Poetry by Mykyta Ryzhykh

Poems:

***

I drink the blood of a fox who smiles at me as if 

I could someday found the capital of a huge empire

I drink the death of a fox as if 

I were grass in which the dead body will gradually drown

I drink death 

I am an unborn fox child

*

the parrot repeats after me as if my phrases are smart and mean something

the human child also repeats after me –

what for?

*

the ant’s revenge

   is a pleasant tickling 

      of my knee

*

no one died except the pig

people thank god for food

the farm is falling asleep

*

the bird outside the window 

disappears along with the drops 

of autumn rain

Reprint by Litbreak Magazine, 28.11.2023

***

I dream that mosquitoes get rid of their bloody religion and cry in pain

my red hands have become a mosquito graveyard

all night I dream of graves without flowers

Reprint by Pegasus

***

my mother counts the amount of lead and uranium in the earth’s soil

the earth is round like the earth

the sky is black like a mining night

my mom takes the button out of her stomach

father is eloquently silent

the father is not sure that he is the father

Mary is not sure about anything either

and only the baby puts his feet on the milky ground

the Magi bring gifts to the baby Jesus – gills and a gas mask

Reprint by Pegasus

***

for whom do we drink water if from heaven God brings down rain on the earth?

for whom do we live if the top angels press the wrong buttons?

it turns out that we all live on a cloud

it turns out that we are electronic rivers of rain from electronic clouds

Reprint by Ripple Lit

***

the lanterns are shining

people die

water flows

the sun is shining

flowers die

blood flows

people are still dying​

Reprint by Rise Up

***

strong

hard

sturdy

solid

fast

robust

tough

firm

beefy

hale

soldiers play birds

Reprint by Rise Up


***

My cat knows nothing about blood

My cat kills a mouse no matter what breed it is

My cat can’t be Jewish

My cat can have any hair color

My cat can vomit after overeating

My cat can lie down and die quietly in silence

My cat can fuck as much as he wants and wherever he wants

My cat can do nothing

My cat can ask for food without earning it

My cat can pretend to be human

Living people go on living in a cycle of war 

Dead people keep dying

***

Invent me 

Turn me inside out 

Kiss me with weightlessness

Touch me with humility

A little winter for a bird 

A little bird for winter

The freckled mirror dissolves

Old men stare into the reflection of the ice

Military pilots waltzing like mosquitoes

The ears that have been blown off are contused

In the reflection of the eyes hides a childhood that no longer exists

***

Mother feeds pigeons by the dugout

Black pigeons in the white snow 

Looking for crumbs of bread

***

What do they feed Jewish drowned men?

It would be strange if they fed them fish

It would be strange if they didn’t cry

It would be funny if birds flew in

It would be vague if the Germans did it

It would be funny if children did it

It would be creepy if no one stood on the shore

What the trees were thinking when the hole next to them was dug

What the sand was thinking when they put the corpses on it

What the ravine was thinking when they flooded it

The Jewish Sea which is not to be spoken of

***

I love you but you are 

a withered flower and also 

covered with frost

***

Pesach of a severed silent vein

Whose blood flowed through the ditch of world (hi)story?

Hі! – tree branches waving

Hee hee! – the roots of the legs laugh and we are not able to move

Meanwhile the bone of a severed branch crunches underfoot

It crunches somewhere in the chest so that I want to break the insides

Fragments of the pain of water and silent stones weave a wreath

Wreaths are usually put on the heads of Jesus brides ukrainian girls

Wreaths are often placed near the graves in the cemetery

And at night in a bed floating in black cast iron

I dream of flowers without graves

During the sand of time the grass underfoot dries out

Therefore instead of grass in wreaths we braid tears

Grass is our home grass is glass

After death I would like to become grass

After death I would like to become glass

After death I would like to be without legs

After all every new day is a small escape for refugees.

I know that my pupils will no longer see a children’s collage

I always knew that one day my college would be smashed

I knew that one day they would kill us all and prayed that I would die beautifully

Unfortunately I did not die although what are the reasons for living

I teach my (eyes?) pupils not to see

I teach my fictional acquaintances to forget

I teach my legs to sleep and dreams to crumble

However time devours all its bad students anyway

I can’t do anything

I can’t even write

After all what is silent poetry capable of talking 

Аbout today other than war?

Reprint by Orbis

***

Love is religion

Every time I drown in you I forget that I can’t swim

Every time I forget that the shore does not exist

Every time I use the right to remember and try to forget

The heart is leather satisfaction

Teach me to steal money not only from talent but also from the body

Teach me how to kiss people I don’t like

Teach me the night because the day is long over

Insatiable bodies fuck in all cracks

I no longer have a body

The body no longer has me

Love is walls without a ceiling in a homeless house

Reprint by Orbis

***

My dog suddenly turned blue

My friend the groomer only sparingly said that he sympathized with my grief

No doctor or zoologist could help either

The psychological support service also did not help me

The dog looked at me sadly and pressed against my leg

It’s been a day since my dog died

Exactly a day has passed since I imagine that my dog did not die, but only turned blue

Exactly a day passed like a day, I throw out the dog food from the bowl and pour a new one

My dog suddenly turned blue

***

My green throat has turned into a garden

I have to be silent a lot

I have to drink a lot so that the trees grow

I have to breathe quietly so as not to frighten the birds

I don’t want to scare those who are happy

***

Nobody counts death until nobody dies

***

summer heat secrets

shells and bullets fly instead of birds and spaceships

***

mom said

when you grow up you will live

mom lied

Essay:

two clods

1.

people living in the grave want to live. every day they collect pennies (calling this process work), study at the university (to temporarily get an exemption from army duty?), go to the grocery store and cook (although automatic robots were invented for this purpose decades ago), build a career (although it would be better for neural networks), they pay taxes on income (so that later they can look for new income for themselves (so that the state can have its own income (to pay benefits to the poor is also income). and what am I doing at the same time? I am fighting the shadow from humanity by closing eyes and creating a cast-iron darkness of blindness. і succeed: my vision is already minus three. meanwhile, the refugees leave their chicken nests and go to Europe. іn Europe, refugees, like ant queens, seek shelter. human miserable life – and this life turned out to be an escape. from where? where? at what pace? why are people still working instead of machines in mcdonalds? why is mcdonalds paid? why is the nuclear winter of dictators so expensive for slaves? humanity living in the grave wants to live.

2.

in childhood, we all often got sick, but with age we have no time to get sick or laziness. in 2022, for the first time since coming of age, my heart ached and I vomited. what are the reasons for my indignation? It turned out that the Nazis are murderers, people who love war are ordinary people who love their children and go to the same store with you. it turned out that fascists always believe that they are fighting fascism (but more often they are just interested in money). it turned out that puke is even nice – and after that there is an opportunity to fall asleep and not see anything. but during global changes, eyes are always opened. in childhood, they lied in blockbusters: the military does not always have two arms and legs, the head is not always intact, the intestines are not always hidden inside the body, the body is not always present in principle. Is it only dust that exempts you from taxes? how many years did you work and pay taxes before you died? how much money did you pay for nuclear winter? as a child, winter was considered an adventure. maybe the tode mouse finds the mousetrap fun before dying. the cat treats the mouse as its prey. but I noticed that often cats do not eat mouse corpses, but simply play with them. nature is funny even if it is shit. funny: before the war, I had practically no money. now the money is there but it is meaningless. funny: I didn’t think killing was a good thing before. now I don’t think killing is a good thing either. but it’s me, not others. a couple of years ago I was sure that the illusion of love is nutritious. now I’m sure only that love is an illusion. humanity is an illusion. Noah’s ark as in a fairy tale myth. only not a single religious character actually exists. after all: no Jesus will die in my place during the war. in the end: instead of me during the war, no Jesus will die. and it would be better if no one died. but what will kids be taught about in fucking world history classes in the future if no one dies?

Essay from Bahora Baxtiyorova

Abdurazzoq Khanov

ABDURAZZOQ KHANOV, a native of Uzbekistan

Today, one of my favorite people is “I chose Abdurazzak Khanvov.”

Despite his young age, Abdurazzoq has achieved a number of achievements (I’ll try to write it in a simple way). Abdurazzoq Khanov was born in Uzbekistan in 2006. He can be an example to the younger generation. Abdurazzoq scored 7.0 in the International IELTS test at the age of 15 and 8.0 at the age of 16. And now his IELTS score 8 (triple scores of eight)

Teacher of more than a thousand students and founder of online courses, author of valuable and useful books on IELTS.

In addition, Abdurazzok Khanov is engaged in marketing. Almost every month, he holds free seminars, trainings, master classes for his students in Uzbekistan, and shares his knowledge.

It should be mentioned that Abdurazzaq is a book lover, a well-rounded person and a good teacher for his students.

I wish Abdurazzoq Khanov, a native of Uzbekistan, only and only high flights.

“May all your goals and dreams come true Abdurazzak”

Author Bakhora Bakhtiyorova was born on March 21, 2006 in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Journalist, monologist of international American and Kenyan magazines.

Story from Nigora Tursunboyeva

Young Central Asian girl standing in front of a leafy bush at an angle. She's got a white shirt and long dark hair and a white baseball cap.

Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev

The Uzbek people have been writing works since ancient times. They are poets and writers from its soil to its leaves. One such writer is Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev. His works are distinguished by the richness of humor, the skillful description of children’s lives, their unique nature, characteristics, and spiritual experiences in an extremely vivid, interesting and childlike manner. It is no exaggeration to say that Khudoiberdi Tokhtaboyev is one of the authors who brought Uzbek children’s literature to the world level. He is a typical representative of children’s literature.

    “It is difficult to write for children, so it is not correct to say that there are few people who choose this direction. It is really difficult to write to children, to get in touch with their spirit, to say something similar to the child’s heart. It is really more difficult to write as if you are sitting down with a child in front of you and talking to him. Today, there are very few, almost non-existent works dedicated to children,” said Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev.

    Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev is a real talent. This means that his works are works of art, that is, whatever idea he wanted to realize in each of his works, this idea is fully realized in each of his works. He does not talk excessively, because this is contrary to the conditions of an artistic work, he never mixes events and persons alien to the idea of the work into his works – this is one of the main requirements of artistry. To appreciate the beauty of Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev’s works, you need to have a very sharp taste, but the person who has an eye for what is real beauty, real poetry, considers Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev to be an original artist, that is, a great talent. he knows as a writer.

      Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev has taken a place in our hearts with his educational works. From each of his works, a person gets useful and educational knowledge. He sees his mistakes through this character and tries not to repeat them. For example:

   “My sister may be upset. I love my sister, I love her very, very much, I will never hurt her, never make her cry.”

      This excerpt is from The Boy With Five Children. Through this passage, we can see Arifjon’s love for his mother. But unfortunately, not everyone has the same love for Arifjon’s mother. It is no exaggeration to say that Khudoyberdi Tokhtaboyev wanted to explain this to “Everyone”.

    We can witness such an example in the work “Jannanati Odanlar”.

   “We can’t build a bridge without cutting it. If we don’t build a bridge, people can’t cross the stream and fall into the water.”

– Great, huh? – said my grandfather.

-Excellent! – I said too.

– If it wasn’t for you, my son, I wouldn’t have finished anyway.

“That’s right, grandpa, you couldn’t finish anyway,” I said while riding the donkey…

      Then my grandfather became very ill and lay down until winter. My grandfather Ahmadqul brought honey and rubbed it on his feet, massaged it, my nanny boiled honey in milk and drank it every evening, and my aunt used to rub it on her body with strange drugs that I don’t like.

    In the excerpt from this work, we can see how Erkachol built a bridge with his grandson in the cold despite his old age to help people. And he fell into the water several times and got wet. Because of this, he becomes seriously ill. He thinks about people, not himself. It is no exaggeration to say that Khudoyberdi Tokhtabayev wanted our young people to grow up to be well-educated, kind, perfect people with the help of these works, and adults not to repeat their mistakes.

Nigora Tursunboyeva was born on February 23, 2009, in Namangan region. Currently, she is a 9th grade student of Ishakhan Ibrat creativity school. Along with writing poems and stories she can speak freely in 4 languages: English, Russian, German and Uzbek.

Essay from Odina Rustamjonova

Using public transport

Nowadays, it is becoming more and more common for people to use public transport in their daily life. Many people prefer to arrive at their destination with public transport like buses, trains, or others. However, what are the benefits of using these transports, and what are the drawbacks? In this essay, I will discuss some of the reasons why public transportation is becoming popular and try to draw some conclusions.


Let`s begin by looking at the advantages of using public transport. One of the positive sides of using them is that they are cheaper than private cars. What I mean by this is that it is more convenient for students or people who do not have money to buy their own car or use taxis. Secondly, using different kinds of public transport is more environmentally friendly. These days, you can see most people have their own vehicles, and these transports give unnecessary gases into the air. It is harmful for the earth and for our life. We should protect our planet. In addition, if we use public transport, there will be fewer traffic jams in the city. That means there will be fewer private cars or vehicles.


Another issue is that it can be unconvenient for people who need to change buses or trains to arrive at their destination. Turning to the other side of the argument, there are many people in them. Sometimes, passengers need to wait for a long time to go somewhere.  However, some public transport is very dirty, even seats, and you do not want to use them.


In conclusion, there are clearly both positives and negatives to public transportation. While using them, we can protect our nature, the Earth, because if there are not many cars, there will be less air pollution. Personally, I believe the benefits of using public transportation will eventually outweigh any negatives.

Writer: Odina Rustamjonova, student of Ishakhan Ibrat Creativity School.

Poetry from Sevinch Erkinova

Young Central Asian teen girl with short straight black hair, brown eyes, and a puffy blue jacket. She's photographed at an angle leaning left.
Sevinch Erkinova
WHO AM I? PERFECTION SEARCHING PERSON!

I am sad now, far from joy,
my heart is beating more and more trembling, maybe my sins have increased "less",
More than a nightingale that sings of sorrow.

I'm laughing, don't say I'm happy
Don't be fooled by these words.
You too will stay someday,
When sadness comes...

No, I didn't say sadness was bad.
I have no complaints about it.
I don't smile when sadness comes,
I can't beat him.

Sometimes the heart breaks intolerably,
Try not to stop crying for a moment,
Wash your heart with tears,
My friend, these words are hard to hear.

But I didn't regret a moment of life,
I lived without losing hope, beautiful
I know that death is the destiny of all,
But I prefer my reward to death, I want to leave something, I'm sick.

What kind of illness do you call it, if there is a cure, not a disease?
When a cure is found and hearts are full,
Always be happy
He wakes up every morning saying Alhamdulillah!

If I'm wrong
when my words bring tears to my eyes,
Know that weak servants always,
love you GOD!

I am not alone
I have a piece of paper, a pen,
I am writing out of my heart, sorrow, pain..
If they ask about me one day, say this moment.
Who is he?
           A person who is looking for perfection!

Uzbegoyim Erkinova Charos Elbek's daughter was born on November 13, 2008 in Navroz neighborhood of Pastdargom district of Samarkand region, now she is a 9th grade student of school 105

Essay from Dilnoza Ochildiyeva

Young Central Asian woman with long black hair up behind her head in a braid and a dark purple silk top with white floral designs at the top. She's outside near a window.

Traditional Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is one of the oldest countries in world history and a country rich in many historical places and historical events. Uzbekistan consists of 12 regions and one autonomous republic and is currently one of the developing countries in every field. Now I want to tell about the most ancient and well-known places in Uzbekistan. My hometown is Surkhandarya region where is located in southern part of the country.

According to some facts, my hometown has a long-life history  which is located next to Amudarya and is the southernmost part of our country. Our nation is strong, brave and courageous, and also still the same. Even there are many stories and fairy tales about it. For example, there are our historical heroes Barchinoy and Alpomish, these people are symbols of bravery, loyalty and love. In addition, there are many historical places in my motherland, for example, 2000-year-old buildings and their remains are still available. The most important thing to say about our people is that they are very hardworking, open-minded, kind and simple-minded people compared to other regions of Uzbekistan. Our family consist of eight people, they are my grandparents, parents, three sisters and me. Elders in our country are wise, knowledgeable and experienced people. That is why, youngsters always respect and help them also ask some some advice for difficulties in their life. Every Muslim people in the world are aware of religious people in Central Asia, one of the most person Al-Hakim at-Termiziy lived in our country and his tomb is located in my hometown.

When it comes to my education. I am third course student in higher education where located in Samarkand. I think more people around the world know about this city, because here is most famous, historical and touristic location. Thousands of tourists visit this city in a year from verity parts of the world. Especially, Samarkand is  well-known for its historical places, mosques, and madrasahs such as Registon squere, Bibikhonim mosque, Guri Amir, Shkokhi Zinda and so on. Like all of  this places are releted to Middle Ages when Amir Timur and his generations lived. By the way, this city is a country where was the capital of Amir Temur’s country.

If I tell about higher education our country that it consists of four year for bachelor degree but for Master’s degree students study for two year. I study at Samarkand state institute of foreign languages, the faculty of English philology and translation studies. In the future I will be teacher and translator, because my major is to be translator or interpretor but my dad really wants me to be a teacher in higher education. So that I wil be both of them. In our institute there are more international teachers who are from USA, UK, Japan, Korea, Chine Turkey and so on. Therefore, our local teachers also have the same knowledge and practise. For example, all of teacher in our institute teach students with efficient methods and through modern high- digital technologies. Different holidays, compitations,conferences,camps and other meetings are held every month.

After graduating this institute I am going to study for Master’s degree abroad may be in the USA, UK or Turkey. I want to tell you about my parents, they are very kind, sincere, open-hearted, easy-going and my closest people in my life. I thank them for all the love they have shown and the opportunities they have created. In our country, it is very important to respect and honor parents. Because they grow you up by giving their everything. My dad and mum are the best people in the world. I clearly remember, I was in the 6th grade at secondary school, my father had to come from abroad, and I asked them to bring me a computer. I didn’t believe that he would bring it, but unexpectedly he gave me a new laptop of the latest model. I was very happy at that time. Because I was the only student in the class who had a personal computer. Also, they always emphasize that we should study and be good professionals. My sisters and I are always trying to make my parents’ dreams come true. I am very proud to be a child of such parents.