If people can’t use you like they used to they’ll say you’ve changed.

Autumn Arrived 

You arrived like a heavy whisper on the shoulder, 

laden with glass boxes where you keep the sun’s last sighs. 

The air is now a fabric of worn silk, 

unraveling in hands that still seek the warmth of the shade. 

The trees are old men shedding their golden garments, 

leaving their wooden bones exposed to the wind. 

Each falling leaf is a letter without a destination, 

written in amber ink on the paper of life. 

The sky has become a frozen lake from above, 

where stone clouds swim in profound silence. 

And the earth opens its arms like a weary mother, 

embracing what time decided to leave behind. 

In the city’s corners, the cold is a solitary musician, 

playing vaporous melodies on the fogged windows. 

You arrived without knocking, 

to turn each breath into a white cloud that vanishes into infinity.

GRACIELA NOEMI VILLAVERDE is a writer and poet from Concepción del Uruguay (Entre Rios) Argentina, based in Buenos Aires She graduated in letters and is the author of seven books of poetry, awarded several times worldwide. She works as the World Manager of Educational and Social Projects of the Hispanic World Union of Writers and is the UHE World Honorary President of the same institution’s Activa de la Sade, Argentine Society of Writers. She is the Commissioner of Honor in the executive cabinet in the Educational and Social Relations Division of the UNACCC South America – Argentina Chapter.

REGRET

Why do you test me so much in these trials,

Your dark nights crush me every moment.

Why do you make me suffer this way,

Tell me, will my bright days ever come?

My fate is written in the verses of my life,

I do not know what else you have written there.

While I was walking embraced by dreams,

You handed me a mirage and called it happiness.

Was the life I was meant to see in your world only sorrow?

At your feet my tears were shed without mercy.

Were the pains you gave me still not enough,

Look — my back has bent from misfortune.

Though grief pulled at my hair through the years,

I endured it with courage and left it behind.

Whatever passed over my head until this day,

I lived with patience and hope.

But now for those whose hearts have burned,

When will the torment and pain disappear?

With every frost that falls upon my brows,

I do not know how long my patience will last.

Every time wandering through the city of my heart,

Did you hear my regrets, O God?

Did you cast me mercilessly into these flames,

Or did you love me this much, O God?

Or did you love me this much, O God?

Uzbekistan

The Impact of Social Media on Youth: Problems, Analysis, and Solutions

Xayitova Mehribon

Introduction

The 21st century is the era of information technologies and digital communication. The Internet and social media have rapidly become an integral part of human life. Nowadays, young people spend a significant part of their day in the virtual space. This has a substantial impact on their thinking, worldview, and behavior. Therefore, the influence of social media on youth is not only a pedagogical and psychological issue but also a socially significant problem.

Main Part

1. Positive Effects of Social Media

Modern social platforms create vast opportunities for young people. Primarily, they serve as a rapid source of information. Youth can stay informed about global events, learn scientific and popular knowledge, and broaden their intellectual horizons.

Moreover, social media:

expands access to distance learning;

helps learn foreign languages;

provides a platform for creative expression;

offers exposure to different professional fields.

Especially during the pandemic, social media and online platforms became a crucial component of the education system, demonstrating their positive potential.

2. Negative Effects and Risk Factors

At the same time, social media has negative aspects that significantly affect youth consciousness. One major problem is time mismanagement — many young people spend hours consuming unproductive content.

Another critical issue is exposure to false or harmful information. Not all online content is reliable, and the inability to differentiate can lead to poor decision-making.

Additionally:

excessive immersion in virtual life;

mental stress from comparing oneself with others;

cyberbullying;

weakening real-life communication skills

are widely observed.

Psychological studies show that social media addiction can lead to decreased attention span, disrupted sleep patterns, and increased stress levels.

3. The Role of Social Environment in Shaping Youth

From a scientific perspective, adolescence is a crucial stage in personality formation. At this age, values, attitudes, and social positions are established. Social media plays a strong external influence in this process.

If young people engage with useful, educational, and informative content, it positively affects their development. Conversely, shallow or harmful content negatively impacts their mindset. Therefore, social media can be considered a double-edged sword.

4. Solutions and Recommendations

Addressing this issue requires a comprehensive approach. First, it is essential to develop information literacy among youth. Every young person must be able to critically evaluate the information encountered online.

The following measures can be effective:

parental guidance and proper supervision;

incorporating media literacy education in schools and universities;

promoting quality and beneficial content;

organizing meaningful leisure activities for youth.

Additionally, involving young people in sports, reading, and creative activities can reduce social media over-dependence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social media is a vital component of modern society that strongly influences youth. Using its positive potential wisely while minimizing its negative effects is a pressing contemporary task.

The key points are:

 fostering independent thinking in youth;

 developing the ability to distinguish reliable information;

 maintaining a balance between virtual and real-life activities.

Addressing these challenges is the responsibility of each member of society.

Keeping the fires burning: 

A book review of “Letters that Breathe Fire” by Margaret Randall

by J.T. Whitehead

            When confronted with a book that is both very well done, and also very important, it’s difficult to avoid being hyperbolic. Margaret Randall’s book, “Letters that Breathe Fire,” is both of these things. It is an exceptionally well-done anthology of letters from dozens of significant and well-loved poets and writers, pulled from a near-decade of her work with Sergio Mondragon putting together the remarkable bi-lingual literary journal, El Corno Emplumado / The Plumed Horn. The letters from Issues # 1 through # 31, from January, 1962, through April, 1969, are not only wonderful reading, but they are just as significant for their cultural and historical importance. 

            I can appreciate a book of letters by any favorite author or poet; with the letter we see the writer advancing his or her or their thought without any deference to the rules that define a work of art. With pretty much all of the poets in this book, the last accusation that would stand up against them is “pretense.” But it remains the case that with letters, we see more of the person, engaging in a different form of communication that is guaranteed to be authentic. Their poetry follows every poet that ever came before them, regardless of which precedent they choose to respect. But with letters, we get to sit on the barstool next to each poet, and just converse. That by itself is one of things that makes the book such a wonderful book to read.

            I can think of three general or “big picture” reasons for why this is a book that one should buy, and read. The book is a philosophical work. The book is also a cultural artifact, or snapshot; perhaps a photo album full of snapshots would say it better. And as noted the book is just a very good book full of great writing. All three reasons should not only encourage an individual reader. If anyone reading this review has anything to do with the stock of any library, especially one connected with any campus, the book belongs on your shelves for these reasons.

            The book is of great interest to anyone interested in political philosophy. Do not misread me. I’m not saying it is a work of political philosophy. I’m saying that it is an “act” of political philosophy. The family of thought it exemplifies dates back to long before, yet represents, the “Theses on Feuerbach,” which state that the philosophers have understood the world so far, but that the point is to change it. The book is itself an endeavor in that direction.

But the tradition of thought to which this book belongs is a tradition that pre-dates the works of Marx, a fact no right winger understands. It dates back to the “Book of Acts.” This gives us some idea of how long the struggle for social justice has been happening. And along the way, some have realized that ideas can change reality, that the interaction between ideas and material reality is not a one-way, deterministic street in which material stuff determines what we think – that history is not simply following material or economic leads, but that it can be inspired by something less physical, like words. The book opens with a great quote that grasps this: Jose Pepe Mujica laments a generational error that was once believed: that social change was only a matter of changing material reality, when in fact culture occupies an immense role, and that the struggle for justice can be waged on the cultural level as well. The error he corrects began in the 1800’s with Engels. We’ve grown. Ideas matter, and can make a difference. As the German philosopher Jurgen Habermas taught, communication is a form of action. This book is a “work” of political philosophy, not in the sense that John Locke’s Treatises are such works, or Hobbes’ Leviathan. I mean: this book “does” good work, and proves Habermas’s thesis.

            Margaret Randall’s book is also the best “archive” in the history of culture and ideas that I have encountered in decades. I will admit some bias, but I think the bias is a good one. While clerking for a bookshop I reached the point at which I imagined a Venn diagram of poets, and found it to be complex, when looking to specific publishers that date from approximately the 50’s, if not sooner, until the 70’s if not later. I would check the spine for publishers and I gravitated towards works published by Ferlinghetti at City Lights, Barney Rosset at Grove, James Laughlin at New Directions, or John Martin at Black Sparrow. They overlapped when it came to the poets. What attracted me was the manner in which they blew open the entire field. Those houses gave me a chance to read Kenneth Patchen, or Allen Ginsberg. The Beats happened, and the mimeograph era was likely also in full swing, (but for that one may have to locate a hard-to-find book by Christopher Harter). In any case, born in 1965, I could only observe, as if in a documentary, what appears to have happened: 

Poetry became, suddenly, more . . . democratic. 

Margaret Randall’s excellent compilation, “Letters that Breathe Fire,” are letters from those poets to one another. It is the best sample of what was happening when poetry became more democratic. It became more democratic because of the work she and Sergio Mondragon were doing with The Plumed Horn.

The book is also wonderful as a piece of cultural history. The Horn, placed these letters from the poets and contributors on special, colored pages. This was effectively a bulletin board for writers and thinkers to communicate with the readers, and with one another. This was before Facebook, before Instagram, before blogs, before computers. This was a public forum, made possible by Randall and Mondragon. We are reminded again of Habermas’s premise that communication is a communal act. And all this predated the computer age. 

            What makes this book such a better read than letter collections by one poet is the sheer number of poets we get to hear from. I’ve read Creeley’s, or Pound’s, or Bukowski’s letters, appreciating the poet if not their politics (Pound), but not at once cover to cover, without interruption. I couldn’t. It was too much Creeley, Pound, or Bukowski. This was not so with “Letters that Breathe Fire.” This book is anything but monotonous. Diverse in voice, the book includes, by my rough count, at least 100 poets. Some poets, given the mission of the literary journal, appear as expected. Ernesto Cardenal is the most obvious example. But even the metaphysical and leaping poet Robert Bly makes an appearance. The poets are as diverse as the following partial list would indicate (in order of the table of contents): Robert Kelly; Clayton Eshleman; Jackson Mac Low; Ernesto Cardenal; Ted Enslin; Diane Wakoski; Gary Snyder; Thomas Merton; Lawrence Ferlinghetti; Tom Raworth; Charles Bukowski; Robert Bly; Denise Levertov; Cid Corman. And more.

            My limited list does not intentionally omit the Central or South Americans: I listed poets whose works I have read, and this book, “Letters that Breathe Fire,” has helped me understand my deficiency. Because of Randall’s book I now have a new list of poets to explore, all from south of the border. I chose the poets for the above list simply because of my familiarity with them, because I knew that they were could be as unlike one another as, say, T.S. Eliot is from Wanda Coleman. Listing them, I knew I was making the point about their different voices. Randall’s book is a treasure trove for any poet who wishes to be introduced to new voices, for just this reason. I’ve read Americans who live south of Texas, and more than Neruda or Borges. But now my list has grown, thanks to this book. If the above list is short it is due to a lack of exposure, on my part, and not bias.

With each new poet’s letter, I discovered a new gift, different from the previous. I’m reminded of an advent calendar or a childhood treasure hunt, in which each new opening or each new advance reveals some new treasure. This is why this collection of letters is so much more enjoyable, for poets and other readers, than any other letter collection limited to one poet. One would expect their letters to display the differences. They do. More importantly, for the reader, is reading how much they shared of their humanity. Their diversity, as poets goes, is only one reason for why they best represent humanity. But they are on humanity’s side. These poets are with us, not against us. It’s that human, that basic. 

This is an important book. It is itself an act of resistance, an act despite being “words.” It is communicative action. It captures our literary and cultural history. It is also, simply, wonderful reading, and not just for poets, and not just for philosophy students, but for all of us. The poets in this anthology wrote great poetry. Do not be surprised at how great they are at writing letters, to one another, and to us.

Letters That Breathe Fire can be ordered from NYU Press.

A lost homeland. 

O, Iran!

The land of ancient beauty, 

now the land of deep sorrow

alongside the longing for freedom. 

Your sun is veiled by a shadow’s weight,

and tears have washed over the city gate.

The mothers’ heart in quiet sorrow wait,

while smoke obscures the old, historic places.

In the streets, a quiet fire still burns

for freedom’s song.

Unveiled hair are a high banner,

and the women’s voice turns darkness into light. 

O, Iran!

O, land of poets, wine of the primordial covenant, and the reed!

Your streets are now a fading map,

and the voices are a whisper in the wind.

O, Iran! The land of Hafez, Ferdowsi and Rumi!

Will from your ruins grow a stronger seed?

I carry my home in my fractured soul,

a suitcase filled with your pain 

and your collective grief.

Will the sun rise from your sky again?

Will the long night flee, my cherished land?

©® Farzaneh Dorri

Iran

2026 International Women’s Day Special

Dear Goddess May You Bloom All Your Life

Poem by Lan Xin (Lanxin Samei)

My dearest

Born a woman

you are meant to bloom like a flower

Live up to the grace of being a woman—

flowers are tender and glowing

flowers are graceful and elegant

flowers are bright and enchanting

My dearest

You belong to yourself

Your life is in your own hands

Let no one control or manipulate you

You are the master of your fate

and you may choose the life you desire

My dearest

Whether you are a daughter

a wife

a mother

a daughter-in-law

any other role

never forget—

you are first yourself

then everything else

In every role you fulfill

always remember to be true to yourself

My dearest

I hope you will never

take care of everyone else

yet forget to care for yourself

Be kind to everyone

but never be unkind to your own heart

My dearest

No matter how deeply you love

your children

your husband

your parents

anyone else

never forget—

you must love yourself

Only when you love yourself fully

can you love them better

and attract more love into your life

My dearest

You were born to live in love

When you meet someone you want to love

love bravely

Do not question if it is fate or hardship

do not fear being hurt

do not fear loss

Enjoy the journey of love

do not cling only to the result

Just as flowers bloom and fade

they do not refuse to blossom

for fear of withering one day

So it is with love

Love while you can

My dearest

May your heart be filled with love and warmth

nurturing your soul

When no one loves you

love yourself as a beloved would

You owe this to yourself

When no one warms you

warm your own heart

When no one holds you

embrace the child within you

Whether you have support or not

always remember to rely on yourself first

My dearest

May you cherish

this flower-like life you have been given

Treasure every moment

savor every present

Strive when you need to strive

enjoy when you can enjoy

pursue bravely when you must fight

and seize every opportunity with all your heart

My dearest

May you be as beautiful as you can be

Do not wait to wear lipstick

until your lips can no longer hold color

Do not wait to learn makeup

until your face loses its radiance

Do not wait to care for your skin

until time has left its deep marks

Do not wait to buy that beautiful dress

until you can no longer wear it

You were born to live beautifully—

beautiful for yourself

and beautiful for those who love you

My dearest

May your heart be gentle and compassionate

yet strong as diamond

May your wisdom bloom as beautifully as your grace

and may your beauty last as long as your wisdom

My dearest

You are more than a woman of this world—

you are a daughter of the universe

a mother of the earth

the original source of life

an embodiment of love and light

My dearest

Your awakening

is not only the fulfillment of yourself

but also the tenderness of the world

the hope of civilization

the path for the human soul to return home

My dearest

Every woman can be her own goddess

May you bloom freely

through the cycles of time

and let the world admire your grace

May your entire life

a season of constant blooming

From Lan Xin

To Women All Over the World

On the occasion of 2026 International Women’s Day

I send my most sincere wishes

to every extraordinary woman across the globe

May you be treated gently by the world

and cherished tenderly by the years

May your heart hold light

your eyes hold joy

your feet walk a clear path

May you be loved all your life

bloom with confidence

live with ease and grace

May you love yourself deeply

and be your most beautiful self in every role you play

To all women around the world

Happy Women’s Day!

May your grace last forever

and your life be full of fragrance!