Ivanov Reyez was an English professor at Odessa College. His poetry has appeared in Paris Lit Up, The Galway Review, The Blue Mountain Review, The Cafe Review, Pinyon, Sierra Nevada Review, and elsewhere. He won the riverSedge Poetry Prize 2015. He is the author of Poems, Not Poetry (Finishing Line Press, 2013).
First, here’s an announcement from contributor Frank Blackbourn, who asked us to share in our publication:
I hope this message finds you well. I’m reaching out on behalf of a woman in our community who urgently needs support to avoid eviction. She is a neurodivergent artist and mother who started a small Etsy shop to support her family by selling unique items that promote acceptance for the LGBTQ+ and ADHD communities.
Right now, she faces a critical challenge. Her only means of transportation—a van she relies on for her business and income—broke down, requiring $1,700 in repairs to fix both the suspension and antilock system. Without this van, she can’t attend events, make deliveries, or earn enough income to cover mounting bills. Every day the van sits unrepaired, her financial situation worsens, bringing her closer to eviction.
The impact of this breakdown has been devastating, and she now faces the immediate threat of losing her home if she can’t get back to work soon. By supporting her GoFundMe, you’re helping her cover these essential repairs, restoring her ability to work and allowing her to keep her family safe and housed.
Now, for this month’s issue, the Thin Fabric of Time. Many cultures mark a time to remember ancestors or deceased loved ones this time of year, believing the veil between life and death was thinnest at this time. Modern physics draws on fabric as a metaphor for space and time as fundamental dimensions of the universe.
This issue’s contributors address cultural memory, family heritage, grief, life and death, and the different generations.
Federico Wardal describes a new museum of antique relics that will open up in Egypt.
Jeff Tobin evokes our inextricable human connection to the past and to personal and cultural memory. Terry Trowbridge recollects the strong and competent women of past Saturday morning cartoons while lamenting his own human weaknesses.
John Grey speaks to our human powerlessness in the face of our own natures as well as the external world. Yet, despite this, we can still believe we are the centers of our own universes.
Xavier Womack’s poetry advises a person to heal the generational wound of not loving oneself. Rubina Anis shares her paintings of women of varying ages standing together.
Dilnura Kurolova celebrates the treasure of friendship. Azemina Krehic draws on contradictions as a metaphor for the irrational beauty of romantic love. Mahbub Alam expresses how love can create its own likeness to heaven here on Earth. Stephen Jarrell Williams shares a simple but elegant poem on spiritual and divine love. Closer to Earth, Noah Berlatsky waxes clever about a clumsy but perfect love.
Duane Vorhees presents near-operatic musical and poetic images of sensuality as Eric Mohrman gasps out miniature vignettes of romantic tension.
Janet McCann reviews Chuck Taylor’s new collection Fever, observing not just the sensuality of the work, but the many restrictions and ‘prisons’ in which the mostly male narrators find themselves and what that says about modern masculinity and men in love.
Philip Butera uses an unfinished painting as a metaphor for a fleeting love affair, highlighting the tragedy but also the inevitability of its bittersweet ending. Taylor Dibbert’s poetic speaker once again sets off on a jet plane after a harsh divorce.
Ozodbek Narzullayev reflects on a passing school year with nostalgia and wishes to stay in touch with classmates. Sevinch Shukurova outlines various types of sentence construction. Z.I. Mahmud churns Indian and Anglo-Saxon cultural iconography together in a cauldron of speculative fiction that ends in effusive praise of Shakespeare.
Maftuna Yusupboyeva celebrates the literary contributions of Karakalpak Uzbek poet Berdak and his place within Uzbek folk and working people’s culture. Marjonabonu Xushvaqtova rejoices in her love for books and reading. Aymatova Aziza celebrates the cultural treasures found within libraries.
Yolgoshova Sevinch offers her love and praise for her native Uzbekistan as she would to her parents.
Marvelous Monday expresses a cultural group’s proud resilience despite poverty and injustice. Komron Mirza laments social and moral decline around him, yet resolves that the world is not yet ending. Rasheed Olayemi Nojeem laments corruption in his country’s judicial system while Jake Cosmos Aller decries the cultural ugliness of hate and authoritarianism. Christopher Bernard highlights the difficulty of choosing among political leaders with imperfect agendas and ideas.
Faleeha Hassan’s short story highlights the strength of a couple keeping their dignity under grinding poverty. Howard Debs’ poem comments on the reality of food service and on those who see the work as a game or a photo-op.
Dr. Jernail S. Anand reminds us that poets and cultural creators are as human as the rest of us, and urges people to be strong yet flexible, like water.
Giulia Mozzati-Zacco captures the scattered thoughts of a young woman nearing her death.
Mark Young conveys moments when the surreal enters our ordinary physical world. Maurizio Brancaleoni highlights humorous moments of life surrounding Halloween/Day of the Dead.
Patrick Sweeney proffers glimpses of the world and culture through sentence fragments. Texas Fontanella plays with words and syntax to craft prose. Saad Ali pairs original haiku with lesser-known historical paintings.
Later, Texas Fontanella plays with verbiage and syntax through disjointed text messages. J.D. Nelson highlights tiny bits of urban and wild life during fall. Rachel Bianca Barbeito crafts tender portraits of gentle puppies.
Turgunov Jonpolat outlines his volunteer work in climate ecology, made possible through an international educational collaboration. Muhammadjonova Farangizbegim Ma’mirjan discusses technology and gamification as ways to effectively teach the natural sciences, including ecology. Anna Keiko writes of psychological and ecological dreamtime and awakenings and the need to protect the environment.
Sayani Mukherjee recollects a languid and happy day in a small country village. Wazed Abdullah praises the steady presence of the stars. Maxliyo Axmatova reflects on the warmth, growth, and renewal brought by the sun.
Ahmad Al-Khatat speaks to the memories that live on in the minds of exiles from war, even on bright calm sunny days. Azemina Krehic reflects on the human cost of war and other violence to Bosnian women and girls.
Maja Milojkovic shares her hopes for peace among the world’s nations and peoples. Eva Petropolou Lianou speaks to our universal human desire and need for love and mercy. Mesfakus Salahin describes the spiritual and human unity made possible through universal love.
Abigail George grieves over the loss of life in Palestine. Iduoze Abdulhafiz’ prose evokes the human trauma unfolding in Gaza. Jacques Fleury reviews Duane Vorhees’ poetry collection Between Holocausts, which grapples with that vast historical trauma. Daniel De Culla laments the grotesque tragedy of war on this Day of the Dead. Alexander Kabishev evokes the gross devastation of war through a tale of the death of a zoo elephant in Leningrad. Nuraini Mohammad Usman uses onomatopoeia to render digestion into poetry while urging world peace: making dinner, not war.
Ivan Pozzoni evokes the dark history among the beauty of his home Italian island. Alan Catlin describes varying levels of grief underlying a peaceful and beautiful place. Tuyet Van Do laments the human tragedies caused by recent hurricanes in the southeastern U.S.
Anindya Paul harshly evokes the loss of innocence in his poetry. Rukhshona Toxirova outlines ways for physicians to show compassion for patients at a tender age.
Isabel Gomez de Diego crafts images of childhood: a visit to a maritime park, a family photo with a young brother, dressing up for Halloween. Kylian Cubilla Gomez presents photographic scenes of nurturance: squash cultivated in a garden, children’s toys, Russian nesting dolls.
Stephen House grieves over and remembers his deceased mother. Graciela Noemi Villaverde grieves for the loss of her mother’s gentle spirit. Lan Qyqualla draws on a variety of ancient Western myths to lament the loss of his wife.
Nurullayeva Mashhura’s tragic tale of a neglected grandmother reminds us to care for our elders. Rahmiddinova Mushtariy offers praise for the nurturance and teaching of her father. Ilhomova Mohichehra comes to realize how much she values and respects her father as she grows more mature.
Michael Robinson recollects the loving fatherhood he has found from God in a piece describing his Christian salvation and personal journey from wanting to die to having a fresh new life.
Fhen M. crafts a vignette on a comfortable porch, a liminal space between the interior and exterior, inspired by change and transition.
Brian Barbeito speaks to the poetic and mystical meanings he finds embedded in each season, with wisdom in autumn and winter.
Chloe Schoenfeld captures the aftermath of a festive event, the small chaos after the elegance. Seasons change and time passes for us all, and no “mountaintop experience” can last forever.
Jacques Fleury shares wisdom from a teen dying of cancer to motivate us to live with passion and joy. Mashhura Ahmadjonova reflects on the whirlwind passage of time.
Mykyta Ryzhykh depicts a ghostly ship where all the mariners have turned skeletal, forgotten even by history. David Sapp also comments on our mortality and how others will eventually lose our memories in the swirling fog of time.
Before that happens, please take some time to savor this issue of Synchronized Chaos and honor each of the contributors by letting their voices be heard.
LIVING DEAD TAPESTRY
Bosnian mothers have been giving birth to daughters for generations
which keep away from the lustful and smelly bodies of the enemy.
And they give birth to daughters,
who are thrown away into the swollen waters,
due to fear from the maddened eyes of their fathers.
So again during a lunar eclipse,
in the deepest layers of the night Bosnian daughters,
on the banks of Bukovica,
they weave a handkerchief for a loved one,
while prayers are boiling from the lips:
The stars will write a better destiny for us then when we leave this world.
Azemina Krehić was born on October 14, 1992 in Metković, Republic of Croatia. Winner of several international awards for poetry, including: Award of university professors in Trieste, 2019.,„Mak Dizdar“ award, 2020. Award of the Publishing Foundation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2021. „Fra Martin Nedić“ Award, 2022. She is represented in several international anthologies of poetry.
I LOVE THE BOOK
A piece of my life
During my graduation, I loved and read the books about my major. My first goal was to become a student as soon as possible. My goal came true in September 2022. I was recommended for studentship on the basis of Grand. This is a gift for my 18th spring! What is the taste? I and my family were very happy. Why, my sister joined me in crying, that is, my sister and I were classmates. But for some reason I stopped crying because I started crying. Because I got a phone and spent a lot of time on social networks. My work and crying decreased significantly. Instead of reading a book, I picked up the phone.
Since the beginning of the session in my studies, I have completed my specialty subjects with excellent grades. I thought that it was definitely my fault that I didn't get a book in my hand soon, and I felt a little depressed. There was no use in thinking about it now. Ehhh... it was all my fault. As they say that the last regret is your enemy, I also regretted my actions, but it was too late. I was slightly behind my peers in terms of crying.
In the summer of 2023, I realized everything about the song. Now I'm in my 2nd year, I'm 19 years old, I've grown up a lot, my thinking and outlook have expanded. Before, I used to save money for this and that, but now, as the amount of money I am saving is enough for how many books, I dream about whether I will be able to get the book I like. My biggest realization in my 19 years of life is this... I LOVE BOOKS! ⁰¹·⁰⁹·²⁰²³·
✍️Ⓜ️ #Marjonabonu Khushvaktova
Village
A lonely cottage by the river wall
The sun scooped daisy under my beige wall
A pointed facade a long overturn over there
To mend and bask the town Meadows
As I lay dipping in the river
I hear cascades over my rimmed lens
A lovely blossom it was, it lied open dust
The moonbeamed sun is lowly now
To hung the home grown lilies
The blue painted carpenter singed a choir
A thousand lullabyed biddings
For the village was aglow in the pure love.
Karakalpak folk poet Berdak
Through this article, I would like to provide information about the life and work of the great poet of the Karakalpak people. Berdak is a poet, the founder of Karakalpak literature.
First, he studied at a village school, then at a madrasa. Alisher deeply read the works of Navoi, Fuzuli, Makhtumquli and the Karakalpak poet Kunkhoja, and learned from them. He knew history and folklore well. The social life of the Karakalpak people in the 18th and 19th centuries was expressed in Berdak's lyrical poems and epics. He evaluates the events and social relations of his time as an intelligent poet.
The ideas of equality, humanity, justice and patriotism are put forward in his works. In Berdak's works, the condition of the working people is the main theme ("It didn't happen", "Tax", "This year", "My life", etc.). The poet dreams of selfless fighters for the truth, for the happiness and future of the working masses ("For the people", "I need", etc.).
The poet proudly sings about the heroes of the people in his historical works "Avlodlar", "Omongeldi", "Azadosbiy", "Ernazarbiy". Berdak's work "Generations" is a chronicle of historical events, the common events in the lives of the Karakalpak people and other Turkic peoples are recorded, and the legends about the origin of tribes and peoples are described. Berdak exposes the lies of some corrupt clergymen ("Better", "Like", etc.), defends women's rights, calls on young people to love their country, reach the heights of enlightenment ("To my son", "Don't be a fool", etc.).
In his poetic observations and struggles for life, Berdaq dreamed of a happy life for working people. While thinking about making the people happy, Berdak asks God for help ("Help"), thinks about happiness ("I searched"), dreams of a just king ("Need"), hopes for the construction of a happy society. Berdak's work is close to the traditions of folk literature. He occupies the main position in the history of Karakalpak literature with the richness of his creativity and the ideological and artistic height of his works.
Many of his works have been translated into Uzbek and other languages. The 170th anniversary of Berdak's birth was widely celebrated in Uzbekistan and Karakalpakstan (1998). One of the avenues in the city of Tashkent was named "Berdaq" and a bust was installed. A bust of the poet was also installed in Bozatov, the birthplace of the poet (1998). In the city of Nukus, a statue was dedicated to him, a musical drama theater, a street and a school were named after Berdak.
AUTHOR: MAFTUNA YUSUPBOYEVA, UZBEKISTAN.
My classmates
We remember to call,
We miss you, but the heart trembles,
I miss you, classmates.
Let's get together, my classmates.
A dream goes to you from afar,
Tomar, thank you for what you said.
Let me ask you how you are doing today.
Let's get together, my classmates.
I know we miss you so much
We remember Shokh Youth with pain,
We didn't forget to call
Let's get together, my classmates.
Don't be fooled by the world
Without imagining the consequences,
I don't feel love in our mold,
Let's get together, my classmates.
Every time we remembered,
I miss you, my friends.
Do not let the consequences disappear,
Let's get together, my classmates.
It's been so long,
How many letters did I say to you?
Just don't forget our friendship
Let's get together, my classmates.
Ozodbek Narzullayev was born on December 20, 2006 in the village of Rahimsofi, Koson District, Kashkadarya Region, in the village of Boston, which belongs to the MFY. He started writing poems since 2023. Currently, his poems are published in international anthologies and magazines.
