Amb. Dr. Priyanka Neogi is from Coochbehar. She is an administrative controller of United Nations’ PAF, a librarian, a CEO of Lio Messi International Property & Land Consultancy, international literacy worker, sports & peace promoter, dancer, singer, reciter, live telecaster, writer, editor, researcher, literary journalist, host, beauty queen, international co-ordinator of the Vijay Mission of Community Welfare Foundation of India.
laden with glass boxes where you keep the sun’s last sighs.
The air is now a fabric of worn silk,
unraveling in hands that still seek the warmth of the shade.
The trees are old men shedding their golden garments,
leaving their wooden bones exposed to the wind.
Each falling leaf is a letter without a destination,
written in amber ink on the paper of life.
The sky has become a frozen lake from above,
where stone clouds swim in profound silence.
And the earth opens its arms like a weary mother,
embracing what time decided to leave behind.
In the city’s corners, the cold is a solitary musician,
playing vaporous melodies on the fogged windows.
You arrived without knocking,
to turn each breath into a white cloud that vanishes into infinity.
GRACIELA NOEMI VILLAVERDE is a writer and poet from Concepción del Uruguay (Entre Rios) Argentina, based in Buenos Aires She graduated in letters and is the author of seven books of poetry, awarded several times worldwide. She works as the World Manager of Educational and Social Projects of the Hispanic World Union of Writers and is the UHE World Honorary President of the same institution’s Activa de la Sade, Argentine Society of Writers. She is the Commissioner of Honor in the executive cabinet in the Educational and Social Relations Division of the UNACCC South America – Argentina Chapter.
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.
That day there was no sun, so I did not step outside. The whole day slipped away thinking of something I cannot name.
I kept looking at the sky, waiting for rain supposed to fall. The hours passed in expectation— yet not a single drop descended.
In the hush between light and shadow old leaves of spring kept falling, quietly, over and over. Green did not meet me today either.
There were words to be spoken— I almost said them, again and again— yet they remained unsaid.
Perhaps your sky too was heavy with clouds.
When all the lights of the world go still, night arrives, darkness settles. And in that darkness I see a blooming light.
In that flood of radiance I lose myself somewhere.
The rain does not fall, the sun does not rise exactly— yet in your light I am illuminated again and again.
The darkness that surrounds me is never greater than the light you unfold before me.
The rose-petals of dawn unfold in the gentle dance of a dove.
Md. Mahbubul Alam is from Bangladesh. His writer name is Mahbub John in Bangladesh. He is a Senior Teacher (English) of Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. Chapainawabganj is a district town of Bangladesh. He is an MA in English Literature from Rajshahi College under National University. He has published three books of poems in Bangla. He writes mainly poems but other branches of literature such as prose, article, essay etc. also have been published in national and local newspapers, magazines, little magazines. He has achieved three times the Best Teacher Certificate and Crest in National Education Week in the District Wise Competition in Chapainawabganj District. He has gained many literary awards from home and abroad. His English writings have been published in Synchronized Chaos for seven years.
Once when he was in grade ten in 1990, his Bangla letter was selected as the best one from Deutsche Welle, Germany Radio that broadcast Bangla news for the Banglalee people. And he was given 50 Dutch Mark as his award. They would ask letters from the listeners to the news in Bangla and select one letter for the best one in every month.
From 17 to 30 September, in 2018 he received a higher training in teaching English language in Kasetsart University of Thailand for secondary level students through a government order from education ministry.
On 06 November 2015 he achieved Amjad Ali Mondal Medal for his contribution in education field by a development organization in the conference and felicitation function for the honorable personalities at Rajshahi College Auditorium.
On 30 December 2017 from West Bengal in India he was declared a ‘Literary Charioteer’ in Bangobandhu Literary and World Bango Conference and they awarded him with a Gold Medal in their International Literary Conference and Prize Giving Ceremony.
In 2018, he achieved Prodipto Lirerary Award in Prodipto Literary Conference at Kesorhat, Rajshahi for poems in Bangla literature. He received honorary crest from the administration of Chapainawabganj District Literary Conference and Cultural Function in 2021 and 2022 consecutively.
His poems have been published in many international online magazines such as Juntos Por las L Raven Cage Zine, and Area Felix. His poems have been translated and published in Argentine and Serbian, and he participated in many international online cultural meetings.
Crying herself to sleep, clutching letters from home—
“We bought shoes for Thambi, and school books,
medicine for Appa’s cough-
with the money you sent.”
Amma’s words—
Such a comfort and consolation.
Looking after Baba.
Baba—such a strange conundrum
of angel and devil: a temper erupting
like a burning cauldron.
Little fists beating her,
A tongue scalding her.
Yet, Baba—cuddling close, sharing sweets,
chattering endlessly, calling her name.
Baba now, crouching beside her
Behind the ironing board,
the mischievously wicked face—now wan.
Sent to the back room with sharp orders
not to speak so loudly in Tamil.
Voices. Violent, virulent, veering closer.
Loku Nona’s voice, calm.
“We’re Sinhalese.”
Silence.
I breathe again.
They are leaving…
But then—a rough voice.
“Where are your daughter’s husband and child?”
I stop breathing, pull Baba close—
eyes seared, heart raging.
Waiting for the flames
To rise, engulf—
And burn us,
Whole.
2. Rapture that Never Knew my Name
Slipping in guiltily, like a would-be thief for sweets, I stand, outwardly nonchalant, behind the empty pews.
Memories flooding like a spring breaking free— Sunday mornings, lost in dreams while the priest intones, knees gritty from kneeling on unswept floors.
Amma’s voice—tinny in its high pitch, singing lustily to prudish hymns. Rising, kneeling, crossing, genuflecting. Waiting for the rapture which never came.
Now, older than Amma was then, inside that familiar, sacred space, by chance, not choice, I stand again, listening— for rapture that never knew my name.
