Essay from Gulsevar Xojamova

Young Central Asian woman with short black hair and a blue jacket and white blouse sitting at a desk writing.
Gulsevar Xojamova
MOTHERLAND

In my dream a man gave advice,
His words are bitter, but the truth is:
"Don't be careless, be careful when you are,
My words are wisdom, just remember."

Know that without labor the Motherland will not prosper,
There is love in this heart, he does not sleep at night.
God does not like a careless person.
Think of what you have done for the country.

A true man who appreciates women,
A moment to acknowledge the truth of life
Failure to complete the cycle
Push the drowsy soul, now awake

I woke up to the magic of words
You are my love, you are my freedom.
I planted the seeds of vigilance in my heart
I have given you this soul.

Gulsevar Khojamova
Student of Andijan State Pedagogical Institute

Poetry from Daniel De Culla

Photo c/o Daniel De Culla

BOY MILKING THE COW

Who doubts that this child milking the cow
Will grow up
A leading man, governor, president or politician
Well, his art of milking, without a doubt
Will produce great effects
As do those who govern and guide us
In the valleys, on the hills
In the streets, the stables and corrals
In the palaces, government houses
Deputations and Town Halls
Leaving the State Cow dry
Praising the great benefits
What have they taken from it
For their own benefit and advantage.
This child, his lullabies already forgotten
Won't be a Marine
Because in this city of Burgos there is no beach
But yes military or police
Pedophile priest, or a qualified worker
Subjugated like so many others.
This child, grown up
Praising the cow that he milked as a child
Will dream, in his nights of happy sleep
That he is in a world of peace
Waking up to reality
Watching the world keep rolling
Between crimes and bombs
That reach the Earth and the Sky
And that all men
Ppraise fascist and pedophile mysticism
Under vatican canopy
Admiring what a nuke shot
Can do in palatial buildings
In houses of administration and government
And even in the Cathedral
Without being able to emigrate to Asturias
Dear homeland
Unable to climb the tree
Nor being able to pick the flower
Nor give it to his blonde or brunette
That he waits at the gate
From the Walk of he Cubes
Or in the Gamonal Square.

-Daniel de Culla

Essay from Chimezie Ihekuna

Chimezie Ihekuna (Mr. Ben) Young Black man in a collared shirt and jeans resting his head on his hand. He's standing outside a building under an overhang.
Chimezie Ihekuna
How to be a Published Author

If you want to be a self published author, do not read this. But if you want to earn a traditional publication, please read below

You have taken your time to write that thought. You sacrificed a lot-time, energy and money-to ensure you complete that literary task. You were led to put pen on paper those great train thoughts. Finally, you completed the literary task! Congratulations!

Next, you possibly  seek other pairs of eyes to review and possibly proofread the piece you have written. Perhaps, you sought the attention  of your best friend, family member or associate to read through, point out the typos and grammatical errors. Eventually, you have the task of proofreading met.

The stage is now set...pitching to 'appropriate' agents and publishers. Having read through their guidelines, you pitch them individually. Some publishers and literary agencies would disclose the timeframe. In other words, some will disclose to you the turnaround period: feedback time. Interestingly, others might to assert to you when you will get to know the status of your submission.

In the literary world, there is a saying: 'it is all man for himself'. You are all alone to exercise the waiting game. It becomes herculean to wait for that period of time. Patience is needed to cope with the demanding literary industry. As a smart author, you should be looking at working on your next title.

The wait is over...the feedback is about to be given, primarily via email or postmail. 'Dear john, thanks for your submission. We have read your submission with great interest. While we find your piece very fascinating, we regret to announce to you we cannot take your submission at this time. We wish you the best in your writing endeavor..' You feel depressed, afterwards.

Never mind! Your literary journey has just started! It is at this point you dwell on the 'never give up' pysche if you want to proceed at this point. It is at this point you begin to do a research on publishers and agents who specialize on your genre online, horn your skills, attend several writing conferences, book fairs and other literary events to meet with people, get connections and establish relationships (mentorship).Then, by listening to and reading the stories of authors who made it, you will understand rejection is part of your literary journey. 

Luckily, you get a literary recognition, be it a publisher or an agent who would be willing to take on your submission. Congratulations! The wait is worth it. The contract is presented to you for perusal, after receiving a Letter of Intent. You are satisfied with the terms of the contract through the 'green light' of an Intellectual Property Attorney, you sign the contract. Your piece now has a literary home!

It takes time to become successful. A personal instance: I started writing in 2006. Having faced several rejections from publishers and agents for years, it took me eight years to publish my first book! During those waiting periods, I was writing other books, attending book fairs, getting to meet authors like me and researching online authors who made it: what they went through.

Being a published author is not an easy feat. It takes patience, resilience, persistence, connection (and some element of luck) to become that person whose name would be penned in print, electronic, audio and other formats. 

Remember this: Discouragement is a part of success!

Essay from Iroda Bakhronova

Young Central Asian woman with curly black hair and a white collared shirt and black pants sitting on a park bench with a fence and trees in the background.
Iroda Bakhronova


(Uzbekistan, Navoi)
Student of Navoi State Pedagogical Institute

We are the creators of the future!

      We know that the 21st century is an era of intellectual development. The uplifting force of this development is young people, that is, people with high intelligence. Of course, today there is a great responsibility towards the creators of the future. After all, according to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, “In order for our youth to become independent thinkers, have high intellectual and spiritual potential, become people who are not inferior to their peers in any field on a global scale, our state and society should be happy. We will mobilize all the possibilities of strength”, his words serve as a program for us. Being among such young people, I am proud to see the development of our country day and night. In my opinion, it is natural for every person who considers himself a child of the new Uzbekistan to have a question at this moment: how did I contribute to the development of my country?! Whatever I do, even if it’s a little, will benefit my people?! In order to find answers to such questions, I took a pen in my hand and began to write down my goals on a white paper.

First of all, as they say, “A job without a plan is a brick without a mold”, a person should make his plans so that all the good deeds he thinks about from early in the morning will be good. And the plans become more and more great goals. And I strive for not daily, but annual prospective goals. I want these targeted plans to serve not only me, but also the development of my country.

Secondly, no country can rise without sports and science. These two concepts will always accompany me. Of course, sport is a guarantee of health. Every young generation who plays sports follows a healthy lifestyle. Only healthy and strong youth can protect the country. As our elders say, “If there is knowledge, there will be greatness”, even a young person like me in the ranks of the youth of Uzbekistan will mobilize all my energy to acquire knowledge.

Thirdly, it is the effective use of the doors of opportunity created for young people and, most importantly, the supreme gift of time. “If you love life, don’t waste time, because time creates life,” said one of the philosophers. Today, the lives and work of famous people who have achieved great success in their field show that one of the main keys to their success is their ability to allocate time correctly. If time is spent in vain during the youth years, the opportunity to gain knowledge is also lost. Our today will become history tomorrow. The services and happy deeds of each person for their people will be forever imprinted in the history. Therefore, we, the creators of the future, appreciate our time, which is more valuable than gold, and achieve high goals!

It should be said that young people who are in tune with the times are leading in every field today. Of course, it is impossible to count the opportunities created for us today. I would like to put forward a proposal to hold the traditional republican competition “Sprouts of Future” in order to pay attention to young people capable of achieving greater goals and in order to support young people in every way. Because, you say, there are many different auditions. However, unlike them, this competition is organized among young people who have achieved more or less success in the field of science and education, literature and sports and have limited opportunities to show their talent. Because they, like you and us, are the bright future generations of Uzbekistan!

In conclusion, it should be said that we, the youth, are the hope of a great country. If we don’t waste time and fulfill the huge task in front of us wholeheartedly, no crowd, no foreign ideas can stand in our way. Everything is in our hands. After all, as our President said, “We have set ourselves the great goal of establishing the foundation of the Third Renaissance in our country, for this we need to educate new Khorezms, Berunis, Ibn Sinas, Ulugbeks, Navoi and Babur!” We are the worthy successors of such ancestors and will be the mirror of the future of New Uzbekistan!

Iroda Bakhronova is an “Initiative reformer” badge holder;
laureate of the international contest Russian Talents and
author of about 100 public and about 30 scientific articles. She is the
author of the poetry collection My dreams are more than you, stars, the winner of the “International Womania Award – 2023” recognition. Her articles were published in prestigious magazines in Turkey, Thailand, Spain, USA, India, Germany, and Belarus and
her works were published in anthologies in the USA, Moldova, and Germany. Her work was published in the international anthology “Talented voices of Uzbekistan” published on Amazon in the U.S. and sold in 26 countries.
Her work was published in the collection Hilol, which includes the work of talented young people across Uzbekistan.
She is a member and ambassador of the Iqra International Foundation and a participant in the IV and V Nobel Fest, the
“Student of the Year-2022” laureate of the institute stage and a
member of the International Council of World Technical Development.
She is a graduate of the online course of the US Institute of Peace; a
participant in the “International Scientific Forum-2022” in Great Britain, and holds a certificate from the International Internship University.

Poetry from Ahmad Al-Khatat

You No Longer Have Hands 


To destroy the journals I had kept for years 
I feel ashamed to read my sorrows with a 
language other than my mother tongue.


Beautiful silky skin and blue watery eyes are 
the reasons why my disappointments are restless.
In my shadow, I see myself free from the coffin
Yet, everyone dies when I pretend to be asleep.


 I jailed my poems, my tales, and tears in my heart.
The prisoner asks if I'm ready to close my eyes
I give him my watch “Take the time and slaughter me”.
You'll peel my skin and sip my blood in less than a year.

You no longer have hands to bury my dream yacht
O Baghdad, why am I in the blues when I feel like a 
dead soldier in exile, or a stranger in Montreal corners 
Lots of bare hands with blood splitting on my sad face. 

04/19/2023

Bleeding Heart Poet 

Poetry from Stephen Williams

Slow Train into Tomorrow

Passenger train through the city
crackle of wheels rolling on the tracks
dark silhouettes reflecting in the windows
flicker of passing outside lights
tooth white colors
like little candles lit

a few sleeping
escaping into fragmented dreams
most of us awake and watching
inside our humbled hulls
heavy eyes closing

remembering how it use to be
wishing it was that way again
instead of every night killing of souls
a toss up
of who's next....

Train's toot to beware
haunting those close and far away
never arriving in freedom again
if it was ever
really real

or was it only a realm of imagination
snake hanging in a tree
tongue flicking
shiney slick
red pepper taste

and then the thing strikes
a reaction blink and he's suddenly gone
quick check of your neck
for any wounds
or blood spots.

Further down across a broken highway
campfire on the edge
a getaway unattainable
hundreds stuck in a ditch
peeking over the rim

crescent moon gliding above
silver sickle
cutting through the stars
no coming sunlight
only a pale warning

we should have known
what was coming around the bend
yesterday when we were still teachable
chalk boards to computer mills
until underhandedly all truths erased.

For too many had spoons in their mouths
bug-eyed with never ending games
ignoring poverty
accepting tokens
idiot pills taken

tattoo signs
on which avenue to hang out
and not get arrested
or flushed down the gyrating hole
into a sack to the bottomless pit

common sense into bones
now prehistoric
written on walls
with massive boulders
pushed over the entrances.

Zap of electricity
tingling inside our veins
short circuiting
hiccups a welcome change of pace
a laugh here to obey there

by the latest government
pandemic sparks
snapshots of your sad self
outlawing oil and gas
like diamonds and gold are no joke

stealing trains the newest rage
black chug of smoke
robot engineers
sometimes they let us think
a few will escape....

Oceans of emotion
tidal waves coming in
and out our ears
forever hearing the great bells
ringing inside our water-logged brains

and the latest wash of news
opposite truth
and backroom lies
with an illegal tuning fork
under the president's pillow

telling how we got here
collectively
our fault
and we should pay
by tying up our tongues.

Life lines
following the train
holding on by ropes and chains
those at the end of the line
too much spit sputtering

dragging and bouncing
tearing clothes loose
boots and butts raw
memories scraped
by guilt since a child

laughing and skipping
behind the caboose
footloose dancing freak
train speeding up
for the next town of crying clowns

but there's always someone
standing on the tracks
unafraid and somehow stopping
the train with just a look
letting all who want off

for the saving path to the promised land.

Essay from Mekhriniso Ergashova

GOLDEN RULES FROM SUCCESSFUL OWNERS

Success is when a person turns his dreams into a goal, overcomes difficulties, climbs a huge mountain and conquers the peak.  Everyone is lucky in life, but not everyone can be successful.  It requires not only hard work and effort, but also smart thoughts from a person.  If success depended on hard work and effort, about 90 percent of people in the world would climb to that podium.  Many people ask what is the most important thing in achieving all their goals.  And I choose to answer only that trust, hope and prayer are interconnected.  Because where there is a prayer, the white flower of hope, which was buried under thick snow, will definitely return, and where the flowers of hope have awakened, steadfast faith will appear.  Just believe. 

Everything, everything is waiting for you.  We climb the stairs to the podium of success.  He has a rule, no one has ever climbed the ladder of success with his hands in his pockets.  Do you understand  As long as we breathe in life, there is hope.  As long as there is hope, there is prayer.  And the most important thing is that our own success is waiting for us somewhere.  Do you want to know the basic 12 rules by collecting the words of famous people who are known to the world for their action and smart thought tactics?  Let’s see together…

   Do you want to be successful in your business, but don’t know where to start?  You can get on this path through the stories of successful people.  So, here are 12 rules that successful people follow differently:

 Pursue the right goals.
 Successful people have realistic goals.  That is, they set their own goals within their capabilities, and move forward in a planned manner.
 Be persistent and act quickly.
 Success depends on the decisions you make and the steps you take.  If your resolve is to truly pursue your goals and achieve them, there is no reason why you should not achieve them.

 It Is necessary to work effectively, not to be busy.
 That is, the factor leading to success is not too much work without conscious thoughts, but smart thinking.  Because hard work and effective work are two different concepts.
 Make a logical and informed decision.
 When making a decision, listen to your mind, not your feelings and emotions.

 Not trying to be a perfect person all the time.
 It is necessary to be not only in the non-dangerous environment, but also in the dangerous environment. Tasks and goals should be taken for granted.

 If every task is told that it is too complicated, I can’t do it, the ego will accept it in the same way and the person will stop trying.  As a result, trust is lost.
 Focus on small and regular developments.
 It is only necessary to follow the development.
 Learning from mistakes.
 That’s right, spending time with people whose goals are similar to yours.

 The main thing is to live life in a balanced way.
 If you want to spend your life happily, attach yourself to goals, not people and things.  In order to be successful, it is necessary to work intelligently and efficiently like bees.  The most important thing in conquering the peak and planting the flag is not to win everything, but to stand tall and proud after the stream of blows during the process of climbing to the top.  Because as Shams Tabrizi said: “If you look at life, it seems to be over, everything will end.”  But if you look again, it will be as if everything has started anew.”  You have to wait for miracles and believe in the dawn.  Because there are no nights without dawn.
                                                 ~~~
Daughter of Ergashova Mehriniso Husnidin, student of the 2nd stage of the Bukhara State Pedagogical Institute.