Critical Analytical Reading of “Voices” by Eva Lianou Petropoulou – Greece .

By : Kareem Abdullah – Iraq .

Introduction: Eva Lianou Petropoulou’s poem “Voices” offers a profound exploration of the paradoxical nature of human emotions and responses in different situations. The poem presents a series of thought-provoking questions, drawing attention to the complexities of human behavior in the face of both joy and suffering. Through its introspective tone and concise structure, the poem challenges the reader to reflect on the deep connections between emotional expression, the human mind, and the concept of free will.

Analysis:

Title – “Voices”: The title immediately introduces the theme of communication and internal dialogue. “Voices” can be interpreted as a reference to the various calls for help, freedom, and peace that people make, but also to the internal voices that dictate how we react to different emotional states. The plural form of “Voices” suggests the multiplicity of perspectives and experiences, implying that the poem is not only about individual experiences but also about collective human emotions and struggles.

Theme of Contradiction in Human Emotion: The central theme of the poem revolves around the contradiction in human emotional responses. The poet asks, “But why we cry in our happy moments / And laugh…..when we are in a very difficult situations?” This rhetorical question serves as a powerful paradox that challenges the reader’s assumptions about the nature of human emotions. Typically, crying is associated with sadness, and laughter with joy; however, the poet disrupts these associations to point out how human beings sometimes react in unexpected ways. This highlights the complexity of human psychology and the ways in which people navigate their emotional landscapes.

Self-Defense and Human Instincts: The poet suggests that perhaps this contradictory emotional behavior is a form of self-defense. The line, “Maybe this is the self defense of our organism,” introduces an interesting psychological concept: the idea that our emotions, even in their paradoxical forms, may serve as protective mechanisms. This idea evokes the notion of the fight-or-flight response and the instinctual ways in which humans protect themselves from stress, trauma, or emotional overwhelm. The reference to “self-defense” could imply that emotions such as crying or laughing in inappropriate contexts might be subconscious ways of coping with internal or external pressures.

Exploration of the Human Brain: The line, “Still discovering the human brain,” reveals the poet’s awareness of the ongoing research into human cognition and emotion. The statement highlights the mystery of the human mind, which is still being explored by science. It suggests that despite our advancements in understanding the brain and human behavior, there is still much to uncover about the complex mechanisms that govern our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

The Concept of Free Will: The closing line, “What is certain… / It is that we have free will,” serves as a pivotal moment in the poem. After exploring the unpredictability of human emotions, the poet affirms the certainty of free will. Despite the paradoxical nature of human emotional responses, the poet suggests that we still retain the power to make choices and exert control over our actions. This line introduces an element of empowerment, emphasizing that, regardless of how complex or contradictory our emotions may be, we are not entirely at their mercy. The affirmation of free will serves as a reminder of human agency in a world that can often feel chaotic and uncontrollable.

Conclusion: Eva Lianou Petropoulou’s “Voices” offers a rich and thought-provoking meditation on the complexity of human emotions, the mysteries of the brain, and the role of free will in shaping our responses to life’s challenges. Through its paradoxical statements and rhetorical questions, the poem invites the reader to reflect on the deeper, often contradictory, nature of human behavior. The poem’s ultimate message—despite the uncertainty and unpredictability of human emotions—is that we, as individuals, have the capacity for free will and can exercise control over how we respond to the world around us. In doing so, the poem not only engages with deep psychological and philosophical questions but also affirms the resilience and agency of the human spirit.

Voices

So many people cry for help

Cry for freedom

Cry for peace

But why we cry in our happy moments

And 

Laugh…..when we are in a very difficult situations?

Maybe this is the self defense of our organism

Still discovering the human brain

What is certain…

It is that we have free will

Eva Lianou Petropoulou ( Greece )

She is an awarded author and poet from Greece with more than 25 years in the Literary field published more that 10 books.

Her poems are translated in more than 25 languages. She is President of creativity and art of Mil Mentes Por Mexico Association

Greece Mexico 

Official candidate for Nobel Peace prize

2024

Extraordinary Madness, For Patti Smith, friend of William S. Burroughs 

The lunch is always naked—that was Burroughs,

bearing the news steadily and with a wink

at the end of a long fork

There’s a newspaper spoon somewhere in there too,

folded like Guernica’s horses

Snorting acrid verses

Rimbaud spotted somewhere nearby,

having achieved fabulous opera

His rude shithouse scrawls

sanctified

solidified

Rolling forth through Kansas wheat fields

rolling like a family of tumbleweeds roll

rolling under leaden coffins of American sky

where freedom’s torch sizzles and dies

like a wet cigarette

with a shrug

and a sigh

Where are you now my friends

the spirit of revolution involuted with a death spiraling suite of

catastrophes

Iron monuments to all-systems crash regarding me with a hard eye

Triangulating all future forms of my skeleton nailed to the mast of the

Drunken boat

Oh Rimbaud, oh Patti Smith

Burroughs and his fork tines stabbing at the grey matter

digging inside the TV mind, digging out bits of

chewy pink neon.

(This poem previously appeared in The Smol Bear Review)

About Alex S. Johnson

Dubbed “the Baudelaire of our time” by Cyberpunk pioneer and screenwriter of The Crow (1994) John Shirley, Alex S. Johnson has written 15 books, including the canonical New Line Cinema Friday the 13th spinoff novel Jason X: Death Moon. A music journalist with such legendary magazines as Metal Maniacs, Zero Tolerance, Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles, Blue Blood and Metal Hammer, Johnson’s stories and poems have appeared in The Surreal Grotesque, Bizarro Central, Cut Up!, New Generation Beats 2024, HWA Poetry Showcase Volume III and Prying Deluxe Edition, alongside the likes of Edward Lee, Joe Hill, Allen Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, Lucy Taylor, Alessandro Manzetti, Ron Whitehead, Ellyn Maybe, Wrath James White, Eric LaRocca, Poppy Z. Brite, Catfish McDaris and Caitlin R. Kiernan.

The founder of Nocturnicorn Books, Johnson’s most recent publication is White On White: A Literary Tribute to Bauhaus, with a Foreword by transgressive fiction icon Poppy Z. Brite and contributions from The Runaways founder Kari Lee Krome, two time World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award-winning author Caitlin R. Kiernan, Bram Stoker Award-winning author John Palisano, industrial metal icon Jarboe (ex-Swans), Athan Maroulis from Spahn Ranch and Black Tape For a Blue Girl, Tara Vanflower from Lycia and Type O Negative, and Senor Fluffy: A Cat’s Tale creator Hazel-Ann Lynch. 

Johnson lives in Carmichael, California with his family. 

Corequake

She has a fiercely possessive feeling

to preserve her originality—

sacredly seated within the quark of a particle,

buried deep in the most intimate part of her core.

Encapsulated and safeguarded

so intimidatingly, so protectively

within its shell—

to prevent even the thinnest fabric of its wisp

from escaping and entering

anyone else’s mind.

The mere thought

of it being infused into the creations

of unborn souls and unformed minds

creates a corequake within her.

But she ferociously pulls

its loosely held, fragmented parts inward—

gravitating them toward the very center,

holding them together

by the unvanishable force

of her integrity.

The Sound of Existence

Silence is not the absence of sound,

for it’s the natural frequency of itself.

To listen to the pure sound of the cosmos,

you must silence the beat of emotions.

Sound embodies the essence of Trimurti—

Brahma, the origin, from whom it emerges.

Vishnu, the flow, through whom it sustains.

Shiva, the vibration, in whom it oscillates.

Sound is the only perceivable form

of blended energies of the Supreme Trinity,

in a world ruled by senses.

And in that moment,

when you sense producing sound,

you understand—

you are nothing but Naadam.

You do not produce it,

it produces you.

You do not carry it,

it carries you.

Naadam transforms you,

manifests through you,

until you dissolve into its source.

That moment is the only reality—

the movement of life itself.

Everything else is an illusion.

Naadam (Nādam) – A Sanskrit term meaning “primordial sound” or “divine resonance.” It represents the cosmic vibration that pervades all existence, and is considered the source of creation in spiritual and musical traditions.

The Reunion

She leaves a layer of her soul

in every place she is intimately attached to

after each visit,

filling its space with her wholesome presence

until she is left with the last sheath.

Every scrape endearingly clings

to the heart of that region,

remaining immovable

until the moment the universe signals

the end of the world—

When the majestic roars of the destructive forces

reverberate,

stirring the layers,

colliding and merging

as all the places unite—

Reshaping her soul into completion,

allowing her to finally witness

the grand apocalypse

she has longed to experience once

before her essence is eternally lost.

Unbound

Her feelings are primitive,

Her thoughts, inventive—

A soul born at the eclipse

of origin and dissolution,

unbound by existence,

indivisible by destruction.

Broken Strings

She exists at two extreme poles of her being

at the same time,

through the mirror of her soul,

hopelessly intertwined

and in sync with each other,

where the lower extreme laughs

to the point of deepest surrender,

and the higher extreme grieves

in the moment of sheer wonder,

shifting their moods

and altering their states frenetically

until they transcend their extremities,

where they react indifferently

and incoherently,

disrupting their qualities

and distorting their identities,

causing intense chaos

that breaks their whole emotional wiring

and makes them irrevocably numb.

Charitha is a mystic poet whose work weaves love, longing, and the mysteries of existence with raw emotion and philosophical depth. Her poetry is instinctive, unfiltered, and deeply tactile—merging the spiritual with the surreal. Unbound by convention, she follows the quiet force of authenticity, where originality is the root of her being.

I see that you write poetry in recognizable and named forms: haikus, rengas, and others. Why do you choose those forms? Does it depend on the poem? 

There’s something self-fulfilling about Japanese poetry form to me; I easily identify with it, it makes me one with nature, hence I exist with utter independence with the fowls of the air, the flowers and trees, and the changing seasons of mankind. When I write I catch the spirit, thus I flow where the poems want me to go, I don’t choose.

Why do you choose to write in form at all? Some artists have broken away from traditional form, but why do you think form still has value for what you’re hoping to communicate? 

I started off with free verse, and that form helps me flow with the natural rhythm, giving me the liberty to express myself, allowing sense of flexibility, creating a conversational and fluid feel. However, the japanese form have improved how I write free verse, if you’ve seen some of my current work, it is infused with tan-renga.

You write collaborative poetry with other artists. How did you meet Christina Chin and others with whom you write, and what does the collaborative process look like? Do you simply trade off and finish each other’s poems, or do you brainstorm a topic and direction first? 

Collaborations help me see the world clearly for what it is: “the way you do a thing, is how you will do everything.” The process of collaborations introduces you to a new perspective, and a new way of thinking and approaching things. I love it! My teammate Christina Chin and I met at Lothlorien Poetry Journal where we were both published as per that time. We both write as it comes: I throw her a couple of verses, she finishes it up; she does the same as well. So, that is how we flow — no guidelines — no rules — nothing leads but the spirit of poetry!

What is the literary scene like in Nigeria? What sorts of poems do people enjoy there, and what has it been like to get published there? 

I stand to be corrected — traditional form as Haiku, Renga don’t get published here; only free verse form. And as a result, you can see that being a Haiku poet here is highly challenging — and a disservice to one’s career. The literary scene in my homeland is a growing industry that’s in a dire need of government present and support to thrive well in this fast-pacing times — a country that is littered with amazing talents, thus if given the necessary programs and opportunities, these words bursting out of one’s veins will gain wings and flyaway.

What roles do you think poets, and poetry, play in modern global society? Do you have something you hope to accomplish by serving as a poet? 

I will begin with Shelley’s idea in ‘The Defense Of Poetry’ 1821, “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” The words and voices of poets have echoed through different times and ages, breaking hurdles and transcending barriers. Poetry can be a powerful teaching tool, that is necessary in enlightening the human body, mind, and spirit. Serving as a poet is a calling that I am magnifying greatly; I want to serve this war-torn world with words that carries beauty and truth. If this is achieved, I am fulfilled, and it will be my crown of laurels.

Who are some other poets or writers you admire, and why? 

For the Japanese traditional form I think I admire Matsuo Bashō; I also admire the poet Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo because he died fighting for what he believed in, the independence of Biafra.

What are your next steps, where do you plan to go in the future with your writing? 

I want to see the world for what it is. I want poetry to take me to strange places; I want to see different people, learn different languages and dialects and cultures — I want a baptism of full immersion in the only global faith: Poetry.

Uchechukwu Onyedikam is a Nigerian Photographer and, a well-published Poet based in Lagos, Nigeria. His poems have appeared in Amsterdam Quarterly, Brittle Paper, Poetic Africa, Hood Communists, The Hooghly Review, and in different themes of anthology both print and online. He and Christina Chin has co-written and published two poetry chapbooks — Pouring Light On The Hills (December 2022) and Clouds of Pink (March 2024).

Please share your thoughts about the future of literature.

Literature, as a human expression, is in constant evolution. As we move toward a digital and globalized future, literature continues to expand its boundaries, adopting new formats like ebooks, interactive narratives, and virtual platforms. However, I believe its essence remains intact: to tell stories, express emotions, and share human experiences.

I think the future of literature will also be shaped by cultural diversity, the inclusion of previously marginalized voices, and accessible knowledge. While some fear that new technologies may overshadow the depth and rigor of traditional literature, I believe these tools can be used to bring literary works to a broader audience.

As both a poet and a translator, I feel that translation has a great impact on cultural exchange, and poetry around the world somehow preserves beauty and humanity in this chaotic and fast-paced world.

When did you start writing? 

I started writing poetry at the age of 15. I would jot down random images, describing what I saw and how I felt about it. At the time, these were merely disconnected images, but later, I began to give them more coherence. That was my process of creative discovery.

The Good and the Bad. Who is winning nowadays?

 Good and evil are complex and relative concepts that have coexisted since the beginning of humanity. The perception of who is winning depends on how and from where one observes. While acts of evil or injustice tend to be noticeable and visible, there are also countless acts of kindness, solidarity, and resilience that often go unnoticed.

Nowadays, we face global challenges such as wars, conflicts, and social inequalities, which might seem to give evil an upper hand. However, we are also witnessing inspiring movements that promote high values. I believe that instead of asking who is winning, it’s better to focus our energy on choosing to be agents of change within our own spheres of influence, no matter how small they might appear.

How many books have you written, and where can we find your books?

So far, I have written and published three poetry books:

El cuerpo de la duda (Editorial Publicarte, Caracas, Venezuela, 2013)

Transfigurar es un país que amas (Editorial Dos Islas, Miami, United States, 2020)

La larga noche de las jaurías (Editorial Nautilus, Spain, 2023)

I am currently working on a new book. Some of my books are available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Transfigurar-pa%C3%ADs-que-amas-Editorial/dp/B08L8ZHHYH

 The book. E-book or Hardcover book. What will be the future?

I believe the future of books should not be seen as a competition between electronic and hardcover formats; I think both can coexist. E-books offer advantageous accessibility, while hardcover books provide a tactile and emotional experience that many readers (myself included) deeply appreciate. In my particular case, I value hardcover books immensely. They occupy a special place in my home and in my life; I treasure them as art objects, as part of a great historical and cultural heritage, and, of course, for the unique sensory experience they provide.

 A wish for 2025.

My wish for 2025 is for humanity to move toward a more just, equitable, and peaceful future. I hope we find more reasons to unite than to divide and that every person has the opportunity to achieve their dreams in peace and harmony. On a personal level, I also hope for a year of growth, creativity, and gratitude.

A phrase from your book:

“The hand in the shadow possesses almost everything,

but it will always thirst

 for what it cannot take from you.

 Your resistance, your love,

your unique fire,

unextinguishable.”

Mariela Cordero. Valencia, Venezuela. She is a lawyer, poet, writer, and translator, and has received several literary distinctions. She has published the poetry collections: El cuerpo de la duda (Editorial Publicarte, Caracas, Venezuela, 2013), Transfigurar es un país que amas (Editorial Dos Islas, Miami, United States, 2020), and La larga noche de las jaurías (Editorial Nautilus, Spain, 2023).

‘’’’’’’

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At dusk 

I undress my curtains 

The sun smiles at my bed

As I kisses the rays of hope 

The morning calls out my name 

Awakening with golf dimples 

Positive thoughts – river in my heart 

Flowing like a peaceful flood 

That is a mirror that reflects/shines future 

I spread myself 

spray my wings and fly 

As a smile hugs me

Every single day I rise after the short death