Essay from Bahora Bakhtiyorova

Central Asian young woman with dark hair and brown eyes and a white blouse and black coat in front of a brown curtain.

Global Warming

As a result, global warming is not only an environmental issue but also an economic and social one. It leads to serious problems such as climate change, rising sea levels, and a decrease in biodiversity.

Such changes pose significant threats to humanity: declining agricultural production, diminishing water resources, and increased pressure on healthcare systems, among others. Therefore, the issue of global warming requires international cooperation and necessitates that each of us contributes our part. To address this problem, it is crucial to implement modern technologies, utilize renewable energy sources, and promote an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Global warming is one of the most pressing issues of modern times, related to the increase in the Earth’s average temperature. This process is primarily linked to the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as a result of human activities. Consequently, it leads to climate change, natural disasters, and the disruption of ecosystems.


There are many reasons for global warming.

The main causes of global warming include the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal), the use of chemicals in agriculture, and deforestation. These activities release carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap solar energy, causing the Earth’s temperature to rise.


Effects of Global Warming in the World

The effects of global warming are extensive. First, it leads to climate change, resulting in increased or decreased rainfall, droughts, and more frequent severe storms. Second, the melting of glaciers and rising sea levels threaten many coastal areas. Third, changes in habitats can affect animals and plants, potentially leading to a decrease in biodiversity

There are several solutions to mitigate global warming. First, diversifying energy sources and transitioning to renewable energy sources is essential. Solar, wind, and hydro energy can help reduce global warming. Second, improving energy efficiency and encouraging consumers to conserve energy is crucial. Third, preserving forests and planting new trees can help absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Global warming is a problem that threatens not just one country or region but the entire planet. Every individual, organization, and government must pay attention to this issue. Only by working together can we reduce global warming. This is vital not only for our generations but for our entire planet. The time to act is now!

Bakhora Bakhtiyorova  Asliddin’s daughter was born 21 march 2006 in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Student of Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages.
Volunteer ambassador, Member of the Juntos Por Letras writers organization in Argentina.

Poetry from Ahmed Miqdad

Middle aged bald man of Arab heritage in a green and black and white plaid shirt.

Don’t be sad 

If I died

Don’t be sad

‘Cause I’ll be happy

To get rid of this cruel world.

Don’t be sad for my death

‘Cause in the time

I was slaughtered

You were silently watching.

 Don’t show your sadness

Over my dreadful death

Because I was screaming

Under the rubble

While you were condemning.

 If I died

Don’t cry over my body

Because I was famished and

You weren’t able to give me a sip of water.

If we died

Cry for yourself

Because you will no longer be a human.

Ahmed Miqdad is a poet in Gaza.

Poetry from Jacques Fleury

What If You Were a Psycho Poe?!

 Inspired by Boston-born poet Edgar Allan Poe

Fanciful statue of Edgar Allan Poe, billowing coat in the wind, walking with a strong stride, scary raven opening his briefcase. He's on a modern city scape, walking on brick with trees and a stoplight behind him and hair blowing in the wind. Copper is green with age.
Photo c/o Jacques Fleury

What if you were a psycho Poe?

Would you read poems to me as wolves howl by moonlight?

Would you be that “uncle uncouth kook”

who scurry around with a black cape at night?
Would you read to me about your obsession with your

  elderly neighbor with the “evil eye” and

  how in your madness you dismembered and buried him below your thighs ?!

Would you tell me about your pet bird “Raven”?

And that you often think about stuffing it in your oven?


Would you tell me incendiary tales of lurking males whose

                murderous prowess never fails? 

True! VERY true-you could be a shadowy vision in the night
Hiding in your own fermented fright
No friends or foe abide in your sight
Only you seem to be the lone one under the cover of night
HAWK! HAWK! Who goes there?!

And in that moment truth be true,

why you’re undertaking your own entombment

Resulting from autonomous nervous system reactions to loveless threats

Resorting to becoming a kook who cooks his pets!

An embodiment of dysfunctional patterns of psycho prototypes

Practicing man-made madness archetypes

    negative neurological feedback loops succumb to lunacy

Living on chilling hills in your ominous haughty chateau

Where you’re likely to take down your victims

disguised as guests with just one blow!

Below you sit a body of water where bare bodies are submerged

      and nightmares come true

And as mounting bodies are stacked,

To Boston you’ll turn your back too!

Your traumas, your wounds your trials

Lead to your passions your purpose

That which makes your pig lust hideous heart beat faster at midnight

Amidst the night when one longer stick lie atop a shorter stick and the

Coo coo c (l) ock COMES oooouuuuut to flip you his bird!

A ghastly desire that you must retire

Sunken shadowy “eye” peeping peep holes

Maladroit cataracts heal their woes

Oh! good god! this tell-tale is finally told!!

Now this heart no longer bears a confession to behold…–

Young adult Black man with short shaved hair, a big smile, and a suit and purple tie.
Jacques Fleury
Silhouetted figure leaping off into the unknown with hand and leg raised. Bushes and tree in the foreground, mountains ahead. Book is green and yellow with black text and title.
Jacques Fleury’s book You Are Enough: The Journey Towards Understanding Your Authentic Self

Jacques Fleury is a Boston Globe featured Haitian American Poet, Educator, Author of four books and a literary arts student at Harvard University online. His latest publication “You Are Enough: The Journey to Accepting Your Authentic Self”  & other titles are available at all Boston Public Libraries, the University of Massachusetts Healey Library, University of  Wyoming, Askews and Holts Library Services in the United Kingdom, The Harvard Book Store, The Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Amazon etc…  He has been published in prestigious publications such as Wilderness House Literary Review, Muddy River Poetry Review, Litterateur Redefining World anthologies out of India, Poets Reading the News, the Cornell University Press anthology Class Lives: Stories from Our Economic Divide, Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene among others…Visit him at:  http://www.authorsden.com/jacquesfleury.–

Poetry from Christina Chin and Uchechukwu Onyedikam

Uchechukwu Onyedikam (italic) 

Christina Chin (plain) 


 

harp-lute

a run of melody 

widening 

the baby lulled 

to sleep



watching

two shadows

behind the stacked 

wood pile

newborn puppies 



the soul

entwined with

Gángan

the rhythm of pounding 

prophecies 



harmonic 

phrasing of a dialect

unfamiliar jargons

scripted in my 

prescription slips



twilight corner 

all the memories 

in the shade 

skylight glimmers

the illipe nut canopy 



Poetry from Elisa Mascia

Middle aged European woman with short blonde hair, light brown eyes, and a white blouse with black circles.

Truth

In this world of ever more unified faces

each proposes a photocopy of another self that does not belong to him 

It tends to identify itself and to come out of its truth, 

offers the non-existence of unique and unrepeatable identity value in exchange for stereotypes without soul and minds less and less thinking.

Playful hide-and-seek games to conceal twisted thoughts in a society that borders on universal failure.

There is the courage of armies to seek the truth.

Soldiers fight with the divine power of the Holy Spirit 

to shake the consciences of those who trade truth for perdition.

 He sells his freedom for little or nothing.

Verità

In questo mondo di volti sempre più unificati

ognuno propone la fotocopia di un altro sé stesso che non gli appartiene 

Tende ad identificarsi e a uscire dalla sua verità, 

offre l’inesistenza del valore identitario unico e irripetibile in cambio di stereotipi privi di anima e menti sempre meno pensanti.

Giochi ludici a nascondino per occultare pensieri contorti in una società che rasenta il fallimento universale.

Esiste il coraggio degli eserciti combattenti per ricercare la verità.

Soldati lottano investiti del potere divino dello spirito Santo 

per scuotere le coscienze di chi baratta la verità con la perdizione.

 Vende la propria libertà per poco o niente.

Synchronized Chaos’ First May Issue: Paradoxical Understandings

First, some announcements before our first May issue, Paradoxical Understandings.

Pink, blue, white and purple circle with circular designs around the edges.
Photo of a “paradox frame” c/o Piotr Siedlecki

Poetry submissions to North of Oxford’s Streur Anthology are now open!

North of Oxford would like to pay tribute to the late Russell Streur, poet and publisher of The Camel Saloon and The Plum Tree Tavern with an online anthology dedicated to Nature. Send us your poems of Nature, of floral and fauna, of forests and trees, of rivers, creeks and streams. Of farms, of urban nature, of parks and sanctuaries, of oceans and bays, of islands, of all things, Nature.

Send one to three poems for consideration of publication to North of Oxford at sahmsguarnieriandreutter@gmail.com  Subject line of submission: Streur Anthology. Submissions will be accepted until 5/31/25. Only submissions attached as word doc will be reviewed. Please include a 100-word bio within the word doc.

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2025/04/13/streur-nature-anthology-submissions/

Announcement from Jacques Fleury:
 “You Are Enough: The Journey to Accepting Your Authentic Self”  is being featured on the Boston Public Library website for Haitian American Heritage Month in May!

Silhouetted figure leaping off into the unknown with hand and leg raised. Bushes and tree in the foreground, mountains ahead. Book is green and yellow with black text and title.
Jacques Fleury’s book You Are Enough: The Journey Towards Understanding Your Authentic Self

Eva Petropoulou Lianou shares a short film inspired by NASA’s inclusion of her poetry in a capsule launched to the moon.

Synopsis
On 26th February 2025 NASA launched a capsule with poems to the moon, one of them was the anti-war poem “Happy Birthday”. Written by Eva Lianou Petropoulou, Directed & Animated by Zina Papadopoulou, Music & Sound by Grigoris Grigoropoulos

Lunar codex, Athena, Minerva Excelsior, The Vagabond Anthology, edited by Mark Lipman, dedicated to the Palestinian poet Ahmed Miqdad

Also, our contributor Brian Barbeito’s new book has just come out, When I Hear the Night. This is a prose poem and landscape photography book. Included with the words and pictures are two literary and dynamic introductory essays, one by poet and editor Jude Goodwin, and another by the writer and editor Mary Buchanan Sellers, figures current and thus well-informed in the field. There are also author notes and question-and-answer sections. The writings can be said to have interesting elements of memoir, essay, belle-lettres, poetry, and short story forms. Their content often includes the mystic and inner vision of the author coupled with the outside world of nature walking and travel.

Brian Barbeito's book When I Hear the Night. White text in various fonts, orange at the top, a bonfire outdoors with flames and colored lights at night on the bottom. Blue stripe at the bottom.

When I Hear the Night can be ordered here.

Now, for May 2025’s first issue: Paradoxical Understandings. In this issue, we explore various perspectives and vantage points, how multiple things can be true at once in our complex universe.

Painting of an older Black man with a beard resting his head on his fist. He's got on a jacket and a red cardinal is on his shoulder.
Image c/o Jacques Fleury

To begin, poet Yang Yujun interviews Sudhakar Gaidhani about the inspirations behind his epic poetic work Devdoot the Angel, which promotes wisdom and unity among the world’s diverse groups of people and philosophies.

On a more personal level, Peter Cherches writes of understandings and misunderstandings, how much we can come to know or forget about those closest to us. Aziza Xazanova urges human understanding through avoiding assumptions and listening with empathy. Daniel De Culla relates a story where a person in trouble simply seeks a listening ear, not rescue.

One way people can understand each other better is by learning each other’s languages. Several contributors discuss pedagogical methods for language teaching.

Malika Abdusamadovna writes about translation techniques, the importance of clarity in a teacher’s speech, principles of word division in various European languages, and ways to teach speech activity. Gafurova Mahbuba discusses complex sentence structure, digital game metrics as teaching tools, and practical and theoretical approaches to translation. Oblaqulova Gulshoda examines and compares the implied meanings of Uzbek and Japanese idioms.

Scrabble tiles, blue text on white tile. The R, worth one point, is jostled out of place in the middle.
Image c/o Anna Langova

Abdullajonova Rayhona outlines methods of translation practice, how to teach speech activities, principles for the categorization of words, and how to teach language through movement and stories. Olimova Shahina discusses how to improve English learners’ skill in speaking. Matqurbonova Ro’zaxon explores different methods of improving spoken word fluency in language learners. Husanboyeva Nargiza highlights the potential of new digital technologies in education.

Other contributors reinterpret language in concrete and abstract ways. Jerome Berglund renders different poetic forms into concrete images. Noah Berlatsky contributes a humorous poem about procrastination that uses repetition as a literary device. Christina Chin and Uchechukwu Onyedikam craft joint tan-renga poems, finishing each other’s pieces with images of music, nature, rest, and memories. Rus Khomutoff’s concrete poetry takes us on a journey of surrealism, music, and romance.

Like Khomutoff, other writers travel deep into their own psyches. Brian Barbeito reflects on his thought process and creative journeys, considering how he both opens his mind to emptiness and enlightenment and, like a skilled hockey player, remembers the basics of his craft. On another note, Nigar Nurulla Khalilova evokes writers’ block and an intense, foul mood as harsh as the Arab Simoom wind.

Mesfakus Salahin ponders the fragility of human identity and self-concept. Mark Young’s poetry explores creative processes, relationships, and the search for meaning. Texas Fontanella’s music digs deep for a dose of duende. Tagrid Bou Merhi draws on train travel as a metaphor for introspection and longing for one’s past or future. Stephen Jarrell Williams crafts a series of verses describing a person’s inner struggle and renewal. Ari Nystrom-Rice explores identity, wondering who he truly is underneath the surface. Mexribon Shodiyeva’s poetry celebrates the fragile butterfly and the beauty of being yourself. Shamsiya Khudoynazarova Turumovna relates having had the courage to free herself from an unhealthy situation and walk her own path.

Light skinned man in a black suit and collared white shirt holds a photo of a woman with dark hair in front of his face.
Image c/o Gerd Altmann

Paul Cordeiro speaks to the aftermath of significant relationships and events and to how our feelings can reshape our memories. On a less serious level, Mark Blickley develops a farcical story of unemployment fraud inspired by a photo of a man with a sheep skull, where a character invests deeply into reinventing himself.

On a more cosmic level, Jack Mellender’s work looks at space, time, and humanity’s place in the universe. Ummnusalma Nasir Mukhtar relates a fanciful and expansive dream where she traveled to the moon and stars and gathered her strength. Jacques Fleury’s photography encourages us to view life from different vantage points, exploring concepts as varied as travel, physical attraction, thought, and justice.

Duane Vorhees reflects on ancient archetypes and how we tell stories about ourselves. Sayani Mukherjee reflects on the constant turbulence of human and natural history. Dr. Jernail S. Anand probes some basic paradoxes of modern human life.

Rezauddin Stalin reflects on the beauty and the price of freedom as Blue Chynoweth reflects on the blessing and curse of being able to contemplate one’s place in the universe rather than living by instinct.

Mahbub Alam wonders whether love or self-destruction will win the day. As a person of faith grappling with these issues, Chimezie Ihekuna addresses life’s seemingly intractable struggles, suffering, and human evil, and also God’s implacable goodness in a paradoxical couplet of poems. Lilian Dipasupil’s paired poems take a similar approach, warning of child kidnapping while honoring the love and sacrifice of Jesus.

Black shadow of a wizard holding a staff up to a bunch of stars in a dark environment with blue and red smoke.
Image c/o Ian Pampagna

As writers, one of the ways we can respond to evil is to bear witness and document it as a warning. This is one of the roles of journalism. Davronova Asilabonu affirms the value of journalism and speculates on the field’s future.

More traditionally literary writing can bear witness as well. Yucheng Tao provides a sobering reminder of the historical massacres of the indigenous people of the American West by European settlers and of many Cambodians later in history by the Khmer Rouge. Z.I. Mahmud explores how Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles brought realism into detective fiction, illustrating the monstrosity of human greed and vengeance. Rahmat Muhammad laments how people where she lives in northern Nigeria no longer honor elders and ancestors as much as they should.

Yet, history has not all been bleak, and people have developed some magnificent works. Christopher Bernard reviews the energizing performance of Grupo Corpo at Berkeley’s Cal Performances, highlighting how the dances reflect various aspects of Brazilian culture. Federico Wardal outlines the accomplishments of celebrated actor Massimo Sangalli. Jeffrey Levert delves into history and philosophy as he wanders the back pathways of a remote Greek island. Graciela Noemi Villaverde poetizes on the beauty of old books and the sorrow of losing or forgetting the words inside.

Shuhratbekova Gulzoda describes the historical contributions of the humanist Jadid leaders of Uzbekistan to art, literature, science, and culture. Dilobar Maxmarejabova expresses her pride in her Uzbek heritage and her hometown of Qashqadaryo. Hashimjonova Durdana affirms her pride in her Uzbek heritage and culture. Nozima Gofurova outlines the many achievements of today’s Uzbek youth.

Artsy image of older books stacked up with a mug, spoon, and saucer on top with steam and some blackbirds flying above. Pieces of paper with text fly above and a red robin perches above a book.
Image c/o George Hodan

Bhagirath Choudhary points to the role of literature in terms of helping people and societies evolve to become more humane. Dr. Jernail S. Anand illuminates the power of art and literature to touch people’s hearts and souls and inspire wiser and more compassionate behavior.

Alexander Klujev highlights connections between Russian music and Russian philosophy and how both honor the triumph of life over death.

Various contributions celebrate different aspects of life. Shahnoza Ochildiyeva enjoys a picnic with her classmates on a sunny spring day. Su Yun evokes the struggle and beauty of flowers growing in an urban environment. Isabel Gomez de Diego photographs childhood exuberance in a neighborhood where humans coexist with nature, trees and bike paths near city apartments. Eva Petropoulou Lianou crafts a story around the evocatively named “Hero’s Path,” a hiking trail near a European monastery. She finds simple joy in nature and travel. Manik Chakraborty takes poetic inspiration from misty mountains as Taro Hokkyo honors his muse and the land on which he writes.

Marjona Jorayeva Baxtiyorovna expresses her respect for women and the feminine, which she links to nurturing and compassion. Gulsanam Qurbonova celebrates the tender nurturing of a mother’s love. Vo Thi Nhu Mai reflects on the warmth and tenderness of her childhood in Vietnam and how that inspired her creativity. Kylian Cubilla Gomez’ photography captures vintage childhood images: Snoopy, old Easter themed toys, a colorful frog, even possibly Dad’s aftershave. David Sapp enters the mind of a three-year-old, excited about cereal and dogs. Marjona Jo’rayeva relates her enthusiasm for a fresh term at school.

Smiling brown skinned child in a blue tee shirt holding out his arms. Trees with green, yellow, red, orange and bluegreen trees in the background.
Image c/o Gerd Altmann

Kristy Raines expresses the simple yet profound joy of two souls finding true love and choosing each other. Eid Saleh writes in English and Arabic of the meeting of souls in a similar way, and refers both to romance and to close friendship. Qaraboyeva Zilola expresses the tender urgency, trepidation, and obsession of young love. Marley Manalo-Ladicho ignites a fiery love feast in his poetry.

However, as Taylor Dibbert points out in his brief poem, romances, and other sources of happiness, aren’t guaranteed to last.

Tuliyeva Sarvinoz’ elegant poetry laments lost love as Mirta Liliana Ramirez honors the memory of a beloved, asserting that she’s not yet ready to move forward. Eva Petropoulou Lianou touches on the tenderness of human hearts and how many of us carry emotional trauma. J.J. Campbell’s poems describe a soul’s slow descent into misery and cynicism. Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal speaks to social and psychological entrapment, stuck with folks tired of his old stories. Linda S. Gunther’s short story “Bake Me a Banyan Tree” explores what we owe our loved ones and how far we would go for them.

Eric Barr’s poetry reflects the realities of navigating life after a stroke. Manik Chakraborty laments destruction caused by a fire as Mykyta Ryzhykh reimagines the Three Little Pigs into a futuristic dystopia in light of environmental destruction. Don Bormon evokes extreme desert heat and the specter of climate change.

Watercolor of lavender in a decorative vase next to a purple towel and lavender scented water in a glass bottle with a stopper.
Image c/o Sulvia

Alex S. Johnson takes us on a mythical journey to transmute sorrow in a poem translated into Greek by Cassandra Alogoskoufi.

Sometimes what one needs to overcome suffering isn’t as complex as alchemy, but can just be time at home curled up with one’s cat. Nicholas Gunther’s poem describes a weary soul’s desire to return home after a long journey. Bill Tope’s short story explores how a senior cat helped bring an older woman out of depression after society made both feel useless.

We hope that Synchronized Chaos can inspire creativity, bear witness to the joys and pains of the world, and transform sorrow and stagnation. Please enjoy this issue!

Prose from David Sapp

Three

I’m three three three one-two-three and nobody knows I’m up up up – Mommy sleeping sleeping sad in her big bed. Daddy at work – work work work in town at the dry cleaners after bacon and eggs and coffee at Ohio Restaurant. Love Daddy – I’m Daddy’s little girl.

Climb one-two-three shelves for cereal in the cupboard – bowl spoon milk from the frigerator sometimes smells bad. Then turn the knob all-by-myself open the big heavy door open the screen door out the door. No shoes no socks my feet my toes wiggle in the grass wet wet wet. Run run run to the barn pee in my big girl training pants take em off and toss em in the weeds every-Mommy’s-bad-word-morning-when-will-she-learn. Bare bottom who cares I don’t care no one cares maybe grandma cares.

Horses are waiting for me me me at the gate one big one nice one mean one brown one white and a pony-just-my-size. And I pet their noses oh my gosh soft so soft and I feed them green grass even the white mean-to-grown-ups one who could eat my tiny fingers anytime it wants to snap-just-like-that but it doesn’t never never never did never never never will. My big brodder’s watching me from his window thinks he’s the boss of me but isn’t the boss of me. Face scrunched and big frown always worry worry worry.

Then my dog friends are waiting every-morning-same-place-same-time for me me me. Black white and brown but mostly black Smokey knows only one trick shake shake shake the neighbor boys taught him a long time ago when he was my brodder’s dog not anymore. And Sammy also black with curly part-poodle hair. And the next-door-neighbor’s big big big red Ireesh Sitter with eyes that say something to me every day. Just us we all go running in the tall green grass field – green grass taller than me and when I fall down my dog friends wait for me to get up and catch up. I know lunch time just-know-it lunch time and cartoons and fight-every-Mommy’s-bad-word-day-driving-me-crazy-brodder time – who’s not the boss of me.

(But he makes me laugh laugh laugh so much I pee my pants accidental not on purpose. When I dunk Oreo cookies in my milk and my mouth is full – makes me laugh so I spray it all over the table. Laugh when he makes the squeaky mouse voice when I try to bite a pickle I can never eat my pickles. “No! No! No! Don’t eat me! Please please please don’t eat me!” And he pushes me around the driveway in my old junky I’m-too-big-for-it-stroller again again again! And of course he showed me how to swing a swing and slide a slide. Keeps my bare feet away from rusty nails and sometime makes me Froot Loops even if I think I-did-it-all-by-myself. And he said he would look after me when I ride the school bus for the very first time. And he looks for me when no one is looking for me and he makes sure I get home for supper. Okay my brodder loves loves loves me even if he isn’t the boss boss boss of me.)

And at nighty-night time Mommy awake – not a morning mommy. And Daddy’s home – I’m Daddy’s little girl Daddy’s home! Brodder shuts up but sometimes a story. Mommy finds at bath and toys in the tub and towel time tics in my ears burrs in my hair from the tall green grass time. Daddy mad Mommy says nothin’ Brodder told-you-so. Tics and burrs just like Smokey Sammy and the big big big red Ireesh Sitter who don’t get baths or towels or cartoons so what’s the big deal?

David Sapp, writer and artist, lives along the southern shore of Lake Erie in North America. A Pushcart nominee, he was awarded Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Grants for poetry and the visual arts. His poetry and prose appear widely in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. His publications include articles in the Journal of Creative Behavior, chapbooks Close to Home and Two Buddha, a novel Flying Over Erie, and a book of poems and drawings titled Drawing Nirvana.