financial literacy, saving, investment, personal finance, economic stability, prosperous future, financial planning, goal-setting, decision-making.

Today, economic changes, various financial crises and unexpected situations force many people to face their financial situation. Thus, the importance of financial literacy and saving money has increased dramatically. Financial literacy includes not only knowledge of finance and economics, but also money management, saving and effective investing.

A high level of financial literacy enhances an individual’s ability to manage their finances, while also greatly helping to ensure future economic stability. In this, the role of saving money is also important. This article details the relationship between financial literacy and saving money, and how these processes pave the way to a prosperous future.

Financial Literacy: Meaning and Importance

Financial literacy means not only managing financial resources, but also taking a rational and knowledge-based approach to making personal and family financial decisions. Improving financial literacy also encourages people to save money, invest, manage debt and improve their financial situation.

Increase financial literacy

To improve financial literacy, one must first understand the basic concepts of finance. For example, it is important to have financial information, budget, meet tax obligations and know how to pay off debts. An understanding of developments in international financial markets, investment strategies and risk management is also essential.

Another important aspect of improving financial literacy is self-financial education. This can be achieved through distance courses, books, articles and seminars. Today, it is very easy to obtain financial knowledge through online resources, which provides a convenient opportunity to use this knowledge in various areas of life (Shamsutdinova, 2023).

Financial decision making literacy

Literacy is very important in making financial decisions. People need to analyze their income and expenses, determine the necessary savings and investment options in order to make the right decisions. For example, when creating a family budget, it is necessary to plan expenses, monitor monthly income spending and direct it to savings.

With a high level of financial literacy, people make the right decisions about saving, borrowing and investing effectively. Thus, they create a solid foundation in ensuring their well-being (Davronov, 2023).

Saving money: basic principles and methods

Saving money is an important factor in ensuring financial stability. Through the habits of saving money, a person not only improves his current financial situation, but also prepares himself against unpleasant situations that may arise in the future.

Basic principles of saving

The first and most important principle of saving money is accurate planning of income and expenses. It is necessary to spend a certain part of the earned income on savings every month. To achieve this goal, it is important to correctly estimate monthly expenses and income. For example, you should spend 20-30% of your monthly income on savings. For this, it is recommended to classify costs and reduce unnecessary costs (Karimov, 2022).

Another important principle of saving is to create an emergency fund. It is very important to accumulate the necessary amount of savings for unexpected situations such as emergency funds, illness or job loss.

There are several effective ways to save money. One of the most common methods is budgeting and tracking expenses. By having a clear view of their income and expenses, a person will be able to reduce unnecessary expenses.

In addition, using the automatic saving method is also effective. For example, a certain amount of income can be automatically transferred to the fund every month. This method is especially convenient for individuals who require responsible financial management.

Investing is also important as part of financial literacy and saving money. Through investments, it is possible not only to increase current savings, but also to create sources of passive income.

There are many different ways to invest. The most common types of investments are stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. Each type of investment has its own risks and benefits. Therefore, before investing, it is necessary to analyze the market and get financial advice (Shamsutdinova, 2023).

Stocks are investments in shares of companies. By buying shares, individuals can share in the company’s profits. Also, bonds are another form of investment, which means betting on debt bonds issued by various organizations.

Investment and risk management

Before investing, an investor should determine his level of risk. Risk management plays an important role in financial literacy. It is possible to reduce the risk of an investment portfolio by means of diversification (dividing investments into different assets).

Road to a prosperous future

Financial literacy and saving money is one of the most important tools for personal and family well-being. They help maintain a solid financial position in a changing economic environment. Through personal financial management and effective investing, everyone has the opportunity to make their future sustainable.

Summary

Financial literacy and saving money are important in everyone’s life. Together, these two elements play an important role in ensuring personal well-being. By increasing financial knowledge and developing saving habits, one can improve not only the current financial situation, but also the future. It is also important to increase income through effective investment and risk management. Thus, by becoming financially literate and saving money, everyone can take steps towards a prosperous future.

                                           List of references:

1.Shamsutdinova, M. (2023). Moliyaviy savodxonlikni oshirish: Amaliy yondashuv. Toshkent: Iqtisodiyot nashriyoti.

2.Karimov, R. (2022). Tejash va investitsiya qilishning asosiy tamoyillari. Toshkent: Moliya va iqtisodiyot.

3.Davronov, B. (2023). Moliyaviy qarorlar qabul qilishda savodxonlikning o’rni. Tashkent: O’zbekiston iqtisodiyoti.

MY LIFE IN TORNADO ALLEY

--came screaming
through my home
upending it all
in an instant
and then

left
my tattered vacuum
behind, forever--

:the wind and the women

BENEFICE

At my baptism feast
I was immersed
adorned in gown and turban.

The host, swollen with yeast
and drunk with thirst,
cavorted like a merman.

I thrust my jolly priest
into your church
and delivered my sermon.

Hallelujah!


BIRTH-GROWTH-DEATH

We wear our trinity within:
Birth Growth Death.

We place our lots
between these dots:
Birth Growth Death.

Expand the beginning, then end.



Though by zeroes
we are enclosed
--Birth Growth Death--

we still contain infinities.
Birth Growth Death.

I, BIBLIOPHILE

One wife memorized Solomon
to reminisce our marriage.
And another remembered Spenser
in bequest to our sons.
And my mistress archived Milton
to remind me of my sin.
If only I’d had more lovers
I’d have read more libraries.


O FORMER LOVERS

What did you do n my life? Were you the butcher or the bride? My savior? A suicide?
O countess, accountant, or clown: the one who talked all my airplanes down?
Forgotten parents, let's make amends.
(Or is my asking a form of revenge?)
You wanted straighten, I wanted bend.
The times I broke out, where were you then?
hi ho rally ree, hi ho rally ree
hi ho hi ho hi ho rally ree
O life, you're a fife
that plays out of tune.I plug my ears shut
but still hear your song.
Hi ho hi ho rally ree
O former lovers can't we be friends?
So many starting lines only dead ends.
Snippets of love songs lost to the winds.
O former loved ones, why not be friends?
hi ho rally ree, hi ho rally ree
hi ho hi ho hi hom rally ree
Life is a wife
who's made out of tongue,
Who talks while I fuck—
just on on and on,,,
hi ho hi ho rally ree
 O unborn bastards, shall we pretend?
Could we have saved some instead of just spend?
Why can't the onces becomee once agains?
Quit filling rivers with corpses and cans.
Hi ho hi ho hi ho rally ree
O — life is a knife
and it's nine feet long.
We're stuck in the gut
And then we are gone.
hi ho hi ho  rally ree
In your life, what was I? Just one more endless hammer on the anvil of your nights?
Rusty dull umbilical scissors? Unspooled string to your puffed up kite?

Madagascar

He loved dogs, but he didn’t want to deal with the responsibility of owning one, on top of which the concept of  “owning” an animal made him uncomfortable. But he’d always stop to pet a friendly dog on the street or in a shop, and he’d jump at the chance to board a traveling friend’s dog for a few days, even weeks.

His wife was somewhat indifferent to dogs, but she always welcomed the temporary visitor, as long as he did the feeding and walking. She was even happy to steal the occasional stomach pat, or to receive a brief lick.

The friend’s dog, a medium-sized male of unknown lineage, was called Winslow. The friend referred to it as That Winslow Boy whenever it did something naughty.

He was walking Winslow one morning when a passing neighbor said, “Oh, got yourself a dog?”

“Just for a couple of weeks,” he said. “I’m caring for him while his owner is in Madagascar.” He regretted having said “owner.”

“Oh, Madagascar, marvelous!” the neighbor exclaimed, and went on to tell him, in voluminous detail, about her own trip to Madagascar the year before.

Hard Times

He received a phone call, out of the blue, from a childhood friend he hadn’t seen or spoken to in decades. This friend had fallen on hard times and was “reaching out” to his old buddies.

He had fond memories of the guy and did want to help, so he asked, “How can I help?”

“I could use a place to stay,” the friend said.

Oh, no, that was out of the question. Not only would his wife never stand for it, neither would he.

“I’d love to help, but we don’t have the space,” he told the friend.

“I understand,” the friend said. There was a pregnant pause and then the friend said, sheepishly, “Maybe you could help me out with a little money for a motel?”

Should he suggest the friend find a shelter, or would that be an insult? Sure he could afford to give his friend a few hundred bucks, but what happens when that runs out? What about the long term?

He told the old friend to meet him at an ATM downtown. He withdrew $500 and handed the cash to the friend.

“Thanks, this means a lot to me,” the friend said.

He was about to say, “Any time,” then he caught himself and said, “Sure.”

Endgame

Before he met his wife, in a college course on postwar European drama, where they bonded over Beckett’s Endgame, he was dating a girl named Josie, but there had been no real spark; apparently the feeling was mutual, because when he told Josie he’d met someone new, she said, simply, “OK.”

That was thirty years ago. He and his wife had not discussed Beckett for the past twenty of them. Like most marriages.

Clawing and Crawling

Soft and kind

are

felt in another variation

when

waves confine ambition.

I can’t find what is under,

under

the many variables

hidden

under the fabric,

when the fabric

itself is hidden

under

a fabricated

lifestyle.

There are many reasons to cry.

When you lose a lover

who was a friend

but

the intimacy is missed

not the closeness.

Purpose and destruction

seek

comfort

from reasoning.

Problems

which serve deceit well

come to mind.

There are scars across the eyes,

across the miles

and though merit

is sacrificed for appearance

you can hear

the laughter from those

who know you.

I

am an actor,

and by no means

a dancer.

I

yield vicariously

to sermons

and

pretend to come alive.

I

have found

the womb of the soul

favors

deception

and

it is easier to demand

than to

take notice.

To gamble with God,

know that

the devil wins.

You must

fall to your knees

clawing and crawling,

until

a voice inside your head

screams,

“Just wake up.”

Philip received his M.A. in Psychology from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. He has published five books of poetry, Mirror Images and Shards of Glass, Dark Images at Sea, I Never Finished Loving You, Falls from Grace, Favor and High Places, and Forever Was Never On My Mind. Three novels, Caught Between (Which is also a 24-episode Radio Drama Podcast https://wprnpublicradio.com/caught-between-teaser/), Art and Mystery: The Missing Poe Manuscript and Far From Here. Philip also has a column in the quarterly magazine Per Niente. He enjoys all things artistic.