Breaking the silence: A girl`s story
To every girl who has ever been told “you can’t”- this is for you.

• Author: Baxshilloyeva Nigina Bahodir qizi
  (01.01.2026)
• “Imagine being born into a world full of invisible walls — walls that tell
  you where to go, what to dream, and how loud you may speak. Now
  imagine breaking through them to find your own voice“.
  This is not the story of an ordinary girl. This is the story of a girl who found her voice amidst silence. From the moment she was born, invisible walls surrounded her: because she was a girl, her world was “too small” and her dreams were considered “too big”.
  
• For a long time, she accepted these walls as natural, because everyone around her seemed to live within them. Yet, deep inside, questions began to form. And it is that very question — quiet, persistent, impossible to ignore — that changes everything.
  
• Think about:
  If you had grown up in the same environment, would you have noticed these walls?
  
• Days passed, and the walls seemed taller, stronger and louder. Every “you can’t” and “you shouldn’t” echoed in her ears. She felt small. Invisible. Forgotten.
  
• Yet in the quietest corners of her mind, a whisper began. A tiny, trembling voice, almost afraid to exist, yet undeniably there. “Why must I stay inside these walls?” it asked.
  She started to notice things others didn’t — the way her dreams refused to shrink, the way her laughter refused to fade, the way her questions refused to die. And for the first time, she realized something powerful: these walls weren’t her world. They were
  someone else’s rules.
  
• One day, she reached for a notebook, her pen trembling in her hand. She wrote down every dream, every question, every desire that had been locked away. Words poured out like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. And slowly, the walls began to crack.
  
• Every time she spoke up, every time she tried, the walls shook a little more. Every “no” she heard became fuel, not a chain. With each step, the girl was no longer just surviving — she was beginning to exist. Fully. Freely. Loudly.
  
• And then, one morning, she realized she had done the impossible: she had found her voice. Not the quiet, hidden voice that whispered in corners — but a voice strong enough to shake the world, gentle enough to heal and fearless enough to inspire.
  
• To every girl reading this: the walls around you are real, but so is your voice. You are not too small. Your dreams are not too big. You have a fire inside that no one can dim.
  Speak. Sing. Write. Paint. Dance. Question. Challenge. Break. Build. Every time you do, you are shattering limits, not just for yourself, but for the girls who will follow you.
  
• Your voice matters. Your dreams matter. And your courage is louder than any wall. So keep going. Keep fighting. Keep finding your voice — because the world is waiting to hear it.
• “This motivational piece is small and simple, and I’m not even sure if it can really be called a story, but if even a little part of it has touched your heart or given you a bit of inspiration, I’m truly happy.

Baxshilloyeva Nigina Bahodir qizi
Peshku Specialized School, Bukhara

National certificates:
• Multi-level (English): C1
• Mother Tongue and Literature: A
• History: B
• Mathematics: C+

• IELTS Academic: 7.0

Awards & Achievements:
• Winner of “Ingliz tili bilimdoni – 2024”
• 1st place in English and Uzbek language at district Olympiads
• Prize-winner of UBS subject Olympiad (English)
• Holder of multiple certificates of appreciation and excellence
• Early admission student with a total score of 189 points
• Appeared on “Istiqlol TV”

Activities:
• Founder of “Englishblog_nb” where she teaches English free of charge to younger learners
• Participant of several educational camps and training programs, including “English for IT”
• Actively involved in social, volunteer and street educational activities
• Experienced in Telegram channel management related to education and media

Interests:
• Learning foreign languages
• Reading fiction and literature
• Piano playing and chess
• International education opportunities and teaching

The Sheets

A guy is cleaning his 

Hotel room

In Colombo

He’d rather not be here

But he just got back

From a long walk

And so he’s

Reading a newspaper

While the guy cleans

There are a few

Small yellowish marks

On his sheets

Given his food positioning situation

He’s not quite sure

What those marks are

And the guy asks 

If he’d like fresh sheets

And he says yes

And he feels embarrassed

About his loss of control

And the consequences.

Taylor Dibbert is a poet in Washington, DC. He’s author of, most recently, “On the Rocks.”

Plea

I have nothing to say to the dead

for they are evidence of my broken prayer.

God, I have nothing to say to these broken-winged birds

for they are evidence of the fear stitched 

into the fabric of my existence.

But Lord, I have come to the threshold of my doubt,

let me not be barren of your mercy. 

Let the dawn of my grief not break 

for I am a fragile vessel holding a breath.

If I am lucky to survive my morning, 

let the sun scorch away every hatred I hold in my heart 

for my neighbor. When the curtain of the night falls, 

may my couch not mock me of loneliness.

I have known pain, and a bit of betrayal. Yes. 

Caress this sinking heart with the finger of love. 

Lord, are you listening? Let me not tread

on the knife-edge of anger and burn this little joy 

I own. Let my ignorance grow a wild patience 

to know your will. Send me a sign.

Maybe a dove perching on the hill of my weariness. 

Speak a word, Lord, to the bones of my dead faith 

& let them breathe again, like Lazarus. Amen.

Sarah Adeyemo, SWAN IX, is a Nigerian poet, editor, writer, and spoken word artiste. The debut author of The Shape of Silence, a micro chapbook. She draws inspiration from solitude and experiences. She is a fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship. Sarah has published/forthcoming work on Pepper Coast Magazine, The Weeds Review, Akpata Magazine, The Shallow Tales Review, The Muse Journal, The Weganda Review, Everscribe Magazine, Afrillhill Press, TV-63 Magazine, Poems for Persons Interest, Northern Writers Forum Journal, Eboquills, Rinna Lit. Anthologies, and elsewhere.

Routine

Enchanted mornings 

on a fair twilight.

The fading moon

is blanketed by misty clouds,

so are the stars

that are coated for a few hours hiatus.

Dawn approaches with its promise 

of a brighter day.

The erosion of slumber sets in

with a hymn and our Lord’s prayer.

The day ahead, with a hopeful gaze

stretches beyond my optimistic expectations, with a drab end at the setting of the grinning sun.

‘The day is over’ it says

Tomorrow is another day.

Another day of routine hopes

with its attendant drabness.

A routine of expectations of an entire lifetime in the dull-coloured decades of seventy, eighty, ninety, hundred, as our strength endures until the sun finally sets.

To You, O God 

Your reflection dwells in the eyes of the spiritual. 

I seek You, O God — 

tirelessly, in the silence of morning, in a drop of dew, 

in the breath that awakens with the dawn. 

I search for You 

in the touch of the wind, 

in the bird that sings unseen, 

in thoughts that fall silent 

while the heart speaks. 

I know, 

You are everywhere — 

in the gaze of the beggar, 

in the smile of the wise, 

in the hush of the temple, 

and in the clamor of life. 

When I kneel, 

it is not before the world, 

but before Your eternal goodness. 

When I weep, 

I do not fear sorrow — 

for I know You are in every tear. 

To You, O God, 

I offer this verse, 

let it be a bridge 

between my being 

and Your eternity.

Maja Milojković was born in Zaječar and divides her life between Serbia and Denmark. In Serbia, she serves as the deputy editor-in-chief at the publishing house Sfairos in Belgrade. She is also the founder and vice president of the Rtanj and Mesečev Poets’ Circle, which counts 800 members, and the editor-in-chief of the international e-magazine Area Felix, a bilingual Serbian-English publication. She writes literary reviews, and as a poet, she is represented in numerous domestic and international literary magazines, anthologies, and electronic media. Some of her poems are also available on the YouTube platform.

Maja Milojković has won many international awards. She is an active member of various associations and organizations advocating for peace in the world, animal protection, and the fight against racism. She is the author of two books: Mesečev krug (Moon Circle) and Drveće Želje (Trees of Desire). She is one of the founders of the first mixed-gender club Area Felix from Zaječar, Serbia, and is currently a member of the same club. She is a member of the literary club Zlatno Pero from Knjaževac, and the association of writers and artists Gorski Vidici from Podgorica, Montenegro.

In This Life

I only have a face,

I have no arms or legs,

I am like a baobab tree,

I have already sold my heart and organs in the swamp,

Now only a shadow remains,

Even the shadows are blurred in the dust.

I am dust floating in the air,

I am hanging in the air like a baobab tree,

I have been looking for myself upside down for a thousand years,

I store the language of water in my thick stem,

I only speak the language of water in the air.

I am looking for someone,

Everyone is lost somewhere,

We are lost in the deepest sea,

In a corner of the universe that no one knows,

In the darkest forest of conscience,

I am a cursed creature wandering lost.

My head has switched to a silent movie-like dead mode,

Not even a spark remains,

Now my brain does not send signals of emotion.

The world is filled with pictures of blood everywhere,

The world is filled with screams everywhere,

My vision is dry,

They are also looking for someone with empty eyes like me,

In this life,

I only own the face.

————-

이번 생에서

— 한성례

나는 얼굴만 소유했다

나는 팔도 없고 다리도 없다

나는 바오밥나무 같다

습지에서 이미 심장과 장기를 팔아버렸다

이젠 그림자만 남았다

그림자조차 먼지 속에서 흐물흐물하다

나는 공중을 떠도는 먼지다

나는 바오밥나무처럼 허공에 매달려 있다

천년동안 거꾸로 처박혀 나를 찾고 있다

굵은 줄기에 물로 된 언어를 저장하여

허공에서 물 같은 언어만 구사한다

나는 누군가를 찾고 있다

다들 어딘가에서 길을 잃었다

우리는 가장 깊은 바다에서

아무도 모르는 우주의 한 모퉁이에서

양심의 가장 어두운 숲에서 길을 잃었다

길을 잃고 헤매는 저주받은 생물이다

머릿속이 무성영화처럼 먹통 모드로 전환되었다

불꽃 하나 남아 있지 않아

이제 뇌는 감동의 신호를 보내지 않는다

세상은 도처에 피 흘리는 사진들로 가득하다

세상은 도처에 비명소리로 가득하다

내 시야는 메말랐다

그들도 나처럼 텅 빈 눈으로 누군가를 찾고 있다

이번 생에서 

나는 얼굴만 소유했다