Poetry from Photini Karamouzis Chalkias 

Evasions, guilt

and a thousand unknown words.

I lick from your fingers…

the flavors of your tiny dreams!

I hide newspapers in my coat

so that the desert cold doesn’t whip me.

Windows with bars

to hide anonymous faces

that the sun has never seen.

I set up a stool outside the school

to expect children’s smiles..

to make decorations

on the edge of the lips

The tongue tastes

the spices of pearls.

What else can I hide from you

in a red hall

that sleep did not want to give a breath?

Tonight I wished

many patterns to scar

on my withered skin.

Truly, what should I remember?

That drink you treated

in an untouched night?

That you cried in my hands on a train…

while crossing the tunnels?

We lit a fire in a house that was cold

but happy

We had to hide exposed parts of the body

and walk naked on the rooftops of another mind

Many cities to enclose

a half-full arch

and a completely empty wish.

I swallow harsh images

on a bed that I laid my feet.

I gaive you wedding gifts

on a road that was  covered by mud.

You gave me veils to hide the lie

behind curtains that I painted with blood.

On a terrace we hung all those feelings

that the sunset deprived from us of when we melted…

On that road you showed me poverty to face

I turned back, I didn’t leave any footprints.

In the desert 

you didn’t let me

go of my breath!

A drop that was left

gave me back my life.

Eyes closing, turning black

Giving a fiery glow

You tricked the stars into drinking wine!

Morocco 2008

Photini Karamouzis Chalkias 

Educational Psychologist, Creative Publicity Consultant, Arts-Cultural Mediator, Private Language Tutor, Project Manager & Social Trainer in Artistic Union Ulysses- (Artistic Merits)

Essay from Maftuna Rustamova

The Secret of Success: Talent or Habits?

Success has always been one of humanity’s most fascinating topics. Thousands of books have been written about it, countless seminars have been organized, and millions of people spend their lives searching for its secret. Although there is no single formula for success, the lives of highly accomplished individuals reveal a common pattern. More often than not, success is built on discipline, consistent habits, and perseverance rather than extraordinary talent.

Many people believe that success depends mainly on natural ability or luck. While talent may provide an early advantage, it does not guarantee long-term achievement. History has shown that individuals who continuously improve their knowledge, develop new skills, and remain committed to their goals often outperform those who rely solely on their natural gifts. Daily effort and self-discipline create opportunities that talent alone cannot sustain.

The digital age has also transformed the meaning of success. Today, a person’s background matters less than their willingness to learn, adapt, and embrace change. Online education, artificial intelligence, and global communication have made knowledge more accessible than ever before. As a result, continuous learning has become one of the most valuable qualities for anyone who wishes to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

Another essential element of success is the ability to respond positively to failure. Many people give up after experiencing setbacks, viewing failure as the end of their journey. However, successful individuals treat failure as a valuable learning experience. Every mistake provides insight, strengthens resilience, and prepares a person to make wiser decisions in the future. In this sense, failure is not the opposite of success—it is an important step toward it.

It is equally important to understand that success should not be measured only by wealth or fame. Genuine success is reflected in personal growth, meaningful contributions to society, and the satisfaction of achieving one’s goals with integrity. Financial achievements may come and go, but knowledge, experience, and a positive impact on others leave a lasting legacy.

In conclusion, the secret of success cannot be reduced to a single strategy. It is the result of clear goals, consistent effort, lifelong learning, resilience, and the courage to continue despite difficulties. Success is not achieved overnight; it is built through small, purposeful actions repeated day after day. Those who remain committed to growth and never stop learning are the ones most likely to achieve lasting success.

Maftuna Rustamova Ruslan qizi, 30th school 10 class

Poetry from Türkan Ergör

Young Turkish woman with blonde hair, a headband, a black top, and long necklace.

IF I COULD RETURN

Everyone finally returns 

Goes where they belongs 

Maybe they want to go

Maybe they don’t want to go

But

Finally

People returns

To where they belong

Their becomes request to return 

Perhaps unintentionally 

Reluctantly 

But l 

I would want to return 

If l could return 

Where l belong 

Quietly

Because I saw a rose 

Never seen before 

In the feelings garden.

Türkan Ergör, Sociologist, Philosopher, Writer, Poet, Art Photography Model. Türkan Ergör was born 19 March 1975 in the city of Çanakkale, Türkiye. She was selected International “Best Poet 2020”. She was selected International “Best Poet, Author/Writer 2021”. She was selected International “Best Poet, Writer/Author 2022”. She was awarded the FIRST PRIZE FOR THE OUTSTANDING AUTHOR IN 2022. She was awarded the 2023 “Zheng Nian Cup” “National Literary First Prize” by Beijing Awareness Literature Museum. She was awarded the “Certificate of Honor and Appreciation” and “Crimean Badge” by İSMAİL GASPRİNSKİY SCIENCE AND ART ACADEMY. She was awarded the “14k Gold Pen Award” by ESCRITORES SIN FRONTERAS ORGANIZACIÓN INTERNACIONAL.

Poetry from Cyril Erchev

Wings of Dreams

You are the eternal light

of the night…

where you imprison the magic

of your dance…

That vibrates in your body

and in your destiny.

Where you carry the mysticism

on your bare feet…

The flowers and the silence

embrace you with the

sowing…

So that the flame of your love, which crosses

your world

to transmute it

into millions of stars

where you can illuminate

the entire UNIVERSE, may never be extinguished!

CYRIL ETCHEV, pseudonym of Elvira Cirila Etcheveste, was born in the city of Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos. She studied at School No. 4, Gervasio Méndez, and became a teacher at ENOVA. She taught in Islas del Ibicuy, Entre Ríos, and in Buenos Aires: Necochea, Quequén, and Mar del Plata. She is a Professor of Language and Communication Sciences, with a degree in Language and Literature. She specializes in Reading, Writing, and Education, and has completed national and international postgraduate studies. She is an independent researcher of the works of Cortázar, Borges, and Chekhov. She is an International Ambassador of the Word (Quero, Toledo, Spain) and a World Ambassador of Culture (Tarija, Bolivia). She is a Distinguished and Illustrious Citizen in cities in Argentina and Bolivia. She has directed plays for children and young people, as well as adult storytelling performances. Founder of Literature Clubs: Little Prince, The Blue Heron, and The Bicycle.

Published books: She Tells, The Book That Speaks, and Amara, the Eyes of Time. Essay and profile magazine: The Blue Heron. Attends Writers’ Meetings and National and International Book Fairs. Has given lectures on Latin American authors in theater, art, and literature. Edited the book: The House on San Juan Street and Other Stories. De Los Cuatro Vientos Publishing House. San Telmo, Buenos Aires. Tucumán Park Editions: The Women of the Earth. She pro bono promotes Latin American stories among children, young people, and adults in cultural centers, libraries, and institutes. She collaborates on anthologies with the group: Together for Letters: THE IMMORTALS on the Web, in ArtePoética, the cultural magazine THOTEM, and in Weaving International Brotherhood: with essays and short stories. Dr. Mirta Ramírez, Chaco, Argentina. Translated into thirteen languages. She is invited to read, present, teach classes, and give lectures to all countries via streaming networks: YouTube and Facebook. She also appears simultaneously on radio and YouTube. She has been an active writer at Mercosur Congresses since 2020. President: Professor Zulma Nicolini, Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos. In Mar del Plata, she belongs to the Ibero-American Society of Poets, Writers, and Artists (SIPEA). From Mexico, she represents the International Book Confederation. Presidents: César Salvatierra and Alan Morales from Peru. Coordinated by Cultural Ambassador Julio Gorenaud for the world.

She receives distinctions as a writer and cultural promoter from the Organization for the Defense of Peace and Art AWARD THE BEST World Federation of Women Grand Masters. Presidents: Elena Paniagua and Nora Miranda at the Palace of the Buenos Aires City Legislature. The International Mendoza Condor Award/Presidents: Guillermo Salinas and Adela Cornejo. She receives the Silver Seagull Award/The Knight Errant/Dr. Princess Alexandra of Easter Island. Dr. J. Manuel Equihua Estrella International Literature Prize from the International Cultural Collective, Universal Poetic Utopia USA Branch, and the International Program of Virtual Tributes to Living Artists. Selected among the 100 writers of Ibero-America and the Caribbean by EDITORIAL HISPANA USA, Atlanta, Georgia, 2020.

She has numerous publications in anthologies from Argentina to the world. MSADEI Diplomas of Honor. J. PAYRÓ, Dr. Jorge Citrángolo Casal. Mercedes, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sworn in as a writer at the “Monument to the poet Alfonsina Storni” in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, by Dr. Jorge Citrángolo Casal. She is a member of the National Society of Writers (SADE) and the Gualeguaychú branch in Entre Ríos, Argentina. She donates books of her authorship to the Domingo F. Sarmiento Library in Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos, the National Library, the Library of Congress, and the Library of the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, as well as to schools and museums she visits. In 2025, she published Romance de la Sirena, followed by the publication of BORGES, nació con el Tango (Borges, Born with Tango).

Poetry from Elmaya Jabbarova

White woman with long black hair and a black blouse with flowers on it.
Elmaya Jabbarova

When the eyes meet…

Look, right now, at this moment

In the harbor of love

Face to face with me

Eye to eye

In the ocean of my eyes

In the angle of the eyes

Looking at the future

In that little boat

In the arms of the waves

In the height of the sail

Looking for happiness

See how it composes

The joyful rhythm of love,

The song of the King of Love,

Oh my dream hero!

Let me declare to you

You are the first accent of my heart

With you I understood

The feeling of being loved

That love exists.

But I never knew

The thousand games of fate.

When I suddenly saw you

When those magical feelings

Wrapped my heart

Like a little bird

I would fly away from there…

I would drown in your gaze,

I would sleep late in the evenings,

I would count stars one by one

In the moonlight in the sky

I would find a double star

I would name us

Look, it would be you

Me next to you.

It would land on my face, hey

A constant pleasant smile

Yeah… It would get stuck

Stamped on a document

Like an official seal.

Now I look at you

In your eyes full of love

We stand face to face

From a memory book

The embroidery of patterns

It is solved like a puzzle

This moment is lived one by one

A life that has not been lived.

Elmaya Jabbarova was born in Azerbaijan. She is a poet, writer, and translator. Her poems from 2019 to date were published in the regional and foreign newspapers, magazines, books, websites, and anthologies. She has been awarded many certificates, diplomas, and medals. She is the department manager of Hekari newspaper of Azerbaijan. She is an honorary member of the Writers of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyzstan World Association of People’s Creators, Honorary member of the International Academy of Literature, Art, Culture and Social Sciences of Uzbekistan. She is an Academic Appointed Coordinator by the Secretary General of Azerbaijan, Argentina. She is presented in the book Famous Personalities MultiArt – 5, Argentina. She was a member World Poetic Fraternity. She was awarded the title of Global Poet of 2023; 2024. She was awarded the title of World Poet Laureate from Azerbaijan as one of 55 poets selected by Pentasi B Friendship Poetry for 2025.

Poetry from Sumana Bhattacharjee

Ethereal 

Love should feel like home 

Not a chaos of your peaceful heart,

Keep yourself away from that inconsistent place..

Where there is every chance to get hurt.

At the end of the day 

If your tender heart feel grey,

If we find ourself in an insecured orbit…

It’s not love, nothing much to say.

Love must not be clumsy, it’s a journey..

Through intensity and purity 

Why to walk by the uneven road where 

There is no  trust and  clarity!

Love  must not be playful or superficial 

The journey should be profound and ethereal.

Sumana Bhattacharjee 

09/07/2026

Author’s Bio 

Sumana Bhattacharjee is a bilingual poetry writer from India. She born and brought up in city Kolkata in a family of teachers. From her childhood she has had a keen interest in music, poetry and drama. She is a published poet, and her poems have been published in more than twenty national and international anthologies. She is a regular contributor of ezines like Glomag Raven-Cage Ezines, Spillword.com, and Cultural Reverence. She founded two online literature group, and she is working as an assistant executive editor at Global Nation Newspaper, Bangladesh. She is the peace ambassador of WHMP. She is passionate about poetry, and she thinks this is the only way she can spread her thought around the world.

Poetry from Shannon Scoates

The Piano

On a trail near a

river crossing

sits an abandoned

piano

Weathered by storms

aged by the sun

leaves crown the

piano

Squirrels scamper and

play and play on

the keys

As covered wagons

roll on past the

piano near the

river crossing

High above the trees

a hawk can be seen

The sounds of the

piano mixing with 

the music of the 

river.

July 26, 2026

Shannon Scoates is a Canadian poet and intuitive writer whose work is rooted in nature, mysticism, and channeled guidance. Influenced by childhood storytellers like Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, as well as poets such as Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, E.E. Cummings, W.B. Yeats, Robert Frost, and RR Token author Terry Brooks, she began writing at age ten as a way to express emotion and truth. Shannon is also an energy healer trained in Reiki, colour, sound, and vibrational therapy, and she is passionate about helping women find their voice through writing and spiritual connection. A devoted advocate for children’s literature and animal rights, she carries forward the encouragement of her Grampa and Grama, whose spirit continues to guide her creative path. Her first book is currently in development.