Heights

From these Heights we can see it all,

The place of it. Things as they are.

Things as we imagine them to be.

Bays and small harbors, beaches

And boats. These are the pictures

We take away, cameras full of this,

Memories filled with what we saw

And what we thought we saw. This

Is a place we read about, a place

We’ve filed away, getting ready to

Talk about. From the Heights it all

Became clear, the people become

Pieces in this puzzle, live as best

They can, surrounded by the natural

Beauty of the place, playing their

Part on the edges of what tourists

Bring to it, see and imagine. Natives

Of places like this live at the bottom

Of the Heights, live on low wages or

Play their parts in the unemployed.

From these heights the native population,

The day-to-day people of places, like

This, almost disappear into the beauty

Of this place.

 

   What We Take Away

All these fat cats roll by

Filling up their afternoon

And their excursion bus

With jokes and jawing

Spying, commenting on

As they make their way

Make their day going about

The business of tourists

Getting their photos to                                                                                         .

Bring home, spending as

That group does, on things

That fit expectations back

Home, refrigerator magnets

Another pen or coffee cup

With their destination’s name

In bold bright lettering – while

Some go off for duty-free items

Watches and jewelry. They’re

Here then gone, making very

Little impression on the place

They’re passing through on

Their way to the next day.

 

                   This Cold

This cold, this coughing, this sneezing

Followed me down here to the tropics

With its sunshine and warmth. Followed

Me down from the north with its snowing

And cold. Followed me as I tried to escape

Escape the inevitable. Booked this cruise

Island to island here in the Caribbean, and

It must have snuck aboard, stowed away

And waited. I heard it in the distance at first

Somewhere in the audience at the stage show.

Then it slowly approached me, nearer and

Nearer at dinner, behind me in line as we

Disembarked in the last port. I should have

Recognize his noises, coughing and sneezing

But I mistook who he was after. He was some

Other person’s cold, something they brought

Along to share their vacation. But early this

Morning, too early for me, I woke to him and

His various wiles – his stuffy nose that begins

To run, his short bursts of coughing, and his

Scratching at my throat. He followed me, he

Watched me for a time planning his next move

And now he’s here, my winter cold I thought

I could leave behind but couldn’t. 

House by the Sea 

On the shore of the blue sea, 
Stands a house, white as snow, 
Under the wind it rustles, bringing cold through the window, 
While gray ravens circle the sky, as if reading fate. 
Seagulls soar over the waves, 
Causing unrest with their cries, 
While the scent of salt beckons the soul to journey, 
Into the endless blue, where the sky touches the water. 
In that house by the sea, 
You hear only silence, except for the whispering of the wind, 
And the sounds of waves caressing the shore, 
As love envelops the heart with its warmth. 
Gray ravens, seagulls, sea, and wind, 
Become part of the landscape, part of the story of life, 
In which every emotion is reflected, 
Like waves that caress the shore, over and over again.

Maja Milojković was born in 1975 in Zaječar, Serbia.
She is a person to whom from an early age, Leonardo da Vinci's statement "Painting is poetry that can be seen, and poetry is painting that can be heard" is circulating through the blood.
That's why she started to use feathers and a brush and began to reveal the world and herself to them.
As a poet, she is represented in numerous domestic and foreign literary newspapers, anthologies and electronic media, and some of her poems can be found on YouTube.
Many of her poems have been translated into English, Hungarian, Bengali and Bulgarian due to the need of foreign readers.
She is the recipient of many international awards.
"Trees of Desire" is her second collection of poems in preparation, which is preceded by the book of poems "Moon Circle". 
She is a member of the International Society of Writers and Artists "Mountain Views" in Montenegro,and shealso is a member of the Poetry club "Area Felix" in Serbia.

WHEN I WRITE A POEM…

When I write a poem,
all the beauty appears in front of me.
giving life to the lines,
My verses make a riot

When I write a poem, as if my pen
My heart is in a rush.
My lines don’t fit on the paper,
It will busy without finding a way.

When writing a poem, the whole world,
Sing accompaniment with me.
The total human of the earth,
Thoughts of goodness and peace.

When I write a poem, it’s like the world,
It is visible in the palm of my hand.
Mother Earth is the whole existence,
Hold it in a warm heat.

When I write a poem, my proud feelings,
He shouts out of pride.
Feelings dormant in the depths of the heart,
As long as it is full, it will blow.

When writing a poem, it is as if the ocean,
I will sink to the bottom
My world in my mind,
I will fly in the sky.

Saodat Kurbanova
Uzbekistan 

The Ways They Didn’t 



He and her worked

In so many ways

But when things

Got tough

The ways 

That the 

Two of them worked

Seemed to matter

A lot less

Than the ways

They didn't.



Taylor Dibbert is a writer, journalist, and poet in Washington, DC. “In the Arena,” his third full-length poetry collection, was released on April 3.

  VOYAGER  

In the broad outlay where dreams take flight

Beginning of a life journey.

Douche in golden light,

With each sunrise,

A chance to renew

With the past and present memories.




In life, a vast journey

Experience weighs

Dealing with pain and joy in every moment,

They were my teachers.

Just like the river,

I wish to flow through peaceful valleys,

Like a gentle dream.




Roads have different destinies.

Winds have their own way of blowing,

Let us move forward with our hopes and dreams.

In our journey,

We learn and grow.

We fail, we win,

However, we get up and achieve.

War’s Drizzle

Our mothers, who loved us more than we do ourselves,
Were baffled by wars.
They forgot to anoint our lives with balms to ward off battles.
That’s why every time a king sobers up
And slips on victory’s shoes, crafted from the skins of loyal soldiers,
And breathlessly
Delivers rotten orations
From the dais of prevarication,
Once he opens his mouth
The words’ that drizzle spatters us,
And our lives fester with
War’s abscesses.

She is a poet, teacher, editor, writer, and playwright born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1967, who now lives in the United States. Faleeha was the first woman to write poetry for children in Iraq.
She received her master's degree in Arabic literature, and has now published 26 books, her poems have been translated into English, Turkmen, Bosnian, Indian, French, Italian, German, Kurdish, Spain, Korean, Greek, Serbia, Albanian, Pakistani, Romanian, Malayalam, Chinese, ODIA, Nepali and Macedonian language. She is the Pulitzer Prize Nomination 2018,
PushCart Prize Nomination 2019.
Member of International Writers and Artists Association.
Winner of the Women of Excellence Inspiration award from SJ magazine 2020,
Winner of the Grand Jury Award (the Sahitto International Award for Literature 2021)
One of the Women of Excellence selection committees 2023
Winner of women the arts award 2023
Member of Whos’ Who in America 2023
SAHITTO AWARD, JUDGING PANEL 2023
Cultural Ambassador - Iraq, USA
Email : d.fh88@yahoo.com

A COUNTRY OF VERY HAPPY PEOPLE

    My trip to the Amudarya district of the Republic of Karakalpakstan prompted me to write an article on this topic.  At the entrance to the Amudarya district, I watched the surroundings with interest as the cars moved slowly along the Panton Bridge (a floating bridge designed for the passage of people and vehicles) over the Amudarya.  the bridge is a little old (built in 1938) and due to its narrowness, cars pass in a row.  At the beginning of the bridge, a beautiful wall like a tall monument caught my attention.  I was happy to see that “Uzbekistan is the land of the happy” written on this monument.  These words did not leave my mind during the whole trip.

    Indeed, happy Uzbekistan is the country of the happiest and happiest people.  Our country was ranked among the 50 happiest countries out of 156 countries in the world and took 44th place.  Among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Uzbekistan ranks first as the country of the happiest people.  On March 20, “World Happiness” published a new report entitled “The happiest Uzbeks among the CIS countries”.

    What do we mean by happiness or a happy person?
    Happiness cannot be measured by wealth.

    Happiness is an inner feeling, we cannot grasp it with our hands, but we feel it with our heart.  Everyone has a different interpretation of happiness.  Happiness can be found only in a country where peace and tranquility prevail.  Happy people live free and free in a beautiful land like paradise.  The sky of Uzbekistan is clear, the waters are clear, the people are kind and hospitable.  If anyone doubts our happiness, let them come to a paradise-like country like Uzbekistan and see with their own eyes that people live happily in the arms of happiness!

    During the development of modern technology, the description of beautiful Uzbekistan spread to the whole world.  Foreign tourists who have heard about the incomparable beauty of our country dream of traveling to our heavenly homeland.

    I am proud to be a child of a peaceful and prosperous, beautiful paradise-like country called Uzbekistan, and to be a happy citizen of this country.

Kurbanova Saodat Ismatkulovna

Uzbekistan