THE NAME SILENCE COULD NEVER ERASE

The night stitched sorrow beneath her skin,

while raging storms stirred deep within.

Oceans of tears, deserts of words,

a captive sun, unheard by the world.

“You are fragile!” the world would say,

while she bore mountains day by day.

She was ash and fire,

a teardrop and a hurricane,

a rose in bloom upon the blade of fate.

Oh, woman, how many times did you silence your voice

to spare the peace of those who never heard you?

How many springs did you bury deep within

so that other gardens might bloom?

But listen: even stone can learn to cry aloud,

even darkness bows before the breaking dawn.

You are not the wound the world has left behind,

but the hand that dares to shape your own destiny.

And when history speaks your name,

let it speak with honour, free from judgment and pity;

for no sky is vast enough to hold

a woman who has reclaimed her freedom.

Biography: Menda Vreto is an Albanian writer who lives and creates in Italy. She is the author of several books published in Italian, and her works have been translated into several languages internationally. She regularly collaborates with both online and print magazines, where she publishes literary articles and essays. Her work has received significant recognition. Among her achievements is the Special Jury Award in the literary competition Il Silenzio Uccide (Silence Kills), where her work was featured prominently in the anthology. Her first book also attracted the attention of the prestigious magazine Marie Claire, which featured her extensively, recognizing both her work and her journey as an author. Menda Vreto proudly bears the surname Vreto, a name connected to the distinguished figure of the Albanian National Renaissance, Jani Vreto. She considers this family name a legacy of profound cultural and historical significance.

WITHOUT A MASK

Light upon light,

a play in the forest,

a firework of colors.

Through a dream, image after image,

a procession of unfamiliar faces,

only one figure

flashing through your pupils,

shining in the darkness,

gazing at you in the night

beneath a moonless sky,

never fading, even in sleep.

Holding on to the handrail,

we climb to the heights,

finding ourselves on the stage,

laughing until we cry,

dancing at a masquerade

of emotions laid bare.

In the morning haze,

our lips cracked from endless chatter,

our stomachs full of cocktails

we sipped through straws.

Deep within the core of the spine,

tingles writhe and ripple,

not from fear,

but from happiness.

Author: Katica Protić, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Biography:  Katica Protić is a Croatian poet and prose writer from Dubrovnik. She is a mother of three and a retired former director of a private company. She has been writing poetry and prose since her early youth. Her literary work is deeply rooted in emotion, human experience, love, pain, and the beauty of life. She has published two independent poetry collections, Maybe We Met in Our Dreams and Love, Pain, Sea and Salt. Her poetry has been featured in more than 100 joint anthologies, with her work represented by anywhere from one to thirty poems in individual collections. She has received approximately 40 certificates of appreciation, commendations, diplomas, and awards, including bronze and gold medals. Among her notable achievements are three consecutive first-place awards in literary competitions in Australia. Her poems have been published internationally, reaching readers and literary publications from Australia to India and the United States. Her prose has also received recognition, with awards in Croatia, the United States, and Australia. Through her poetry and prose, Katica Protić continues to share her personal vision of life, love, human resilience, and the world around her, carrying the voice of a woman whose words are shaped by both experience and emotion.

MELANCHOLY

Night falls, and with it

melancholy comes.

Loneliness is killing me.

Images line up,

memories come rushing back

of some beautiful days.

Now, it seems as though everything beautiful

is passing me by,

at an incomprehensible speed.

I walk quickly, moving forward.

I try to catch

some part of that beauty.

But it seems that this is not my destiny!

I am looking for someone

I can lean on.

Already tired, step by step,

I walk through the night.

The moon is my faithful companion.

I feel as though I am in a labyrinth,

turning around in circles.

Melancholy overwhelms me.

I feel like a lost child!

I know this melancholy must pass.

With the morning and the pale dawn,

I await a new, happier day!!!

My name is Vesna Malović Petrović, a poet from Serbia, residing in the town of Veliko Gradište, where I live and create.

I was born on June 4, 1960, in Inđija, Srem, Serbia.

I mainly write love poetry and poems for children. I also enjoy humor, and from time to time I write humorous texts and playful poems.

My poems have been published in numerous international joint poetry anthologies and foreign literary magazines, and have been translated into several foreign languages. I am also the recipient of numerous literary awards and recognitions.

NATURE

I look at the sun,

A fiery soul

Eager to burn

In its own blaze.

Its light:

Soothes darkness

Dazzles adamant Eyes

That dare to look into

Its possessive secrets.

I look at the trees

Giving protective shadows,

Laden with fruits,

Humbled in prostration.

I look at the moon

A proud queen bathing

In her own beauty.

I look at the river

Always in a hurry to flow,

Unstoppable,

Craving to meet the sea.

I look at the clouds

Hanging on my head.

Ready to melt

And shower drops

Of mercy

To quench thirst.

Shah Jehan Begum Ashrafi was born in U.P., India, and grew up in Mauritius. She studied English and French literature at the University of Mauritius. After completing her postgraduate degree in education at the Mauritius Institute of Education, she taught English, French, and literature in various secondary schools. She wrote several plays for the National Drama Festival in Mauritius. Her first published work is a study guide to Arthur Miller’s play ‘All My Sons’. Writing poetry is her passion, and she is also working on a novel and some short stories. She was on the editing panel of Rajeshwari Chauhan’s novel ‘Daniel’s Diary’. Now the author lives in Canada and wishes to take up other jobs and widen her experience and knowledge. Shah Jehan Ashrafi completed her Master’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Montreal.

MOTHERLAND

Like a warm coverlid

the Sky is turning blue over us.

Like a spring wind,

bringing hope and strength,

You call me, Motherland,

and I am always yours:

day, years, Earth.

And You went through everything,

to be into me

inaccessible, proud

and holy.

To raise us and to bring down,

to reveal your face to the world.

Moments

quiet and bright

keep

Your name.

There are difficult

moments.

And in them

Love

saves us

into Your embrace.

And returns us

the

World!

    Dr HC Rozalia Aleksandrova lives in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She was born in the magical Rhodope Mountains, the cradle of Orpheus. Author of 12 poetry books. Editor and compiler of over 40 literary almanacs, collections and anthologies. She is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers. 

Her poems were translated into many languages: Polish, English, Arabic, Spanish, Danish, Korean, Serbian, Italian, Albanian, Persian, French, Chinese, Romanian, Azerbaijani, Greek, Turkish, Bangla, Hebrew, Duch, Bengali, Russian. Her poems have been published in prestigious collections, almanacs, literary magazines and websites in Bulgaria, Europe and world. In March 2006 she created a poetic-intellectual association “Quantum and Friends” for the promotion of quantum poetry in civil society, Plovdiv and Bulgarian phenomenon. Initiator and chief organizer of the International Festival of Poetry SPIRITUALITY WITHOUT BORDERS from 2015. Every year she publishes one almanac for a Festival.

She is Doctor Honoris Causa of University UNQE – Mexico and member of the Federation of World Leadership and Hi Intelligense, representing Bulgaria. She is in Director`s board of Belgium literary site Atunis Poetry. She is ambassador for East Europe of Prodigy magazine, USA. She is honorary member of WFAI.  She is a winner of the prestigious CESAR VALLEJO Prize for Literature – 2022, 2023 and prize of UHE – Golden Eagle – for Poetry and Peace 2023, 2025. Winner of the Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Award 2022 and others. She was literary advisor in Central Chinese TV from 2023. She is literary consultant of IAETDAA – 2025, USA. She is literary advisor for Bulgaria of PLWV. She was awarded as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2025 by the Egyptian magazine Al-Rowad.

Apart from being a poetesse, she is also a scientist. She deals with the study and reflections of quantum and torsion physics in the field of language, poetry, culture, medicine, philosophy and methodology of science. She has published a book with popular science essays “Let’s open the door to the meaning or reflections of information science“, Plovdiv 2015 and new book “The Wonders of the Poetry”, Plovdiv 2025. 

Watercolor Painting

You are painting and you have already

washed everything

with water so that the colors are in such layers

and you are careful with the shades.

It’s all in the shades, you say.

That’s how you are in life,

you don’t express yourself

quickly about something

and you use all kinds of excuses to avoid

or kept your opinion silent.

It’s all in the shades.

When, very rarely, you have a guiding thought

a certain musical theme

is heard throughout the world

which aims to characterize you,

as a person or an event related to you,

which is always repeated when appearing on

stage you as a hero and in memory

of that particular event.

It is so important to tell the world what you think,

without hesitation.

You are not a man inexperienced

in the art or your art of silence

you are not a layman, you know a lot.

You recognize the shades of life in the world.

You sometimes feel like

a man running with a burning torch

and you think everyone sees it like

at the opening of the Olympic Games.

And only you see the hot and liquid mass

that volcanoes throw out

which flows from them and which,

when cooled, hardens like stone

painting his washed-out pictures in shades.

And you won’t even admit to yourself

that you felt the eruption of the world

still silent.

In its shades…

Yes, you felt the avalanche

powerful mass, as a contrast,

that destroys everything in front of it.

That you felt both hot and cold.

Tanja Ajtic was born in Belgrade, Serbia. She lived and studied in Serbia. She is a poet and writer but she is also an artist. She also deals with fine graphics. Since 2002, she lives and creates in Canada. Moved to Belgrade, Serbia 2023. Tanja Ajtic is a member of many groups and associations. In Serbia, she is a member of the prestigious Society of Writers of Belgrade. Her poems and stories have been published two hundred collections (books), anthologies and electronic books. Her poems have been published in twelve languages. She published her book Outlines of Love. She participated with books and anthologies at many fairs in the world with other authors. In 2024 and 2025, Ajtic collaborated with Indian poet Sourav Sarkar on two joint poetry collections that present two works by the poet in one book. – She won second prize in Great Britain from the Serbian Library in London (2019). – She won III World Prize for Excellence; Cesar Vallejo; 2021 in the category of artistic excellence Lima, Peru, by the World Spanish Union of Writers and International Award of Excellence; from the World Spanish Union of Writers, UHE Mexico. –

She won the I International Award of Excellence "Cita Del Glateo" Antonio De Ferrariis, IX edition 2022 – Rome, Italy, a prestigious award in the group of poets for the English language (IX edition of the award for foreign poetry in English) in 2022, Rome, Italy. – Winners of Foundation Naji Naaman literary prize iz 2023; (21 st Edition), from the Republic of Lebanon, Honor Prize (for complete work) for Literary prizes 2023. Poetry for the competition was submitted in three languages: English, French and Arabic. – Winning the 2023 “Zheng Nian Cup” Literary Award – Third Prize by the Beijing Mindfulness Literature Museum, China. – Winning Third Prize, Friedrich Schiller Interantional Literary Competition (2025). She is the winner of many awards, diplomas and certificate. She is currently writing poetry, short stories, haiku, Gogyoshi poetry as well as graphics artist as a freelance artist.

Farewell Autumn

Come and hold my hands on a drizzly day,

Take me through this autumn.

Take me to the wedding of love,

Pass over the autumn haze.

Let the wind wander, let the rain fall,

Let the drops dance, let the earth feel the breeze,

Without our spring life, Khazan,

Take me through a chapter of your novel YOU.

Let’s erase the sadness and grief from our hearts,

Let’s choose the fate we have,

Let’s join the crane train and go,

Pass through the ranks of distant travelers.

13.10.2026.

Elmaya Jabbarova – was born in Azerbaijan. She is poet, writer, translator. Her poems from 2019 to date were published in the regional and foreign newspapers, magazines, books, Web. pages, Anthologies. She has been awarded many certificates diplomas, medals. She is the Department manager of the Hekari newspaper of Azerbaijan. She is a honorary member of the Writers of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. World Association of People’s Creators, Honorary member of the International Academy of Literature, Art, Culture and Social Sciences of Uzbekistan. She is an Academic. Appointed Koordinator, Secretary General of Azerbaijan, Argentina. She is presented in the book Famous Personalities MultiArt – 5, Argentina. She was a member World Poetic Fraternity. Shewas awarded the title of Global Poet of 2023; 2024. She was awarded the title of World Poet Laureate from Azerbaijan as one of 55 poets selected by Pentasi B Friendship Poetry for 2025.