Poetry from Tanisha Keefe

Toxic toll
I once was whole
before the immense pain you so selfishly inflicted on my soul
Was this the goal — to pay a toll
or has this simply taken a toll
Led by control: reprogramming
theft of my wants
Pure soul, slowly — but surely — playing a role
defamation of a chosen self
hoping for victory
painting this picture of me
as if it were my destiny
Could this be the death of me,
or the unapologetic theft of she —
what used to be no longer remains shell never be the same
Such a tragedy

Shhhhh
Signs and synchronicities With repetitive actions with self sabotaging consequences
same song, same
dance should I have even given you a chance Already awaiting the consequence
retraction should I even be asking
why there is a lack of passion why we wear this costume of love as if it’s a fashion
smile
and pretend it’s all peachy we were the illusion as if it was Avicii

Cursed within
Rejuvenation of one’s worth it starts with ones feet grounding to the Earth Mind over
mentality always shows the truth what feels like a curse Is revealed and
reversed And then only proceed after completing one’s need
What follows worth is the real realization you have to love you first
Love all around even the dark stuff you keep deep deep down all while treading
emotions
try not to drown stay afloat
love ain’t no joke, but there’s always hope

Best friend
What’s always there when you need it
In any and every situations
They have read every page in your book
They can read you and literally know every detail and nook
They stick with you through
Thick and thin
That’s right you guessed it
It’s my best friend
MMH est 2011

Poetry from Mahbub Alam

Middle aged South Asian man with reading glasses, short dark hair, and an orange and green and white collared shirt. He's standing in front of a lake with bushes and grass in the background.
Mahbub Alam

Slough

The snail shell scatters

Some pick it up some throw it away

Though mine is not like your beautiful eyes

I find the beauty under the morning nyctanthes plants

In your sky, all around the down

In the frangrant morning breeze

What a tune! All the flowers and birds seem to be singing

All the words of life, love and fun are revealed

Life is a reflection of life

Through the darkness of the shell

Hundreds of thousands of lamps emerges daily

What a beautiful, shiny shell of a snail emerges in the raw sunlight!

Md. Mahbubul Alam is from Bangladesh. His writer name is Mahbub John in Bangladesh. He is a Senior Teacher (English) of Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. Chapainawabganj is a district town of Bangladesh. He is an MA in English Literature from Rajshahi College under National University. He has published three books of poems in Bangla. He writes mainly poems but other branches of literature such as prose, article, essay etc. also have been published in national and local newspapers, magazines, little magazines. He has achieved three times the Best Teacher Certificate and Crest in National Education Week in the District Wise Competition in Chapainawabganj District. He has gained many literary awards from home and abroad. His English writings have been published in Synchronized Chaos for seven years.

Essay from Nurmetova Orzu

Problems in the process of teaching the mother tongue at school
Kattakorgan State Pedagogical Institute
Faculty of Pedagogy
Primary Education Department student
Nurmetova Orzu Farhod qizi
Tel: (+998)-88-267-37-07
E-mail: orzunurmetova48@gmail.com

       Annotatsiya : Ushbu maqolada maktabda ona tili taʼlimini samarali tashkil etish masalalari hamda bu yoʻnalishda uchrayotgan muammolar tahlil qilingan.Maqolada oʻquv jarayonida qoʻllanilayotgan darsliklar va metodikalar,oʻquvchilarning kasbiy tayyorgarligi,nutq madaniyati hamda tilga boʻlgan munosabati haqida soʻz yuritiladi.Shuningdek,zamonaviy pedagogik texnologiyalarni qoʻllash,interfaol usullarni keng joriy etish,oʻquvchilarda ona tiliga muhabbat va masʼuliyat hissini shakllantirish boʻyicha soʻz yuritilgan

Kalit so‘zlar: ona tili, ta’lim jarayoni, metodika, o‘qitish usullari, dars sifati, o‘quvchi faolligi, nutq madaniyati, imlo xatolari, yozma nutq, og‘zaki nutq, didaktik materiallar.

Аннотация: В данной статье проанализированы вопросы эффективной организации преподавания родного языка в школе, а также проблемы, возникающие в этом направлении. В статье рассмотрены используемые в учебном процессе учебники и методики, профессиональная подготовка учащихся, культура речи и отношение к языку. Также речь идет о применении современных педагогических технологий, широком внедрении интерактивных методов, формировании у учащихся чувства любви и ответственности к родному языку.

Ключевые слова: родной язык, образовательный процесс, методика, методы преподавания, качество урока, активность учащихся, культура речи, орфографические ошибки, письменная речь, устная речь, дидактические материалы.

Annotation: This article analyzes the issues of effectively organizing mother tongue teaching at school and the challenges encountered in this field. The article discusses the textbooks and methodologies used in the learning process, students’ professional preparation, speech culture, and their attitude towards the language. In addition, it focuses on the use of modern pedagogical technologies, the extensive implementation of interactive methods, and cultivating a sense of love and responsibility towards the mother tongue among students.

Keywords: mother tongue, educational process, methodology, teaching methods, lesson quality, student activity, speech culture, spelling errors, written speech, oral speech, didactic materials.

Introduction: The mother tongue is a spiritual treasure of the nation, and the most important means that expresses the people’s thinking and culture. Teaching the mother tongue in the school education system is aimed not only at providing grammatical knowledge, but also at developing the ability to think correctly, fluently and consistently, expanding students’ vocabulary, and improving their speech culture.

However, today there are several problems in the process of teaching the mother tongue in schools. On one hand, this is related to the effectiveness of teaching methods, and on the other hand, it is closely connected with the general attitude towards language culture in society.

At a time when learning foreign languages is gaining great importance in the context of globalization, it is necessary to further strengthen the prestige and status of the mother tongue. Therefore, improving the process of teaching the mother tongue at school, strengthening students’ love and respect for their native language, and increasing the effectiveness of education based on modern pedagogical approaches are among the most urgent tasks.

Literature review

Scientific work and research conducted on teaching the mother tongue in schools show the relevance of this topic. Sh. Almamatova and M. Mamatqulova in their research highlighted the learning problems that occur in modern lessons and developed proposals to eliminate them. U.B. Bobojonova systematically justified the general didactic and subject-specific methodological principles in mother tongue teaching. S.M. Umarova scientifically substantiated the effectiveness of using an integrative approach in teaching the mother tongue, that is, teaching the language in harmony with other subjects through learning tasks. In the article “Current problems in teaching the mother tongue and literature and ways to solve them” written by Jalil Jalolovich, problems related to the scientific-methodological consistency of textbooks, students’ low literacy level, teachers’ methodological culture, and the material and technical base of schools were widely analyzed. These views show that the number of scientific studies on this topic is increasing and that the topic requires constant research.

Research methods

The research on the topic “Problems in the process of mother tongue teaching at school” was carried out on the basis of the following methods:

Observation method – During the research, mother tongue lessons at school were directly observed, and the organization of the lesson, the level of using interactive methods, students’ activity in the lesson, and their independent thinking skills were studied. Based on the results, recommendations were developed to improve lesson effectiveness.

Survey and interview method – Surveys were conducted among students and teachers. In it, students’ interest in the mother tongue subject, problems in speech culture, difficulties encountered during the lesson, and teachers’ methodological approaches were studied. Interviews were also conducted with teachers and their professional experience was analyzed.

Analysis method – School textbooks, curriculum, methodological guides, practical experiences, and materials related to the activities of advanced teachers were analyzed. Based on these, the effective and weak aspects of the lesson process were identified and directions for improvement were developed.

Results and discussion

The results of the research showed that the main problems in the process of teaching the mother tongue are as follows:

the development of students’ oral and written speech is weak, their vocabulary is limited, and their skills of using grammar rules in practice are low;

the learning process is more focused on theoretical knowledge, and work on text analysis, creative thinking and speech situations is insufficient;

teachers’ pedagogical skills and their aspiration for innovation in choosing methodological approaches are not high everywhere;

due to the large number of students in classes, individual approach is limited;

extracurricular reading culture is weak, and interest in reading fiction is insufficient.

To eliminate these problems, it is necessary to strengthen interactive approaches in teachers’ activities, organize lessons based on practical exercises, increase work with texts that develop independent thinking in students, and involve parents in the process.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the mother tongue is not only a subject that provides grammatical knowledge, but also the main subject that shapes the student’s thinking, worldview, speech and spirituality. Therefore, improving the teaching process of the mother tongue at school is a requirement of the time. Applying modern pedagogical technologies in the lesson, strengthening teachers’ methodological training, increasing students’ love and respect for the language, and establishing work with literary texts will increase the efficiency of education. As a result, the speech culture, thinking capacity and national identity of the future generation will rise.

References

  1. Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On measures to radically increase the prestige and status of the Uzbek language as the state language”, PF–6084. – Tashkent, October 20, 2020.
  2. Almamatova Sh., Mamatqulova M. Problems and solutions in teaching the mother tongue. – Tashkent, 2022.
  3. Bobojonova U.B. General didactic and subject-specific principles of teaching the mother tongue. – Tashkent, 2021.
  4. Umarova S.M. The methodology of developing national pride in teaching the mother tongue through integrative learning tasks. – Tashkent, 2024.
  5. Jalolovich J. Current problems in teaching the mother tongue and literature and ways to eliminate them. – Tashkent, June 22, 2025.
  6. G‘ulomova A., Qodirov B., Tojiev R., Raxmatullayev Sh. Using interactive methods in mother tongue lessons. – Tashkent, 2021.
  7. Omonov H., Mamatqulova M. Modern pedagogical technologies. – Tashkent, 2020.

Poetry from Egyptian writer Rand Morsy

Young Egyptian writer with brown curly hair, reading glasses, and a white top and smile.

The Call of Peace

O Human, master of all creation, Why do you ignite the malice within them? No plant is safe from your evils, Nor bird, nor land, nor human being, Even the universe complains of your arrogance.

*****O Human, be mindful! All that your hands destroy will demolish you. Return to your senses, and let us come together to build bridges of love for tomorrow. How many nights were lost in wars, And how many eyes spill tears, And hearts beg for safety, Pleading for peace to prevail upon the Earth. A peace that irrigates every heart, Dispels fear, and summons delight. If love spreads throughout the universe, goodness will reign. For in the palm of Peace, the gardens of happiness sprout.

******Come, let us plant the olive tree as a symbol, And release the white dove, the symbol of peace, And strive for harmony with every effort, To mend what we have corrupted with our own hands. And let us pray to God to grant every heart, A pure, endless peace. A peace that fills the universe with light, And overwhelms the Earth with joys and protection.

Poetry from Mesfakus Salahin

South Asian man with reading glasses and red shoulder length hair. He's got a red collared shirt on.
Mesfakus Salahin

‎When Spring Touches Me

‎

‎When spring touches me

‎I search for myself within myself

‎All colors lose their color

‎Only red finds a new language

‎My heartbeat spreads fragrance in the deep of eyes

‎

‎When you touch me

‎I get lost within myself

‎Poets become poems

‎Poems sing the praises of love

‎The topic of love flows in the end of waiting.

‎

‎When spring is far away

‎I wait

‎The kite of time flies in the blue sky.

‎When you are far away

‎From one planet to another

‎It feels like the whole world is mine.

Poetry from Bill Tope

Footprints in the Sand

Her name was Gilreath

and she was fifteen

years old.

She was not ready

to start a family, to

carry the issue of her

abusive stepfather

to term.

She wanted nurturing

parents and friends

and love.

Two wrongs don’t

make a right,

she was told.

Then why are you

abusing me twice?

she asked.

There were wet

prints in the

sand to show

where the girl

stood

before she

plunged to her

death

from the precipice.

Poetry from Duane Vorhees

ONCE, I WORE A DELICIOUS FACE

Deltas don’t forget distant headwaters.

The bare winter branch no longer flowers.

The butterflies of my youth

have matured into maggots.

That which was garden

has transformed by time’s arson;

the glowing bud, the smoldering rose

have become like pollen ash.

To harvest the remaining me

you pearlers must dive deep.

THE RIDDLED UNRIDDLING

Our togethered time was

antic —

anticipation of futured frolic is keen.

Not knowing how becoming comes,

we remained riddlesome.

What wealthy beggars we were!

As innocence succumbed to weariness,

our fountains – they limited;

our foundations – eliminated.

Your footprints faded. I no longer heard your call.

High above all heights,

tiny rags of cloud still cling to sky’s naked skin.

Afterwardness knits,

or tears,

pastward threads.

THROWN

I’m being thrown,

knocked into next Wednesday,

but all my bones

are boxed up like hens’ eggs.

In my young nest

I dreamed of being bird.

Dreams cannot last

against this cruel, hard world.

I was plucked and packaged

and sold in market aisles.

I’m a javelin

but not a boomerang,

a-hovering

in the air like a hanged

man. I’ve lost my grounding,

my home is in the sky.

I’m being thrown,

knocked into next Wednesday,

but all my bones

are boxed up like hens’ eggs.

LIBIDO THEOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE THEORY

Time was still new

in the cooling cosmic stew,

and the immortal prepubescent

was still learning omniscience.

After establishing The Environments

God granted Himself a day of rest.

But, already bored with nascent existence,

He remained experimentally restless.

And so the Creator became the Render

and divided humanity into genders.

But His novel dirt-and-rib mixture

was still a static creature.

And the world still lacked tension,

drama, and dynamic evolution.

So, in order to bestir the universe,

God manifested as serpent.

The event was mankind’s catalyst

for stress, embarrassment, and sex.

And while the snake did shed and shed and shed

God, changeless, new-knowing, stayed frustrated.

Though lacking yet any human ego

God sought to assimilate libido.

The divine adolescent jonahed a whale.

But the erotic projection failed:

the prophet was one the whale couldn’t stomach.

And soon time exhausted the Tanakh.

And divine anxiety became more urgent.

How could God continue as virgin?

Then God knew Mary and begat himself as Son.

And that’s how God finally became human.

WE WITHIN HE WHEELS: DALIT

At the temple festival the tables went hummming under the cabbage, rice, and melons. The summer sun waning. The baldbearded helium balloons dancing grandly among nubile paper lanterns, buddhas bronze/rotund. Ah, the season it was of Experience Superior — the feelings of love and the perceived reciprocity of love, when, past all balance and sense and generational propriety, exuberant amidst the consuming and consumed, we two, lanternballoon-alike, food and Buddha commingled, music and the truth congealed.

That’s why your paradox didn’t register at the time.

And the Children happy as tadpoles aswim in father’s river. And the Children pampered like feathers adrift in mama’s balloon.

Now my beauty  r  e  a  c  h  e  s    o  u  t  In search of your moist and hidden cottage. (Remember the crisp sunflowers asmoke unkempt against the steep&damp scampismelly dirt path. Recall the rose-of-sharon labyrinth oft-credited –before and since — as the soul’s taoWay, eelslick & serpent straight, into the nirvanic heart of notUnbeing.) Your thatched and pointed little house — it’s not where last I fingered its locks. The knobs now I’m told are handled some other way.

But even so, blind and blind, my beauty reaches out

reaches                              out

my blind beauty reaches

                              Out into cold and empty vacuum.

And the Children pampered like feathers adrift in mama’s balloon, and the Children dappled in shadow ajoy in haughty first light.

Your holy mantra for the season: Iloveyou can’t love you. And the rutting neophyte at your knees picked at the koan’s echoed contradictions. I angled it in the light, squinting along its crosshairs, but the scope just would not focus. Flash powder applied, I tried to freeze it in its frame. But the quiver could never quite gel. Dusted for prints, but no proper whorl ever emerged to point its finger conclusively. “I love you can’t love you.” I parsed the riddle into phonemic meaninglessness but the significance never decoded.

Affixed onto the acrylic stage for minutest examination, clarity persistently remained at yet one remove. Until Enlightenment came at last, slowly in a rush. I’d always known you’d go, of course, but not so suddenly. And not so soon. The painful puzzle pieces shuttered into place. And the Children dappled in shadow ajjoy in haughty first light, and the Children, dapper as bluejays, agreed in bawdy verdure. I love you can’t love you. Clause the first personal, in classic equipoise with clause two cultural. Subject-clause by predicate controlled, the halving twins yining and yanging about, plusandminus all at once. The treasured self, forbidden/desired, embraced/abhorred.

(My fellow amthropologists, take careful note: her heart’s harsh judgment was conditioned by decades and millennia of micromacroforming. Metaphorically speaking, as such, I am the incest taboo. In those society eyes, I’m the catamite in the homophobic gym, the nigger in the genepool, the sheep in the unbleating humanfold. In objective terms, and all in econocultural context of course, her loving me was always te equivalent of fucking the corpse.)

And the Children, dapper as bluejays agreed in bawdy verdure, and all us Children vampiric taters in God’s root cellar.

But the mantramoth, addicted, tethered herself to the tortured flame. The cycle doomed to turn and flutter, return and flutter, and flutter away. Return again, again away, covering and recovering the same old ground, rut after rut after rut again.

And koan’s mystery deepens.

But the Children happy as tadpoles.