Glass Jar
You see it so clearly,
You speak so decisively.
“There’s nothing inside”—
That’s your answer.
I know you wouldn’t accept this:
You don’t see clearly enough.
Inside, a heart is stored,
A process is stored—
A process from “clarity” to “turbidity”…
I won’t tell you.
I only need to smile and nod.
Because my shadow has been compressed,
And your eyes have already seen—
The expression of the wind.
A Woman and A Dove in A Dream
On my friend’s farm, I walk in hay. Stop at the sight of a dove with a broken wing. Its feathers are stained red with blood and eyes sink in their blue sockets fighting to remain open. The sun pierces gray clouds. My fingertips stroke its oat-colored silk beak, throat parched by yellow rays. I sit by the dove in the corner of my world reciting Hafiz’s verse, your separation from God is the hardest work in this world. Just rest. Life sustaining force vanishes. And in the mauve nook of its wings, blood dries becoming darker, the red color of cherries’ flesh in June. My fingertips stroke the plumage of its crown. Both wings collapse in the hay absorbing essence of fluid from veins, arteries and dark chambers. I’m mourning a morning dove. Peace has been stained and the two of us wait for rain to cleanse our souls. My arms open to the drizzle, face in mist. Nature gives a little reprieve then it showers us with grace. My bare legs, and arms spread apart and back rest in the softest nest. A five-pointed star surrender to the universe. How did the dove know to rest its body in hay to take its last breath? In this our home we gather our strength, then hand over the heaviness onto earth’s bed.
Jerrice J Baptiste is a visual artist, poet, author of nine books. Her watercolor drawings on paper have been accepted or forthcoming in Synchronized Chaos, Las Laguna Art Gallery exhibit in California, MER, Spirit Fire Review, Jerry Jazz Musician Magazine. She’s presented her art work at The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY in 2025. She’s been featured as a solo artist at The Mountain Top Library in Tannersville, NY in 2025 & 2026. Her most recent poetry book called Coral in the Diaspora is published by Abode Press in 2024. Her poetry has been published in numerous magazines and journals, Artemis Journal, The Yale Review, Mantis, Kosmos Journal and hundreds of others.
The Vision
There was a colourful toy; and a wooden dog upon a string, and these things were from long before and there were as a rainstorm and the water climbed up the stream sides incredibly high to almost the tips of hills where evergreens lived. But even before that, the lady who was old and a guardian kept gardens and had flowers and raspberries that were colourful and robust and always happy during the summer sun under which they lived. She collected the raspberries sometimes, walking slowly, and carrying a bowl to put them in. She was then healthy, joyous, and often the boy that she took care of followed her and helped or just watched the world the, the trellis and brick and there were a wooden archway and gate that led to the backyards, to those raspberry and flower worlds…
How later the night darkness became full and the spirits spoke, but they were good spirits and angels and a group of them sang songs and comforted him in his ears if spiritual ears and other worldly hearing. And an oval carpet and God or existence was strongest, wisest, and once, even before that, he was sitting with his grandmother on porches and wore comfortable clothes and had curly hair and was happy, smiling, even laughing.
Oh, he remembered her then and thought she was around currently. A guardian. And she was as she was then. Making things, sweaters, hats, and tablecloths. These were crocheted and useful, well-made, and made confidently and often. And he thought then that, Thank God the world had made her and that she cared for him, made him food, and gave him shelter.
In the far south there was a fine cement pool and beyond it, the sea. These things were good things and markers of the divine. He had been swimming in both. Sometimes the guardian was there, had been there, and that was good. In the modern time he wore a large blue winter coat and as he glanced almost accidentally in a mirror one cold winter day, he remembered the time of guardian and that he wore then a blue coat at least one winter and that it had zippers and a button and kept him warm. He thought it nice and somehow even auspicious that both coats were similar and that somewhere his light and the light of the guardian plus the angels and spirit was the same.
——
Sky
In our long forgotten of summer days
I pine for forbidden forests
And a winter love that will wreak havoc
Inside my amorphous vein
Lately I scream at the stars in the night long haul
The sky seems forgotten and unlikely
An innocence that hangs in the tropical rain
The ecological summer that God created
I still seek for an unassuming answer
My past years gone and dusted under a oak tree
Oaths of haunting fairies in the far land
The sea change of the seasons as tomorrow comes
I will hold roses under my bosom
At nighttime the sky again becomes my neighbor
I scream and wait as the year pass by.
POETS: FROM LEGISLATORS TO PROPHETS:
Presidential remarks of Dr. Jernail S. Anand
At a recent Poetry Conference organized by Sanskar Bharti,
Chandigarh, [4th Jan 2026], Dr. Jernail S. Anand, who chaired the Poetry Conference, in his presidential address made a reference to the raging issues of our times.
Knowledge versus Wisdom
The highlight of his speech was his distinction between Knowledge and Wisdom. He pointed out that Knowledge is the domain of Satan,
because it was Satan who had tempted Eve to eat the fruit of
Knowledge. The Empire of Knowledge that we have created with science and technology is a great achievement of human mind. But it has a tragic flaw.
After getting knowledge, men should become wise. Where is wisdom? Where is innocence? Guile thy name is man. This is what our knowledge has done to man. He has become a gangster. He is not in his senses today. Success has gone to his head.
Is it not a fall down the abyss? Knowledge has made man proud and
arrogant, whereas wisdom makes him humble. This is the line which can be drawn between the two.
The Chaos in Modern Life
Referring to the chaos in the life of the modern man, Dr. Anand observed that we have spent more time on studying history, leaving no space for study of the Present and we have shown absolutely no concern with the Future. He pointed out that Universities which
dispense knowledge have Departments of History but where is
Dept of the Present and Dept of Future?
The think tanks are discussing history, which is now a
fixture and cannot be edited. And what we have missed sorely is planning for today and tomorrow. As an example, he pointed out that our marriages have problems. Is there any new philosophy in place to keep men and women in a state of balance? Can peace be
brought to family life? Our girls and women who work in night shifts, when going home in autos, are they safe from gangsters? If not, how can we leave our society fall down the abyss?
Don’t we need to ensure that women are safe in this society? Such things need our attention, not who attacked whom in history and on which date.
Poetry as a Part-time Affair
Dr Anand made a startling disclosure that almost all the poets are part time because Poetry affords no career for anybody on which he could live. Poetry is good as a passion. It is not the cup of tea for the society, for the simple reason that poets are most self-obsessed. If they talk of society, it is in high-flown fantasies. Poets are called
unacknowledged legislators, but he thinks that they are para-prophets also.
They feel the pain of the society and present it in their poems. Poetry that is immortal, is the poetry that talks of the immortal, he observed.
Dr Jernail Singh Anand is an Indian poet, with an oeuvre of 200 books, out of which 18 are epics. Laureate of Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka, Maxim Gorky Awards, he was recently crowned Best Author of the Year 2025 by a Vietnam Poetry Organization, Rhythm. He is President of the International Academy of Ethics. His name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. Anand is a towering literary figure whose work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision.
Bibliography:
https://sites.google.com/view/bibliography-dr-jernal-singh/home
Yahoo Mail:
Women
I was wondering if I am free?
Do u feel free?
Nooo
Every day I walk in a street of possibilities and opportunities..
But nobody look at me
As i am a woman..
It is unspeakable how much a woman is used..
From day one
A woman needed to educate the child
To cook for a child
To learn him how to think.. Speak..
Act..
A lot for a woman to do
But what happens after..
A woman need
A woman wish
A woman word
Inexistant person
Until one day
You will look at the mirror
You see your face
You will see your heart
You will see your body
And u will not recognize it
Because u will be so used
Used from the rejection
Used from the loneliness
Used from the fake people
Used from the bad decisions
Without faith!!!
According to Shakespeare's Macbeth, Life "is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
First, some announcements: In February, on Saturday the 28th at 2pm, Synchronized Chaos Magazine partners with the Hayward Lit Hop to co-host the Hayward Coffee Hop.
Join with us to hear poems and sample the wares of four different local coffee shops in downtown Hayward, California (Zocalo’s, Snappy’s, Concha Dreams, and the Old City Roastery). Advance tickets required, reserve your spot here.
In March we will have a presence at the Association of Writing Programs conference in Baltimore which will include a free public offsite reading at Urban Reads on Friday, March 6th at 6 pm. All are welcome to attend!
So far the lineup for our reading, the Audible Browsing Experience, includes Elwin Cotman, Katrina Byrd, Terry Tierney, Terena Bell, Shakespeare Okuni, and our editor, Cristina Deptula. If there’s time, an open mic will follow.
Poet Marin Angel, of Finland and Bulgaria, is forming a new, vast, international poetry society, the Poetic Political Party for Transparency, that will publish books and which seeks editors and writers.
Published poet and contributor Tao Yucheng is still hosting a poetry contest, open to all readers of Synchronized Chaos Magazine.
Synchronized Chaos Poetry Contest: We seek short, powerful, imaginative, and strange poetry. While we welcome all forms of free verse and subject matter, we prefer concise work that makes an impact.
Guidelines: Submit up to five poems per person to taoyucheng921129@proton.me. Each poem should not exceed one page (ideally half a page or less). All styles and themes welcome. Deadline for submissions will be in early March.
Prizes: First Place: $50 Second Place: $10, payable via online transfer. One Honorable Mention. Selected finalists will be published in Synchronized Chaos Magazine.
We’re also announcing the release of contributor Brian Barbeito’s new book The Book of Love and Mourning.
From Brian: These prose poems and photos are a journey that celebrate memory and colour and the near and far. Please travel along and explore both the written word and the visual narrative. The content will include but not be limited to, forest trails, meadows and skies, grasshoppers and wild clovers, electric light, and various seasons. And at times we will dream, reminisce, and wonder about the world, its form, content, and continual movement.
The Book of Love and Mourning can be ordered here.
Now, for February’s second issue! This issue, Sound and Fury, Signifying Everything, as opposed to Macbeth’s feelings of meaninglessness, points to the importance of individual people and relationships, to ordinary settings and personal life stories.
Dmitriy Kogan asserts the value of ordinary words from understandable poets. Mykyta Ryzhykh’s micropoems hit on different nerves: money, guilt, tradition, speech, silence. Christopher Bernard’s first installment of Senor Despair explores the search for hope and meaning in a complex world.
Terry Trowbridge’s speakers inhabit and listen to time, rather than shouting their existences into the world. Mahbub Alam’s speaker slowly awakens from a deep sleep. On the other hand, Aurelia Preskill’s speaker desires to fully inhabit her universe and her own body. Michael Todd Steffen’s pieces concern observation: seeing our world, and the instability of what we see. Janaea Rose Lyn takes us on a poetic journey from grief to cognition to embodiment and, finally, to translucence. Taro Aizu finds gentle peace in everyday blessings and beauty. Jumanazarova Mohlaroyim Islombek qizi explicates the deep and stormy inner world behind Said Ahmad’s ironically titled novel Silence. Timothee Bordenave explores the emotional territory of pleasure, escape, rebirth, and devotion.
J.J. Campbell depicts the debris of soul damage from a long and weary life, but continues living, as he has little choice. Mahbub Alam evokes the solemn weariness of insomnia in an elegant poem. Taylor Dibbert reflects on turning points in a relationship that went south. John Edward Culp’s work quietly dares without becoming showy, as a person eases into the risk of loving and being loved. Kalipada Ghosh celebrates a gentle and inspiring love. Dr. Fernando Martinez Alderete presents the comfort and care of a steady, long-term love. Lan Xin’s love poetry carries a spiritual bent, drawing on metaphors of angels and ancient Chinese temples. Cai Zhenyuan ties love into universal compassion and making moral choices.
Alexa Grospe speaks to the visceral pain of someone struggling to be seen and loved in their ordinary humanness. Jacques Fleury advises readers to become comfortable and at home in their own identities and bodies. Eva Lianou Petropoulou reminds humans not to lose sight of our hearts and creativity in the age of artificial intelligence.
Bill Tope and Doug Hawley contribute a co-written bleak, funny, and tender short story that highlights the humanity not only of disabled people, but all those who age and change with time. Noah Berlatsky comments with humor on physical aging. Dilafro’z Sultanova aspires to health and wellness in her advertising jingle to the Central Asian health drink Beleever. Diyora Abduolimova and Jurayeva Aziza Rakhmatovna discusses the importance of and methods for inclusive education for children with disabilities.
Shoshana Vegh speaks to a mythical love that endures through time. Mesfakus Salahin promises his commitment to his loved one throughout his life journey. Jamal Garougar affirms a quiet, humble love. Mandy Pistikou’s poetry outlines a romantic relationship that grows and deepens with time. Sabo Jurayeva urges people to marry for the right reasons, building strong families on love and commitment rather than infatuation.
Iroda Abdusamiyeva pays tribute to her kind, tenderhearted mother as Ibodimova Lobar Muzzafar qizi mourns the loss of her loving mother. Eshmatova Charos offers her love and respect to her mother through a prayer. Akramova Sarvinoz pays tribute to the love and strength of her parents. Dildorakhon Tursunboyeva tenderly expresses her love for her dear mother.
Jerrice J. Baptiste’s colorful artwork celebrates the joy of female friendship and sisterhood. Graciela Noemi Villaverde highlights the transformative power of both friendship and love. Sayani Mukherjee explores interpersonal love through the lenses of memory, religion, myth, and culture. Hanaan Abdelkader Ashour honors the love she shared with those who are departed and feels their continued presence.
Safarqulova Iroda and Maja Milojkovic celebrates the beauty of their heritages and mother tongues. Abdusaidova Jasmina expresses her pure joy and pride in her Uzbek homeland. Isaac Dominion Aju’s personal essay describes his journey towards accepting, creating, and claiming his identity as a Black African man. Normuminova Charos Shamshoshodovna looks deep in her heart and soul to find the meaning of “homeland.”
Halilova Rukshona Abdufattohovna honors the scientific and philosophical legacy of ancient scholar Abu Nasr al-Farabi. Sevara Jo’raqulova highlights the love for Uzbek heritage, nature, and culture in Alexander Faynberg’s poetry.
Duane Vorhees also addresses nature as a theme, speaking to spring’s regrowth in a natural, unsentimental way. Aziza Xazamova shares fun and colorful winter memories. Christina Chin celebrates the clear, pure beauty of winter. Ananya S. Guha’s poetry speaks to natural cycles and resilience, places that keep a hold on people even after they leave. Yongbo Ma constructs an interior landscape built through a variety of objects, places and natural creatures: rocks, tadpoles, frogs, a person’s hometown.
Brian Michael Barbeito’s nature-based prose is quietly luminous, reflective, and tender, reminding us to see the grace in the everyday. Soumen Roy compares the ebbs and flows of relationships to waves at sea. Dr. Jernail S. Anand’s essay highlights the cosmic and natural power balances of the universe.
G’afforova Hadichaxon Abduhamid qizi also writes from a wide perspective, addressing the importance of addressing air pollution on systemic as well as individual levels. Jalolova Charos weighs various sustainable design models for our world’s growing cities. Mamatraimova Khadicha Eshali qizi discusses toponymy, the science of naming places and landforms, in a certain area of Uzbekistan. Dildora Xo’jyozova appreciates Uzbekistan’s rich and multilayered history and culture. Shahnoza Ochildiyeva celebrates the literary legacy of Uzbek writer and social theorist Chol’pon.
Egamberdiyeva Diloromxon highlights the importance of Uzbeks’ understanding their nation’s constitution. Jumayev Sanjar Ilyos ogli also explores the wisdom and importance of the Uzbek constitution in shaping the country. Bai Gengsheng’s poetry, translated by Lan Xin, highlights the enduring power of fortitude and wisdom in China’s cultural heritage. Zubayda Tursunboyeva illuminates themes in Uzbek poetess Zulfiya’s work: love, family, patriotism, and peace. Shermamatova Kamola Azizbek qizi discusses ways to incorporate epic world literature into the classroom.
Razzokova Feruza’s essay discusses how language and culture influence emotional expression. Mahmudjonova Rushonabonu outlines the global importance of the English language. Qobiljonova Hurixon compares advantages of blended and traditional education for those learning English as a second language. Sultonova Shahlo Baxtiyor qizi discusses ways to overcome cognitive and psychological barriers to language learning. Nazarova Gulbaxor Azimjon qizi discusses the impact of bilingualism on personality.
Sultonmurodova Aqida identifies and offers solutions to problems students face with learning foreign languages. Shodiqulova Dilorom Niymatulla qizi highlights the value of teachers’ classroom preparation and evaluation tasks in helping students learn languages and other subjects. Mahamqulova Ruhshona Rustam qizi discusses the cultural and psychological benefits of joint educational programs, where a student may receive academic credit from institutions in different countries. Mominova Nozimakhon highlights the many ways education benefits society at large.
Xolmurotova Gulzoda outlines roles of digital platforms in language learning. Jumanazarova Nafisa discusses roles for artificial intelligence in learning English. Mamatova Mahbuba Abdulboqi qizi addresses the proper pedagogical conditions for using project-based technology in teaching literature. To’g’ilova Dinora shows how mobile apps can help students learn the Korean language. Abduhamidova Nihola shares methodological foundations for multimedia tools in language lessons. Madinaxon Tu’ychiyeva explores the efficacy of digitally based learning. Olimova Marjona Ubaydullayevna discusses how artificial intelligence can help with language learning.
To’laganova Muxlisa G’ulomovna discusses the role of artificial intelligence in teaching critical thinking skills. Ne’matullayeva Mukhlisa Sherali kizi outlines ways college professors can encourage students to develop their critical thinking skills. Zamira Moldiyeva Bahodirovna highlights the importance of teaching critical thinking skills in higher education.
Erkinov Dilmurod Adham o’g’li points out linguistic conventions in scientific writing. Azamova Kumushoy Akramjon qizi highlights the role of scientific research in modern society. Bafoyev Mirzabek Mirvohidovich reflects on how medical diagnostics has advanced and become more refined with time.
Saida Turdiboyeva reflects on how artificial intelligence is changing our lives. Azimov Mirsaid Salimovich highlights the growing importance of computer code in global infrastructure. Nematova Zarina Ochilboyevna points to the emerging trend of digitization in the labor market. Toshbekova Nozima offers suggestions to address youth unemployment. Abdiyeva Mahbuba Rahmiddinova advocates for increased attention to women’s entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic development and empowerment. Zarina Yorboboyeva discusses ways to improve strategic management in business enterprises in Central Asia. Shonazarov Shohjaxon outlines advantages and disadvantages of modern consumer credit.
J.K. Durick’s pieces speak to automation and modern life, the slow erasure of the self. Bozorboyeva Nasiba Ergashboy qizi urges wisdom and foresight in the development and rollout of artificial intelligence technology. Mo’minova Rukhshona highlights how science should not be separated from ethics.
Gaurav Ojha encourages revolutionaries and activists to keep up their spirit and idealism. Norman J. Olson’s drawing conveys the current atmosphere of Minneapolis. Patricia Doyne highlights inconsistencies in American public policy regarding firearms and cultural violence. Kujtim Hajdari laments the destruction and sorrow war causes.
Mauro Montacchiesi highlights themes of moral and psychological choices in the here and now in Dr. Jernail Singh’s book Beyond Heaven, Beyond Hell. James Tian excoriates religion enforced through fear and moral blackmail. Mohammad Sedigh Haghighi reminds us that meaning cannot be outsourced, we are all tasked with a long and personal quest to find what matters.
Angelina Muniz Huberman reviews Beatriz Saavedra Gastelum’s new book Alfonso Reyes: Cartography of the Spirit and the Word, which dramatizes estrangement and exile. Shammah Jeddypaul’s piece evokes the dislocation of trauma through a narrator whose situation we gradually begin to grasp. David Kokoette’s raw, furious, and wounded poetry looks at systemic and personal violation and invasion.
Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal’s work probes spaces where meaning becomes unreliable and sensory overload collapses into numbness. Grzegorz Wroblewski’s asemic scrawls reflect intuitive thought maps or emotional streams of consciousness. Mark Young’s pieces feel geometric, like a meditation on latency. Rus Khomutoff contributes a chant, a waking dream, a data-streamed prayer. Poet Yongbo Ma interviews writer Jeffrey Cyphers Wright about his fun, freeflowing, and experimental poetry craft.
Ruziyeva Nigina Sanat kizi delves into the moral and spiritual aspects of O’tkir Hoshimov’s work. Jakhongir Nomozov interviews Azerbaijani poet, translator, and journalist Aysel Khanlargizi Safarli on beauty, meaning, and spiritual understanding in her work.
Sevinch Botirjonova explicates the power of words in an increasingly connected world. Stephen Jarrell Williams speaks to memory, faith, and history. Nozima Gofurova highlights the thoughtful literary criticism of Ozod Sharafiddinov and how he examined literature as a force to mold and inspire society as well as elegant entertainment. Jumayev Sanjar Ilyos ogli celebrates the many roles of Uzbekistan’s young people in shaping the country’s future.
Dustmurodova Marjona Doniyorovna illuminates the value of lifelong learning as Türkan Ergör urges us to forget past sorrows and grudges and Opeyemi Oluwayomi asserts his steady belief in the value and beauty of tomorrow.
We hope that this issue helps you keep growing, thinking, and believing in our shared future.