Scripture: Hebrews 11:6 (MSG) – “It’s impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.”
Message: My Christian walk started in childhood. I felt alone in the middle of the street, not knowing where I was to go. I was about eight or so at the time.
I remember that night and the fear and the confusion and the uncertainty. My foster mother, Dee, spoke of Jesus often. In my fear and loneliness, Jesus came to me. I thought about dying. There were many times since then that I felt alone.
The tears often fell down my cheeks. Throughout the years I always prayed for God to “Help me!” I can only describe a sense of peace and comfort as I prayed. This feeling remains with me to this day at the age of sixty-seven.
I always thought that only God could give me the sense that I was not alone when I prayed my “Help me!” prayer. The comfort and peace and wholeness was strongest in the sanctuary of my heart.
Today, no matter where I am I know Jesus is walking with me. I often return to the sanctuary of my heart seeking His comfort and peace which came that night as a child standing on the corner. It is there where I still find His comfort, His peace and His guidance for which I am most grateful.
Prayer: My Heavenly Father who created me, You have given me Your Holy Son to walk with me throughout my life. You have never forsaken me, nor have You left me to die in the streets. You have poured out Your love for me and placed it in my heart. I praise You and vow to continue to love and cherish You for all eternity.
Elmaya Jabbarova was born in Azerbaijan. She is a poet, writer, reciter, and translator. Her poems were published in the regional newspapers «Sharginsesi», «Ziya», «Hekari», literary collections «Turan», «Karabakh is Azerbaijan!», «Zafar», «Buta», foreign Anthologies «Silk Road Arabian Nights», «Nano poem for Africa», «JuntosporlasLetras 1;2», «Kafiye.net» in Turkey, in the African’s CAJ magazine, Bangladesh’s Red Times magazine, «Prodigy Published» magazine. She performed her poems live on Bangladesh Uddan TV, at the II Spain Book Fair 1ra Feria Virtual del Libro Panama, Bolivia, Uruguay, France, Portugal, USA.
Everyone faces various difficulties and obstacles in their life. In such situations, a person sees himself as a helpless servant who can do nothing and becomes depressed.
So, what kind of people do you think can overcome difficult situations and endure difficulties?
“Behind every work there is good.” as they say, only people who believe in their knowledge and strength, who have full faith in their hearts, who strive forward despite any obstacles, will achieve success…
You can see someone’s life and achievements and say, “Oh, I wish I could achieve such achievements.”
But the work is not done with enthusiasm, it takes effort and self-confidence. Your goal in life is not to be like someone else, it is important to be yourself, to have your own place, your own self. In this way, working tirelessly and acquiring new knowledge will help you.
Have you set a goal, try to achieve it! You can do it! You are a successful person! Move forward to great goals in life!
Tuliyeva Sarvinoz is the winner of the state award named after Zulfia (2019). She’s a teacher of native language and literature at Shaikhontohur District Vocational School, Tashkent and the author of the poetry books “Song of Peace”, “I am a Girl of Truth”, “Morning Poem”.
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your dead father must be proud
flick a booger
across the room
somewhere in hell
your dead father
must be proud
i still catch a
glimpse of him
when i look in
the mirror or
i can hear him
when i start to
laugh at times
it takes everything
i have to not punch
glass or slit my throat
not every crisis
can be solved
with just a few
deep breaths
i have learned
over the years
a glass of something
strong and a woman
willing to put her heels
into the pit of your soul
can do the trick every
time
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a few years at least
trying not to stare
at this beautiful
black woman
with curves in
all the right
places
i have a little
time left before
i am truly a
dirty old man
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an overpass down by the river
i am not looking
forward to dying
alone
but the odds aren't
in my favor of that
ever changing
i figure i might have
a few twists and turns
in the works,
but knowing my luck
that will include dirty
cardboard and living
under an overpass
down by the river
i'm probably a few
years away from
being a springsteen
song
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where even the animals
you'd cry yourself
to sleep if you could
only find the tears
broken,
discarded
a blues song in a
gutter where even
the animals don't
dare to piss
she was this drop
dead beauty
soft, angelic skin
a laugh that immediately
made you feel safe
she'd kiss you like her
life depended on it
as usual in this too
busy fucking world
you lose touch
days become months
and one day you feel
the urge to check the
obituaries
caught dancing with
a train
holes in the carpet
tomorrow makes
no sense
---------------------------------------------------------------
agony says i love you
think of the pain
as a hug from an
old lover
she brushes her hand
across your jeans and
your heart begins to
flutter
of course,
the pain is never
like that
a large knife driven
into your soul, twisted
until agony says i love
you
they tell me i have
a high pain tolerance
not sure what good
that does me anymore
i would pray for death
but i have been disappointed
enough already
break out the watercolors
put on some john coltrane
pretend the talent is still there
how does one paint out
a depression
shallow lines on cardboard
exhaustion hopefully will win
J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) is old enough to know better. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at Horror Sleaze Trash, Mad Swirl, The Beatnik Cowboy, Disturb the Universe Magazine and The Rye Whiskey Review. His most recent chapbook, with Casey Renee Kiser, Altered States of The Unflinching Souls, is now out in the world. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)
Since time immemorial, the four elements of the world – water, fire, earth and air – have been highly revered among the people. According to the story, fire and water have their own history. Thousands of years ago, these two elements lived without conflict and respected each other. Water did not prevent the fire from burning cheerfully, did not extinguish it, and fire did not stop the water from flowing, did not evaporate it. Until feelings arise between them that other elements do not understand. This feeling that breaks the ties between them is Hate. Another elements analyzing this and the rest of they could not oppose this work, and they decided the Water that extinguished the Fire absorbed to the Earth, and the Fire that caused the Water to evaporate became incombustible without Air. Hate is such a subtle emotion that it can change the whole being. Hate is an emotion that leads to weakness and dependence and ends up being abstract. There is weakness as fire does not burn without air, and abstraction as water soaks into the soil.
Scientists say that all the objects around us are colorless. The green, red, blue and other colors that we see are all from our imagination. So, I want to say that how person looks to the environment, the environment looks like that to him. The positive and negative view is in our hands. They say that a cow collects milk and a snake collects poison from the same grass. If we make our thoughts and minds beautiful and enrich our thinking with wonderful things, we have the opportunity to make life beautiful not only for ourselves, but also for those around us. Therefore, as mentioned above, we should try to make our eyes and mind beautiful. Try what I said based on your own experience and may be you come to say “Thank you”.
Jorabayeva Ezoza Otkir was born on March 16, 2006 in Chirchik, Tashkent region. Secondary education. After graduating from the 28th general secondary school in the Qibray district of Tashkent region, in 2023 she became a student of the “Management of Culture and Art” field of the State Institute of Arts and Culture of Uzbekistan. participated with her article on the subject and was awarded with a certificate. In 2023, at the “Young border guards” military-sports competition held by the State Security Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan, she ran 100 meters and set a record with a result of 14.1 seconds, winning the nomination “The strongest girl”. 2nd place in the national stage of the “Patriots” military-sports competition among non-organized youth for the cup of the Minister of Defense under the slogan “Our National Army – in the eyes of the youth” for 2022, “Science researchers center” on December 20, 2023 took an active part in the “Student of the Year” competition, organized in cooperation with the scientific press center and the “Ziyoli pedagoglar” channel, and became the winner, awarded with a statuette and a certificate, within the framework of the 2024 neighborhood youth 5 initiative Olympiad, table tennis type of sport won the 1st place in the sector and district stages of the competition held on awarded. Her works have been published in international and republican magazines and newspapers.
We begin this issue with an announcement. Bird and Beckett Books in San Francisco is hosting a marathon poetry reading on Indigenous People’s Day, Monday October 14th, to benefit the Middle East Children’s Alliance (https://www.mecaforpeace.org/) which provides humanitarian aid to all children of any race or background in Gaza and the West Bank. For a donation to the Alliance of any amount, you can choose a time and come to Bird and Beckett to read any one poem on stage that day. More information here.
Also, several of our contributors invite reviews of their written works. Please feel welcome to contact us and we will put you in touch with the authors.
Noah Berlatsky has a book of poetry recently published from Ben Yehuda Press called *Not Akhmatova*, which is translations/responses/arguments with the work of Anna Akhmatova, thinking about Jewish diaspora.
Daniel De Culla has a collection, Grandparents Dance, that he hopes to publish, and for which he invites reviews. You’re welcome to email him directly at gallotricolor@yahoo.com for a copy.
Duane Vorhees has a book of poetry titled Between Holocausts and invites pre-publication reviews.
Duane Vorhees also offers expertise on a variety of topics and is happy to have writers contact him and pick his brain! Please reach us at synchchaos@gmail.com and we’ll forward your message to Duane.
I grew up in rural SW Ohio (actually about 20 minutes from JD Vance’s home). I lived in Montreal when Rene Leveque won the provincial governorship and launched a French domination movement.
I spent most of my active professional career teaching for the University of Maryland to US military. dependents, and locals in Korea and Japan. I currently live in Thailand.
My PhD was on Immanuel Velikovsky (as a result I probably am one of the world’s leading experts, though I have not engaged in the field for a long time).
Lorraine Caputo’s verbal postcards serve as windows on South and Central American townscapes.
Brian Barbeito dreamily reflects on a suburban neighborhood where he used to live. Soren Sorensen’s art concerns liminal states and the uncanny: a calm suburban house at night with a vague occult reference, hazy suggestions of sunrises, and an arrangement with a dagger and rose. Robert Fleming reinterprets cows in a multitude of surreal directions. Kylian Cubilla Gomez zooms in for closeups of uncanny or unusual aspects of nature.
Mark Young intermixes text, line, and swathes of color in the artworks he calls ‘geographies.’ Patrick Sweeney crafts little vignettes through his haiku-ish sentence fragments. J.D. Nelson brings us another set of quirky monostich poems, peering into the world with gentle humor and curiosity.
Noah Berlatsky illustrates how art can liberate us from commonplace thinking. Kelly Moyer’s photography renders common objects, even a restroom, intriguing visual and tactile experiences. Grant Guy pays tribute to an artistic faction whose ideas he appreciates as they bring a sense of humor to their speculations on life’s absurdities. Doug Holder describes the visceral experience of listening to Etta James.
AG Davis conveys the psychological weight of dislocation in his poetic piece. Ahmad Al-Khatat’s short story evokes the despair and helplessness of soldiers in wartime who cannot return home. Alexander Kabishev evokes the fear and despair of the blockade of Leningrad in his memoirs, a time when home became unrecognizable.
Christopher Bernard envisions the impact of an imagined disaster tearing at the heart of the American city as Pat Doyne pokes fun at Donald Trump’s recent comments on urban immigrants.
Parichita Saha explores the roles of Greek and Roman mythologies in their respective cultures. Z.I. Mahmud explores how W.B. Yeats’ poem Leda and the Swan relates the themes of the Greek myth to the Ireland of his time, situating the story within his own world. Kahlil Crawford celebrates the power of language to provide shelter and refuge and to convey and inspire thoughts that go even deeper than human culture. Aminova Oghiloy pays tribute to the culture and scholarly work done in her region of Turtkul, Uzbekistan.
Texas Fontanella ponders whether the answers to life’s ultimate questions are simple or complex and whether we stand a chance of figuring them out.
Maja Milojkovic finds belonging and peace through a very personal faith and sees the inspiration of the Lord in nature. Michael Robinson reflects on the steady and caring hand of the Lord throughout his life as a Christian in two pieces, here and here.Mahmud Dzukogi speaks to the spiritual grounding people receive through faith, compassion, and ethics.
Jacques Fleury reminds religious leaders and adherents of our common humanity before God. He points out that racial marginalization can manifest within church settings as well as in the secular world and must be confronted as part of the practice of faith.
Mesfakus Salahin reminds us that we are all equal at the moment of death. Eva Lianou Petropoulou urges readers to hold onto innocence in a harsh world. Daniel De Culla captures a loss-of-innocence moment for a young and naive girl.
Some contributors speak to inclusion and belonging within society. Mykyta Ryzhykh laments the callousness of humanity towards the vulnerable. Nahyean Taronno memorializes the courage of student protesters who recently changed the course of Bangladeshi society. Rakhimjonova Mashhura highlights Uzbekistan’s efforts to include children with disabilities in the national education system.
Salihu Muhammad Ebba reminds us of the ubiquity of disease and biological predators and our shared human biological vulnerability. Raquel Barbeito brings a tender eye to her drawings of cats and people, crafting images with colors and lines softly fading into each other.
Many writers find their spiritual and emotional home with another person, or wish to do so. Jasna Gugic expresses the beauty of close, yet wordless, intimacy. Fadwa Attia celebrates the deep and steady love she has found with her partner. Mahbub Alam also speaks of a tender, intimate love. Faleeha Hassan expresses each of the ways in which a close relationship affects and inspires her life. Dr. Prasanna Kumar Dalai contributes delightful rhyming romantic sonnets. Dilnura Kurolova highlights the value of close friendship.
J.J. Campbell speaks to the years-long pain of lost love. Nosirova Gavhar shares a tragic tale where a man recovers from his injuries, yet loses the love of his life. Graciela Noemi Villaverde reflects on the emptiness of her home as she grieves a loved one. Otteri Selvakumar shares his hopes for an honest conversation between lovers to clear the air.
David Sapp reflects on his connection to his father across generations through their shared boyhood collections. Lidia Popa reflects on the memory of those ancients who have died and been lost to history. Isabel Gomez de Diego highlights the smallness of humans, mere children amid the size of nature and culture.
O’tkir Mulikboyev speaks to the depth and breadth of cultural and natural history in the voice of a river flowing to the sea. Sayani Mukherjee muses on rivers, and other natural phenomena, as reminders of impermanence. Utso Bhattacharyya celebrates the wisdom of ecologically sustainable development, including drawing hydroelectric power from moving water.
Jerome Berglund captures and celebrates moments and the flow of time in his mixed media art. Duane Vorhees speaks of physical intimacy, aging, and love and art in his poetry.
Elmaya Jabbarova compares human emotion to the rainbow, asserting that a wide range of feelings are natural. Sandy Rochelle urges us not to fear suffering, but to learn as much as we can by all of our life experiences.
Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa illustrates the pain of social rejection and abuse, yet reminds us that every season passes, like the night back into day. Dr. Jernail S. Anand offers up wisdom for various stages of life. Ilhomova Mohichehra speculates on life’s mysteries while watching the rain and asserts that on a future sunny day, she will choose to be happy. Idris Sheikh conveys the strength of hope through a poem about seeds. Thaalith Abubakar Gimba affirms his hope for the future despite others’ cynicism.
