Poetry from Orinbaeva Dilfuza

Young Central Asian woman with dark brown eyes, black hair up in a bun, small earrings, and a short sleeve blue blouse with a decorative orange and tan collar.

The Beautiful Nature of Spring

You bloom, spreading far and wide,

The trees in gardens, full of pride,

Your flowers speak no word or sound,

In spring, the beauty does abound.

On the trees, the flowers rise,

Pure white, a sight before our eyes,

They look like snowflakes falling near,

In spring, the beauty is so clear.

The rain falls often, soft and light,

Irrigating crops in sight,

The wind blows suddenly and free,

In spring, the beauty’s all we see.

Nature wakes from its long sleep,

Turning golden, calm and deep,

Peace shines in the sky so bright,

In spring, the beauty fills the light.

After rain, a rainbow shows,

Colors that dazzle, as it grows,

It dazzles eyes with every hue,

In spring, the beauty is renewed.

Essay from Sevara Kuchkarova

Young Central Asian woman with dark hair and a white collared shirt in front of a bunch of books with green covers on a wooden shelf. She's in a white dress shirt and white pants.

Methods to Enhance Motivation in the Educational Process 

Introduction 

Motivation is the internal and external drive of students toward the learning process, directly impacting their success and knowledge level. Based on Self-Determination Theory, “autonomy,” “competence,” and “social connections” play a crucial role in strengthening motivation. Motivation serves as a key driver in the educational process, determining students’ engagement, goal achievement, and success.

Methods to Enhance Motivation

1 Educational Methods

Flipped Classroom: Students study material in advance, while classroom time is dedicated to practical activities, aligning with the ARCS model and boosting motivation.Active Learning: Through methods like peer learning, problem-based learning, and cognitive apprenticeship, students work independently and collaboratively.

2 Psychological Approaches

Autonomy and Choice: When students choose their own materials, their intrinsic motivation increases (Self-Determination Theory).

Conclusion

Motivation in education is enhanced by harmonizing internal factors (autonomy, interest, social connections) and external factors (awards, badges, competition). The effectiveness of inquiry-based learning and active learning has been confirmed by research. Autonomy and reflection guide students toward intrinsic motivation rather than reliance on external factors. Such approaches make lessons meaningful, engaging, and beneficial for both students and educators.

Sevara Kuchkarova is a 3rd year student of Bukhara State Pedagogical Institute.

Essay from Dilobar Maxmarejabova

Young Central Asian woman with long curly dark hair, a thick brown coat, and a handful of red tulips

Tulips — The Symbol of Grace


The garden of my childhood was always filled with the scent of flowers. Every spring, blossoms would bloom in our yard, but there was one flower that captivated me more than any other — the tulip.


My grandfather always tended to the flowers with deep affection and taught us to love and care for them. On early spring mornings, he would take a small spade and gently work the soil while I followed him closely, never leaving his side. That’s when I would see the yellow tulips beginning to bloom — as if they carried the joy of spring itself. For me, they were not just ordinary flowers; they were the embodiment of beauty and elegance, the purest reflection of grace.


Many people have asked me: “Why tulips? Aren’t there countless other beautiful flowers in the world?” I simply smile and reply, “Because tulips are love. They are not just flowers — they awaken feelings deep within the heart.”


When I look at a tulip, something inside me stirs. It’s as if the flower is whispering a secret, trying to awaken the most delicate emotions within me. Every petal is a melody; every color, a feeling. Though the tulip bows toward the earth, it spiritually reaches for the sky.


The tulip is life itself. For the eye that sees beauty and the heart that feels elegance, there is no sight more enchanting.


Dilobar Maxmarejabova Elbek qizi is a second-year student at the
University of Journalism and Mass Communications, majoring in
Philology and English Language Teaching.

Essay from Brian Barbeito

Middle aged white man with dark sunglasses, a knit hat, a small trimmed beard, and a dark sweater on a hiking train with a path and some barren trees on a sunny day.

Vagabond Verisimilitude and the Mendicant Muse

of Sun Wind Winding Way Water and Whimsy 

The sun was out, and the temperature had risen. The previous day’s flooding that saturated much, was gone, having receded and also, I suppose been absorbed into the land. Some wind was there, and the paths were winding around trees and then going along the river and over bridges wooden but strong and reliable. 

Away from the world, and sometimes other good souls went past, enjoying the routes and the sanguine hint of spring after a long and horrendous winter. One could think of shiny crystals, old books, smiles, coffee, blankets, music, the height of summer, paintings of wild wolves drinking water under the moonlight, and many good things, like some kind of visual manifestation. Or even of divinity, incarnations, gurus and sacred texts, plus the cosmos and its destiny and that of individual soul destinies. Where had everything come from? and where was it going? Sun star lake breeze the earth and trees, cities and countryside’s, billions literally, of souls traversing. Existence was, if anything, big. 

A stand of trees had a stone under it, and then another tree more in the sun had a group of smaller rocks washed by the rains and previous waters. Tall beige and golden strands of some kind of wheat-like growths or reeds did reach up confidently to the brightness of the upper air then. And down the way,- flowing water and at times a broken branch for the too strong and fierce nocturnal storms. 

But yes, then the day and sun, a treat from the universe for a nature writer, a solitary wandering poet, a soul something like a mixture of vagabond and visual artist, mendicant and monk, wanderer and way-shower. 

Poetry from David Sapp

Pheasant Resurrection

At the intersection,

dim at dawn, carnage

on my way to work,

a pall over routine,

any ambition faded,

feathers, color askew,

sienna, umber, ochre –

that placid blue-gray

mimicked mourning doves.

Just yesterday, the pheasant

pecked happily at bugs,

perversely, too often,

tempting tires, fenders.

I missed the stark day

at noon, the definition,

township man, Joe

of Arimathea scraping

evidence from asphalt.

Then, a glorious vision,

(where’s the seraphim?)

coming home at dusk,

same indistinct light,

there, there! his ghost

or a resurrection,

cock-sure apparition,

red crown bobbing,

strutting like a rooster,

prince of his dominion,

as if nothing occurred,

my anguish irrelevant.

Thomas, no doubt,

placed a reservation

for supper at Emmaus.

David Sapp, writer and artist, lives along the southern shore of Lake Erie in North America. A Pushcart nominee, he was awarded Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Grants for poetry and the visual arts. His poetry and prose appear widely in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. His publications include articles in the Journal of Creative Behavior, chapbooks Close to Home and Two Buddha, a novel Flying Over Erie, and a book of poems and drawings titled Drawing Nirvana.

Poetry from Chimezie Ihekuna

Chimezie Ihekuna (Mr. Ben) Young Black man in a collared shirt and jeans resting his head on his hand. He's standing outside a building under an overhang.
Chimezie Ihekuna

IF:

WAR is best served RAW,

The LIVE appearance of the world is EVIL,

“To have WON” is only appreciated in the NOW,

a RAM is the grass’ MAR,

MALI has the same energy state as LIMA,

a WOLF can keep up with its activity FLOW,

LAUD really share similar characters with DUAL,

a BAT can keep a TAB on its prey,

moving through the RAIL of life would make me a LIAR,

my ‘i WAS’ actually referred to my ‘i SAW’,

dinosaurs ARE existing in our ERA,

a MUG could only be made out of a GUM,

a certain PAT can TAP into the potentials of his subordinates,

a PART of crime is a TRAP over innocence,

YAM can fully be harvested in the month of MAY,

one could ZAP available energies in la-PAZ,

the tip of an abyss is a sub-set of the bottom-less PIT,

RAGE could reach its GEAR of destruction,

in a POOL of water lies its LOOP of ripples

one could RAP her way to be at PAR with the opulent,

OPRAH, don’t you think we need to inform HARPO about these?

The Love For Humanity: The Hatred For War

The death of innocent souls in wars

makes matter worse

Why should the mighty push for such human disaster

over a trivial matter?

When a nation of great strength wages war

against ‘a lesser’ that once shared territorial grounds more,

It creates unhealthy concerns for the rest of the world

as the loss of lives and property would become seriously odd

Experimenting with bio weapons 

at the expense of innocent lives in those nations

Is stretching humanity beyond its threshold of peace

to the point of embracing the purpose of unease

What is the gain of disturbing peaceful coexistence

If not witnessing the pain of disturbance?

Let the powers that be give a second thought to their action;

for the future would assert the reaction

Humanity craves for rest of its rest

So, it would be unpalatable to disturb that crest

Truth be told,

Regardless of who seem to be at fault,

War should not be what is to be looked as fought

There is always a ground of reconciliation

an understanding of co-operation,

a place for dialogue,

a method of taking out lingering backlogs,

an eventual resolving of differences,

a viable approach to avoid in future sitting on defense,

The love of mankind is paramount

So, war must be in a state of surmount!

Short creative nonfiction from Leslie Lisbona (two of three)

Three young white adults with poofy 70's hair and big collared shirts and long jeans standing in front of records on display in a store

Rapper’s Delight

It was 1979, and I was 14; my brother, Dorian, was 28.  We were in our house on 68th Drive in Queens.

Dorian worked in a record store in Times Square and always brought home the newest records. My cousin Michele and I were dancing to one of them, Rapper’s Delight by the Sugarhill Gang.  It was the first rap song we’d ever heard. It blew our minds. Up until then I was listening to the Pina Colada song.   

I was sweaty in my Jordache jeans in the living room in front of the speakers that came up to my waist.  Dorian joined us, his button-down shirt revealing his chest and gold chain. “Hey,” he said, “let’s write down all the words.”  

“Really?” I said. “It’s like 15 minutes long.”

“You and Michele write as fast as you can.”  

We agreed.  I ran to get sheets from my looseleaf notebook for the three of us. Then Michele and I sat on the shag rug, our legs stretched out under the wooden coffee table, Bic pens in hand. I felt as if I were about to run a race, waiting for the gun to go off.

Dorian put the needle down, scratching the record, the instrumentals thumping the beat, bump bump bump.  ‘I said a hip hop the hibbit’ 

We listened hard and missed the whole first sentence. “Wait,” I screamed.

“Oh God,” Michele said, her black hair spilling over her paper.

I heard: ‘say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat’

The music blared. “Just write,” Dorian shouted.  

‘Now what you hear is not a test, I’m rapping to the beat’

“Okay,” I said. “Keep going!”

‘Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn’

Pages of paper were accumulating on the table.  Debi, my sister, came down. “How much longer are you going to do this?” she yelled above the music.  

“Until we finish,” we yelled back.  

It was getting dark out. My legs were starting to hurt. I got up onto my knees.

‘I go by the name Lois Lane’

“Wait,” I said again, focusing.  Dorian lifted the needle. “Okay, go!” I said.  My hand was cramping. My handwriting looked deranged.  Dorian put the needle back on the record and sat with us at the table. More pages.

‘the beat don’t stop until the break of dawn’

I felt winded and had to pee. “Can’t we just dance?” I said and flopped onto my back.  

“Yeah,” said Michele.  

“Okay,” Dorian said.  Still on the floor, Michele and I wiggled our feet and sang to each other: “But first I gotta bang bang the boogie to the boogie say up jump the boogie of the rhythm of the boogie that be,” singing the words with conviction.

It was night, past dinner. Michele went home to her house across the street.

My mom came in later, kicking off her Ferragamo boots. “What did you do today?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “Just listened to records.”