Sounds of Bamboo Forest
No matter how strong the wind blows,
the green forest never crumbles.
When the wind passes by,
the green forest stands tall and proud,
inspiring admiration.
The sounds of bamboo forest,
echo through the trees,
whispers of wisdom and peace,
carried on the gentle breeze.
A symphony of rustling leaves,
Soft words win hard hearts,
a melody of harmony,
ringing in the bamboo forest glen.
So let the forest speak to you,
let its wisdom guide your way,
listen to the sounds of bamboo,
and find peace in each passing day.
대나무 숲의 소리
아무리 강한 바람이 불어도
푸른 숲은 무너지지 않아
바람이 지나가면
푸른 숲은 높고 자랑스러운 모습으로 서 있어,
감탄할 만한 영감을 주지
대나무 숲의 소리,
나무들 사이에 울려 퍼지지,
지혜와 평화의 속삭임,
부드러운 바람에 실리지.
속삭이는 잎들의 교향곡,
부드러움이 강한 것을 이겨,
대나무 숲의 계곡에서 울리는 화음
숲이 말하는 것을 듣고
지혜의 길로 이끌게 두라
대나무의 소리를 들으며,
하루하루 평화를 찾을 수 있으리니
The Sharp Rocks by the Seashore
Even the strong black rocks
can be shattered by the waves
the never-tiring power of the waves.
I used to be one of the sea's sharp rocks,
strong and sharp-edged,
fighting against the waves.
Now, I have crumbled into a round pebble,
having learned a lesson over time.
Softness can conquer strength,
and the pen is mightier than the sword.
The truth of the universe,
Sharp rocks turn into pebbles,
and sharp things change into round and soft things.
The pebbles playing with the waves on the shore,
no longer fight against the waves.
They live in harmony with the peaceful waves.
바닷가의 날카로운 바위
강한 검은 바위도
파도에 부서지지
지치지 않는 파도의 힘을 당할 수 없어
나는 바다의 검은 바위였어
강하고 날카로운 모서리로
파도와 싸웠지
이제, 나는 부서져 내리고 둥근 조약돌이 되었어
오랜 시간 배운 교훈이지
부드러운 것이
강한 것을 이겨
칼보다 펜이 더 강해
우주의 진리
날카로운 바위는
조약돌로 바뀌고
날카로운 것은
둥글고 부드러운 것으로 변해
해안에서 파도와 노는
조약돌은 이제
파도와 싸우지 않아
조화로운 파도와 조약돌의 평화
Endurance of the Shoebill
In the wetlands of Uganda, a bird stands tall,
unending tranquility, waiting for food
Its massive bill shaped like a shoe, ready to haul.
With patience and poise, it stands in the water,
Waiting for prey to come, it doesn't falter.
Its eyes are sharp, its focus intense,
The shoebill picks food with skill and sense.
With lightning speed, it strikes at its prey,
Its powerful beak leaving no delay.
Through thick and thin, the shoebill endures,
Through harsh climates, it steadfastly ensures,
Its survival and place in this world,
Its determination, never give up.
From dawn to dusk, it forages on,
Until the day is done and night has drawn.
The shoebill is a creature of strength and might,
A symbol of endurance, a wondrous sight.
슈빌의 인내와 끈기
우간다 늪지대, 그곳에 큰 새가 서 있네
신발 같은 큰 부리를 가진, 그 새가
차분하게 물속에서 기다리네
먹이를 기다리며,
끝이 보이지 않는 물 위에 선 고요
날카로운 눈, 집중하는 시선,
먹이를 고르는 그 새는 대단하지
빠르게 부리로 내리치며,
주저없이 먹이를 잡는 강한 부리의 힘
변함없이 견뎌내는 새
극한의 환경을 이겨낸 새,
이 세상에서의 생존과 존재감,
절대 지지 않겠다는 그 각오
새벽부터 저녁까지 사냥하고,
낮이 가고 밤이 깊어질 때까지,
그 새는 끊임없이 먹잇감을 찾지.
그 새는 인내와 끈기의 생명체,
환상적인 모습, 그대로 인내의 상징.
Kang Byeong-Cheol is a Korean author, poet, translator, and holder of a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science degree. He was born in Jeju City, South Korea in 1964, and began his writing career in 1993. His first short story, “Song of Shuba,” was published when he was twenty-nine years old. In 2005, Kang published a collection of short stories and has since won four literature awards, publishing over eight books in total. He was a member of The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International from 2009 to 2014. From 2018 to 2022, he served as Secretary General of the Jeju Unification Education Center. Prior to that, he was a Specially Appointed Professor at Jeju International University from 2016 to 2018, a Research Professor at Chungnam National University National Defense Institute from 2013 to 2016, a Senior Researcher at the Society of Ieodo Research from 2010 to 2017, and CEO of Online News Media Jejuin News from 2010 to 2013. Kang also worked as an editorial writer for NewJejuIlbo, a newspaper in Jeju City, Korea. Currently, he holds the position of Research Executive at The Korean Institute for Peace and Cooperation.
Happiness is born from happiness, my mother is happiness, I am happiness,
I am the offspring of an elegant daisy.
After all, I belong to this world
I am the eighth miracle.
Let me share happiness with my smile
May the earth and all beings be filled with joy.
Live in such a way that you cry from the world
Let him die of tears without making me cry!
Guzal Sunnatova was born on January 12, 2007 in the Republic of Uzbekistan. She has been practicing writing poetry since she was 12 years old. Her poems have been regularly published in newspapers and magazines, such as “Mushtum”, “Gulkhan”, “Guncha”, “Bilag’on”, and “Bulbulcha”. Guzal Sunnatova published her poems in books entitled “Gallalar orolida” and “Yosh ijodkorlar” and her riddles on various topics have also been published, in a collection entitled ”Riddles”. She is the winner of more than 20 republic-wide competitions. Her future goals are to become writer and ambassador. This book is her second poetry collection. Her first poetry collection is “Journey to the Mysterious World”.
Spring Sprawls Across the Fence of the Reality
The river and the wind bring Spring in your house;
the leaves and the gravel announce a stranger;
your curtains rise and fall; one cuckoo blurs
the boundary of singularity; you turn in your bed;
on your South side lies your lover whom you have gybed
towards sleep; all of his flesh and his mind
at its puerility's height hold the railing of a ship leaving
the port of reality. Those leaves talk with the stranger.
So much exist outside one's perception,
love outside your windows,
patience across the fence of waiting.
You stream on the bed, reflections of the stars on your chest.
You breathe, and it rains in the city.
Have You Seen That Patch of Green
The wind within
bleeds on the blades of my dreams.
This is the patch of the wild blooms
I carry, held between
the house I desire
and the one I own.
Today summer liquifies
the red. The prayers sway.
An arrow of the birds free
in the cage of my mind's geosphere flies.
Waiting
The clock unwinds silence;
in the embrace of our pillows
we sleep off twelve gongs;
snow swirls to settle on
our tropical forty degree Celsius land;
a singular apparition
holds its crow mien and fettle.
The mango tree writhes underneath
its unaccustomed white sheath.
Patience waits outside, leaves
its footprints on the snow
although in the morning we see nothing
except some wet roads, cars,
greenery and feathers, nothing that
can make us believe in the myths.
The String
Why the road and the pavements look wet?
Rain remains absent in this plain for awhile.
Do we sweat this much? Oh so wet!
The kite whisperer friend lets it be
a white stingray in the almost-white blue.
"Report back; bring back the messages of the clouds."
The news from the sky sounds fake; we misread it.
"If you misinterpret something fake," hope says,
"what you perceive might be true."
The boys reels and pulls the string.
Sometimes the thin line cuts the skin.
The asphalt glistens. Do we bleed that much?
Kushal Poddar, the author of ‘Postmarked Quarantine’ has eight books to his credit. He is a journalist, father, and the editor of ‘Words Surfacing’. His works have been translated into twelve languages.
i used to have a swing. when i was little.
it hung on the tree outside of my house.
and i remember i used to spend hours on the thing
swinging higher and higher hoping i could touch the stars. swing to smth else. outside of my current life.
but one of my most vivid memories w that swing
is my dad screaming at me from the porch.
i can't tell if he was mad or scared.
i js remeber his face. scrunched and twisted.
his words that were vibrating in my skull. each one tearing into my brain a little more. making a new line.
the swing’s gone now.
it was taken down years ago.
and i can no longer touch the stars
A WISE LESSON FROM BRAILLE
To be born is wisdom and to be dead is a lesson,
It continues from beginning to the end.
The wisdom that was given to Louis Braille,
It has been winning over the heart for two hundred years.
Purposeful dreams are the beginning of happiness,
This is the call of the wise world.
High invention with six points,
This is the book of Braille's life.
His letter illuminates the gist of each writing,
It is an unequal secret from historical comprehension.
Six letters that were created by Louis Braille,
They became distributed from six points.
Striving for the path of dreams,
It is the gift of God for man.
Striving for happiness in the heart of imperfection,
It is the right path of the eye of the heart for the blind.
On the mysterious ways of life's exams,
Man tries his luck and happiness.
Braille on the way of science
Is an opportunity that is given to the blind.
Olimova Zarina Ahadovna was born on April 26, 1984 in the village of Buzrugon, Zandane, Peshko District, Bukhara Region, in a family of intellectuals.
In 1991-2002, she studied at the 24th special boarding school for blind children in Bukhara, and in 2002-2006 at the Uzbek Philology Faculty of Samarkand State University named after Alisher Navoi. In 2006-2008, Navoi completed a master’s degree in “Uzbek language specialization” at the Navoi State Pedagogical Institute.
In 2007-2014, the Blind Society of Uzbekistan was a member of the local organization of Bukhara city.
In 2008-2009, she worked on a public basis as the chairman of the cultural-educational, youth and women’s council of the Blind Society of Uzbekistan in the administration of Bukhara region.
In 2009-2014, she taught native language, literature, and stage speech to students at Peshko Agriculture and Bukhara City cultural Vocational College.
In 2010, she was admitted to the department of Uzbek philology at Bukhara State University as an independent researcher.
On 02.01.2011, she was accepted as an intern-researcher-researcher at the department of Uzbek philology of this educational institution. Doctor of Philology, Professor Shoira Nematovna Akhmedova, conducted scientific research on the candidate’s thesis on “Literary and aesthetic views of Hamil Yakubov”.In the same year, she participated in the competition of essays and essays held by the Onkia organization of Japan among blind people of Asia with an essay called “The role of blind people in the future of society”. He has published more than thirty scientific and journalistic articles, theses and essays. Four of them were published in the press of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Egypt and published on the official website of Japan.
In 2011-2014, she was a member of the Bukhara city branch of the “National Revival” social democratic party.
In 2008-20123, she worked as a responsible secretary in the “Nurafshon Tongi” magazine, which is a newsletter of the Bukhara regional administration of the Blind Society of Uzbekistan.
From April 1, 2014 to November 10, 2014, the Bukhara region branch of the Blind Society of Uzbekistan held courses for members of the society who want to learn computers. Actively participated in competitions and cultural-educational events held by the Society of the Blind of Uzbekistan and many other organizations and won prizes. As a creator, she wrote poems, scientific and popular articles in the newspapers “Karakalpakistan Literature”, “Morning of Karakalpakistan”, “Hurriyat” and “New morning ” of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as poems in the pages of “Slavyanski Lira”, “World of Turkish Poets” Almanac collection, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Azerbaijan International Journal and published articles and abstracts at conferences.
Since February 18, 2015, she has been working as a teacher of “Uzbek State Language” at the special boarding school for blind and visually impaired children No. 10 in Nukus. Olimova stands out from other employees in the institution due to her mobility at work, implementation of new projects and her unique approach to teaching processes. She established the cooperation of the Boarding School with the Writers’ Union of Karakalpakstan. She always organizes creative meetings with poets and writers, organizes reading competitions among students, holds creative memory evenings. She works tirelessly on herself and never gets tired of searching.
Since 2017, she has been a member of the Nukus city branch of the social democratic party “xalq” of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
In 2017, she published the books titled “Thinklights of Thought”, “The Coast of Emotions” in 2019, and “The Property of the Soul” in English in 2022 by the American publishing house Amazon.
On 25.05.2018, on 25.05.2019, she was awarded an Honorary Certificate by the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and in 2019 by the Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan. Parliamentary Commission of the Public Fund for the Support of Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations and Other Institutions of Civil Society under the Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan: 26.07.2019 Transferred in accordance with Appendix 1 of Decision No. 27According to the result of the 2nd competition, she was declared the winner Society of the Blind of Uzbekistan of Nukus city division. Led the project called “encouraging people with physical disabilities (especially young people) to regularly read Uzbek, Karakalpak and world literature and in the conditions of the pandemic, Uzbek was among the active organizers of the “most active young reader” contest held online in the Telegram network on June 10, 2020, in cooperation with the Uzbek-Nukus city unit, the Karakalpakstan Writers’ Union, and the Karakalpak Literature newspaper. June 1 – on the occasion of International Children’s Day “Give the world to children!” ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF THE COMPETITION held under the slogan. On the direction of political science Zarina Olimova won the 1st place for the “Sun and Book” Category and was awarded the 1st degree diploma of the Kazakhstan branch of the “World Talents” Association and was accepted as a member of this organization.
In addition, on 19.06.2020, 30.07.2020, the international online contest organized by the Union of Republican Politicians of Qoraqalpakistan in order to widely promote and audio record the work of Guliston Matyokubova, laureate of the international association “искусство народа мира”, honored cultural worker of Uzbekistan, national poetess of Karakalpakstan, was held on the Telegram network “ “bouquet of creativity” public channel and “Literary friendship – eternal friendship! (bouquet of creativity) managed online through the public group. For this beneficial action during the pandemic, on 30.07.2020 She was officially admitted to the membership of the Union of “Central Asian Writers and Historians” (a non-governmental non-profit organization) and was awarded the medal “Turonian unity – Mykti Kalamger” by the board of this organization.
On 12.08.2020, on 25.08.2020, the Visually Impaired Society of Uzbekistan organized the “Vatan mening nigohimda” competition organized by the Karakalpakstan branch on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On 16.09.2020, at the awarding ceremony of the presentation of the results of the Immortal Jamal poet competition held in Samarkand region, Z. Olimova was officially awarded the “Amir Temur” commemorative badge of the “Amir Temur” International Charitable Foundation for the “Unity of Turon” of the “Central Asian Writers and Historians” Association and active actions in the cultural and educational sphere. Member of the Kyrgyz Poet-Writers creative fund organized under the Kyrgyz National Union of Writers. This creative foundation won the proud 2nd place in the Karakalpak region of the International Contest on the theme “Mother”.
On 09-02-2021, on the occasion of the 580th anniversary of Alisher Navoi, she won the 1st place among the participants of the Karakalpak region in the international competition organized by the Union of “Writers and Historians of Central Asia” and was awarded with a Diploma and Medal named after Alisher Navoi.
In November 2021, she was awarded the “Spiritual Sacrifice” State Award for her active activities in the International and Community. Since June 10, 2022, the Republic of Uzbekistan has been a member of the Leader Women’s Platform.
On December 3, 2023, she was awarded the State Award “Excellence of the People” for her book published in America and for his active participation in the Cairo University conference in Egypt.
In January 2023, she was admitted to the membership of the “International Association of Turanian Writers” organized under the “Turan Academy of Sciences”. She was admitted to the membership of the “Kosh qanot” creative fund of Kazakhstan and was awarded the “For International Services” medal. In February, her poems were published in the newspaper “Yangi Jalalabad” of the Kyrgyz Republic. Her poems were also included in the anthology of Uzbek artists published in Great Britain.
In February 2023, Germany was admitted to the membership of the Academy of “Literature, Culture and Communication” and was awarded a diploma for international services by this academy. Academician of the German Academy of Arts and Communication. Kazakhstan is a member of the “Ethno-Cultural Union of Uzbeks”. She is married and has one child.
bomb threat
bomb threat in the
next town over at
a parts factory
they normally
happen at a high
school
someone wants to
get out of a quiz
but at a factory
the only thing
i can think of
is today must
have been
drug test day
opioids are still
mighty popular
out here in the
sticks
-------------------------------------------------------
been tricked so many times before
some angel will surely
want to love me one
of these days
i just hope i am still
breathing when that
moment arrives
been tricked so many
times before all the
options on the dark
side of life have
become ever more
appealing
my patience is wearing
thin these days
i wouldn't say i have
lost hope, just that it
does an incredible
job playing hide
and seek
------------------------------------------------------------
before desperation becomes...
pretty quiet outside
aside from the cars
and occasional trucks
driving by
this is the eerie quiet
before the shit hits
the fan
before arguments are
ended in gunfire
before desperation
becomes the saddest
note
written in blood
found on the floor
among dirty underwear
and a nearly empty
bottle of jack
------------------------------------------------------
a morphine drip
you always wanted
a morphine drip for
christmas
thought that would
be the perfect gift
that kept on giving
the times have changed
drug dealers seem
to not mind killing
off their own customers
chasing that elusive
high, you should be
willing to die for it
every junkie has told
me that
i'm not chasing that
high
not even chasing
perfection
simply a stubborn
prick that wants to
die on his own terms
bruises fresh on the
arms and legs
----------------------------------------------
burden
the spanish princess
believes she is too
much of a burden
for me
and no matter how
much i argue that
this is not the case
she won't change
her mind
i shouldn't feel like
i lost something that
i never had, but i do
but heartache at this
point of my life doesn't
sting as much as when
i was younger
i'm guessing because
the finish line is in view
and i know i won't have
to deal with any of this
much longer
J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is trapped in suburbia, slowly losing hope. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at just good poems, The Beatnik Cowboy, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Black Shamrock and The Rye Whiskey Review. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)
