Announcing that contributor Michael Steffen has a new book out, I Saw My Life.

About I Saw My Life: From the saying “I saw my life flash before my eyes”, the book’s title announces thresholds, things and moments of arrest and luminosity, resplendent, but also shocking as a near-death experience might be, and fleeting as any flash may be. The stars in their constellations at night glimpsed up through leaves of a tree, the drama of a scull tipped in a powerful mid-river current, a woven shopping handbag, such objects in their places and handling evoke the weights and sensations revisiting the body in reflective memory, at the heart of poetry’s deeply personal yet widely shared and recognized expressions.

It’s available for review from Lily Poetry Review’s press.

This month’s issue rides high on a wave, surging towards us with a theme of Fluidity.

Some contributors literally speak of water. Eva Lianou Petropoulou personifies the creatures of the sea as she calls for an end to litter and pollution. Xoʻjyozova Dildora discusses environmental damage to the Aral Sea and efforts to restore the ecosystem. Elaine Murray celebrates the wonder of the ocean, wishing to become a mermaid. Brian Barbeito recollects being stung by a jellyfish, resting, and turning out okay in time, comforted by natural and literary beauty. Later, he celebrates the seafaring-inspired writing of Joseph Conrad.

Others address different aspects of life that can feel fluid, such as light and vast open landscapes. Juan Vadillo’s review describes Beatriz Saavedra Gastélum’s poetry collection, “Lucid Breath of Light,” as a journey exploring light in its various forms, memories, and transformations. Mesfakus Salahin immerses himself into nature and creativity. Stephen Jarrell Williams’ serene piece evokes a feeling of gentle tranquility. JoyAnne O’Donnell meditates on a pleasant afternoon outside in a meadow. Sheikha A.’s short, lyrical pieces use vivid imagery and concise language to evoke a range of natural and serene scenes. Sayani Mukherjee celebrates the beauty and splendor of an outdoor festival. Yee Leonsoo’s poems use extreme natural places (a salt desert and a deep-sea sinkhole) to explore identity, memory, and the feeling of in-between-ness. Mark Young’s geographies creatively mutate random regions of Australia into works of art.

We can also perceive time as more fluid than linear. Chuck Taylor explores the idea of the “now” and how it can be captured in words, considering the brief moments between perception and recording. Barbaros İrdelmen’s pieces intertwine ordinary images with themes of love and loss to explore how human connection, memory, and longing persist within and against time’s flow. Kareem Abdullah speaks of love, longing, and memory. Mustafa Abdulmalek Al-Sumaidi reminds us that we are all mortal. Abdel Iatif Moubarak renders up a tale of a singer’s faded glory still piercing the darkness of night.

One’s personality and attitudes also morph and shift over the years. Sevara Matnazarova outlines how her personality and outlook on life changed as she grew older. Susie Gharib’s work addresses authenticity, self-expression, and a desire for a more compassionate and peaceful existence. John Grey’s work explores vulnerability and resilience within the human (and natural) experience. Elisa Mascia’s pieces draw upon changeable natural phenomena such as wind and butterflies to dramatize introspective and emotive explorations of love, loss, and transformation. Yeon Myung-ji’s poem uses the act of shelling beans as a rich metaphor for introspection, resilience, and the quiet, often overlooked, processes of life and growth. Duane Vorhees’ poems explore themes of love, identity, and transformation, often blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Nattie O’ Sheggzy delves into the complexities of simple things and searches for meaning, beauty, and authenticity in a chaotic and often dissonant world.

A whole set of poems by Niall McGrath explore themes of memory, identity, social commentary, and personal struggle, often set against the backdrop of Northern Ireland. Poet Michael Todd Steffen, interviewed by Cristina Deptula about his new book I Saw My Life, explores the intersection of personal and historical memories, identity, and mortality, aiming to inspire reflection, acceptance, and a deeper appreciation for the world around us. Lan Xin highlights how holding space for wonder and gratitude can enhance our daily lives. Kandy Fontaine’s piece mixes theater and prose, celebrating artist Tricia Warden and the intersection of art, literature, and identity, particularly in the context of feminist and queer perspectives.  Christopher Bernard kicks off the next installment of his children’s story Otherwise, a mixture of cultural thought, suspense and middle-grade energy. Tanja Vučićević describes a personal journey, both physically and emotionally, as they navigate through challenges and seek solace and salvation.

Writing can play a part in personal reflection and development. J.J. Campbell uses poetry to process his own experiences and emotions and to comment on the human condition. Yongbo Ma’s poems are reflective and introspective, exploring themes of isolation, disconnection, and the search for meaning. Manik Chakraborty wakes us up with the graceful hope of a new morning and continues to seek artistic inspiration despite abandonment from a muse. Ryan Quinn Flanagan probes ordinary life with a poet’s eye, considering the significance of even mundane objects. Jacques Fleury uses rich imagery and references to mythology and literature to highlight the owl’s dualistic nature, embodying both positive and foreboding qualities. Ananya Guha creates a place where a moment of fear and the stories told about it later blend together into a lasting personal myth, half memory, half ghost story. High school English student Reilley Andre expresses a mature perspective on life, pointing out how different people see matters from various points of view, expressing grief, and showing gratitude for his caring sister.

Some love can remain steady amid the flow of time. Gulsanam Mamasiddiqova offers up words of respect and love for her father. Mubina Botirova expresses her love and gratitude for her mother. Tursunova Mehrinoz Oybek qizi pays respect to her mother’s dedication and kindness. Gulchiroy Axmedova expresses tender sentiments of motherly care. Afrose S. celebrates childhood and urges people to protect children. Prasanna Kumar Dalai evokes the tenderness and fragility of early love. Anwer Ghani depicts a steady, tender, and elegant love. Anindya Paul speaks to a profound and intimate romantic devotion that lingers after death. Daniela Chourio-Soto expresses nostalgia through the means of scent. Yongbo Ma’s playful work also encompasses themes of love and human romantic connection.

Of course, not all love stories end happily, and loss is a part of the human condition. Leon Drake’s poems of heavy nostalgia mourn words left unspoken and relationships left unexplored. Donna Dallas speaks of trauma, monstrosity, addiction, and toxic relationships. Kassandra Aguilera’s fragmented poem explores the intoxicating and often painful dynamics of infatuation. On a broader scale, Milena Pčinjski laments the weight of a troubled world, all that could be and all that will never be. Yet, vulnerability is not necessarily weakness, but a prerequisite for change and growth.

Love and caring can also encompass more than one’s own inner circle. Several contributors discuss the fluid state of societal and international relations and advocate for peace and justice. Alan Catlin’s work highlights the human cost of war and its echoes in art and the human soul. Abigail George’s melancholic, reflective poems mourn destruction in Gaza and a personal loss. Shlok Pandey’s fictional story is a poignant portrayal of the human experience during wartime. David Kokoette describes age-old power dynamics and struggles. Mark Wyatt’s fragmented pattern poetry calls out the atrocities made possible by unquestioning obedience to religious and political dictates. Patricia Doyne mocks Donald Trump’s pursuit of grandeur as Bill Tope presents another satirical take on Trump’s proposed arch. Staci Modisette reminds us to protect ourselves while speaking up for peace and justice. Eva Lianou Petropoulou’s gentle words are set to ethereal vocals and a drifting background melody, with an encore here. Аshurоvа Dinоrа Аnvаrqul qizi outlines the role of Uzbekistan’s National Center for Human Rights.

Cultural and world history might seem static, but it can also be fluid in the sense that we remember it differently, or remember different aspects of it, over time. What and how we remember can have repercussions in the present. Lan Anh, a Vietnamese economics student in Germany, illustrates the intricate web of relationships between nations, economies, and people, highlighting the invisible boundaries that connect and impact lives in unseen ways. Muhammadyusuf Kozimjonov outlines the historical and cultural development of Uzbekistan. Joseph Ogbonna revels in the intriguing cultural and political history of the island of Corsica. Nozima Gofurova describes the cultural treasures she saw during her tour of Uzbekistan’s Center for Islamic Education. Jernail S. Anand encourages us to look to wise examples from history to create the world we would like to see.

Tasneem Hossain celebrates the richness of the world’s heritage of dance. Federico Wardal highlights an upcoming star-studded event in Rome celebrating Dante Aligheri which will be attended by cinema and theater luminaries. Yatti Sadelli reviews Dr. Bashir Issa Al-Shirawi’s poetry, highlighting his theme of the inner strength and resilience of the world’s women. Emmanuel Chimezie, Nigerian poet and founder of Poets’ Workshop (Global), interviews Egyptian poet Abdel Latif Moubarak about how life in Cairo shapes poetry, delving into themes of darkness, inequality, and identity.

Language and literature are part of world culture as well as a bridge among various cultures. Nozimova Shukrona highlights the value and importance of reading as a way to learn and participate in global thought. Jernail S. Anand urges readers to nourish our minds as well as our bodies, with a well-chosen and varied diet. Tursunaliyeva Zilolaxon celebrates the value of books, literature and libraries. Joseph Nechvatal’s review of Rus Khomutoff’s poem “Kaos Karma” examines the work as an abstract machine that combines literature and chaos magick philosophy, exploring themes of multiplicity, singularity, and the relationship between poetry and passion. Yulduz Kurbоnоvа explores how courtesies embedded in the Uzbek language can get lost in translation to other tongues. Delo Isulfi pays tribute to Rohini Kumar Behera, reflecting on his poetry, highlighting Behera’s themes of peace, gratitude, and nature, and how they convey a sense of spirituality and universality.

Education serves as a vital site where tradition and innovation meet—a place where societies negotiate fluid continuity and change. Many contributors discuss best practices for teaching language and other subjects in school. Subanova Dilafruz discusses audio aids for young language learners. Charos Mansurova discusses the phenomenon of English “loan-words” in Korean. Azimova Nilufar Egamberdiyevna compares word structures in English and Uzbek. Pardayeva Yulduz outlines methods of English-Uzbek idiom translation. Abduraufova Nilufar Khurshidjon kizi highlights the need for parents and educators to work together to teach young children. Qurbana Mubinakhon Umidjon qizi discusses how parents and educators can cooperate to inculcate national values in Uzbek children. Usmonaliyeva Bahora Abduvali qizi explores the role of idioms in Uzbek literature. Ahadova Feruzakhon looks at ways to improve student vocabulary knowledge.

Abduhalilova Sevdora Xayrulla kizi asserts the importance of physical education in school. Isakova Mukhlisa Khusanboevna illuminates exercise as a stress reliever for students. Bakhromova Gulsanam discusses the importance of inclusive education for students with disabilities and practical ways to make that happen. Abdullajanova Shahnozals’hoqxon suggests ways to help shy language students feel more comfortable speaking up in class. Dildoraxon Turgunboyeva explores how to create nurturing and educational preschool environments. Abduhalilova Sevdora offers up a polylexical analysis of English language phraseology. Turdaliyeva Mohidil Baxtiyor qizi discusses classroom activities to enhance student vocabulary. Dildoraxon Turg’unboyeva highlights the value of dictionaries in education. Ahadova Feruzakhon suggests ways to work with vocabulary when teaching young students their native language. Shahnoza Amanboyeva points to 3D modeling and artificial intelligence as tools to enhance science classrooms.

One of education’s important social functions is to prepare students to join the workforce. The global economic landscape is continually in flux, as several contributors discuss. Satimboyeva Risolat Ilhomboy qizi outlines future prospects for job growth given emerging world technologies. Azamova Feruza Abduholiq qizi suggests ways to improve the service sector of Uzbekistan’s economy.

Turning to medicine, Mamadiyorova Durdona outlines the structure and function of the human placenta. Ashurova Parizoda explores the biological characteristics of the parasite Ascaris and its effects on the human body. Xamroyeva Shaxlo discusses the process of blood formation in the human body.

For a look at a widely discussed technology, Rahmonova Barno Kilich qizi probes the economic future of our world after the growth of artificial intelligence. Nurmatova Charosxon Pirnazar qizi also explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping education and the global economy. Toshbotirov Bekjaxon Asliddin o‘g‘li outlines useful roles for AI in the classroom. O’rinboyeva Ziynatjon Anvarbek qizi points to effects of artificial intelligence on society.

Dildora Sultonova celebrates human intelligence, singing an ode to her resplendent and resilient dreams. Eva Petropoulou Lianou interviews poet Eldar Akhadov, highlighting his optimism and respect for the next generation.

A common thread in this entire issue is the persistence of human connection in the face of change. Each contributor grapples with how individuals and communities relate to each other, to history and culture, to the natural world. Smaller scale personal narratives and larger stories intertwine as overlapping dimensions of the human story. The blending of artistic forms and styles in several works evokes the complex flowing of ideas within the creative mind, a current that dissolves rigid boundaries among ideas and cultures.

The collection suggests that while much of our lives inevitably flows and shifts with the passage of time and with cultural and technological change, the underlying human impulses to connect, to understand, and to create meaning remain constant..

I Wish I Were A Mermaid

I remember the sun glistening on the waves going down to the sea. 

I hope to see whales coming up for air.

I think of the sea horse way down the sea.,

Sea dragons gliding across the sea floor.

Even the sea plants dance with the sea.

Oh! If I could go down the sea like a little mermaid dancing around 

the coral with swaying sea weeds.

As a little mermaid I ask the seahorse for a small ride.

Oh! What beauty I could see down into the sea.

MY TASK

I row, row my skiff in your valley of waters

to script virgins into lovers.

I ordain the past to scribe cowards into heroes

and rumor the future to make sinners prophets and preachers.

Contorted within this beggardom of rules, I try to pattern stammerers into orators,

and I torture my way to Heaven while swording into Hell.

ONCE AND THEN AND NOW

I lived my youth from tower to tower.

Imagined marble turned out to be clay.

Once my arbor was fulfilled by flowers.

Then my garden filled up with weeds and toads.

Today is tomorrow’s yesterday.

Circumstances change without endeavor;

conditions, with ease. Flux is forever,

and now my life is roads

and roads and

Roads. 

A SENTRY IS NOT A PARTY

When enlisted by you

I was flagged to make war

on volumes of rebels

though naked as a syllable.

While I waited for you

to wideopen your door

and join in your revels

I squatted by your vestibule

until my body became blue.

Your promise a rumor,

“You’re next, Sir” a never,

I fasted at your festival.

CAMBRIDGE, GOODBYE AGAIN 

I’ll leave in quietude,

as quietly as I came;

I wave silent far farewell

to clouds in the western sky.

Riverside’s gold willows

are young brides at twilight;

their reflections shimmer

but remain fixed in my heart.

The weeds that grow in sludge

sway sway just beneath the ripple

of the gentle waves of Cam.

O, if I could be one weed!

The pool in the elmtree shade

holds not water but a rainbow;

refracted in duckweed

is the dream sediment’s spectrum.

A dream? Just poling upstream

to where the grass is thicker;

boat full-loaded with starlight

and singing aloud with me.

But I cannot sing loudly,

a recessional must be muted.

My summer bugs stay silemt.

Cambridge is too quiet tonight!

I’ll leave in stillness,

as quietly as I came;

flapping my sleeves like flags

won’t drive my clouds away.

–after Xu Zhimo

NEWMAN

I saw him last week

in his baseball cap and dungarees,

sitting on his Jeep.

He had just come back from Hungary.

It was quite a bit

since we’d talked, and I was eager

to know if his trips

in Europe made him any bigger.

“Well, I learned,” he said,

“that some women call poison a gift,

regard pain as bread.

In some places to make love is ‘theft,’

‘kneading dough’ in Dutch,

in Greece, ‘like riding a horse,’ in Spain

cogere (to catch),

scopare (to sweep) — that’s Milan — Germans ‘roll around,’

the Russians ‘have contempt for someone,’

the old up-and-down,

the French ‘jump.’ Ah! Linguistics — such fun!”

…

PEACE AND A PERSON’S ONLINE SAFETY

In a world where many of us use our voices

to share messages of hope, kindness, and peace,

it’s important to remember something just as meaningful: 

OUR PERSONAL SAFETY.

Speaking about peace is a beautiful and powerful act. 

It connects people across cultures, beliefs, and perspectives. 

But no message—no matter how positive—is more important 

than the well-being of the person sharing it.

If a situation online begins to feel unsafe, 

it is always okay to step back.

Choosing safety is not a failure to stand 

for peace—it is a way of protecting yourself.

We can continue to share kindness and understanding 

while also setting healthy boundaries. 

Both can exist together.

Take care of yourselves and one another—online and offline.

SILENT NOISES

Emmanuel Chimezie (Nigeria) in conversation with Abdel Latif Moubarak (Egypt)

Nigerian poet Emmanuel Chimezie, founder of Poets’ Workshop (Global), speaks with Egyptian poet Abdel Latif Moubarak about the emotional and lived reality of Cairo. The discussion moves through darkness, disappearance, inequality, silence, exhaustion, and identity. It shows how the city shapes both everyday survival and poetic expression.

What follows is a simple reflection of Cairo through poetry, presented in clear language.

1. In Cairo, power cuts are now part of daily life. How do you show this darkness in your poetry as something real people live through?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

In my poetry, darkness is not just the absence of light; it is a heavy “material” you can almost touch. I write about the sound of light switches flipped in vain, the scent of candles dragging us back to previous centuries, and phone screens becoming “lonely lanterns” in living rooms. Darkness here is the space where time stops and a forced, quiet intimacy begins.

2. When street vendors are suddenly removed from the streets, how do you write about people who disappear from public life?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

I write about them through the “void” they leave behind. A street vendor is not just a seller; they are a vital part of the street’s geography. When they disappear, I describe the cold pavement and the phantom cries of their trade that still echo in the memory of passersby. Writing about them is an attempt to reclaim their presence in the “public soul” through words.

3. Cairo has rich new buildings and very poor old areas. How do you describe these two very different cities living side by side?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

I describe Cairo as a “patched body,” where the polished glass of modern administrative towers brushes against the rust of ancient balconies. I use visual contrast: the shimmer of a gated community behind high walls versus the dust of alleys where laundry is hung to dry. It is a city living in “parallel timelines” simultaneously.

Abdel Latif Moubarak

4. As rent keeps going up, do you think silence is becoming a way people cope? How does that silence appear in your poetry?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

Silence here isn’t peace; it is a “forced muteness.” In my poetry, it appears as broken sentences or doors closed slowly to avoid notice. This silence is the “stifled scream” within walls we no longer have the luxury of belonging to—it is the language of fearing tomorrow.

5. Cairo traffic takes so much time every day. How do you write about the stress and tiredness of daily travel?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

I write about “wasted time” as if it were a life leaking through one’s fingers. I describe faces reflected in bus windows, tired eyes staring into nothingness, and the roar of engines becoming the “soundtrack” to nervous tension. Daily travel in Cairo is a fishing expedition for hope in a sea of metal.

6. In crowded homes where people can hear each other through thin walls, how do you think privacy exists anymore?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

Privacy in Cairo has become strictly “internal.” We live in a “collective soundscape” where a neighbor’s crying child is part of your dinner table. I write about privacy as a secret whispered in an ear, or a fantasy one escapes to when closing their eyes in a crowd. Walls are no longer barriers; they are “pores” that breathe the lives of others into our own.

7. Cairo streets are loud, but many people are struggling. How do you show both joy and hardship at the same time in your poetry?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

This is the “magic of Cairo.” I write about the loud laugh that erupts from a chest heavy with debt; the wedding held in a narrow alley where people dance atop their sorrows. Joy in my poems is an “act of resistance,” and hardship is the “canvas” that gives that joy its brilliance and meaning.

8. Many young people escape into the internet. How does this change the way you write and express real life?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

The internet has created an “alternative Cairo.” I write about the fragmentation of reality; a young man sits in a crumbling traditional café while his mind wanders through New York or Paris. This disconnect changes my language—it becomes more fragmented and rapid, mirroring the “scrolling” motion on a smartphone screen.

9. In Cairo, people often change how they live just to survive. Do you think identity is stable or always changing?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

Identity in Cairo is “fluid.” We shed our skins every morning to meet the demands of survival. I don’t believe in a fixed identity in a city as turbulent as a hurricane. We are a collection of “compromises” and “small victories” that ultimately form a unique Cairene face unlike any other.

10. If Cairo could talk like a person, what do you think it would say about its people today?

Abdel Latif Moubarak

If the stones of Cairo could speak, they would say: “I am weary from the weight of your broken dreams, yet I still breathe because of your stubbornness. You are harsh with me because you love me, and I am harsh with you because I no longer know how to protect you.”

Closing Remark

This conversation presents Cairo as a place full of contrasts—silent yet loud, broken yet alive. Through poetry, the city becomes both witness and voice, carrying the emotions of its people in every form of struggle and survival.

Meadows Peace 

In the meadow peace and sunlight glows

A quiet hush between what comes and grows, 

The soft grass sways in a calm release 

All the day feels wrapped in a peaceful peace, 

A gentle wind begins to stay

Whispering summers secrets through the sway,

Each petal glistens, calm and free

Moved by the cool breeze in harmony,

No hurried step, birds singing natures sound,

Stillness settling all around 

Where hearts can rest and thoughts cease,

Then life becomes a meadow’s peace.

The sea

Once upon a time..

The sea Once a sailor asked a dove, how is it to fly? and the dove answered, you ask me because you are every day at sea and with your strong boat you tear the waves in two. You have a brave crew and you are not afraid of storms.. Meanwhile I just fly, sometimes low, sometimes high, but I always meet clouds and planes, nothing exciting. You tell me about your adventures… So said the dove and the sailor, who was the captain of a boat, began to tell about the nights with the full moon and the mermaids crying on the reefs burnt with orange and red coral, to weep for their sisters or for the fortunes of travelers

and the stars twinkle merrily high up there in the firmament of heaven. Years ago there lived a dolphin in the waters of the Atlantic and sang and played with the other dolphins of his tribe, until one day he woke up and nothing was the same as before. Everything changed in his neighborhood, they were found to have plastic bottles and tons of tires in every coral cave, the algae got sick and the dolphins got stuck in the deepest caves. -But what’s going on? The sea became sick, the ocean became infected, the mullets answered him as they also passed by, looking for better and cleaner waters. – The sea got sick, but that doesn’t happen, the sea is a living organism

with the power of self-healing, it has iodine and phosphorus and salt, thought the dolphin… deciding to rise to the surface, to go and see up close what exactly happened. As soon as he climbed a little higher, he saw a terrifying sight, plastic bags and bottles were floating, and tires from cars and another pile of garbage. The dolphin started swimming back and forth restlessly and doing somersaults. It’s all true, he said over and over again. The sea became sick and filled with rashes and sores. I have to find a solution, but how can I? I’m small and ….. as he thinks he saw the careta careta  turtle carelessly swimming around, looking for food. I will ask about this careta careta  turtle..

she will be able to help me, since she often rises to the surface to give birth to her young, he thought and quickly made hasty movements with his tail, to reach her.. – What are you saying, did Thalassa get sick? the loggerhead turtle grimaced as he munched on a seaweed, Since when; Does he have a high fever? Let’s vacuum her, he replied and continued swimming towards a more fertile ground that also had plankton. – Suction cups, what is that again? These elders talk with incomprehensible words and never explain the inexplicable to us… all their philosophies and then… we , the new generations we are   lost  and we don’t know what we should do to find solutions!!!!

Lady Turtle Caretta – Caretta , I don’t want tips or suction cups, i need help….The Sea got sick and filled with rashes, and sores . We need to find a medical help, look around you, and  stop chewing.

..The loggerhead turtle stopped munching and looked around, facing a macabre sight, with plastic bags on every coral reef and plastic bottles lying on the bottom, and car tires blocking the entrance to  the main door of  homes of  the Smyrna , of the  

crabs and  the starfish and a  chaos was everywhere… .

Those aren’t viruses, the turtle said flatly and continued munching on her seaweed. – Isn’t it a virus? and how do you know that, wondered the dolphin – I just know it, and I also know who is responsible for this downfall… Probably the people are responsible!!! 

– People?

what is this, swamp fish? asked the dolphin in wonder – No, they are not swamp fish, 

people are people.

 They are different from us because they can stand and walk with their feet and move outside the water, they breathe and live by eating each other.. but also us , the fishes and other animals, but they don’t know how to hide their garbage, to recycle it, like we do , and  they just through their carbage into the sea. They did that.

I have a bad experience with them, I see how they treat me and my children when I go to the surface to give birth. They are monsters!!!- The dolphin was scared but said determinedly, monsters or dragons, I will go fight them and send them back their garbage. The dolphin  said  and swam angrily towards an unknown direction.

after months it was heard in the dolphin family that a small gray dolphin was caught in a fisherman’s net and died like a hero. They said it was found, swimming on the surface and very close to coasts and cities.

They said that every night he carried plastic bottles with his snout and left them on the beach, in the morning the people who went to the beach found mountains of plastic bottles and plastic bags waiting for them and they frowned and shouted and made faces and were very annoyed because they couldn’t bathe or sunbathe and they went to the beginning and asked the Municipality to clean up the waste, because some unconscious people threw it on the shore, and it prevents them from sitting comfortably or drinking their coffee, they couldn’t from the stench .

The municipality called the garbage trucks and collected 3 truckloads of plastic, and he didn’t know where to take it, since he himself knew that plastic doesn’t dissolve easily and takes thousands of years to decompose, but wherever he throws it or buries it , it will be harmful to the environment.. .However the whole story was, he ordered the trucks of waste to be taken to the dump and melted down. . Every night the dolphin continued to carry whatever plastic bag or other plastic he found thrown on the bottom and in the yard of the dolphin’ s house.

He also carried bottles and tin cans of soft drinks, he had also found friends, and the caretta-caretta turtle, and a couple of octopuses were coming to help him in this whole business. But no matter how much they emptied the bottom and how much they tried, the next day, they still found empty plastic bottles buried in the sand and mixed with their food. Yesterday, the Whale almost swallowed a soft drink cap and a small plastic spoon, they didn’t know where all this dirt was coming from, until one day, the loggerhead turtle, who was around the world, explained to them that this was garbage of the human and throw all   into all the seas.

All the fish have moved out of their caves and gone to other coral caves to stay. The loggerhead turtle said that the seas have no more plankton and much of the algae has been poisoned. – But we can’t live like this, in uncertainty and misery, said the dolphin angrily. We have to show them, that we are down here living with our families and the sea is getting sicker day by day. – And what should we do? Asked the turtle,

 they have destroyed everything  the forests and the air. They will never  stop …now they will destroy the sea.

– Should we act, should we send a message to these people? – But how; The turtle once said. There are many of them and they don’t speak the same language as us. They don’t understand us. – They understand us, insisted the dolphin. There are some of them, the little people who understand us. I feel it. We need to alert the little people to help us. To stop throwing their garbage into our sea. We will find a way. We have to if we want to stay alive and with clean seas. – How are you so sure? Caretta-caretta turtle replied. – Some time ago I traveled with my family to see distant relatives,

– our dolphin cousins, who live on a piece of land that is washed by the sea. There I had a strange encounter with a small man, I guess, I didn’t know what kind of animal it was, because I didn’t understand his speech and he didn’t come to the sea, only I was approaching the shore… – You’re still alive, you were lucky. People usually kill dolphins and all other fish, either for food or to make fertilizers for their skin. Monsters I tell you, I know them well, who am forced to wait long nights for them to leave, so that I can go lay my eggs and then I quickly run away and leave the unfortunates to their fate… They are all monsters, continued the Caretta turtle

– -I believe in this little man, he didn’t hurt me, nor did he try to imprison me. We played very often and he taught me many tricks too, I will try to find him and give him a message, the dolphin continued his thoughts optimistically.

.If I manage to get to shore again, there will be a way to send him a message. So I’ll tell you, people spend hours at the sea, on days when it’s always sunny. They sit lying down, and sometimes they turn to the right, sometimes to the left, on huge quilts, I often see them, said the turtle-caretta-caretta. It will be your only chance to send them a message, but only to the little people. I will tell you what you will do, you will find a glass bottle, it will surely be there near the coral reefs, you will bring it here and tell the seahorses and the cuttlefish to come to my house. –

. – But for what reason? He asked the surprised dolphin.-I have an idea, the turtle said meaningfully and continued to chew her seaweed. So it happened, when the sun’s rays were no longer visible, they all gathered in the coral cave of the caretta-caretta turtle. She opened her desk and took two feathers and a piece of paper, she told the cuttlefish to put as much force as she could and blow her ink over the feathers, she began to write and write on this paper and when she had finished folded and put them in the glass bottle that the dolphin holds for them. He turned to the seahorses and told them in a determined voice, now you know what to do.

The sea-horses galloped away with the bottle fastened between them, they swam for some time, until it was daylight when they reached a shore. With an acrobatic figure, they threw the glass bottle towards the shore and it went and got stuck, between some deckchairs, where a family was. A child who was carelessly playing with his buckets a little further, went to collect stones and shells and found the glass bottle. He took it and took it to his grandfather, look what I found, grandfather, a glass bottle with a message inside, it must be a treasure. Grandfather took the bottle, opened the cap and carefully took out the note and read aloud:

Here in this blue land that we inhabit, and you call the sea, we live before you are even born, before you even learn to walk, before you even know what you are?   We not disturb you ,you  not care. 

We demand

Stop throwing your trash here, 

stop throwing your plastic waste in our yard and poisoning our food. Stop right now!»

Signature 

The creatures of the sea

 Dolphins – whales – sharks

 Corals and algae