Columbidae Equation

That pigeon is

lovely so it must

be a dove.

The dove who poops

on our porch

is a pigeon.

Ergo,

there is no such thing

as dove shit.

Shining Soul

There you are shining at the end of a tunnel.

Bright is your soul .

Happiness is in you.

May 19, 2008

Remember

Remember you told me you’d love me forever.

Remember how we met?

Remember Irish music brought us together.

Remember the laughter.

Remembering our love for each other.

Remember the sadness when life brought us despair.

Remember Remember

With my memories..

Where Is the Sunshine

It’s grey outside, snow blackened from the earth

Where Oh! Where is the sunshine?

Waves come and go over and over.

I listen to the waves and dream of sunshine 

May 19, 2008

Soulmate 

You are my soulmate.

Half is you, the other half is me. 

Death came to my other half.,

.

May 11, 2008

Peace

I like the colour of the nature

Is pink and green and blue

I like the dreams that comes to my sleep

Smiles at children’s faces

I like the creativity that brings me so much hapinnes

Poems and stories travel like birds

Feel like a child

Feel free

I like the colours of the rainbow

I like the rain

I like the sea

This is the.  peace for me

People from so many different countries

That became my brother and sister…

………

A book

A book open his pages

A boy start to read

And heroes come out of the chapter

Weapons start to make a noise

Bombs Was coming down to buildings

School were vanished

The boy start to cry….

Nobody could hear it

They were all occupied to count their small green and blue papers. .

So much paper

So many bombs

So many people occupied from the nothing …

That comes and destroy

Everything…

The boy closed the book…

He took another one

And he starts looking the beautiful illustrations

So Many flowers

And strange fruits

And a lot of animals that were sitting

 just around a big lake.

There was a forest also with big trees

And a big mountain

The chapter had a title:

_The peaceful world of

Olivia_

The boy continue to read

and that afternoon was the most amazing time in the world.. 

.

The Holy Spirit and the Peace Dove and, One Day I’ll Go So Very Far Away

The Mourning Dove, it was there suddenly and stayed and watched me and didn’t go away. I felt right away that it was a sign, an auspicious symbol. A lady I’d been listening to in the canon of near-death experience said that the spirit spoke to her but then when she became part of the world again it would speak in other ways but still be with her. 

I thought that was mystical and inspiring. The day unfolded that way. Good things happened. Many of them. Regardless, if karma and the forces that be allowed it, I thought I’d one day go far away, to another sun, a southern sun, and never, ever come back, for I’d have found a true place. 

It would be an area of the sea and sand, and, being an actual real-life orphan, that would be, as it was before, where my true affinity and allegiance would be found. I would go like an agile and healthy bird across worlds, or a ghost that can tackle any time and circumstance. Verdant palm frond, lapping night tides, the moon observing. The way back to the subconscious and super conscious both. Satori by the sea. Can you see the languid benches that sit forever by the pier feel the placid warm breezes that caress and assuage and even inform? 

Stay, the winds say, for you have come home to bright and delight and the ways that are right. Stay with us, be with us, see with us. For many days and nights, months, and years. Forget the past and know being and feeling again. 

And I’ll silently nod and smile and sigh and accept. Maybe it will be by where that old catamaran abandoned used to sit stationed between the ocean and the inland. Maybe. The sea is an ancient, gnostic, and feral but wise phenomena. The sea knows the answer because the sea knows and can do everything…

~~~

Pools by the Calm Southern Waters

There were a series of pools and a singer that sang sad love songs, you know, the unrequited thing and such. Many palm fronds verdant swayed just a bit. But there was nobody there, so he was just singing, as if to God or if not God then the air or himself. I got a soda and the lady said there was no charge but the soda I knew was six dollars. She wouldn’t say why there was no charge for me and I to this day wonder. A man arrived beside me and then another and the one talked of boats, baseball, and weather. Some of the things he said were, ‘You can’t even be out here in July after 11:00 am it’s too hot’ and ‘I’ve not taken that boat out in over a year. It’s all a bit of a waste I think.’  I also remember he was upset at his baseball team because things had changed but I didn’t hear all as I swam away due to boredom and restlessness. There was officially speaking no smoking, but he had smoked a cigarette on the sly and put it out in a bit of sand between two paving stones. I drank my cold soda and just looked at the local birds up the way as they stood on labyrinthine paths that disappeared interestingly into distant flora and lawns. The birds also stood on little piers and docks plus wooden bridges that crossed calm southern waters. 

The poet

The evening melts into oblivion

I saw a soul perched on my skin

Beaded and bubbled in love’s warfare

The greenery is dropped in palettes

Hues of red and crimson joy

The fairies sung in unison

A drama written upon the land of sadness

The holy grail is beamoned with sacrifice

A numberless winged dews of poetry

It has the power to heal any broken soul

The sad demise of mountains high

A melodic death happens afar

The poet is now crowned with victory

Art as it is upon God’s hands.

 

This month, across continents, languages, and artistic forms, these writers and artists illustrate pathways towards personal and cultural endurance and survival. Though their subjects range from war to environmentalism, from mathematics to romance, the works are united by a central concern: how people preserve meaning and dignity while confronting the fragility of life. Together, they create a portrait of humanity struggling not merely to survive, but to transform pain, uncertainty, and impermanence into connection, beauty, and renewal.

The shadow of mortality and conflict appears repeatedly throughout these works. Pat Doyne honors those who sacrificed their lives during wartime, while Elaine Murray similarly forces readers to confront the devastating human consequences of war and the preciousness of life itself. Mohammad Sedigh Haghighi broadens this historical struggle, tracing humanity’s difficult movement toward democracy, liberty, and enlightenment against the forces of ignorance. Danijela Ćuk extends the argument into the present by urging humanity to abandon divisions and pursue peace. Lan Xin connects the larger world to our inner worlds, suggesting that we carry the capacity for both good and evil and that changing our mindsets can change society. Even Hamida Nazarova’s analysis of the works of Abdulhamid Cho‘lpon and Hamza Hakimzoda Niyoziy reveals another battlefield: not military conflict, but social injustice, particularly the suffering and oppression faced by Uzbek women. These works collectively suggest that human progress is measured not by conquest, but by compassion, justice, and the willingness to protect one another’s humanity.

Yet alongside destruction exists resilience. Darren C. Demaree writes of love, grief, identity, and survival, revealing how memory becomes a lifeline through suffering. Madina Asliddinova’s family saga captures the cyclical nature of existence through births, deaths, joys, and tragedies, reminding readers that life is never static but constantly renewing itself through generations. Jacques Fleury teases out themes of individual strength and determination to shape one’s own fate in Boston’s Huntington Theater’s production of Oedipus el Rey. Mai Văn Phấn similarly meditates on cycles of time, nature, suffering, and endurance, portraying resilience as something deeply intertwined with the rhythms of the natural world. Patrick Sweeney’s brief pieces linger in moments of nostalgia and connection, emphasizing how even fleeting experiences can carry emotional permanence. Fiza Amir’s poem transforms romantic loss and regret into gratitude, suggesting that pain can take on meaning through memory and reflection.

Several writers explore the emotional burdens placed upon individuals by society. Jesse Emmanuella Pheebemi’s poetry captures the crushing guilt and inadequacy produced by familial and societal expectations, while Eva Lianou Petropoulou’s poetry depicts a speaker exhausted by constant scrutiny over even the smallest behaviors. Sara Hunt-Florez mourns the loss of childhood innocence when a teenage girl is forced to mature too quickly. Sabina Tursunqulova laments in verse the loss of her childhood. J.J. Campbell presents a complex, introspective, and often melancholic exploration of the human experience. Isaac Aju reflects on how trauma can pull a person away from engaging with the world and quietly into themselves. These works expose how society often pressures individuals into performances of perfection or obedience that diminish authentic selfhood. However, Eva Lianou Petropoulou’s short story offers a possible remedy by insisting that love must move beyond isolation and enter the difficult realities of the world if it is to matter at all.

Art itself emerges as one of humanity’s primary tools for surviving emotional complexity. In Alex S. Johnson’s interview with avant-garde artist Diamanda Galás, Galás argues that art achieves its greatest power not through raw confession, but through discipline, strategy, intellect, and creative transformation of pain. This idea resonates strongly with Yongbo Ma’s interview with J.D. Scrimgeour, whose reflections on humor, mystery, music, memory, creativity, and community suggest that poetry helps people navigate the emotional contradictions of being alive. Ma Yongbo’s own poetry likewise wrestles with impermanence, mortality, and the search for meaning, while Paul Tristram’s energetic poems connect creativity with mental health and self-discovery. Paul Murgatroyd approaches art through satire and absurdity, using humor and nostalgia to examine entertainment and poetry themselves. Egamberdiyeva Diloromxon Olloberdi qizi analyzes how Uzbek author Tohir Malik explores adolescent psychology. Duane Vorhees adds yet another dimension by exploring the hidden complexity beneath the surfaces of poems, people, and places. Together, these artists insist that art is not an escape from life’s difficulties, but a way of understanding and enduring them.

Questions of language and culture also play a central role in preserving identity. Egamberdiyeva Diloromxon Olloberdi qizi explores themes of patriotism in the works of Uzbek poet Erkin Vokhidov. Rashidova Shohsanam addresses the challenge of protecting the Uzbek language amid youth slang, internet speech, and foreign influences, emphasizing that language carries cultural memory and identity. Giyosova Mohinur Yoqubjon qizi discusses ways to enhance linguistic capabilities of elementary students. Aleksandra Soltysiak’s poetry, translated by Jakub Sajkowski, similarly celebrates the balance between language, identity, nature, and beauty. Ahmedova Zamira Shokirjon qizi outlines the moral and cultural themes in Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi’s work. Italian critic Ivan Pozzoni discusses central themes of Western literary postmodernism. Christopher Bernard’s third installment of his novel Otherwise underscores books’ vital role in free thought and resistance. Fhen M.’s essay on Roger Kimball critiques approaches to literature that reduce art solely to politics or economics, arguing instead for the continued importance of aesthetics and imaginative value. Sevara Matnazarova celebrates the joy and wonder of reading. These works defend culture not as something static, but as a living inheritance requiring care, interpretation, and renewal.

Other writers focus on practical pathways toward a better future. Abdusalomova Marjona Jahongir qizi and Egamnazarova Shahina Shaxriyor qizi both emphasize determination and goal setting, presenting perseverance as a crucial force for personal transformation. Asalxon Xasanova learns to develop a realistic attitude towards her personal and academic struggles and to seek improvement where needed. Sobirova Iroda Abdulaziz qizi advocates for financial literacy among Uzbek youth, suggesting that economic understanding empowers individuals and communities alike. Sharifov Sirojiddin Shavkatovich celebrates mathematics as a profound intellectual framework for understanding the universe, presenting reason itself as a form of human achievement. Olimova Muslimaxon Odiljon qizi celebrates the success of her high school’s robotics team in their first competition. Abdumutalibov Islombek discusses students’ use of artificial intelligence technology. Mirzajonova Sabokhon turns to medical science, outlining the of iron in the human body, as does Merojxon Ahliddin qizi Majidova, who discusses treatments for liver and uterine issues. Azizaxon Shodmonova sends in a charming graduation poem saying goodbye to a wholesome elementary school year and to her teachers and classmates. Finally, Eshmurzayeva Jasmina Shodiyor qizi celebrates the new generation of educated, accomplished young Uzbek women. These works suggest that hope is not passive optimism, but active effort guided by education, discipline, and vision.

Environmental awareness forms another major thread uniting these voices. Sabrina O’ktamova discusses restoring the damaged soil of the Aralkum Desert through lichen, transforming ecological devastation into the possibility of renewal. Yeon Myung-Li celebrates a variety of animals after a trip to the zoo, including one who escaped. Timothee Bordenave proposes practical environmental conservation through innovative heating methods, while Jacques Fleury simply but powerfully urges people not to litter. Mark Young’s digitally altered maps of Australian geography blend language and vibrant color into imaginative landscapes, reminding readers that geography itself can become art. Christina Chin’s delicate haiku captures a quiet evening moment, revealing the beauty hidden within ordinary experience. Mushtariybegim Ozodbekova similarly argues that beautiful and well-maintained spaces are essential for human flourishing. In these works, caring for the environment becomes inseparable from caring for humanity itself.

Finally, several writers turn toward spirituality, longing, and human connection as sources of transcendence. Soumen Roy reflects on divine presence, interconnectedness, joy, and spiritual awakening, presenting existence as deeply unified beneath apparent separation. Yeon Myung-ji’s imaginative work explores desire, hope, art, and possibility, suggesting that longing itself can inspire transformation. Brent Yergensen’s old-style poem shows a person finding comfort just from the nearness of God. Paul Bavister’s poems look into connection, solitude, change and self-reflection. Jessie Vanderwall presents the depths of loneliness left behind after a great and soul-expanding love. Dr. Perwaiz Shaharyar’s tender invitation to dance offers a smaller but equally meaningful expression of vulnerability and admiration. Even amid grief, conflict, and uncertainty, these works affirm the enduring human desire to reach toward others.

Whether through poetry, criticism, environmental activism, mathematics, storytelling, or cultural preservation, these creators demonstrate that survival alone is not enough. Human beings seek beauty alongside truth, memory alongside progress, individuality alongside community. Across all these works runs the same underlying conviction: though life is fragile and often painful, people possess an extraordinary capacity to create meaning, preserve dignity, and imagine renewal even in the face of impermanence.