In the quiet of my restless mind,
Dreams awaken, undefined.
Like shadows dancing on the wall,
They rise, they fade, they softly call.
I walk alone, yet feel no fear,
For hope itself is always near.
A fragile light within my soul,
Reminds me I am still whole.
Though nights are long and skies are grey,
My dreams refuse to drift away.
They whisper gently, calm and deep:
“You were not born to simply sleep.”
I Walk, I Sing Poetry
Mesfakus Salahin
Bangladesh
The ocean whispers to me –
I must go to her
She is mine
I will surrender my helplessness to her
I will seek my selfhood in the vastness
I will compose the poetry of life in the salt water.
The mountain calls me, with a sigh
Undoutly, I will go to it
His sorrow is my sorrow
I will lose myself in its depths
I will pour water on its bloody heart
I will deposit my melted love there.
The tree calls me in illusion-
I will go to it
I will hide afternoon in the illusion of its shadow
I will play until the sun sets
The ignorant mind will be greener
The moment of poetry will relax in the leaves of the branches.
The sky calls me with a wink
I will go to it
I will hide my tears in the raft of clouds
I will decorate causal story with rainbow
The river of desire will hang on the stairs of heaven
The stories will be the dawn of poetry.
People call me to make fun of me-
I will not go near them
All the lanterns are in the shell of people
I will not bind dreams in a new net every day
People who eat mind run away
I walk, I sing poetry.
If you call me
I will become you
The ocean will be your saree
The mountain will be your home
The tree will be your time
The sky will be your vacation
You will be the fountain of my poetry
And I wii be a holiday in the lap of poetry.
Mother — The Light of My Life
The most sacred and dearest person in my life is my mother. A mother is kindness, patience, and the symbol of endless love. We meet many people in this world, but it is hard to find someone who loves as selflessly as a mother.
My mother is the one who brought me into this world and held me in her arms for the first time. Even when I understood nothing, she felt every cry of mine and found joy in every smile. She stayed awake at night by my side, and when I was sick, she stroked my head and prayed for me. Only as I grow older do I begin to truly understand the value of all this.
My mother’s hands have become rough from hard work, yet those same hands feel like the softest comfort to me. Even when she is tired, she never shows it. For my happiness, she is ready to sacrifice her own. Sometimes I wonder: why is a mother so kind? Because a mother’s heart lives with her child.
Now I am growing up and taking steps toward my dreams. Maybe one day I will go far away, but my mother’s prayers will always follow me. Because a mother’s prayer is the greatest strength and the strongest protection.
Everything in this world can be replaced, but no one can take a mother’s place. That is why we must cherish, respect, and show love to our mothers while we can—so that one day, unspoken words and undone kindness do not turn into regret.
Mother is the light of my life. As long as she is there, the world is bright. As long as she is there, my heart is full of hope. For me, the greatest happiness is to see my mother smile.
My name is Mubina, and my surname is Botirova. I was born on June 20, 2008. I am from Qiziltepa village, Oltiariq district, Fergana region. I am currently studying at School No. 29.
THE WORLD WE WANT
What is worth watching?
And what is worth recording
History has no ear
Nor eye for good.
An era of happiness
And peace is unhistorical
So are good people
Unfit for a mention
In history books
If you can threaten life
And if you can kill
And make rivers of blood
Flow in the pages of history
You are the greatest character
Worth being recorded
With great reverence
By the way who is the greatest hero
Of history books?
Socrates and Aristotle
And Shakespeare do not possess
The top position which history books
Assign to Alexander, Achelles,
Napoleon and Hitler
And with great reverence
We offer their lives to our kids.
Certainly what type of a world
We want? Is there any doubt?
PEACE AND A PERSON’S ONLINE SAFETY
In a world where many of us use our voices
to share messages of hope, kindness, and peace,
it’s important to remember something just as meaningful:
OUR PERSONAL SAFETY.
Speaking about peace is a beautiful and powerful act.
It connects people across cultures, beliefs, and perspectives.
But no message—no matter how positive—is more important
than the well-being of the person sharing it.
If a situation online begins to feel unsafe,
it is always okay to step back.
Choosing safety is not a failure to stand
for peace—it is a way of protecting yourself.
We can continue to share kindness and understanding
while also setting healthy boundaries.
Both can exist together.
Take care of yourselves and one another—online and offline.
Stephen Miller Dishes the Dirt on the Controversial New Trump Arch
On Friday, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller met with reporters to give the low down on the proposed Donald J. Trump Independence Arch. Comparisons with the world famous Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, have led to designating the new arch as the Arc de Trump.
Miller drew parallels between the French arch and the Trump Monument. To begin with, the Arc de Triomphe was conceived in 1806, after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes.
Trump’s arch will mark a victory as well, said Miller. “It will celebrate The Dear Leader’s victory over the goddamned Democrat Party,” shouted Miller, interviewed at the construction site of the proposed monument, on a Washington roundabout across from the Lincoln Memorial.
Asked if the design had been finalized, Miller grew cagey and said that the “final dimensions could change at any moment.” Although the proposed Arc de Trump, at 250 feet, is almost 90 feet taller than the Arc de Triomphe, Miller called attention to the Gateway Arch, built in the mid-1960s.
Originally known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and erected along the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri, it was built to mark the expedition of Lewis & Clark in 1804.
“The St. Louis Arch,” snarled Miller, grinding his teeth, “is effin’ 630 feet tall and somehow it doesn’t seem right that the president’s arch should be smaller. I mean, who the hell were Lewis & Clark and Thomas Jefferson anyway?”
Miller said he has become quite an expert on arches over the past year that consideration has been given to the project. He explained that the Paris arch is a typical triumphal arch, which is a monumental, free-standing archway. It often spans a road. It’s origins date to ancient Roman architecture.
The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis, Miller explained, is built in the form of a weighted catenary arch. It is the world’s tallest arch, a fact which does not sit well with Miller. Miller has chosen a different template for the Arc de Trump.
“Our arch,” boasted Miller, “will be modeled after the Golden Arches in the McDonald’s restaurant logo. While McDonald’s dropped the physical arches from nearly all of its restaurants many years ago, the Golden Arches have remained in the logo, and as a commonly understood term for the company.”
President Trump has a well known fondness for McDonald’s sandwiches. Miller went into greater detail about the origins of McDonald’s arches. “The McDonald’s logo was established in the 1960s on advice from psychologist Louis Cheskin.
“Cheskin likened the arches to ‘mother McDonald’s breasts,’ invoking Freudian elements for consumers. President Trump is very much into female breasts,” declared Miller proudly.
And whereas the Arc de Triompe is composed of limestone, and the St. Louis Arch is made from stainless steel, here again Trump opts to be different. “The Arc de Trump,” said Miller, “will be made of gold.”
He hastened to add that it would not be gold through and through, but rather, gold-plated. If the final version of the Arc de Trump is in fact equal in size to the Gateway Arch, then it will require some 3,840 pounds of pure gold.
And with gold running to $29,560 per pound, this means that gold-plating the arch will cost $1.13 billion and change. “It will all be paid for by GOP donors,” Miller hastened to add, “so it won’t cost the American citizens a penny.” Miller was asked if possible vandalism of the gold-plated monument was a concern.
“Got it covered,” snapped Miller, pausing to point and laugh at a stray dog that was run over by an ICE vehicle on Memorial Drive. Miller immediately came back to Earth, describing in detail the turrets which will be appended to the arch. “Sharpshooters will take care of any mischief makers,” he said soberly.
As the press event began to wind down, Miller noted that the Arc de Triomphe has a staircase extending to the top of the French monument. “There are 284 steps leading upwards,” said Miller, who went on to say that the Arc de Triomphe would have not stairs, but a golden escalator to the top. “First class all the way,” boasted the Reichsfuhrer, crushing an anthill under his jackboot.
The Woman Shelling Beans
By Yeon Myung-ji
When you peel back a Type-B woman,
beans that sprouted upon dust spring forth.
With every sound of a rolling bean, a corner is carved out.
A corner: a place seen only
when you kneel and bow your head.
A place where tilted heads—
those nearly missed—begin to bud.
Therefore, shell the beans gently,
as if stroking them soft.
Such is the counsel of the corner.
Scattered sincerities
are gathered onto the dining table.
Within the husks, hollowed by heartache,
the rank regrets of things that lunged away
lie in a row, once-sunken pits.
Repeating mistakes cast far off in shallow sleep,
she opens her eyes to the morning sun.
From the woman’s listless calves, now a layer lighter,
baby mice flee in a frantic line.
“Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth”—
a fitting night resides within each bean pod.
Beans, born but a moment ago,
leave their hulls one after another
to simmer intimately, bubble-boil.
Every bean is nurturing
its own grain of a corner.
Profile
Poet Yeon Myeong-ji began her literary career in 2013 with the poetry collection 『Gashibi』, published in the Minerva Poetry Series.
Her published works include the poetry collections 『Sitting Like an Apple』 and 『Where would the House of the Sorry’ be? 』 the e-poetry collection 『Seventeen Marco Polos,』 and the travel essay 『Step by Step, Walking the Camino.』
She has received the Tolstoy Literary Award, the Homi Literary Award, the Cheongsong Gaekju Literary Award, and the Aviation Literary Award. In 2025, she was awarded the Bronze Prize in Poetry at the Literature Asia Awards.
Her poems have been translated and published in local languages in India, Pakistan, Kosovo, Italy, Egypt, the United States, and Belgium,Greece,and Iraq.