Artwork from Raquel Barbeito

Drawing of a closeup of a black dog with a blue collar in a gray room with white doors. Dog sits on a blue cushion.
White little Yorkie curled up on a gray table. Her name, Daisy, is spelled out on the side of the work, gray on burnt orange.
Black and white photograph of a young woman with dark hair painting on a canvas on an easel. Paintbrushes in a jar in the foreground, open curtains by a window in the background.

Raquel Bianca Barbeito is a student of Animal Biology at The University of Guelph in Ontario,  Canada. She is also a painter and has done commissioned work for clients that want custom animal portrait creations.  She works on canvas with acrylic paints. 

Senryu from Maurizio Brancaleoni

Photo of a light-skinned person's face up close on a computer screen with an error message in front

Festa dei Morti:
l’uomo pingue s’accinge
a deflagrare

Feast of the Dead —
the rotund man sets about
exploding

*

a furia di arieggiare s’invola anche la salute

by dint of airing out health has flown away too

*

Dedicato ai plagiatori seriali

l’inferno attende
chi giunse in cima
con un copia e incolla

Dedicated to serial plagiarists

hell awaits
whoever got to the top
by copying and pasting

*

nel vicolo la vernice non copre la croce celtica

in the alley the paint doesn’t cover the Celtic cross

*

pellegrinaggio:
tutte le forme degli
stronzi di cane

pilgrimage —
all the shapes of
dog turds

*

vita in provincia:
nulla di più triste del
teppista anziano

life in the province —
nothing sadder than
the elderly delinquent

*

al quiz serale
dopo ogni vincita
migliora il look

on the evening quiz show
after each victory
a better outfit

*

in riverente
silenzio per Beethoven
tutte le piante

in reverential
silence for Beethoven
all the plants

Maurizio Brancaleoni lives near Rome, Italy.
He holds a master’s degree in Language and Translation Studies from Sapienza University. His haiku and senryu have appeared in Dadakuku, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Under The Bashō, Horror Senryu Journal, Cold Moon Journal, Scarlet Dragonfly, Memorie di una geisha, Rakuen, Haiku Corner, Pure Haiku, Five Fleas, Shadow Pond Journal, Haikuniverse, Asahi Haikuist, Plum Tree Tavern, Wales Haiku Journal, Kokako, Pan Haiku Review, The Wise Owl, Trash Panda, Haikukai, Password, Hedgerow, Fireflies’ Light and Modern Haiku. In 2023 one of his micropoems was nominated for a Touchstone Award, while a horror ku originally featured in the Halloween-themed issue of Scarlet Dragonfly was re-published in this year’s Dwarf Stars anthology. Maurizio manages “Leisure Spot”, a bilingual blog where he posts interviews, reviews and translations: https://leisurespotblog.blogspot.com/p/interviste-e-recensioni-interviews-and.html

Essay from Federico Wardal

IMG_5514.jpg

(Older white man with a wide brim hat standing in a museum in front of a tan Egyptian statue. He’s got a gray sport coat and blue button down collared shirt).


“Le Grand Musée de Giza” opening of the world’s largest museum last October 16th 

by Federico Wardal 

——-

The cities of NYC and SF are intimately linked to major events on Egyptian antiquities. News such as the 2023 exhibition on Pharaoh Ramses at the SF De Young Museum curated by the celebrity of the most important exhibitions on ancient civilizations Hon. Renée Dreyfus, an exhibition desired by the legendary archaeologist Prof. Zahi Hawass, have been published in this magazine. 

In 1995 I was the protagonist of the theatrical show : “Garibaldi and Anita: peacemakers without frontiers” at the Cairo Opera House for the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre and after the show I went to visit the famous set designer architect Hussein El-Ezabi in his villa at the pyramids where I met the Arab Global Star Mohammed Sobhi and we talked about the project of Le Grand Musée de Giza.

On 5 January 2002, then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak laid the foundation stone of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

In 2006, the 3,200 years old Statue of Ramesses II was relocated from Ramses Square in Cairo to the Grand Egyptian Museum site, near that Giza Plateau. It was moved to the atrium of the museum in January 2018 .

In late August 2008, the design team submitted over 5,000 drawings to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. Following this, the construction tende was announced in October 2008. Earthmoving has begun to excavate the site for the building. Tendering was due in September 2009, with an estimated completion date of 2013.[15]

On 11 January 2012, a joint venture between Egypt’s Orascom Construction (OC) belongs to Sawiris brothers and the Belgian BESIX was awarded the contract for phase three of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

In January 2018, Besix and Orascom brought in and installed an 82-ton, 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II in the Grand Egyptian Museum. It was the first artefact to be installed in the Museum, during construction, due to its size.

On 29 April 2018, a fire broke out near the entrance of the GEM but artifacts were not damaged and the cause of the fire was unknown.

In May 2018, the last of King Tutankhamun‘s chariots was moved to GEM.

In November 2018, the estimate for a full opening was pushed back to last quarter of 2020, according to Tarek Tawfik, GEM’s director.[20] In April 2020, the planned opening of the museum was pushed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2020, two colossal statues discovered in the sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion by the IEASM were set up in the entrance hall of the GEM.

As of May 2024, the museum is scheduled to open “later this year” and Gihan Zaki was appointed head of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

As of 16 October, 2024 the Grand Hall, Grand Staircase, commercial area, 12 public galleries and the exterior gardens are open for tours, while the Tutankhamun gallery and Solar Boat Museum are not yet open to the public.

Soon the entire huge museum will be open to the public. 

Meanwhile, new archaeological discoveries are proceeding intensely under the care of Prof. Zahi Hawass, especially in the Luxor area that will contribute to the GEM while new large exhibitions on the Egypt of the Pharaohs are scheduled in the USA in 2025 with conferences by Prof. Zahi Hawass.

Extremely tall tan Egyptian statue inside a museum with a few visitors looking up at it.
Older white man with curly gray hair, Hussein El Ezaby
The ceiling of the museum with sunlight streaming down to the museum floor.
Face, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and headdress of an Egyptian statue.

Poetry from Rahmiddinova Mushtariy

Young Central Asian teen girl with a dark braid of hair and a white top with silver sparkles.

I thank you              

                Father!

(My father is devoted to Rahmiddin!)

Father, your words are bright and kind, 

Your words of wisdom are mysterious and magical,

Your teacher is different-minded,

Thank you, father!

We learned love from you,

We learned knowledge and enlightenment from you.

We learned manners and consequences from you.

Thank you, Father!

He watched us walk the streets,

He corrected our mistake without delay,

The reason is that he gave his gifts,

Thank you, Father!

Rahmiddinova Mushtariy Ravshan’s daughter was born on March 1, 2011 in Gulistan district of Syrdarya region. Now she is a student of the 8th grade. Mushtariy is interested in reading poetry, reading books and drawing. She appeared on television in kindergarten at the age of 3 and is still appearing on television. Participated in the Bilimdon competition. She took the 2nd place in English in the 2nd grade. Participates in many contests and projects. In the future, she will become a dentist. She is preparing for admission. Her dream is to make everyone proud of Mushtariy. She also participated in many anthologies and webinars.

Poetry from Philip Butera

In an Affair, the Brush Barely Touches the Canvas

At dawn,

before breakfast,

before the indulgence, the words, and the aftermath

I needed the truth.

That slippery serpent that chokes and discards.

You smiled thinly,

“Perceive what you will,” you said, “I need to shower.”

He was wealthy, and I was a pair of dark glasses you wore occasionally.

He purchased, and I shopped.

A light burns, and a light’s shadow blends.

Color, texture, and shape describe a work of art.

In a relationship,

the foreground is devoured, and the background is lyrical.

In an affair,

the brush barely touches the canvas, and other narratives become possibilities.

Naked and obedient,

you are borrowed like fine art exhibited from gallery to gallery.

Gran Sasso, Italy, became a fist to the chest

as the clouds turned dark,

the heavy rains started, while your scent lingered

on the sheets and in my thoughts.

Fine glass

is never used to secure.

It is to be admired, handled, and then put away.

If dropped, by chance or purpose,

a momentary visual experience

is created

before the chards are swept into a heap

and then discarded.

You were cold and self-absorbed

when you hurried out the door.

I leaned back on the bedroom chair

tapped the tips of my fingers together

and eventually closed my eyes.

Excuses were a credit I believed I deserved.

Yet I understood

how optimism

usually morphs into a sad smile.

You are an illusionist

and your carefully crafted illusion

makes the truth

an uncertainty that chimes

silently and deadly.

Your note

had no inhibitions.

It stood there propped against an empty wine glass.

Your handwriting was graceful, stylish, and to the point.

“Forever was never on my mind.”

Philip received his Master of Arts in Psychology from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. He has published five poetry books, three novels and two plays. He has a column in the quarterly magazine Per Niente. He enjoys all things artistic.

Poetry from Stephen Jarrell Williams

In the Middle

Lord, in the middle of all

this world of woes

I look up into your sky

peace in the blue

even when the clouds thunder

and pour their rain

you are above

watching over us

seeing the unseen

feeling the unfeeling

healing the suffering

whispering to all the hard hearts

and the nights come

covering us with sleep

and dreams of your peace

sunrise opening our eyes

and your freeing light.