People always think of food when they hear about fish. They imagine the splendor and magnificence of the ocean or that sweet film about a coming of age story in Finding Nemo. This is a story for the ages, concerning land development meeting natural resources and the bounty and abundance of Mother Nature.

The writing in this story is a masterful blend of the lyrical, fantastical and the dire realities of climate change and the extreme changes to the environment due to human interference when it concerns the delicate balance of the ecosystem of a lake. It is filled in the beginning with the wonderment of the animal world and even can be quite magical at times.

Life in a pond can be tricky to navigate at the best of times but life is good for the catfish Xi and his friend Joe in the tranquil waters of his lake. Xi turns a telescopic eye to a penetrating view of the environment. In the beginning there is a tolerant understanding of the outside world. Xi, a catfish, lives in the watery depths of a pond with his friend Joe.

This story stimulates interest around the subject matter of grief for a life lived without difficulties and challenges, and loss, how dangerous human intervention is when it comes to matters in the animal kingdom. It’s a sad story filled with the violence and brutality of man in the natural world.

Humanity soon comes to the lake and the lake soon becomes a tourist hotspot. A hospital for Covid-19 is built at the edge of the lake and a maritime museum. In the process, animal life is killed by pollutants and removed from the lake as well. Life as Xi knows it is coming to an end. There’s an imbalance that occurs at the lake as modern life creeps up upon the animals at the lake.

Xi begins traveling to Florida and hopes to make it his new home but undergoes a violent and jarring meeting with a ferocious and curious dog. Xi is rescued and taken care of by its owner. The owner, Fred, then travels to Florida to their lab where animals of all kinds undergo the horrific experiences of experimentation at the hands of human beings.

After every traumatic experience Xi undergoes he braces himself for what will happen to him next. The researchers and Fred have no qualms about eating hot fin soup in front of Xi. The Florida researchers win the Nobel Prize but it comes at a terrible cost. The fragility of plant life and the animal kingdom that co-exists interdependently in the lake is not taken into account and it is not understood by human life. Humanity fails to intervene to save nature and the environment.

They are eager to kill, maim, mutilate and destroy in the name of science, research and experimentation. The human beings in this story have no respect for the natural world. They think their research will lead them to getting acclaim, international prizes and that they are doing it for the glory of mankind. They think nothing of how valuable the life inside the lake is.

Here are a few quotes from this fascinating yet tragic story that reveals man’s greed and his need for power, control and total domination over the natural world.

“It was a lake – clear, serene and old as earth.”

“The lake was surrounded by big trees that attracted especially the migratory birds. In winter, it would become a meeting zone for numerous birds – from the bigger ones like geese, waders and storks to the tiny ones like warbles, wagtails and pipits.”

“Without protozoa, there was nothing left for zooplankton to eat; and while zooplankton couldn’t grow there, invertebrates had to starve and die. As there were no invertebrates, fishes were not required to make an effort to look for a prey.”

“Despite some caring masters having such concern for their finned subjects, Joe would feel rather offended that the catfish community was being disdained. No doubt, they could collect food from any level but were bottom feeders as well. Now, as the doctor suggested to the farmer to remain careful about throwing peas into the pond, the catfishes began to harbor a deep resentment against him.”

“Whether they ever reached Florida is another matter.”

“They saw objects resembling hooks containing delicious food, tied to lines coming down from above. All the fishes thought it to be a great feast offered by someone in the sky so they happily scrambled to swallow the hooks, only to get the hook points pierced into and anchored inside their mouths, gullets or gills.”

“Some investor decided to construct a 4-star hotel on the lake to attract even more tourists from home and abroad. For this purpose, pneumatic caissons were utilized, and an underground tunnel was built using the same technology. To implement the plans at minimum cost, the lake was drained, and the mud and silt thus collected were used to elevate the banks. An artificial island was made in the shape of a palm frond, upon which a multi-storied building was erected.”

“It had a height of five to six feet, two legs, two eyes, fingers and so on, but no tail, fins or gills. Since Xi had previously heard about the human physique from his dearest pal Joe, he could easily recognize that it must be a human.”

Here are a few words about the author.

Born in the village of Majkhuria in Bangladesh, Rehanul Hoque started by writing poems at an early age. Falling ‘upon the thorns of life,’ Rehanul takes refuge in the lap of nature. He also seeks pleasure in playing with words. He believes beauty is religion and literature can build a habitable earth by promoting harmony and truth together through the appreciation of beauty. He dreams of a future ruled only by love.

Rehanul’s works have appeared in different journals, magazines and anthologies like The Wagon Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Penwood Review, The Pangolin Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, The Piker Press, Cacti Fur, LUMMOX 9, Literary Yard, NAT SCAMMACCA CULTURAL MAGAZINE, AZAHAR REVISTA POETICA, Asian Signature, North Dakota Quarterly, The Cyclone will End, and Love in Summer.

A promotional video for “The Immigrant Catfish”:

This review was previously published on the website Modern Diplomacy on September 2, 2024.

Lonely Spider on a Lonely Island

Everyone is the only spider on a lonely island

some are big, some are small, and they are of different species

every spider throws its silk into the air

some of these silks are tangled together

forming a tiny silk bridge

sometimes two spiders crawl towards each other

touching each other’s slender legs

but most of the spider silks are scattered by the wind

in the end, all spiders have empty bellies

no longer able to spin silk

that web which could bring them food

is never built

no spider can reach another island

only the sea keeps surging endlessly

孤岛上孤独的蜘蛛

每个人都是孤岛上唯一一只蜘蛛

有大有小，品种不一

每个蜘蛛都向空中抛出蜘蛛丝

它们有的搭在一起，形成一条丝的小桥

有时两只蜘蛛就爬向彼此

互相碰碰纤细的腿

但大多数蜘蛛丝被风吹散

到最后，所有的蜘蛛都腹中空空

再也吐不出丝来

那张可以为他们带来食物的网

始终也建设不起来

没有一只蜘蛛能到别的岛上去

只有海水一直动荡不息

20280917

TEACHING SHAKESPEARE’S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE TO 7TH GRADER CLASSROOM FROM A COMMONWEALTH NATION 

Shakespeare Week Reading for Exam Style Essay Structured Q/A 

1. Afterward of watching the documentary of Patrick Stewart’s theatrical performance of Shylock’s monologue and reading the following extract adapted from the reading materials of BBC bitesize curriculum, then answer these exam-style structured brief and broad question: 

Shylock challenges prejudice

Solario and Solanio are worrying about Antonio’s ships amid rumours they have sunk in bad weather. When Shylock enters, they cruelly laugh at him about his missing daughter.

Shylock has heard the rumour about Antonio’s ships and reacts by saying that Antonio should “look to his bond”. Shylock says he looks forward to getting Antonio’s pound of flesh as revenge for Antonio’s cruel mistreatment over the years.

Shylock gives a powerful speech about the mistreatment of Jewish people, in which he asks why they should be treated differently from others. “Hath not a Jew eyes?” he asks, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?”.

When Solario and Solanio leave, Shylock is joined by his Jewish friend Tubal, who gives more detail about Jessica’s disappearance, and the valuables she has taken with her. Shylock shows a more emotional side of himself as he mourns the loss of a ring taken by Jessica – it was a gift from his late wife.

Patrick Stewart performing as Shylock with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2011

“Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?”

Questions:

1. Shylock recites one of the greatest monologues of Shakespearean drama. The monologue is a dramatic speech in which an actor in a play or a film, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast programme.

Explain in a sentence the figure of speech used in this address. [2]

2. Examine the character sketch of Shylock with regards to the rhetorical significance of parallelism.                                                             [8]

b). In the view of the pictorial image of Venice being the setting of The Merchant of Venice, examine the juxtapositional impact of the theme, “romance in Belmont and trouble in Venice.”                                                                                                  [4]                                                                                                 

The Italian city of Venice in which Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is set

c) After watching the theatrical performance of the trial and court scene from ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and referencing the Folger Shakespeare Library extract, discuss in depth the trial of Antonio.                                                                      [6]

GRATIANO 

O Jew, an upright judge, a learnèd judge!

PORTIA, as Balthazar 

Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh.

Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more

But just a pound of flesh. If thou tak’st more

Or less than a just pound, be it but so much

As makes it light or heavy in the substance

Or the division of the twentieth part

Of one poor scruple—nay, if the scale do turn

But in the estimation of a hair,

Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.

GRATIANO 

A second Daniel! A Daniel, Jew!

Now, infidel, I have you on the hip.

PORTIA, as Balthazar 

Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.

SHYLOCK 

Give me my principal and let me go.

BASSANIO 

I have it ready for thee. Here it is.

PORTIA, as Balthazar 

He hath refused it in the open court.

He shall have merely justice and his bond.

GRATIANO 

A Daniel still, say I! A second Daniel!—

I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.            

In Shakespeare’s Week Programme Later Worked Solution Handouts Materials Reading Resources Bequeathed To The Future Shakespearean Scholars

Worked Solution To The Question No b) Character Sketch of Shakespeare’s Shylock with Rhetorical Significance of the Effect of Parallelism

• Shylock is a wolfish murderous tyrannous villain compared to a blood thirsty dog but also foils as the epitome of a dignified nobleman for his sole sufferance belonging to the member of a persecuted race. 
• As the antagonist of Shakespearean drama, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, Shylock dominated the 18th and 19th centuries as melodramatic figure of horror and terror. 
• Shylock’s protective self-defensive mechanism of ironical humour wrought himself with the iron laden armour of shield against the injustices of sufferance against Antonio’s cruelty and bitterness inflicted in the past.
• Shakespeare, however, was stuck in the fringes/margins/borderlines/gulf behind being a semite and anti-semite in Christian Elizabethan European England.
• Modernistic interpretation of the antagonist Shylock projects and portrays modern world economic forum and/or international monetary fund during the Great Depression of the 1930s, juxtaposing the anti-semitism of Hitler’s Nazi-German holocaust during the Great World War II (1939-45).

Worked Solution To The Question No c) Romance in Belmont and Trouble in Venice

• With the wooing of courtship the couple Bassanio and Portia exchanged rings and likewise, Nerissa and Gratiano too are engaged.
• Romance surfeits towards the pinnacle while they promise their wedding vow that they will never part with.
• However, a gloomy and melancholy picture is visualized with Solario’s depressing news aftermath of Lorenzo and Jessica’s gathering—–that Antonio’s vessels of shipments unfortunately drowned and sank.
• Meanwhile Portia persuades Bassanio to rescue Antonio with a ransom of double the 8000 ducats from the stony adversary and inhuman wretch—–Shylock in Venice.

  Worked Solution to the Question No d) The Court and Trial Scene

• The trial and the court scene is often the most quoteworthy textual references in Shakespearean studies because of the unexpected plots and twists. Here in Act 4 from ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ Shylock is the epitome of the stony adversary and inhuman wretch and the Jew as resonated in the echoes of the Duke.
• Shylock is adamant of his bond-forfeiture of Antonio’s pound of flesh. 
• However, the ‘Daniel is come to Judgement’, Portia in disguise of the counsellor Balthazar from Padua offers recompense of double the amount which the Jewish antagonist Shylock waves off and casts aside. 
• William Shakespeare allegorizes the trope of Judaism; whilst satirizing the dramatia personae of Shylock, contrasting traditional medieval Catholic Christian merchant as represented by the character of Antonio
• Ironically hypocrisy has been personified in the New Testament contemporizing literary trope of Judaism in the context of materialism, money-lending, legalism, the pound of flesh contract and/or bond, contrasting the authenticity of honesty, morality and integrity prevailing in Christian spirited souls.
• In the nick of time, Portia’s interruption salvages the life of the Christian spirited Antonio as result of the novel discovery that the bond elicits pound of flesh without shedding of blood.
• Antonio, thus thanks in ironical sarcasm of Shylock’s own words——– “A second Daniel! ——— I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me the word.”
• Finally Shylock forfeits Judaism and wealth of fortunes for the sake of compassion and mercy by being spiritually converted to Christianity. 

References

The following quizlet has been prepared in consultation with references:from Save My Exams, Revision World and Spark Notes 

Author     

Revisiting The Merchant of Venice for High School Classroom

I didn’t expect to feel unsafe. That’s the hardest part to admit.

The person I was speaking with—a renowned sexologist, celebrated for their kink-aware, trauma-informed approach—had built a public reputation on consent, care, and empowerment. I had admired their work from afar. So when they asked about my medical condition in passing, I answered honestly. I was vulnerable, but I trusted the space.

What followed was not care. It was emotional domination disguised as engagement. The conversation veered into territory that felt coercive, destabilizing, and eerily reminiscent of a D/s dynamic—without negotiation, without safety, and without consent. I was misgendered after clearly stating my pronouns. My health condition was weaponized against me. They insisted on being the one to send the Zoom link, failed to ask if I wanted the session recorded, and never offered me control over the space.

And then—to top it all off, so to speak—it felt like they were playing cat and mouse with me. Like I was the tied-up sub and they were a literal psychopath hiding in plain sight. The dynamic was not therapeutic. It was predatory.

I left feeling retraumatized.

And I’m not alone.

We live in a time when boundaries are under siege—from political rhetoric that dehumanizes queer and trans bodies, to therapeutic and spiritual spaces that promise safety but sometimes deliver harm. The rise of authoritarianism isn’t just happening in governments—it’s happening in micro-interactions, in the misuse of power by those who should know better.

This is why instinct matters.

Instinct is not paranoia. It’s not drama. It’s the body’s wisdom speaking before the mind can rationalize. When something feels off—when a conversation leaves you feeling smaller, silenced, or emotionally cornered—that’s your signal. And it doesn’t matter how many degrees someone has, how many books they’ve published, or how many panels they’ve spoken on. Anyone can violate a boundary.

And anyone can choose not to listen when you say “no.”

As queer folx, as neurodivergent beings, as survivors, we are often taught to override our instincts in favor of politeness, professionalism, or perceived authority. But politeness won’t protect us. Only truth will.

So here’s mine: I was harmed. And I’m speaking up not to shame, but to protect.

If you’ve felt something similar—if your instincts whispered “this isn’t safe” and you doubted yourself—you’re not alone. You’re not overreacting. You’re remembering what safety feels like.

And that memory is sacred.

Let’s build spaces where instinct is honored, boundaries are respected, and care is more than a performance. Let’s haunt the canon with our truth.

About the Author Kandy Fontaine (aka Alex S. Johnson) is a queer writer, editor, and literary agitator whose work spans poetry, fiction, memoir, and radical cultural critique. As the founder and editor of Riot Pink, Kandy curates voices that haunt the canon—centering queer, neurodivergent, and trauma-informed perspectives in defiance of literary gatekeeping. Their work appears in Neurospicy!, Nocturnicorn Books, and across underground zines and performance spaces. Kandy is also co-host of The Smol Bear N Pickles Show, where they explore the intersections of art, identity, and resistance with fellow visionary Alea Celeste Williams.

Kandy believes in the power of radical empathy, messy truth, and literature as a tool for survival and transformation.

📧 Submissions & inquiries: georgebailey679@gmail.com 📚 Riot Pink: Queer literature that bites back.

BLOOD 

In this world, there are very few people 

who belong to us

I am talking of blood relations 

Your mum your dad 

And your brother 

And your sister.

These are the people 

Who are the first 

To feel your loss

And joy in your gain

All others come later 

In this alien universe 

A sister is your greatest support 

And brother too 

If your parents are wise enough

Not make a rival out of him

Brothers are seen as great supports

But also as great rivals too.

But a sister turns a rival is very rare

Although these are times.

When wealth and property 

Determine our love 

For our parents  and each other 

Family bonds have suffered a lot

In these times of calculations 

Still when you fall in an accident 

Just think who is beside you?

Your wife, your son or your daughter 

I am counting all these relations today 

Praying every one has someone 

To show as his own 

Who can take care of him

When he is conducted to the hospital.

Without ignoring the fact that 

Beyond blood relations, are close friends 

Relatives and colleagues 

They are sometimes very good 

And what about Vasudevam Kattumbkam? 

(Entire world our family)

1. Tell us about yourself. How did you start writing poetry?

I was born in Ukraine, in the city of Sumy. Many years later, fate brought me to the city of Kazan. During my school years, I started a diary—it was very fashionable at the time—and began writing down my innermost thoughts in it, for some reason, in verse. Over time, independent works began to appear. And on the insistence of my classmates, I sent my poems to the chief editor of the youth magazine “Yunost” (Youth), Andrey Dementyev. He replied to me personally and recommended that I join a literary association, which I did. So, unexpectedly for me, my path into serious literature began.

2. What message do you want to convey with your poetry?

The message is one: to live in love and peace. Only through repentance can peace come, but it is a very long and thorny road. And only those who walk it can master it.

3. Do you believe that the new generation reads and is interested in literature?

Of course, I believe. How can one create without faith? Every book, every work needs its own thoughtful reader.

And in poetry?

I am the creator and director of the International Music and Poetry Festival “Handshake of Republics” (RR-Fest), the International RR-Fest Telebridge, the International Youth Music and Poetry Competition-Festival “On the Fairytale Shore of the Kazanka River” based on the works of Olga Levadnaya, the International Forum-Battle “Tournament of Poets and AI. RR-Fest”, the organizer of the International Scientific and Creative Seminar “Quantum Transition: Artificial Intelligence in Education, Art, and Medicine. RR-Fest”, and the coordinator of the International Literary Festival in Russia “Woman in Literature” (Mexico). A great many young people participate in all these projects. I can state with full responsibility that young people engage in new projects with great enthusiasm. The Tournament of Poets and AI showed amazing results. We can admire and even be proud of our youth.

4. How do you feel when you see your poems published on several foreign websites?

First and foremost, a great sense of responsibility. In these far-from-easy times, I represent Russian culture. I feel a thrill that, despite everything, the mystery of poetry’s birth does not cease… And I am an inseparable part of this miracle!

5. Would you like to share with our readers a phrase that changed your life?

“Live the life of a true Poet!” — that’s what my teacher, the outstanding poet of Tatar and Russian literature, Rustem Kutuy, once told me.

6. What are your future plans?

I have many plans. But I also have dreams: to publish the books “On the Edge of Night” in Russian, English, and Spanish, and “I Sing of the Secret” in Russian, English, and Chinese, as a token of gratitude to my faithful poet friends who lovingly translated my poems. I very much hope that my poems will be translated into Greek someday!

Thank you very much! 🙏

EVA Petropoulou Lianou 🇬🇷

Olga Levadnaya, Russian visionary poet, world-famous public figure, Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, laureate of more than 20 republican, all-Russian, international literary awards, member of republican, Russian and international literary unions, author of 17 books of poetry and prose published in Russian, English, Tatar, Turkish, translated into 14 languages, author of more than 500 publications in magazines, anthologies in Russia and abroad, participant in numerous festivals, conferences, readings, member of the Assembly of the Peoples of the World, Ambassador of Peace, European Poetry, poetry of International Literature ACC Shanghai Huifeng (Shanghai, Huifeng), Department of Arts and Cultures.

Plenipotentiary Representative for Culture in Russia of the Republic of Birland (Africa), literary consultant of the Academy of Literature, Science, Technology of Shanxi, the Zhongshan Poets’ Community (China), honorary founding member of the World Day of K. Cavafy  (Greece, Egypt), coordinator of the International Literary Festival in Russia “Woman in Literature” (Mexico), creator and director of the International Music and Poetry Festival “Handshake of the Republics”, the Forum-Battle “Tournament of Poets and AI. RR”, the International TeleBridge RR, the International Youth Music and Poetry Competition-Festival “On the Fairytale Shore of Kazanka” based on the works of Olga Levadnaya, artistic director of the Kazan Poetic Theater “Dialogue”.

First, from contributor Jacques Fleury, an announcement of a new book! “Immortal Lines of Poetry” by Sourav Sarkar and Jacques Fleury

A collaboration between myself and internationally renowned poet Sourav Sarkar of India. The book presents us both as “2 Poets of the Common Era Literature Period” (a term Sarkar claims to have coined himself on Oct. 24, 2021 and is celebrated worldwide on its founding date yearly) and allows the reader an opportunity to “sample” our poetic styles and substance. It is at times a supple staccato or eroticism, at times mesmerizingly musical of humanism, at times visceral to its soul core but eventually reaches a crescendo to volcanic eruption of literary passion, hope and inspiration for our seemingly crumbling humanity. Here is a sample of one of MY poems from the book. Hope you check it out on Amazon. Merci beaucoup! 

This month’s issue focuses on what’s going on inside of all of us, and how that shapes who we are. We’re going Beneath the Surface.

Stella Kwon’s paintings explore dreams, childhood, fantasy, and the interiority needed for a creative life. Jacques Fleury’s sample poem from his new book Immortal Lines of Poetry looks into dreams and internal inspiration. Debabrata Maji’s poem traces his heart’s inner journey. Damon Hubbs tracks the odds and ends running through his mind while watching competitive tennis. Annabel Kim’s artwork explores and celebrates human and natural creativity. Ma Yongbo evokes the change of seasons, nature, and mortality.

Mark Young renders maps and nature into works of art in his ‘geographies.’ J.K. Durick speaks to intellectual experiences – the news, books, museums – and how we communicate ourselves to ourselves. Jasmina Saidova honors an inspirational teacher as Abdirashidova Ozoda explores possibilities for digital technology in early childhood education. Eshmamatova Shabbona traces the history and evolution of Uzbek literature and Munira Xolmirzayeva traces the history of Russian writing.

Eva Petropoulou Lianou praises the delicate elegance of Lily Swarn’s new poetry collection A Drop of Cosmos. Uralova Gulmira highlights themes of personal experience and motherhood in the patriotic writings of Uzbek poet Saida Zunnunova. Sayani Mukherjee reflects on being driven towards poetry in a full and changing world. Dr. Rasmiyya Sabir writes of romantic love, poetic inspiration, and the irrepressible drive to be heard.

Jakhongir Nomozov interviews poet Rustam Bekhrudi, who intends to capture and convey the resilient Turkish spirit in his writing. Mesfakus Salahin speaks to human psychology and the drive to live amid the allure of death. Mahbub Alam describes a night of discomfort due to mosquitoes, which he endures by thinking of people who have it much worse. Abdisattorova Hurshida’s short story highlights the dignity and self-determination and patience of the hardworking rural poor in Uzbekistan, even when facing death.

Hanen Marouani probes our internal emotional life with tenderness. Bill Tope uncovers the veil of a past sixth grade classroom where the students and teacher are full of inner and outer turmoil. Alan Catlin continues his surreal examination of the physical manifestations of work anxiety as Elbekova Nilufar warns of the danger to our eyes and psyches posed by Internet addiction. Emeniano Somoza Jr. reflects on what we lose by lessening the ups and downs of our emotional nature. Donia Sahab’s poetry probes the psychological torment and confusion Dr. Alaa Basheer alludes to in his painting. J.J. Campbell navigates loneliness with his trademark wit and cynicism.

Joana L.J. Milovanovic’s words bear witness to the psychological and physical damage domestic abusers inflict. Mykyta Ryzhykh’s characters find themselves subsumed by the crushing violence of a metaphorical “leviathan.” Alex S. Johnson reflects on his friendship with Runaways band member and visionary Kari Lee Krome and how the music industry elevates and chews people up.

Jakhongir Nomozov’s speaker reasserts himself after intense seasons of emotional pain and rejection. Soumen Roy highlights the importance of respect and patience in true love. Munisa Rustamova expresses gratitude for her mother’s constant love in a harsh world full of fake people. Alex S. Johnson and Kandy Fontaine assert their confidence in their way of living and loving and show how power is expressed through service and care, not abuse. Liderqiz demonstrates this ethic of service through a profile of Uzbek Information Service leader Dilbar Ashilbayeva.

Andela Bunos speaks of the universal human grief of lost love. Kristy Raines’ poetry expresses commitment to a romantic relationship despite being separated. Lola Ijbrater outlines the rise and fall of a romance through a series of flowers. Ken Gosse describes heartbreak through clever poems with increasing numbers of lines. Eva Petropoulou’s lines address intimate love and the beauty of forgiveness. Annamurodov Umarbek reflects on coming of age after losing his father.

Journalist Giorgos Pratzikos and literary figure Eva Petropoulou Lianou interview Greek writer Fay Rempelou about how she intends to inspire peace, creativity, and humanity through her poetry. Nilufar Mo’ydinova presents a thoughtful exploration of artificial intelligence’s potential and how to mindfully develop it for the benefit of human creativity. Taghrid Bou Merhi traces the moral ascent of humankind, as societies developed respect for life, human rights, and gender equity. Omonova Sevinch highlights the importance of educating women and girls to uplift society. Graciela Noemi Villaverde points out the power of icons and commemorations of peace to interrupt the hostility that leads to war.

Giorgos Pratzikos interviews actor and children’s author Zisis Papaioanou on his craft, his artistic vision, his inspirations in Christ and Aristotle, and desire for Greeks to have more neighborly concern and look out for each other.

Taylor Dibbert reflects on the impression Americans make while traveling abroad. Doug Hawley and Bill Tope present a humorous tale of unintended interplanetary cooperation. Duane Vorhees’ poetry deals with our humanity, the roles we play in life and who we choose to become to each other.

Abdel Iatif Moubarak’s words express solitude and the hopes and dreams of individuals and communities in an uncertain world. Abigail George reviews Nadine AuCoin’s horror novel Tucked Inn, a tale of survival and good overcoming evil. Justin Faisal, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar and advocate for his fellow refugees, writes of his inner journey of perseverance and finding beauty in life. Sharifova Saidaxon reflects on similar sentiments, finding forgiveness and acceptance through her faith.

We hope this issue inspires you to dig into your inner psyche and uncover strength and reach for your hopes and dreams.