Poetry from Taylor Dibbert

Regarding the How 


As soon as

He got

To know her, 

He felt

Increasingly certain

That she

Would change everything,

Turns out

He was right

About the what,

Regarding the how,

He ended up

Being really wrong.




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


Poetry from Pat Doyne

                LIFE AND DEATH IN ALABAMA

		A fertilized egg is a treasure,
		a boon to the barren, a gift of hope.
		But in sweet home Alabama,
		the latest law gives embryos a bonus:
		eternal life.

		A judge decreed an egg fused with a sperm
		is now a U.S. citizen, with rights.
		If kept quick-frozen, zygotes live forever.
		Sperm donors will pass on.
		Parents will pass on.
		But grandchildren, great-grandchildren
		must keep potential ancestors in liquid nitrogen
		forever and ever. Amen.
		Any careless spills or thaws are murder.
		Any cells lost in the implant process-- serial murder.
		And murder is a capital offense.

		These microscopic cells don’t look like people.
		No face, no bones, no blood, no lungs;
		no organs, tissues, gender. 
		But one dogmatic judge decreed
		these cells are fully human. 
		That’s what his Church believes.
		Our founders erred-- Church ought to rule the State!
		His Church, of course. 

		Living children aren’t the law’s concern.
		In Alabama, school-aged kids 
		can work in factories— child labor. Cheap.
		Children of asylum-seekers? 
		Routinely ripped from parents’ arms
		and locked in cages. 
		Children of the poor are grudged food stamps,
		must fight red tape for every scrap of health care.
		And every day more kids are shot and killed.
		No, real youngsters aren’t priorities. 


		
		But embryos—now there’s a righteous cause!
		Eden’s tree, that bore enticing fruit,
		has sprouted in the courtroom, promising 	
		knowledge of good and evil.
		Alabama’s judge has tasted insight;
		his laws prevent Eve’s needy daughters
		from seeking IVF—lest cells be wasted. 
		Decrees deny a babe in arms to parents
		out of respect for life. 

		He reads God’s mind, this Alabama judge. 
		Or speaks, perhaps, for someone else
		that lurks in Eden, hissing… 


		Copyright 2/24               Patricia Doyne

Poetry from Maja Milojkovic

Younger middle aged white woman with long blonde hair, glasses, and a green top and floral scarf and necklace.
Maja Milojkovic

Raindrops 

Raindrops fall silently from the sky, 
The rose in the garden gently unfolds its petals. 
And love, like a river, flows deep, 
Entwined with rain and flower, in an endless dance. 
Gracefully, the rain kisses the rose in the night, 
Gently illuminating it with its droplets. 
And the rose, like a lovestruck maiden, 
Receives rain kisses with joy and a smile. 
Love, like the scent of a rose in the air, 
Softly envelops the heart, making it strong and tender. 
In this union of nature and emotion, 
We discover the beauty of love that doesn't fade even when the rain stops.

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" was circulating through her blood.
That's why she started to use feathers and a brush and began to reveal the world and herself to others.

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.

Poetry from Umid Qodir

Oh flower,
are you scared
from a temporary wind?
did you hide among the leaves?
didn't it fall down you
old walls?
Have you shed your leaves?
Did you keep your dreams alive?
Why are you still bowing your head?

The air smells like rain
Oh, flower
be afraid of mud!
from mud!

Poetry from Eva Petropoulou

Middle aged light skinned woman with a brown knit cap and long light brown hair.
Eva Petropoulou

Contact


 I forgot what a kiss is The taste of an afternoon coffee.
So as the waves pulled from the land, I feel like a desert ship.

Contact I forgot what that word means, Shipwreck for months In books I look for a meaning to embrace me, to tell me everything will be fine ..
 To go and leave those roses in my father's memory, To light a candle to the Virgin Mary.

Contact, To be in your dream hug Let me see your eyes To smell your perfume I'm looking for that word in that old dictionary



Forgiveness


A word that is coming out from the brave heart

I am not asking to forgive as a Human

I am asking to forgive as a God
As HE has the kindness and the generosity to see the human's mistake.

I am asking to forgive not a as a man
But as An Angel that every day and night 
Is traveling from Earth to sky....

I don't need any paper
Green or blue

I saw  your heart
You had it there in front of me...
I understand that silence
That silver silence

I am damned in sky and earth...
I am just a soul traveling alone..

Seeking for forgiveness.....


Poetry from Clive Gresswell

Older white man with grey hair and reading glasses and a blue sweater over a collared shirt peers out at the camera.
Clive Gresswell

1)

lingering

1,000 explosions

welcome to

the masquerade.

 2)

you trespassed

on my rituals

through slaughter

my deeper dreams

turn to black.

3) 

nearly touching

energy expanded

from

melting flesh.

 4)

sweet relief

substitute

bones for

reality.

 5)

i met you in

the metallic

kiss

your eyes

focused

on

babylon.

6) 

sparse infinity

tragedy them rocks

our unfortunate union

leading ultimately

to a death mask.

 7)

taking the coastal path

where i left your lifeless

body

in several parts

sand induced

      hysteria.

 8)

clouds over your hope

ballooning your integrity

lost within virginity.

 9)

i have a thousand

internal sons

dividing the world into

ectoplasmic futures.

 10)

dripping jewel

you brought me rust

on diamond legs

with frozen epithets.

i climbed into

your empty spaces.

 11)

you stretched across my rack

to convince me of your devotion

take your time now

to recall those old days

but take care

as the farewell leaves your lips

the scream of past days follows you.

 12)

fairy tales

surround the wooded path

where lurks the foetus

whose curses shatter

on the leafy tongues.

(ends)

Clive Gresswell is a 65-year-old British innovative writer and poet. He has several books out obtainable through Amazon or LJMcD Communications.

Poetry from Emina Delilovic-Kevric

Light skinned woman with long blonde hair and a sweater with green, blue, and black pattern sitting and reading outside in the snow.
Emina Delilovic-Kevric
Bare life

Adam Zagajevski says in one of his songs
That we have to settle for a cramped prisoner's cell
Cobwebs covered cities, metropolises, countries
in fact, it covered everything that is called house, home
and all of this is interwoven with longing that once upon a time everything was or will be
different someday
Our bodies are exposed, stripped, decentralized
My interlocutor seems to be breathing as we travel illegally on German paved roads
As if to say, lean over
I lean in too
And I fall into the slow eyes, like Alice I sleep in the fall
I hear him say that there may or may not be a way out
All we have left is prayer
God will settle the score
He is not dead as they say
The man is not dead
I sigh and wonder if I am human, am I already dead?
I hold my breath and return to the nearest star
"Aren't these myths, all these unions, all this crap about attacking, not attacking
We are just players in some game we played as children, remember??"
I try to remember, but I keep feeling the policeman's rough hands touching me
I'm naked in every coat and I'm shaking with fear
And where are we going, to embrace death?

I melt in the endless horizon, the fabric is soft, happy substances flow through my veins
History is a schizophrenic record looking for good slaves.
Man is a historical idea, which should be understood in every language.
Or at least one would think so
"I think we will succeed there, if I succeed I will bring my wife and children
And you can find someone, a German woman"
He starts to smile, then abruptly stops the movement of his lips
"'What the hell, it's not all that dark, don't give up, hold on!"
He hits me on the shoulder
Before us, the flowers of evil sing their songs
It broke apart as we catch a glimpse of the shadows of the eve
Maybe I see my mother, my father, my house
The shy red ray of the sun hints that nothing is left
Even if we die, so what?

Emina Đelilović-Kevrić (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) After studying the b/h/s (bosnian/croatian/serbian) language and literature at the Philoshopical Faculty in Zenica she got her master's degree on the subject „Memory construction in the South Slavic interlinear community: typical models of the war camp experience in literature“. She is the author of the poetry collection „ This time without history“ and the short stories collection „ Erased lives“. Her collection of poems „ My son and I“ is awarded by the Publishing Foundation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021. In 2022 she won the second place in the international literature competition „ Isnam Taljić“. She is the winner of the second award for the best short story of the regional literature competition „Zija Dizdarević“ 2022, and she won the first place on international literature competition „Nastavi priču“. 2023. she won a third place on international poetry competition „Ossi di Seppia“ Italy.