PUMPING GAS

All Rick has to do to keep his job
is pump…and keep pumping.
Fear of life without a paycheck
turns to praise in his boss’s eyes.

It’s work that’s all brawn, no brain,
except for the torture of making the correct change
and it comes with a fancy uniform,
and a hat that he’s too embarrassed to wear.

In other states, drivers do this for themselves.
But not here. Not in Jersey. 
He can’t imagine himself living in Massachusetts.
He would fade away. He would die.

He even does more than is called for,
rubs a wet cloth across the windshield
like he once saw in a black and white movie.
Occasionally, someone’s generous with a tip.

He realizes there’s no future in what he’s doing.
The boss isn’t going to die and leave the place to him.
There’s only the present and, though it moves him forward,
it never gets ahead of itself.

But someone has to do what he does.
And he’s stuck inside the one that’s doing it.
“Fill ‘er up,” says the guy who just pulled into pump A.
Rick is the guy within hearing range.




THINGS TO DO IN PROVIDENCE

Marvel at your transformation
when you haven’t really changed.

Grow weary of the same routine
and then stick to it.

Ignore the jackhammering in your skull.
It’s permanent.

Play chess in the park while your worst enemy 
is getting laid off at a costume jewelry factory.

Dress differently 
so people will mistake you for a college student.

When you have a hell of a lot of explaining to do,
say nothing.

Take aim at all your preconceived ideas.
With a bow if possible. Make the arrow  stick.

Forget that search for happiness.
Hype up sadness instead.

Join in conversations.
Even when you’re alone.

Stand by your beliefs. Then move slowly, quietly, 
away so those beliefs don’t notice you’re gone.




THE FACE AS IT PRESENTS ITSELF

It’s an odd face.
Some people like it.
In one or two, 
it invokes pity.

It’s drawn to a mirror.
Which are the standout features?
What is in decline?

Old around the mouth
yet the eyes are young.
Cheeks unblemished
but one earlobe bears a scar.

What does it say 
about the mind and heart?
That’s where the trick comes in.
It can pose open-minded and wide-hearted.
Or it can slump into the opposite of these.

It retreats from the mirror 
and rejoins society.
Most smile because 
it’s back among them.
It turns from the ones
who shake their heads.




ON THE DAY HIS MOTHER DIED HER HAIR PURPLE

He left the house thinking,
“This time I’m leaving for good.”

He had no belongings with him.
He was just headed for the store.

But, to him, she looked ridiculous.
He could no longer invite friends back to the house.

No way would he be seen with her in public.
“Free at last!” he screamed in his head.

It was a warm clear day 
and the entire world was open to him.

On his walk, he saw other mothers.
Their hairstyles were age-appropriate.

None of them were an embarrassment to their children.
Some may have even had husbands.

At least, they looked as if they did have one
then they could keep him.

He returned home with the few items 
he picked up for her at the store.

He tried not to look at her when he handed them over.
But his eyes could not avoid her hair.

It looked like a serving of grape cotton candy.
He kept the change. It was his price for staying.




IN WAR AND PEACE

Soutine perished on the run
from the Nazis,
Freundlich died in the camp,
imagine being...
no I can't even imagine it.

I cuss the weather
when it's too hot to write poetry.
But trying to create something
in the middle of crazy, outrageous, bloody war?
I'd be in a foxhole
tapping out my next breath.

For every tortured surrealist
or Dadaist in a charnel house,
there’s me:

the same old crippled relationships,
damnable family life.

There are no guerrillas in the trees
outside my window.
No bombs drop on my rooftop.

I am safe from the enemy.
I’m most as risk
from the people I know. 


John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and  “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in California Quarterly, Birmingham Arts Journal, La Presa and Shot Glass Journal.

AT WAR WITH WEATHER

The seed went into the ground all right
Or so he claimed when it was sown
But then he turned his eyes to the skies
And darkly frowned a wrinkled frown
From his whiskered neck
To his tan-lined crown

Thunder rumbled – Rain, he grumbled
But the sky had nothing in it
The bastard won’t rain a drop
He rasped as if he himself was dry
He spied the clouds with squinted eyes
Dark slits of steel-grey flint

After a week he gave up hope
He mumbled profane sentiments
He shook his fist at the barren clouds
And called on God to damn them
To Hell where he said we’d all go
If it didn’t rain soon

I didn’t see him for a while
Another week slipped by dry
When he reappeared one day
He looked a lesser man
He slouched and cursed and spat
But stopped and sat to chat

He said the end was nearly here
His crop was all but buggered
His shoulders slumped and a tiny tear
Rolled down his grizzled cheek
He said that he was finished
And seemed a man diminished

Then a wind got up and clouds blew in
We could smell it in the air
There you are I said and heartily
Slapped a hand on his back
I thought that he would smile at that
But he only winced and said
If the sonofabitch only knows when to quit


Gregg Norman lives and writes in a lakeside cottage in Manitoba, Canada. He reads poetry every day to retain his frail grip on sanity.
His work has been accepted by numerous poetry journals and literary magazines, including Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Dark Winter Literary Magazine, Borderless Journal, Synchronized Chaos, Book of Matches Literary Journal, Medusa’s Kitchen, Horror Sleaze Trash, Impspired Literary Magazine , The Littoral Magazine, MasticadoresUSA, The Piker Press, Academy of the Heart and Mind, Raconteur Magazine, and Suburban Witchcraft Magazine.

Warm bread

 Once upon a time, there was a woman named Nora. He had 2 children, one of them was Anwar and the other was Sanobar. The respect of the son and daughter for their mother was boundless. 

     One day Aunt Nora fell ill. The son was the breadwinner of the family. The daughter looked after her mother all day and sewed a dress. His mother wanted to eat something, but he could not describe what it was. One day distant relatives came to see him. He brought hot bread along with hot soup. Aunt Nora seemed to feel a surge of power as soon as the visitor entered the door. Then he found out that there was hot bread in the knot brought by the guest. He ate a piece of bread and his mood rose. He took care of the guest himself and even recovered. 

    The next day, in the evening, he was sitting at the table with his children. Then his son said to him:
 - Mother asked how you got better by eating plain warm bread. And Aunt Nora:

 - My son has a long history of this. I was young. One day my heel ran away. Even then something was eating me, but I never knew what it was. In those days, finding flour was a problem. But my father found flour for me and told my mother to bake bread for me. My mother wrapped hot bread for me. It was when you tried to eat the bread. It was not like other breads at all. I found out the reason later. He could taste the love of my parents. I scolded them in such a way that they were surprised. Since then I have not been sick at all. This happened again. Hot bread could fix me in this too. So, my parents knew about my illness. Therefore, God himself sent me our relative. 

You see, my children, there is so much wisdom in simple warm bread - he said and hugged his children. 
    Her children listened to their mother's story. They also look at their mother:

 "You know, mother, when we are sick, we can eat your hot bread and get well," they made her mother happy even more. Since then, Aunt Nora has never been sick.

 Dear reader, through this fairy tale, I explained to you the power of the simple bread baked by your mother. So never waste bread. After all, children in some countries are forced to live for a simple bread. Draw conclusions for yourself in the fairy tale!

Murodova Muslima Kadyrovna was born on June 29, 2010 in Jondar district of Bukhara region. Currently, she is a 7th grade student of school No. 30 in this district. Her first poem was published in 2024 under the name "Come beautiful spring". Winner of many achievements, she won the 2nd place at the festival held in the district. She won the 1st place in the district stage and the 2nd place in the regional stage of the "Bakhtim Shul: Zulfiyasiman Uzbek" contest. Her first anthology was published by the UK publisher Justfiction Edition.

THE VOYAGE OF IGNORAMITY AND THE CELESTIAL CONSPIRACY 

					Dr. Jernail S. Anand


“Man is on his Voyage of Ignoramity. Knowledge has failed to light his way to eternal happiness. Worldly wisdom writes the ethics of human folly. Man, in spite of his grand opening, ends up as an epic failure, in the absence of para-existential knowledge which is denied to him as a part of some celestial conspiracy.”. – Dr. Anand




Man is an ignoramus. And as times pass, the stock of his ignorance is getting multiplied. It is a strange paradox. The higher we move on the ladder of knowledge, the lower descends the  quotient of human awakening. If you blind-fold a man, and then, let him around, this is our situation in spite of the fact that we are having eyes, and a keen vision. We can look into the skies, and discover new planets. But, there is something so dense, so cloudy, yet so close to us, into which no human eye can pierce. It is man’s destiny. 

WORLD-WISE

With our wisdom, we try to make the best of our lives. And there are millions across the globe who follow a nearly uniform pattern.  We get education, and then, try to get some good job. We go for a suitable marriage, and both the husband and wife start earning. Then there are kids, who are growing up, and studying in the best schools. We are enjoying wealth that we have accumulated by our smart wisdom. Parents used to go to shrines and we are continuing with that tradition. We observe festivals, and holy days. And are happy too. What is amiss?

WHAT IS AMISS?

When I asked him what you are giving back to society, pat came the reply, ‘I organize ‘bhandaras’[food to religious gatherings]. I have opened an NGO, to help destitute children.’ He makes me speechless. He is a successful man. He has no idea that gods think otherwise. If he faces problems, they are god given, he is sure. And if he is successful, it is because of his own smartness. He remains happy in his all-pervading ignorance. 


THE VOYAGE OF IGNORAMITY

While moving through this ‘voyage of ignoramity,’ he is  quite   unaware that he has cultivated a lot of pride. ‘I’ do this. I ‘did’ this. Was this ‘I’ really doing things? The material happiness that came his way, was it all his doing? How much intelligence that he commanded was put into use when he got the wife he got? And, was his wisdom used in any way, when his wife conceived? The greatest issue before him is: Can he do what he wants to do?  Even if there is none to check him, still there are certain invisible checks which stop him from doing his will. Further on, if he succeeded in doing his will, the results are not necessarily according to his wishes. They defy logic.  Even things which seem within his reach, suddenly slip out and start challenging him. He marries the best girl around, with hundred percent certainty and calculations, yet, from where the fretting and frowning came in? He may be eating very sensibly, still he develops severe ailments. What are the things that finally affect a man and his actions, and therefore, his destiny?

A PARA-EXISTENTIAL QUESTION

The first important thing to understand is that the world in which we are born, is a system already in operation. It did not come into existence on the day we were born. This system was responsible to make the cosmic provisions for sustaining life. Man was never asked his willingness to enter this system. Secondly,  He was not asked where he will be born, and to whom. Can anyone choose his parents? Or can parents choose their offspring? These are para-existential questions whose answers cannot be supplied even by the science. Astrology can approximate the facts, but science is absolutely helpless to tell, what type of a child a man is going to give birth to. Science cannot predict the graph of a man’s life, nor the ups and downs he might face. All these things are possible in astrology, which means all that we get, or all that we do, or all that we cannot do, is under the influence of stars. In other words, it is predestined. History is already written. We are not to write it, but only to discover it. 

THE BIG-BROTHER SYNDROME: ARE WE BEING WATCHED?

Are we being watched by gods? Some friends from the world of atheism might stop reading further. I have a strong feeling that we are very keenly watched and granted boons or inflicted curses and punishments by gods, who are sitting on a dedicated TV screen, as we sit before the TV watching the up and down of share market. Each moment, not only our actions, but even our thoughts are adding up, and the balance sheet is reflected every second, as if it is a digital system.  But some issues still fox human wisdom. How come we do something with best of intentions. Still, things fall apart. Who writes the script which we have to act out?  

ATHEIST FRIENDS, NO USE READING FURTHER

We want a hundred things in our prayers, only a few are granted, decision for all others is reserved by gods. Let us think why a certain prayer was granted, and why others were not granted? If we can decipher the anatomy of our wishes, we will realize that only those things that are helpful to us, are granted, and those prayers in which we demand things which might harm us, are denied. And this operation is carried out silently. 

Now, who decided what should be granted and what not? God is a kind father, and he ensures the good of his children, like you or me. We cannot let any harm come to our kids. But still, harm comes to them. In the same way, gods too are helpless. Some foul things might happen to their sons and daughters, because they are existentially necessitated. When you overdo something, some punishment is needed, after which, you can feel exonerated and equalized. In the same way, those who tell lies and get their work done by hook or crook, do not go scot free. Gods don’t let anyone escape the punishment he deserves for his acts of omission and commission. The only difference between human justice and ‘la justice divine’ is that in the court of god, no one is subjected to a punishment which he does not deserve. 

We are being watched. And whatever we do, or even think, we are free at it, but everything is recorded and placed before the gods who arbitarize* over our joys and sorrows. Human courts can be bribed or they may fail to deliver justice, but la court divine is fail-proof. But, it also underlines the fact that we have very limited freedom. We possess the freedom how to arrange the things that have been made available to us. At the most, if we love truth, we can create beauty with our actions and thoughts. Only these actions of ours are liberating. Human destiny is man’s creation, and if he wants to change it, he can change it, provided he acts with caution, and brings grace and maturity to the conduct of his life. No hope if we choose to live with our mighty ignoramity which can be a celestial conspiracy too.   [copyright with the author].

[*arbitarize: verb like arbitrate, not to be found in the dictionary]




Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, President of the International Academy of Ethics, is author of 161 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, philosophy and spirituality. He was awarded Charter of Morava, the great Award by Serbian Writers Association, Belgrade and his name was engraved on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. The Academy of Arts and philosophical Sciences of Bari  [Italy] honoured him with the award of an Honourable Academic.  Recently, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy [Honoris Causa] by the University of Engg and Management, Jaipur. Recently, he organized an International Conference on Contemporary Ethics at Chandigarh. His most phenomenal book is Lustus: The Prince of Darkness [first epic of the Mahkaal Trilogy]. [Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com Mobile: 919876652401[Whatsapp]

Link Bibliography:
https://atunispoetry.com/2023/12/08/indian-author-dr-jernail-s-anand-honoured-at-the-60th-belgrade-international-meeting-of-writers/

Save nature!   

As much as the universe is bright, 
Our heart will be bright.  
If our house and street are clean, 
Our hearts will also be clean.  
We humans leave garbage, 
We damage the whole world, 
Without planting trees and flowers, 
We cut down without cruelty...

 "No, no..." 
This is not a cruel world, 
These are cruel people... 

Everyone needs love, 
Nature and flowers, 
To grow and live  
Let's protect it for our children, 
Let's protect it for our future, 
Let's protect the green nature...

2


Peace is needed!

Oh my friends in the world,
Give me your hand.
I am against knocking today
Give peace to my dear path.
We are united on the good path,
May peace be in our hearts,
This is our clear sky.

May peace shine forever,
We need love We need happiness
The only feeling of friendship for us.

Oh my friends from afar,
It is the dream of the universe to share goodness.
The anger of the earth will burst on the bad day,
The one who suffers, is swallowed by the earth.
If you love the earth, it will live.

If it gets angry, it will sleep in the dark.
We need peace, we need goodness.
Let us rest peacefully at night,
Poets of the world we meet today,
Let us sing a song of goodness.
We need peace
We need happiness!

Heart flowers

  The more beautiful the world is,
  The heart will be so flowery.
  In the soil where the flowers grow,
  Love always expresses.

  Love is the decoration of the heart,
  Love is the decoration of the world,
  Nature takes away color,
  The flowers are beautiful from the light.

  When love disappears from the heart,
  It looks like a drought...
  Hearts without love are like
  To a world mired in poverty.

  Love makes flowers grow,
  Fill the heart with happiness,
  The smell of childhood remains,
  There will be rejuvenation in the world.


WIO Global Women Award Academy ®️
In view of social media survey and the expert panel recommendations, The Governing Body of Warsi International Organization & WIO Global Women’s Award Academy do hereby confer this WIO GLOBAL WOMEN AWARD 2023 to Ms. Munavvar Boltayeva, Renowned Youth Activist, Educationist, Influencer, Human Rights Activist and Arts & Cultural Promoter of Uzbekistan
Award Title: Global Iconic Women, Uzbekistan 🇺🇿  

Add Subtract


Nothing is ever subtracted

Since the world we know is complete

What’s taken away 

   is added somewhere else

Its quirky cluster of molecules 

   shaken and re-assembled

   into dog hair and mushrooms

   or fact and flatulence

So let your subtraction embrace addition

And enjoy the guises hung 

   In the deep closets of reality.