Think Different

The poet destroys the dull clang of convention with the piccolo of chaos.

Then the politician rides up on a John Deere mower and there is a blare of chaos.

The one who can save us is awesome

in saving us from the one who is awesome.

Deep in the unconscious

Thomas Jefferson glows like reasons

with the fire of lust. A ginger-haired monstrosity of goat cheese

cannot be contained in the gap-toothed invertebrate

crawling across some appendage.

That is liberation.

It vomits quietly on the sand where Captain Kirk

dreams of exploding robots as he executes his semen-stained programming.

Absolutely nothing has changed except that the horde of germ-carrying art vermin

have commandeered the red wheelbarrow as a stock offering.

A Letter Written on A Tombstone

Stranger, wait here
Wait for a moment
Once I was like you
My forefather was like you
Now I am here
Many people are here
One day you will come here
Everybody will have to come here
Time will finish everything
It is a unconditional fact
Everybody has to embrace with death
And come here one by one
It is out of the world
The world is not here
Money has no power here
Power is powerless
Politics and politicians can't play games
Landlord can't dominant forcefully 
Nobody can do anything
Caste system has no chance
All are equal 
Because all are dead.
Dead man has no address
The things we need here is good deeds
Only good deeds must help us.
So, please do good deeds as much as possible
Time is knocking at the door
Anytime there will go the bell.

Quota Reform: A Chorus of Change

In Dhaka's heart, where dreams ignite,
Students stood tall, their voices bright,
"Equal chance!" they sang, eyes alight,
Quota reform—a beacon in the night.

Sunset hues embraced their plea,
As hope danced wild, young and free,
Shahbagh Square, where courage thrived,
A melody of justice, dreams revived.


Nahyean Taronno is a student of grade eight in Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. 

Thank you to Jacques Fleury for responding to our request for readers to offer their expertise to assist writers! He has a variety of published writing which he can refer people to on request and is open to being interviewed on these topics:

-History of Haiti, as an author on the subject & as a Haiti born  American citizen 

-Black/African American History, as a “black” man who grew up in America & as an author on the subject

-Race and Racism, as a Person of Color having survived & thrived despite lived experience of racism & as author on subject

-Mental Health/Illness/Wellness & Recovery, having had lived experience & as an author on the subject

Everyone else, if you have an area of knowledge where you’d be glad to be interviewed to help people who are writing about that topic, please reach out to us at synchchaos@gmail.com.

Also, our contributor Abigail George’s book When Bad Mothers Happen, released January 2024 from European publisher Morten Rand, is available for Synchronized Chaos readers to review. Please let us know if this interests you and her publisher can send review copies (and we can publish reviews!)

It is available on Amazon here, and here is a link to a promo video.

This month, our contributors figure out how to make sense of the universe, piece by piece.

Alan Catlin renders lists and catalogues into a form of poetry, building up objects from their components, like a brick tower or a floral arrangement. J.D. Nelson crafts auditory and visual snapshots that can stand for and evoke an entire scene.

Soren Sorensen contributes mixed media alterations of reality and existential poetry on making sense of the universe. Mars Brocke’s mixed media artwork plays with reality and perception in a nod to Alice in Wonderland. His poetry, also surreal, evokes memories and states of mind. Martha Ellen conveys the psychological changes induced by benzodiapine medicine and the fluidity and vulnerability of the human brain and mind. Mark Young creatively defines concepts through descriptive words that once explained something.

Christina Chin and Uchechukwu Onyedikam’s collaborative haiku focuses on and thus highlights the value of noticing small and in-between moments.

Saidova Mahzuna outlines methods for learning and teaching vocabulary. Mo’minjonova Diyora highlights the benefits of continuing to read and learn throughout life. Sevinchoy Sanat outlines ways to enhance education through technology as Ibrohimova Durdonaxon outlines different areas to focus on when improving childhood education. However, sometimes the old ways still hold wisdom: Daniel De Culla relates a humorous tale of a modern woman who chooses to go with folk wisdom regarding her health. Gregg Norman presents a poem from the point of view of a character who’s living life to the fullest, with health benefits as incidental.

Noah Berlatsky muses on the identity of Spock and on what makes intriguing literary characters. Jacques Fleury reflects on his personal and cultural identity. Mesfakus Salahin speaks to life, death, and personal accountability, redemption, and the meaning of one individual life. David Sapp relates a tale of responsibility, honor, and mailboxes. Ranjan Sagar reminds us that others’ poor character need not diminish our own. Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa addresses the tension between roots and wings, needing to fly free and wanting a stable nest, and reflects on the end of life. Paul Tristram speaks to personal growth, strength, and self-discipline while Sarvinoz Mansurova shares her family’s dreams for her and her own aspirations. Nigora Tursunboyeva’s short story celebrates adventure and finding one’s own way in life.

Gaurav Ojha reflects on how he will take nothing with him when he leaves the earth. Graciela Noemi Villaverde expresses the exquisite anguish of losing someone close to her. Engin Cir speaks to the grief, but also the indignation, of romantic heartbreak. Faleeha Hassan evokes the feeling of anxiety, being exposed and weighed down. Mykyta Ryzhykh conveys alienation, cold, and a halfway state between life and death.

Duane Vorhees speaks to creativity, sensuality, and history, evoking major and minor apocalypses that occur when people cannot or do not adapt to constant change. Taylor Dibbert reflects on how creativity can help him weather, if not avoid, his struggles. Z.I. Mahmud links the expectations of Samuel Beckett’s characters in Waiting for Godot to those of broader Western religious and cultural traditions.

Adam Fieled writes of our twin natures, the balance of masculine and feminine. Z.I. Mahmud examines the family relationships in D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers through a Freudian psychoanalytic lens. Karimova Sarvara Karimovna crafts an elegant and highly personal love poem. Kristy Raines speaks to the joy of a close loving relationship. Aytuvova Khurshida shares a love story that gets interrupted by life, but where the former partners always remember each other. Numonova Khonzodabegim poignantly shares the challenges and risks military families face.

J.K. Durick speaks to the harsh realities of aging and death and hunger, which can be eased, but not completely erased, by modern culture. J.J. Campbell’s poetry addresses aging and resignation while Dildora Toshtemirova reflects on the loss of a close friend or lover. Nosirova Gavhar’s short story combines two great human passions: love and grief.

Paul Callus and Christina Chin collaborate on a wide-ranging haiku collection evoking home, place, and time. Stephen Jarrell Williams captures many of summer’s varied moods in his haiku. Steven Croft watches a Civil War reenactment through the eyes of a modern veteran. Brooks Lindberg speaks to what we remember and what we forget, of grasping happiness despite reality. Rustamjonova Nodira celebrates the perseverance of Uzbekistan’s founders, leaders, and people, as Nuraini Mohammed Usman urges her society to carry out collective housecleaning and purge old enmities.

Murodova Sitora urges teachers to continue to learn and develop their skills and be accorded the respect and resources in order to do so. Abduraximova Muyassarxon relates how a dedicated teacher helped her regain her confidence. Rukshona Qiyomova outlines the many responsibilities of a teacher and the value of the teaching profession. Sevinch Saidova reflects on the value of education for personal development. Sushant Kumar highlights the need for teachers to serve as role models as well as impart intellectual information.

Majidova Sevinch pays tribute to the many dimensions of a mother’s love and care. Sobirjonova Rayhona offers a tribute to her sister’s care and friendship. Ilhomova Mohichehra takes joy in her friends and her lovely homeland of Uzbekistan.

Brian Barbeito revels in the easy intimacy of the conversation on a summer hike. Salokhiddinova Mohichehra examines the structure and function of nature close to home, the human kidney. Isabel Gomez de Diego contributes visual poetry of everyday life: dinner with family, a visit with a grandson, a tree in the yard. Kylian Cubilla Gomez takes closeup peeks at backyard chickens.

Sayani Mukherjee recollects a quiet morning outdoors under the blue sky, smelling the scent of trees with her child. Maja Milojkovic yearns for and finds reminders of her lover in every aspect of nature. Intizor Samandarova evokes the sky’s expansive emptiness in her poetry as Don Bormon poetizes about the vast variety of clouds.

However, nature is not always calm: researcher Les Beley speaks to the ecological impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mahbub Alam describes the recent flash floods in parts of Bangladesh and the loss of life and property.

Farida Botayeva reflects on how quickly our circumstances and emotions can change. Ziyoda Murodilova considers how she will persevere in her life despite unpredictable feelings.

Finally, Christopher Bernard presents an old-style lyrical recipe for preparing hope in the kitchen.

             The Costco Generation

The world is a famine place, a drought place

a war-torn place, a place we have made over

into a place of hunger and displacement. We

watch it all on TV, keep up as best we can. We

try to stay out of it all, very easily we look away

change the channel, fix a snack, reassure our-

selves. There’s nothing wrong with us. We are

the Costco generation, the Walmart generation

the all you can eat generation. We shop our fill

through aisles and aisles stacked to the ceiling

giant sized, jumbo sized, larger portions of all

we need or might need. We fear running out, so

we fill our cupboards and freezer and look for

the best deal, look for the best deal. We are ex-

ceptionalism in action, being exceptional and

living in it, acting it out. While the rest of them

seem to get it all wrong, stay homeless and stay

hungry, have wars playing out within their borders.

We, on the other hand, make war elsewhere and

send the weapons to fight in them. We complain

about the homeless and spend fortunes on diets

so we can look the part and live for almost for-

ever. We fill out the surveys, write online reviews,

spend countless hours on social media trying to

keep up enough to respond. This is the Costco

generation, warehouses full of all the things that

define us, make us over – leave us like this.

                  Terrorizing

We’re learning about terrorism from

the best of ’em, the worst of ‘em

Isis, Hezbollah, and Hamas, the better

known groups, and those smaller ones

and individuals who often claim

responsibility for some attack, explosion

or the assassination of some political figure

anything to get to be part of the news on

our various news networks, claim it and

get the fame, the recognition they need in

the terrorist game. We watch it go on

24 hours a day, yesterday, last night, this morning.

It’s like an out of control weed, a pandemic,

a bit of climate change that is drying us out

leaving us the shell of our former selves.

Now we have become students of death, in its

various forms, destruction for its own sake.

We’ve become helpless talking heads that

are watching the world come apart, and we

are terrorizing ourselves with it.

        Modern Medicine

Check-In and Check-Out for

Interventional Pain Medicine

shares a waiting room with

the Check-In and Check-Out

for Endocrinology and Bone

Density Scan, so there’s sort

of a crowd checking-in or out

most of the day. This is a quiet

crowd, mostly older folks who

probably know what’s coming.

The diabetics cluster around one

end of the room, while the rest

spread out, some alone and some

have a driver along, the pain meds

they get numb up a knee or hip

or other joint making their drive

home a bit of a problem. This is

contemporary medicine with an

assortment of cheerful nurses and

aids and over-serious receptionists

near a sign reminding us not to harm

health care works – it’s a crime to

hit or spit on them or even threaten

them – this is modern medicine and

modern patients are ready to take each

other on – this is the waiting room.

J.K. Durick is a retired teacher, taught for years at Trinity College of Vermont and after that for many years at the Community College of Vermont. He and a friend started following the pandemic by writing a poem for every day – we now have run out of pandemic and have written 1618 and plan to continue till we run out.

The Impact of a Legendary Teacher on a Girl’s Life

One cold winter night, a girl with a heart as pure as snow was born. Her parents called her Ice heart. Ice heart started school earlier than her peers. She was a bit shy and timid, which made it difficult for her to connect with classmates. After 6 years of school, she prepared for the entrance exam to a higher-level school. She studied for a month and took the exam. Two months later, she was overjoyed to be accepted. She immediately began attending classes but only stayed for two years. These types of schools were shut down and replaced with specialized schools under a new system. She continued her education at this new specialized school. This year marked a turning point in her life. Ice heart fell into deep despair, losing all motivation.

One day, a legendary teacher, who would play a crucial role in her life, entered her world. This teacher rescued Ice Heart from her despair and changed her life for the better. Thankfully, she had the opportunity to learn from this legendary teacher. Now, Ice heart holds the keys to success and good fortune.

That Ice Heart was me.

Abduraximova Muyassarxon Anvarjon qizi  was born on January 6, 2008, in Toshloq district, Ferghana region. Currently, she is a 10th-grade student at a specialized school in Toshloq district, Ferghana region.

Summer Snips

hot land
cities and small towns
summer fried walls

clothes on and shoes off
soaking in the bathtub
heat stroke

birds in the fountain
sipping cool water
splashing wings

moon tunes
lovers humming songs
owls joining in

doves cooing
in the dark of early dawn
windows opening



Shadow Moods

combing her long hair
in the dark bedroom
sighing alone

light on
in front of the mirror
touch of shadows

old wooden porch
sitting in his rocking chair
sway of memories

Heavenward

children play
even as the world shakes
the unknowing


Stephen Jarrell Williams can be found on (X) Twitter @papapoet