Peace & Stillness
midnight hush
even the wind is silent
a chorus so deep
crescent moon hovers —
civet cat thuds on the roof
figs fall in the dark
rainy moon softly
mourns autumn departure
tears slip through the clouds
moonless autumn night —
only the whispers of stars
warm family chats
the last moon quarter
sinks into the morning dew
the night exhales chill
Maja Milojković
Eva Lianou Petropoulou
A Poem Dedicated to All Women
Žena
Pitala sam se da li sam slobodna.
Da li se ti osećaš slobodnom?
Ne.
Svakog dana hodam ulicom mogućnosti i prilika…
Ali niko me ne gleda.
Jer sam žena.
Neizrecivo je koliko se žena iskorišćava.
Od prvog dana.
Žena je trebalo da vaspitava dete,
da kuva za dete,
da ga nauči kako da misli, govori,
postupa…
Mnogo je toga što žena treba da uradi.
Ali šta se dešava posle?
Šta je sa ženinim potrebama?
Njenom željom?
Ženinom rečju?
Kao da ne postoji.
Sve dok jednog dana
ne pogledaš u ogledalo.
Vidiš svoje lice.
Vidiš svoje srce.
Vidiš svoje telo.
I ne prepoznaš ga.
Jer si toliko iskorišćena.
Iskorišćena odbacivanjem.
Potrošena samoćom.
Iskorišćena lažnim ljudima.
Potrošena lošim odlukama.
Bez vere.
Eva Petropoulou Lianou
Grčka
*******
Women
I was wondering if I am free?
Do u feel free?
Nooo
Every day I walk in a street of possibilities and opportunities..
But nobody look at me
As i am a woman..
It is unspeakable how much a woman is used..
From day one
A woman needed to educate the child
To cook for a child
To learn him how to think.. Speak..
Act..
A lot for a woman to do
But what happens after..
A woman need
A woman wish
A woman word
Inexistant person
Until one day
You will look at the mirror
You see your face
You will see your heart
You will see your body
And u will not recognize it
Because u will be so used
Used from the rejection
Used from the loneliness
Used from the fake people
Used from the bad decisions
Without faith!!!
Kattakurgan State Pedagogical Institute Primary Education Department Group 25 04
To my Dad
The mountain you lean on is my loving garden
Advice, your words are a necklace in my mouth
We are not always together my love
I love you, Dad
You are a family man and a true professional
Motherland and parents are dear to us
Shabbona misses your daughter every moment
Stay healthy, dear Dad
When The Times Become Death
When the times become death and hang
I hang from the branches of a dead tree
The tree is very tall and ancient
I can hang freely
Age is in favor of time
Standing time is like death
I hang with a red ribbon on my head
The valley of change does not attack me.
I know the long history of death
The soul does not deny history
I know the scent of death
This scent is permanent in my bones
I live in every moment of time
I love every moment
This love of mine is exclusively my own
Don’t blame me
The love of a hypocrite has many colors
My love is colorless like death, eternal and breathless
Your complaint is to time
To each his own time, to his own love
As life is close to time
Death is also close to love
Life without love is lifeless
However, love cannot bind death.
——————————————————————————-
dying like elvis
took a shit so large this morning
i could feel my blood sugar drop
it made me laugh, reaffirm my
fears of dying like elvis
but with none of the money
or big house
had a friend wish that my poems
would make me a millionaire
i thanked her and told her i would
gladly take a fraction of that and
winning lottery numbers
and here come the holidays
here comes the depression
here comes the urge to drink
the entire bar dry
why couldn’t we evolve from
creatures that hibernated in
the winter
certainly would make christmas
easier to handle
just a thought on a random
monday
the week of thanksgiving
another test of what little
patience i have left
————————————————————————
with no soul
and you wake up from
a fever dream of a boy
who never meets the
girl yet the girl lives
happily ever after
a couple splashes of
cold water and you
know that boy is you
coming up on half
a century
still lining the walls
with loneliness
pretend someone cares
someone will save you
from yourself
in a world with no soul
no time for anyone other
than the precious mirror
torture is the morning
sun
a bird singing a song
joy on the children
down the street
your father warned
you
you were never special
and should never think
like it was even possible
sharpen the knives
still time to make
the evening news
—————————————————————-
the machines
searching for humanity
in a world that has fully
embraced the machines
before long, the humans
will be the machines
and then all hope will
be lost
somewhere, all those
science fiction writers
of my youth are asking
yet again…
still think i’m fucking
crazy?
————————————————————————-
two weeks before thanksgiving
had to drive to the store to get my pills last night
there was a number of houses with christmas
lights up already
two weeks before thanksgiving
assholes
mom is insisting the whole family gets together
this year for thanksgiving
while i’m secretly hoping she has some evil plan
to kill all of us
i think it is simply a punishment for me
but, i have never shied away from proudly
being the black sheep of the family
i’ll make a plate, place some bets, go to
my room and be by myself
punishments never worked when i was a child
they won’t work while i’m an adult either
the day after thanksgiving
i’ll put up our decorations outside
three wreaths around the three outdoor lights
which eventually will become nests for birds
that get heat from those lights at night
——————————————————————————-
figure out the truth
i haven’t shaved in weeks
the little girl that stays next
door with grandma tells all
her friends that grandma lives
next door to santa claus
it takes everything i have not
to break that little girl’s heart
but i figure, she will figure
out the truth soon enough
there’s a skeleton in the yard
across the street
i swear, when i look out
at night it is giving me
the finger
i guess the booze is working
not sleeping well yet again
i’m hoping to find a new
dealer
someone that has a decent
heart and will accept books
or baseball cards for something
that isn’t tainted with something
that will kill me
that’s for the next decade
https://evildelights.blogspot.com
J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is old enough to know better. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at The Beatnik Cowboy, Crossroads Magazine, Disturb the Universe Magazine, The Rye Whiskey Review and Misfit Magazine. You can find him most days at his home in Ohio, taking care of his disabled mother and trying to hit another crazy 20 team parlay. He still has a blog, evil delights, although he rarely has the time to write on it. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)
The Northern Town and its Water
In the small town there was an old library, a few churches, and even a place where they sold worms for fishing and nearby, in the summers anyhow, a corn stand. I only realized far after that I never brought my bike there, such as in stories and films. If I could go back, I would have, for a bicycle fits a town and one could go on adventures and take more pictures of the local flora and fauna.
Yet I still have much memory in the mind’s eye and a few photos from walking. I used to fish off the shore walls and near little bridges and no matter what theory says, worms always got the fish to bite or at least become curious and nibble more than any metal or plastic lure. There were wooden bridges and stone ones, and moss and rocks and the sun-bleached parts caught my eye whist people generally were friendly and many of them waved.
There was a series of canals and though they go in Northern Ontario it was based off a model of waterways from somewhere in Europe. These waterways, often called ‘intercostal,’ can be found in southern Florida also. They are often secondary homes or cottages, and I suppose that means upper middle class or affluent populaces inhabit them. Or old timers that simply always lived there through the generations. Maybe each situation is unique, and they can’t exactly be categorized.
I remember the winters frozen and sometimes an ice fishing hut or series of them could be viewed as one looked from the purlieu of the lagoon intercostal waterways out to the white and grey lake frozen and crystalline-like under a December or January sky sun laden. That would make a good landscape painting for someone, some soul involved in such, and often as I walk summer fields and meadows or winter hills with vistas, I have the passing thought whimsical of wishing I knew a painter to talk about all with. In fact, I should have lived in older times where letter writing, where true soulful epistolary was the norm. But, in lieu of not having a confident or artist contact I’ll tell here…
The area was big, several square kilometres and none of the houses could have basements for the water could go in and that would be problematic. The dwellings were built on piles, telephone poles wooden and probably chemically stained to preserve them. Some houses were bungalows and nondescript with simple screen doors and others towered over the earth maybe up to four of five stories tall, and those usually had expensive power boats over forty feet long outside of them bobbing up and down a little bit in that lake water.
And it was quiet while someone watched the nice world there and the change of seasons. Boat. Book. Walk. Reflect. Even pray or meditate. Repair a bird house wooden or sit on the porch and watch the world go by. When we went to church, so long ago, the old man that gave the exegesis about the gospels used to say that his goal should be the same for his community. And what was his goal? It was for his maker, his God, to simply say in heaven when the day arrived, to say about the life one had lived on earth, ‘Well done good and faithful servant.’
~~~~~
Brian Michael Barbeito is a Canadian poet, writer, and photographer. The Book of Love and Mourning, a third collection of prose poems and landscape photographs, is set to be released in winter 2025.
WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL LIFE: OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS
Jaloldinova Gulzirahon Otabek kizi
Student of group 101, Computer Linguistics, Faculty of Philology, Andijan State University
Today, thanks to the extensive reforms being carried out in our country, many opportunities are opening up for women. In this regard, we consider it appropriate to quote the speech of our President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in the Senate of the Oliy Majlis in June 2019: “I am often concerned about the stereotype that has emerged in the minds of our people. Usually, we respect a woman, first of all, as a mother, a keeper of the family hearth. This is undoubtedly true. However, today every woman should not be an ordinary observer, but also an active and proactive participant in the democratic changes taking place in the country.”
Through this speech, the head of our state emphasizes that women should have their place not only in the family, but also in all developing spheres of society. We know that today our progressive women are working in public administration, education, art and culture, medicine, sports and a number of other areas and are achieving many successes. Their activities testify to the fact that women have their place in society, that their rights and interests are determined by law, and that they have equal rights with men. Also, the participation of women in political life is of great importance not only for our society, but also for our state.
In particular, one of such women. We can cite Tanzila Norbaeva as the first woman in the history of our country to be elected to the chair of the Senate. During her long career, she held such positions in public administration as Head of the Secretariat of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Head of the Secretariat of the Head of the Complex for Social Protection of Family, Motherhood and Childhood, Leading Specialist and Chief Specialist of the Information and Analytical Department on Education, Healthcare and Social Protection of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Chairman of the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Chairman of the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan.
During her career, Tanzila Norbaeva proved that women can also actively work in political life and public administration, and bring benefits to society and the state. Indeed, today, more than 1,300 women hold leadership positions in state and public organizations,
including 45 in ministries and departments, 39 in the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Cabinet of Ministers, and 207 in local government bodies.
Women and girls are given every opportunity to improve their political knowledge and test themselves in various fields. In particular, entrepreneurship centers for women have been established. This center helps retrain women who are on long-term parental leave and who are in a difficult economic situation in their professions, develops women’s business skills, provides them with advice and practical assistance.
Women who express a desire to engage in entrepreneurship are trained according to a special training program based on a list formed by the district (city) khokim and the women’s committee. Those who successfully complete special programs are given the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities, based on the recommendation of the district (city) women’s committee. A preferential loan is provided for setting up. In addition, in order to provide socio-economic assistance to women, the “Women’s Book” was introduced. With this, the head of our state is creating a foundation for women to show themselves in every aspect.
It is true that in New Uzbekistan, all opportunities are being opened for women, gender equality is being created. But as is not without controversy, there are also some narrow-minded people. A woman should be busy raising children and doing household chores. There are also many who think that she cannot function in the same social circle as men. In their opinion, if a woman works in society, actively interacts with society, and financially supports her family, she will change as a result of the influence of some people in society
and will lose her place as a woman in the family.
But we believe that this issue depends on human upbringing. It is important to ignore such negative thoughts in society. The Head of our state is creating many opportunities for women to find their place in society, be appreciated, and contribute to the development of society and the state, and is enshrining this in law.
In particular, the approval of Law No. 562 “On Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men” on September 2, 2019 is a vivid proof of this. To date, serious attention is being paid to the issue of gender equality in our country. The practical result of this is that Uzbekistan is also a leader in key indicators of gender equality and gender development: the Gender Development Index (GRI) for women is 0.795 compared to men, which indicates a high level of equality between women and men.
I consider it appropriate to mention that the percentage of our women and girls in political life has increased significantly. In particular, women’s participation in political processes is increasing, and this trend can also be observed in electoral processes. The 1952 UN Convention on the Political Rights of Women. The Convention stipulates that women have the right to vote and stand for election on an equal basis with men. If we compare the results of the last elections to representative bodies, all parties have fulfilled the legal requirement that at least 30 percent of candidates must be women. In particular, 41 percent of the candidates nominated by parties were women.
This situation was also positively assessed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Uzbekistan began participating in the Gender Equality Index in 2019. As of 2019, Uzbekistan’s gender equality index ranked 62nd out of 189 countries on the list. Taking advantage of these opportunities, there are enough of our women who are taking their rightful place in political and social circles.
For example, in the field of sports, our compatriot Diyora Keldiyorova won the Olympic championship. In addition, it is commendable that another of our compatriots, Rayyona Ibrohimova, won 1st place at the International German Language Olympiad. There are many such women and girls in our country who deserve our pride. Why do you think they are achieving success in the world community and raising our flag even higher?
Of course, this is because our country pays due attention to our women and girls and creates opportunities for their development. It is not necessary to put obstacles in the way of women, but to be able to provide them with wings so that they can fly. In short, we must not forget that our women and girls can be the pillars of our society, just like men.
References