Lost “again” in translation. I am adrift again. In this country The lilting accent of a brook wrapped around my mahogany skin. My idioms tumble down like unruly roots. Dormant in the taciturn stillness of phantom dreams. A meditation upon love People walk through a haboob to get past it. “Humongous”, my child’s sibilant whisper hangs in the air for someone to retrieve it and carry in their pocket. The hawkers screech like birds trapped in walls. I put my fingers in my dead ears. Once I had dipped my feet in gelid marble, my blush filled the sky with tones of lilac. The sealed silence of the tomb had echoed so loud. Mouth Agape, knees trembling, I listened. I share a birthday with an empress. I had walked the gardens, blue Polyester sticking to me like a second skin, henna marking me till my elbows. Demure bride. Now vultures circle over my head in anticipation of carrion. There are red letter boxes outside disrupting the pristine alabaster. It is a post office, they say. I look away, I was never here. One by one, the sepia toned photographs disappear from the family album with a broken spine. A woman with a beehive on her head, saree draped artlessly over a sleeveless blouse. A young man pretending to touch the spire, an optical illusion. Father caught in an awkward moment with a Yashica camera. This is no longer a story about love at first sight. A forlorn princess did not sit on a bench here in 1992.Poets never rhapsodized about its grandeur. We don’t know how it came into being. The sun is in arrant mode; it burns holes in my heart. Tomorrow, I’ll return and post a letter. Seeking solace in subterfuge for what never was. Glossary Haboob: A wind that brings sand from the desert native to Sudan. You will disappear… You will lose a lover and disappear off the face of the earth, you will squirm in the therapist’s chair and not tell her where you were. It has been eight sessions and two hundred dollars for an hour the seat is still warm from the person before you. An imprint left on the beige upholstery is oddly comforting. We are all drowning and the thought makes you feel not so alone. You have not cried once. For a whole week after his passing, you told Seema about the folded shirt and black trousers, he left them on the bed. He did not want to die, he had just slipped out into the night for a breath of fresh air, perhaps he needed to clear his head. You read books on reincarnation, about the afterlife, you meditate your hair grows white, you wake up screaming even with the night light on but you don’t shed tears. Ordinary days can kill you, you have learned luminous, filled with the chirping of birds, the chittering of crickets. You will carry your anguish into your New York apartment in lieu of luggage, there are no elevators, the man beneath is a doctor who sleeps during the day. You hate him because doctors could not save your love, yet you don’t entertain friends with kids anymore. Children are loud and you are fragile like a handheld grenade. You become a plant mother instead, you never weep, you pamper your pots with filtered water. And one day there is an Orange in a pot by the sill, a tree you had bought on a whim at the grocery store. You marvel at how perfectly spherical it is, how orange how it grew out of bereavement, you eat it peel and all. It is sweet and tart and bitter; it bursts and melts on your tongue and the salt finally pours from your eyes, it trickles past your lips. A familiar gnawing to devour everything fills your being as you sob. Your tears drown the whole building, then Manhattan, all of it but you swim ashore in your aliveness. Jahnavi Gogoi is a poet who grew up amidst insurgency in Assam, India and lived to tell the tale. She is a writer of children’s fiction and a mother to an assertive seven-year-old daughter. Her debut book of poetry ‘Things I told myself’ can be found on Amazon. Jahnavi now resides in Canada with her family in the picturesque town of Ajax. Her poetry has been published in Inssaei International journal, Academy of the Heart And Mind, Spillwords, Soul Connection by Guwahati Grand Poetry Festival, Mystic Aura magazine, Indian Periodical. She also has words in G plus, The Beacon webzine and others.
Poetry from Sarah Daly
Parfum Warm, soothing, like baby powder, or irises that float on delicate winds, recall her bronzed hands, kohl-lined eyes, flushed lips in embrace, and how, encumbered with tears, both stood on the curb, with his van filled, trapped in that final goodbye. Verse For Those Who Scale Waterfalls Ice’s rage reverberates through the centuries; it echoes from every carved beach and cliff. There is a town which worships this ice, which attempts to conquer this ice. There is a man who coaxes this ice with axe and rope, ascending its rigid grooves, knifing towards its summit. And of this ice, he demands submission, demands compliance, demands shelter, only yielding in its remission. But even he wanders away, chastened to the bone; so one generation weakens, while the ice grows. And the years go on, and the little town ponders, while threading needles and baiting hooks. Waiting For they hardly have the means to placate such rage. Furthest From My Dreams The bathroom mirror is slick with steam; the cold glass obscures my face. I slip into the bathtub and imagine coffee on ice, fire on snow, lava on glaciers. I prop my feet against the faucet as the water slowly cools, and the minutes pass. I return, relishing the darkness of winter’s end. The Fog When I dream of him, though he does not dream of me, the grogginess but barely lifts, from this land of somnolence. The likelihood of grief, stalks these waking hours, stealing, bit by bit, my calm competency. Boolean Logic Say “get” not “equals” is the first thing they tell us— you need two equal signs for that. An exclamation point is not an exclamation point but an appendage for denouncing equality. “No” does not mean “not” but a tilde (never call it a “squiggly line”) does. And who knew that a pointy hat could be so exclusive? “Or” is some sort of pole we need to vault over— (two “ors” look like the jail that we are in). If we put two ampersands together, will their chubby bottoms let us pass through? A comma or semicolon can be treacherous; they are rocks that snare our code as it tries to sail away. And the fatal opening of a parenthesis will sink the ship.
Essay from Bakhora Baxtiyorova
TODAY AND TOMORROW
Do you struggle to get up in the morning?
Remember when you had an important job and overslept on the day of your exam?
No, because you know why you need to wake up.
When you wake up in the morning, look out the window,
spring is around, if you look around when it’s late after spending the day, autumn has come
This morning, another door of opportunities was opened for us to change our lives. A new day was given. Draw a conclusion from your mistakes, don’t repeat those mistakes this morning!!!
Our first task in this life is to make ourselves happy. To be able to set goals for our own life, to live by ourselves. To think about our future at least a little, to think about who we are now. and we have to start by realizing who we will be in the future!!! First of all, the first principle of human life begins with self-acceptance. Accept yourself. The people around you are like a mirror to you. Be able to see your mistakes and shortcomings. Keep negative people away from you.
Don’t pay attention to the people who laugh at you saying “You can’t do it” and keep silent! Be committed to your goals. Don’t give up on trivial excuses and don’t be weak! The world is not all rainbows and shining sun. The world is very cruel and only the strong can endure. You and I or no one can hit as hard as life hits. It’s not about how much life can or can’t hit you. No matter how hard it hits you. It’s not about how many hits you can take.
Don’t point the finger at others saying that it happened because of him when you’ve taken the blows. This is an act of absolute cowards, and you should separate yourself from them.
For people in this life, it doesn’t matter how much you are struggling and you are giving all your strength to it. What is important for people is the RESULT you have achieved. ‘changing result. If you say that one day you will not be a slave to people who have a purpose, act today. It’s okay if you have fallen a thousand times, don’t stop! Get up, it might be the same this time. Search, develop, grow, work more on yourself! Don’t give up hope every day you are given an opportunity. Don’t look for excuses…. Never… don’t look for excuses..
Are you not getting enough sleep at night? Are you out of strength?…If you work harder than today, someday people will work for you.
Stay away from people who have a bad opinion about you. Be purposeful with a plan! Link your life to goals. Try to find your own solution to the problems that arise. If you don’t fight to find the solution to those problems, it will never end..Make time count…Every minute..Every hour seconds.Those SECONDS can bring success to your ascension. You may have made mistakes in the past. Don’t dwell on those mistakes for too long. Draw conclusions from them! Draw conclusions from what those mistakes gave you and what they took away from you. Make a new decision! Make a plan for your life. If you dwell on the past for too long, you may miss the opportunities that have been given to you in your present life. Don’t torture yourself with the past. Live only with the future. Be able to see your achievements in it. Action! Action and only Action! .,WITHOUT ACTION. nothing can be achieved. Believe in your own strength and knowledge. Everything in this life will end. However, knowledge is an exception. No matter how much it is spent, it will not end. And its zakat is to give to others. If you say that you can act, hundreds of thousands of dying cells in your brain will be activated. You only and just believe in yourself. Put the “I must do it” thing in front. Test yourself every minute and second!
Bakhora Bakhtiyorova.
Poetry from Kendall Snipper
On Decay Someday, the earth shall sink our bodies into her somber soil. Our expressions will still, slip and melt, iris eternally slept to the sounds above. Marigolds and mignonette will mingle in our eyesockets as their stems and seed speckle the surface. As the bubbles in our blood break, the lingering love will liquefy into the expanse of the lusting, fertile terrain. The cloth coating our flecked figures slowly frays and fragments, formerly protecting; Now naked and pure for the glossy mahogany and roses ringing our forms. The mauves, azures, and sepias will frolic from our fingertips into into the firmament. Bleeding and blooming at the break of dawn. Time tips and the trapping of our entombment softens and starts to rot, returning to the tranquil trance of the planet as a sparkling spring star.
Poetry from Pat Doyne
STAND YOUR GROUND When everyone is armed, we will be safe. No crime. No problems. That’s the Promised Land. So now we’re armed and strong on “self defense.” We stockpile pistols, shotguns, rifles, air guns, submachine guns, even AR-15s. From coast to coast, we watch the bullets fly. North Carolina—here’s a six-year-old playing basketball. It bounces wide, and into someone’s yard. Guy charges out-- he shoots her, and her frantic mom and dad. “I told you kids stay off my frickin’ lawn!” When everyone is armed, we will be safe. Missouri, now, a teen-aged honor student, comes to get his twin. He rings the doorbell. Wrong door opens. Fearful man inside shoots him in the face. No questions asked. When everyone is armed, we will be safe— unless you’re black, and knock on the wrong door. Upstate New York has mazes of back roads. A young girl, 20, looking for a house, pulls into a likely driveway, hopes it’s right. The homeowner’s irate. He shoots her dead. When everyone is armed, we will be safe— unless you’re searching for an obscure address. New Mexico cops. Domestic violence call. Police respond. Wrong house, Knock on the door. Owner opens, handgun for support. The lawmen open fire, and shoot him dead. When everyone is armed, we will be safe— unless some nervous cops come to your door. Two Texas cheerleaders scanned the parking lot, thought they found their car. Opened the door. Wrong car. Apologized. The man inside pulled out a gun, took aim, and shot them both. When everyone is armed, we will be safe— unless your car’s a common make and hue. Angry people hole up in a fortress. Frightened people think a gun gives clout. Shoot first, question later; stand your ground! Look what really happens at the door when everyone is armed—blood, pain, and death. When everyone is armed, no one is safe. Copyright 4/2023 Patricia Doyne
Essay from Feruz Sheraliyeva
Corruption is the evil of development
There are various types of corruption in the world. Thousands of studies have been conducted by scientists, various institutions and international organizations to reveal the reasons for its origin, to find effective ways to combat it. The work and researches in this regard are continuing consistently. What is corruption itself? Who will carry it out? How does corruption arise? Problematic questions, which were mentioned above, encountered in our society. So what is corruption itself? Who are its true essence and the forces that drive it?
The term corruption is commonly used to refer to the political apparatus. Buying officials, their sale of bribes are also called corruption. The most common types of corruption include bribery, fraud, extortion and nepotism. The word “corruption” in Latin means violation and nausea.
After the independence of our country was announced, a number of normative legal acts were adopted aimed at preventing crime. Although the state agencies which fight against corruption were established, they are not working hard enough to solve the problem. Literally, the amount of corruption is increasing day by day. And the worst side is that people are indifferent to such a state, treat it as a normal condition.
If we take a deeper look at corruption and the associated economic crime in today’s economic and political situation of states, it is considered to be the main source of danger that hinders progress and one of the main threats to security. The scale of damage that were taken as a consequence of corruption is endless.
Every citizen who aims to have stable conditions for honest work, spending knowledge, energy, creative abilities, and who wants his or her children and loved ones to enjoy the results of civilized market relations in democratic and civil society in the future, should put a necessary barrier on the path of corruption in time. I reckon that majority of individuals have well understood what sad consequences these vices may have.
We need to fight against the scourge of corruption together, with tact and bold steps. Each law is adopted with a noble purpose, seeking positive outcomes. A closer acquaintance with the law, an attempt to apply it to our life, understanding of how terrible the scourge of corruption is, an independent perception, and most importantly, the fight against it is the civic duty of each of person.
Sheraliyeva Feruza was born in 2005 in Muzrabot District of Alpomish neighborhood of Surkhandarya region. Currently, she is a tenth grade student at 55th school in this area. She is participating in the essay competition “Constitution is the foundation of our happiness”, for the contest “Young reader”, “The best reader” and in the contest of pictures “Enlightenment against ignorance”.
Essay from Olya Atajanova
The role of Girls in Uzbekistan
Today, in order to develop the social importance of women in all fields of science and culture, a number of activities are being carried out.
In particular, several funds are being established to support women and girls.
An open election for the coordination of “Girls’ Voice” has been announced in all regions of the republic, and thus the problems and suggestions of regional girls are being studied.
In addition, the number of girls entering higher education institutions is increasing.
A number of opportunities are being created for girls who suffer from social conditions, are married and have children.
In particular, if a certain amount of their contract money is needed, all the amount is covered by the state.
Earlier, our wives and daughters studied only in pedagogy and medicine, but today they work in sports, construction, law, industry, department and even Ministerial positions.
If we look at world statistics, the social role of women and girls is active in developed countries, and on the contrary, the social role of women and girls is low in underdeveloped countries.
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, the establishment of the Zulfiya state award indicates how much attention is paid to our women and girls.
For example: Tanzilla Narbayeva is the chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, the president of the Cycling Federation of Uzbekistan, Sahkhnaza Joldasova is the chairman of the Youth Parliament under the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, Marjana Jorakulova is the chairman of the Republican “Council of Young Professionals”.
Loans and subsidies in the amount of two trillion soums were allocated to more than 200 thousand projects and employment of more than 320 thousand women and girls was provided.
2,000 girls were admitted to higher education on the basis of a grant, and 190,000 women were trained in professions.
The “Business Women” program for 2022-2024 was adopted.
In particular, a project to support the education of women and girls will be developed for 2022-2026.
These indicators alone show how important our women and girls are in Uzbekistan.
Article is by Karakalpak State University named after Berdak, Faculty of Biology, 1st year student Atajanova Ogultuvak Magsat kizi.