the African deities who gave birth to our humanity!
it is said to evoke visions of nobility, royalty, wisdom
creativity, spirituality, mystery magicality
a colorful synthesis of soothing blue and spirited red!
becking forth recollections of powerful deities
it’s paler shades suggest romantic allusions
and a state of peaceful composure
while its darker shades shift
to suggest a state of dejection and spiritual elevation
its rich darker shade signify wealth luxury grandeur power
but it is double sided in that it can betoken melancholy
and frustration when applied superfluously
I suspect for some men it can denote
some feminine qualities… rightfully regulating
the dominant notions of masculinity
while its violet shade can symbolize passion, ambition
creativity and mourning in some aspects of cultural identity
it can accentuates one’s individuality in a crowd
replete with antiquated notions of conformity
its blending of red and blue can birth
deliberate intrinsic serenity and stability
it is a celebrated historical scarcity
purple pigment extracted from seal mollusks
enhanced its costly rarity attainable only to the aristocracy…
But now the color purple has been reclaimed
and integrated into our everyday commonality
and individuality attainable to anyone who
deems themselves fit for royalty!–
Jacques FleuryJacques Fleury’s book You Are Enough: The Journey Towards Understanding Your Authentic Self
Jacques Fleury is a Boston Globe featured Haitian American Poet, Educator, Author of four books and literary arts student at Harvard University online. His latest publication “You Are Enough: The Journey to Accepting Your Authentic Self” & other titles are available at all Boston Public Libraries, the University of Massachusetts Healey Library, University of Wyoming, Askews and Holts Library Services in the United Kingdom, The Harvard Book Store, The Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Amazon etc… He has been published in prestigious publications such as Spirit of Change Magazine, Wilderness House Literary Review, Muddy River Poetry Review, Litterateur Redefining World anthologies out of India, Poets Reading the News, the Cornell University Press anthology Class Lives: Stories from Our Economic Divide, Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene among others…Visit him at: http://www.authorsden.com/jacquesfleury.-
It knows the difference between words and feelings,
it hears the silence of the heart
when it trembles under the weight of guilt.
It is no ordinary clock —
it is God’s measure of goodness,
a secret guardian of sincerity.
Every thought, every intention,
every shadow in one’s gaze
leaves a trace upon its glass.
When you love purely, it shines,
when you envy, a gear breaks within it.
It does not tick “tick-tock,”
but whispers:
“were you truthful,”
“have you touched souls,”
“were you truly you.”
Its time does not pass,
it judges.
And while the world turns in false seconds,
that clock — unseen, eternal — quietly measures souls, not days.
Maja Milojković was born in Zaječar and divides her life between Serbia and Denmark. In Serbia, she serves as the deputy editor-in-chief at the publishing house Sfairos in Belgrade. She is also the founder and vice president of the Rtanj and Mesečev Poets’ Circle, which counts 800 members, and the editor-in-chief of the international e-magazine Area Felix, a bilingual Serbian-English publication. She writes literary reviews, and as a poet, she is represented in numerous domestic and international literary magazines, anthologies, and electronic media. Some of her poems are also available on the YouTube platform.
Maja Milojković has won many international awards. She is an active member of various associations and organizations advocating for peace in the world, animal protection, and the fight against racism. She is the author of two books: Mesečev krug (Moon Circle) and Drveće Želje (Trees of Desire). She is one of the founders of the first mixed-gender club Area Felix from Zaječar, Serbia, and is currently a member of the same club. She is a member of the literary club Zlatno Pero from Knjaževac, and the association of writers and artists Gorski Vidici from Podgorica, Montenegro.
Contributor Taylor Dibbert seeks reviewers for his new poetry bookOn the Rocks.Please email us at synchchaos@gmail.com if you’re interested.
Also, we will stop accepting submissions for November’s first issue on October 25th. You may still submit after that date, but your work will go into our second issue for the month.
Now, for this month’s second issue, Learning From History.
Sayani Mukherjee muses on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
Kelly Moyer’s film, created together with Hunter Sauvage and starring Robert P. Moyer and Annie, draws on ancient myth to understand the United States’ modern political situation. Abigail George analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of certain leadership styles illustrated by Donald Trump and several African leaders. Patricia Doyne speaks to the hubris of American political leadership. Andrew Brindle and Christina Chin’s tan-rengas explore society’s injustices and contradictions.
Patrick Sweeney’s one-line senryus decenter the author as head of the universe. Mark Young contributes a fresh set of altered geographies. Baskin Cooper describes encounters slightly mysterious and askance. Christopher Bernard describes the frenzied, ghostly glamour of Cal Performances’ recent production of Red Carpet.
Mahbub Alam extols the beauty of morning and nature in his Bangladeshi home. Jonathan Butcher’s poetry explores the different rooms in which we make our lives and the stories they could tell about us. J.T. Whitehead shows how external cleaning can parallel interior personal development. Srijani Dutta discusses her personal spiritual journey in prayer to the divine of at least a few faiths.
Alexandros Stamatoulakis announces his new novel The Lonely Warrior: In the Wings of the Condor, about a man discovering himself in the midst of a tumultuous modern environment. Chris Butler’s wry poetry explores long-lasting, but hopefully not implacable, truisms of the human condition. Ana Glendza speaks to the fear and insecurities that come with being human. Kavi Nielsen speaks to the experience of loneliness and rejection.
Noah Berlatsky satirizes faux-human tech support and our efforts to understand our whole world through technology. Timothee Bordenave outlines innovative ways to improve electricity transmission as Abdurofiyeva Taxmina Avazovna discusses treatments for cataracts.
Zarifaxon O’rinboyeva’s short story presents a woman overcoming poverty and grief to become a physician. Doug Hawley reflects on the ups and downs of summer jobs. Turdiyeva Guloyim’s poetic essay shares a complex emotional tapestry of childhood village memories. Rahmataliyeva Aidakhon highlights the importance of grasping folktales to understanding Uzbek heritage and culture. Madina Azamjon highlights the literary importance of Hamid Olimjon’s writing and how he drew on Uzbek folk culture for inspiration. Gulsanam Qurbonova extols the linguistic and cultural education she has received at her university. Ermatova Dilorom Bakhodirjonova explains the intertwined nature of Uzbek language and culture and the need to preserve both.
Mukhammadjonova Ugiloy celebrates her school and the sports and student leadership education she received there. Choriyeva Oynur outlines benefits of integrating technology into education. Abdirashidova Ozoda outlines the importance of encouraging and fostering creativity for preschool students. Nilufar Mo’ydinova discusses ways to encourage second language acquisition at an early age.
Anila Bukhari’s poetry celebrates the creative spirit surviving amid poverty and oppression. Taro Hokkyo’s prose poem details his protagonist’s escape from emotional and spiritual darkness to rise to the heights of creativity. Alan Catlin’s barman odyssey explores the roots of creative inspiration.
Emran Emon speaks to the recent Nobel Prize award for world literature and the value of writing. Abdusalimova Zukhraxon outlines strategies for teaching the Uzbek language to foreign students. Abdusaidova Jasmina Quvondiqovna shares some of her art and expresses her pride in her native Uzbekistan. Jumanazarova Munojot Elmurod qizi suggests ways to help young children learn to tell time. Qurbonova Madinaxon discusses the importance of games and play in children’s education. Hayotkhon Shermatova outlines issues with Uzbekistan’s educational system and how to address them. Azamova Kumushoy illustrates the importance of teaching language students how to analyze literary texts.
Ismoilova Gulmira celebrates the strength, thoughtfulness, creativity and resilience of Uzbek girls and young women. Abduqahhorova Gulhayo’s poem takes joy in the grace and kindness of young Uzbek girls. Svetlana Rostova finds beauty in everything, even ugliness, loss, and death.
Graciela Noemi Villaverde praises the creative insight of her dance teacher. Saparov Akbar outlines his personal quests and passions and his desire to educate himself and elevate his life. Mesfakus Salahin’s poetry celebrates the artistic inspiration that can come from romantic love.
J.J. Campbell details his middle-aged, disillusioned quest for love or maybe just a little break from reality. Donia Sahib speaks to spiritual and earthly love. Teresa Nocetti’s poem urges a loved one to invite her into their life. Eva Petropoulou Lianou shares a tale of lovers in search for one another.
Mykyta Ryzhykh presents a protagonist who explores alternatives and then revels in his ordinary humanity. H. Mar. shares the joy of day-to-day human companionship.
We hope this issue provides artistic, emotional, and intellectual companionship to you as you peruse the various contributions.
spilling from the eyes of a retiree cat on the stairs.
My form now a kettle
boiling with longing.
My voice, cracked and dry,
from pleading too long in mud.
Put flowers not on a grave
but on the dinner plate
for I will join you there,
in the bread,
in the steam of coffee,
in laughter bursting too soon
like a mirror too fragile for love.
If you wish to speak,
speak to the wind all tangled in curtains.
If you wish to cry,
I will harvest your tears
and plant them behind the house.
One day, a tree will bloom
its leaves whispering with my voice,
its shadow resembling
somebody you still cherish.
H.MAR
Brunei
The Empty Chair that Hugs Your Breath
The chair is still warm,
although you vanished yesterday.
Even the sky is guilty:
why will the pillow not own up to its loss?
I rest in your memory
an empty space that’s forgotten how to remember.
The floorboards creak,
not beneath footsteps,
but beneath prayers that never learned to find their way out of the throat.
A cup of tea goes cold,
even though I fill remembrance into it each morning.
And that chair
still retains your breath,
like air refusing to be released.
H.MAR
Brunei
Author Biography
Dr. Haji Mohd Ali bin Haji Radin, known by his pen name H.MAR, was born on 5 August 1968 in Brunei Darussalam. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Malay Literature from Universiti Brunei Darussalam and currently serves as a Senior Language Officer at Language and Literature Bureau, under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Brunei Darussalam. He began writing in 1984, producing works across various genres including poetry, short stories, novels, drama, and essays. His literary works have been published both domestically and internationally, and translated into multiple languages worldwide.
His local publications include Hidup Yang Mati (Anthology of Poems and Short Stories, 1996), Kota Kaca (Novel, 2003 & 2020), Taman ‘O’ (Anthology of Drama and Short Stories, 2003), Gelora (Poetry Collection, 2011 & 2023), Exotis (Short Story Collection, 2018), Taman Mimpi (Drama Collection, 2021) and Pemanah Bulan (Poetry Collection, 2025), all published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Brunei. Internationally, his works include حديقة الفلسفة / Philosophy Garden (Poetry Collection, Morocco, 2022, The Association La Vague Culturelle), Jardins Du Rire (Drama Collection, Egypt, 2023, Diwan Al Arab), Garden X (Short Pieces Collection, Egypt, 2023, Diwan Al Arab), KAMEO Y Las Cartas Perdidas (Short Story Collection, Egypt, 2023, Diwan Al Arab), Moon Archer (Poetry Collection, Egypt, 2023, Diwan Al Arab), Taman O (Drama Collection, Malaysia, 2024, Nusa Centre), Arciere della Luna (Poetry Collection, Egypt, 2025, Diwan Al Arab), and قمرٌ دمويّ / Bloody Moon (Poetry Collection, Egypt, 2025, Diwan Al Arab).
H.MAR’s literary works have been translated into English, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Mexican Spanish, Colombian Spanish, Serbian, Albanian, Macedonian, Uzbek, Turkish, Greek, Nepali, Urdu, and Korean. H.MAR is the recipient of the “Borneo Book Award” Special Book Award from the National Book Development Foundation, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2025.
Mum, i’m an autistic, not a municipal transport company autistic
i know in your mother’s heart you always dreamed of settling down as a state employee,
without the worry of a time card to punch and unemployment
doing eighteen hours a week, three months off, with the anxiety of defiscalising repetition.
Ma, i am an autistic, bad luck has decided to crown, me, as a writer
no, ma, i don’t write therapeutic remedies, no invoice, like the doctor,
i have explained to you a hundred times that i deal in endiads and alliterations
i dialogue, every night, with ghosts and communicate with martians,
and, by now, like the Villa, no ma, not the baker of via Mentana
i mix latin, dialect and the average italian as a seasoned courtesan.
Ma, i’m autistic, i speak in distich, or in anapestic,
but go on, you understand, it’s not like i’ve become spastic,
at most flexible and elastic, says so even the troika,
thrown into life with a rocket like i was Laika,
victim of the artistic environment’s lack of communication
nailed, backwards, on my cenotaph the epitaph: “!Here lies an autistic man”,
since no one can catch me in any verse
or ma, don’t bother me, i’m a deviant.
BEYOND THE BRILLO BOX
My research on the form of writing rises above the Brillo Box,
i throw my verses in the strongbox as if they were in Fort Knox,
start-up, repetition, reproduction give a life sentence to the originality
of the centenarian editors of magazines now forgetful of all abrasiveness,
after all, you know, dentures should not be solicited by intelligent concepts,
by dint of accepting canine verses carmina dant panem only to their teeth,
if we, forty year-old teenagers, have to do Professor Birkermaier’s diet
for them, octogenarian children, it would be time to diagnose a shred of Alzheimer’s.
The current fashion of the granted critic is to bark against the successes of minimalism
milanese or Roman, inn istèss, and we, 1970s ghosts, in search of the coveted minimum space,
because to change the world we could useful the energetic vigour of maximalism,
reading verses in rollian endecasyllables, in 2016, one feels like the victim of an odyssey in agony,
and the punishment of our no-future generations is to make the avant-garde in their forties
intent on claiming a Lebensraum that does not end in Anschluss,
we Heermann condemned by flexibility to never blossom into arimanni,
find ourselves re-knotting catheters to old specialists in trobar clus .
What do we have to do in order to achieve our fifteen seconds of fame
show our asses on Barbara D’Urso, edit the cultural columns of L’Unità
or patent rhymes that you mere mortals wouldn’t even dare to imagine
barking dog does not sleep and asleep – as you would like us – does not help us bite,
is woken by the caresses of an emir the late-modern Sleeping Beauty by cocaine
available to suck US gal of black gold like a petrol pump,
ladies, transgenders and gentlemen annuntio vobis gaudium magnum the fairytale is over
the generations beyond the Brillo Box will have to nibble leftovers food under the laden table
THE BALLAD OF LUIGINO: SAVINGS BANK
Luigino, sixty-eight years old, was killed
strangled by a ‘save-bank’ decree invented by a state
victim, always interested, of the fear of sanctions established by the EU with an ordinance
and uncaring, on the other, when sanctions came for years on the absence of citizenship income,
a camorrist state that throws itself at bailing out banks
and citizens are left to hope for the intervention of the Malebranche group,
in the Malebolge of the italian credit system, as in the case of Banca Etruria,
130,000 idiots to save the bank, and nine or ten to share slices of watermelon.
An Enel employee, Luigino, not a senior manager of a subsidiary holding company,
go figure out the difference between an ordinary bond and a subordinated one,
that if one, without his knowledge, is liable for the debts of a large capital company,
at least he should have the right, once a year, to have brunch in a Ferrari,
the Ferrari, or the Jaguar, of the CEO expert in deceit
that, if he were Nippon, would turn a hanging into harakiri,
because the manager is European or American he has exchanged shame for courage
the courage to continue, under a new name, to collect medals of fraud and agiotage.
Luigino died with a rope around his neck
like the millions of wretches destined for slaughterhouse,
with a click from a bunker in Berlin or London the super-capital
erases an entire life by turning the consumer into a pig,
nothing is thrown away, of the consumer, the consumed-consumer is thrown away
in the Caliphate, at least,it takes three minutes for a westerner to be slaughtered,
not sixty-eight years, torn apart by the alternation of bail-out or bail-in, like slot-machines,
tel disi mi, bilòtt, inn tücc bàll would have sentenced, with a serious air, my grandmother Ines.
THEY ARE ALL BULLSHIT
The new EU directives, Deutschland über alles,
direct the leaders of each member state to cure their herpes
of failing banks with the money of the good people,
who have nothing to do with bank boards.
The infamous bank bail-in has been in force since the beginning of the year
to be interpreted by holding the criminal code in the right hand and a dictionary in the left,
every saver – vile vintage breed – will have to empty flasks of En,
in the fear that the plutocrats will screw our ‘five pippi’ like Belen’s hardcore movie,
shareholder, subordinated bondholder, ordinary bondholder, current account holder
willing to go pantyless with the nonchalance of the abused naturist,
will see their hubris lubricated in not contributing to the rise of credit consumption
while waiting for the breakthrough of their interbank deposit protection funds.
This of the European Union is a truly hyper-liberal trick
covering the banker’s hole with the asshole of every current account holder,
everyone is capable of acting like a faggot with other people’s ass
bailing out millionaires with the money of the unfortunate is not a job for scoundrels,
after having divided the cake they blame the stock market crash in Kuala Lumpur
and the savers to go the way of the Thousand in Count Cavour’s cunning strategy.
Let us get the concept straight: if the Garbatella’charcutier goes bankrupt
will those who bought caciotta and mortadella also be involved in his debts?
THE BALLAD OF POLITICALLY INCORRECT
If you end up electrocuted on the road to Damascus
in today’s conditions it will have been the logos of a russian missile,
i, fruit of a Madonna conceived by a Bergamo’s butcher
i write, maalox, emitting verses in reflux acid,
i’m not thirsty for fame or hungry for silk
with rough syntagms it does’t print a degree as a «poet»,
in Italy Fornero has increased the brain-drain
either those who remain are headless, or cling to the Bacchelli.
Damascus, the metaphor of transition, the city of the Nabateans,
today victim of the conversion of hand grenades into money,
the multinationals of weapons study the marketing of the wounded
the multinational pharmaceutical companies study the marketing of the malnourished sick
the multinationals of the Northern European Union study to reduce the debt
to the southern nations of Europe that transform themselves into refugee camps,
the multinationals of this shit study how to cover this horrible hard film
outsourcing immense multitudes of homeless people in the streets of Milan.
The universal Catholic Church is struggling with the adoptions of consenting faggots,
so much so that the IOR bankers act like fags with the holes of our current accounts,
indulgence to hulls, smugglers and skilleds, and the italian catches it in the behind,
it would be enough to unload 300,000 fake syrians on the churchyard of St. Peter’s Square
let the good Pope Francis support them all, with the sacred gold of faith,
because if Padre Pio had been on the throne he would have given us a manner rough,
kicking the asses of libyan prisoners, hotel expenses, who ask for wi-fi
and a citizen’s income for the italian who sleeps in his car ruined by the usual puppeteers.
If you end up electrocuted on the road to Damascus
or a] you are Paul of Tarsus or b] you are the CEO of Esso,
in the Italy Toyland they blind you with the shares of Monte del Pasco
Pinocchio, oh, by dint of jerking off he has become a fool,
in the Paschi, horny maremma, they buttfuck you with the abigeat
and the creative balance of multinationals is never a crime,
if Monti sharks you or they steal ten rams from you, you don’t get pissed off
from the raffle of those who grab you will be rewarded with a tax bill.
Ivan Pozzoni was born in Monza in 1976. He introduced Law and Literature in Italy and the publication of essays on Italian philosophers and on the ethics and juridical theory of the ancient world; He collaborated with several Italian and international magazines. Between 2007 and 2024, different versions of the books were published: Underground and Riserva Indiana, with A&B Editrice, Versi Introversi, Mostri, Galata morente, Carmina non dant damen, Scarti di magazzino, Qui gli austriaci sono più severi dei Borboni, Cherchez la troika e La malattia invettiva con Limina Mentis, Lame da rasoi, with Joker, Il Guastatore, with Cleup, Patroclo non deve morire, with deComporre Edizioni and Kolektivne NSEAE with Divinafollia. He was the founder and director of the literary magazine Il Guastatore – «neon»-avant-garde notebooks; he was the founder and director of the literary magazine L’Arrivista; he is the editor and chef of the international philosophical magazine Información Filosófica. It contains a fortnight of autogérées socialistes edition houses.
He wrote 150 volumes, wrote 1000 essays, founded an avant-garde movement (NéoN-avant-gardisme, approved by Zygmunt Bauman), and wrote an Anti-manifesto NéoN-Avant-gardiste. This is mentioned in the main university manuals of literature history, philosophical history and in the main volumes of literary criticism. His book La malattia invettiva wins Raduga, mention of the critique of Montano et Strega. He is included in the Atlas of contemporary Italian poets of the University of Bologne and is included several times in the major international literature magazine, Gradiva. His verses are translated into 25 languages. In 2024, after six years of total retrait of academic studies, he return to the Italian artistic world and melts the NSEAE Kolektivne (New socio/ethno/aesthetic anthropology) [https://kolektivnenseae.wordpress.com/].
