Welcome, readers, to 2023’s first issue of Synchronized Chaos Magazine.

This month we start off with some sad news: our longtime contributor Joan Beebe has passed away. Here is her obituary, we encourage people to leave tributes, make donations or plant trees in her memory through this link.

Also, our friend and collaborator Rui Carvalho reminds us about our Nature Writing Contest for 2022.

This is an invitation to submit poems and short stories related to trees, water, and nature conservation between now and the March 2023 deadline. More information and submission instructions here!

This month’s work probes the translucence of time: what we can see of past memories and future hopes and fears, and how that shapes our individual and collective identities.

Lorena Caputo describes the Honduran town of Trujillo years after banana plantations and Contras have left their mark.

Christopher Bernard laments our world’s harsh winter landscape of blizzards, ecological destruction, and war.

Sayani Mukherjee rejoices in the regular rejuvenation of landscapes with green vegetation, which resonates with me in California as it finally rains here in winter.

Wayne Mason sings of a subterranean post-industrial purgatory.

Daniel De Culla’s piece suggests that time can cleanse, or at least cover over, dark memories and lost souls.

Dudu Tome speaks in various ways of binding ourselves to each other and to our homelands.

RP Verlaine musters equanimity when faced with reminders of a troubled past, and of how life has not always been kind to those he knows. J.T. Whitehead compares the financial and emotional toll of divorce to the sufferings of the Biblical character of Job.

Z.I. Mahmud waxes poetic about Sir Walter Scott and William Blake and old-style chivalry.

Christopher Bernard questions the validity of the traditional social construction of gender, while Jaylan Salah explores differing concepts of masculinity embodied in films about men with physical deformities.

Fernando Sorrentino juxtaposes the two long and storied traditions of pop culture and academia with uneasy humor, while S.J. Fowler places a pleasantly amusing female gorilla amidst art museums, coffee, and the daily newspaper.

Susie Gharib breathes out wishes for the liberation of all living beings from various forms of despair or entrapment.

Hongri Yuan and Yuanbing Zhang speak of illusion, reality, and transcendence, drawing on motifs from Chinese poetry and history. Nilufar Rukhillayeva urges all people to hold onto our dreams for our lives and our world.

J.J. Campbell writes of the dull ache of disillusionment, living in an uncomfortable reality while still remembering better days. Mahbub Alam explores the uncomfortable gap between his aspirations and his reality.

Peter Cherches spurs us on to declare our existences in a complex, absurdist world. Ike Boat celebrates a school graduation in Ghana with pride.

Nahid Gul celebrates the capabilities and the journey towards psychological healing and social acceptance for a girl who uses a wheelchair for locomotion.

Bruce Roberts grapples with the dangerous natural and human elements of our world in a collection of persona poems that symbolically brings them down to our level.

Mark Young echoes Ezra Pound while conjuring up a semblance of reality.

Channie Greenberg’s photos explore various ways of looking at the felines who share our planet.

J.D. Nelson renders everyday human and animal life in a set of haikus, showing how it can be intriguing and special.

Mubarak Said reflects on a mythical dream journey to the land of the dead.

Tajudeen Muadh Akanbi laments the violence and chaos of his homeland and hopes for a better future through nurturance and healing of broken dreams. Patricia Doyne satirizes Donald Trump and related political movements within the United States.

Olawe Opeyemi reflects on his hopes and dreams for his life.

Chimezie Ihekuna urges us in song to get going and take the steps we need to transform our lives.

We hope that this issue will serve as a similar source of inspiration.

Wheelchair

"Afia! My dear, why are you sitting in the dark room? Ayesha said while turning on the light in the room. "I love being in the dark, Mama!" Because this darkness hides my disability in itself.” Aafia said while turning her wheelchair towards Mama. 

Mama, why am I like this? Why can't I run like other kids? I also want to play hide and seek like Raima, Ayeza, and Ahmar, ride a bicycle, play badminton like them. Aafia started crying about her disability while mentioning her brother and sisters. Ayesha quickly moved forward and hugged Aafia. Ayesha herself was saddened.

Twelve-year-old Aafia was the eldest daughter of Shahbaz and Ayesha. Aafia's parents were very happy when she was born. Allah Ta'ala blessed them with the happiness of children after five years of marriage. On Aafia's birth, sweets were distributed throughout the neighborhood. Aafia was the star of everyone's eyes in Dadhyal and Nanhyal. She used to walk around the house. When Aafia was two years old, she fell victim to the polio virus, due to which Aafia was destined to be disabled for life. Undoubtedly, it was a great test for Shahbaz and Ayesha. With the passage of time, Shahbaz and Ayesha had accepted the bitter reality that their beloved daughter Aafia could not walk again for the rest of her life, but Aafia was still unable to accept this fact. Aafia's uncle, who was a school teacher, started taking Aafia to school with her. In the beginning, Aafia was very excited to go to school, but gradually she started shying away from going to school. Now she used to try to skip school on some pretext.

"My dear daughter! If you don't go to school, how will you get an education? Ayesha said hugging Aafia. 

"Mama!" 

All the kids in school look at me strangely. Sometimes they make fun of me. Sometimes they copy me. No one wants to be friends with me because I can't run like them," Aafia said while crying. 

"Hey! My daughter is very brave. Brave people face their circumstances bravely, they don't cry. The day you stop considering yourself disabled, people will also stop considering you disabled, and then every human being is tested by Allah Ta'ala. Allah Ta'ala wants to see whether His servant fulfills the test given by Him or not. Ignore the visible flaws and look for the hidden qualities within you. Then one day everyone's tongue will not mention your disability but your virtues," Aisha explained to her daughter.

Aafia also understood this very well. She had accepted the fact that this "wheelchair" was now a part of Aafia's life. Now Aafia not only started going to school regularly but also started participating in various academic and literary programs. He no longer cared about people's attitudes. Aafia had learned to be happy and contented. Day and night she started thanking Allah Almighty that Allah Almighty had blessed her with the ability to think and understand. He had given wisdom and consciousness. Aafia's painting won the first position in the International Painting competitions, and Aafia got a lot of recognition in the domestic and foreign media. Now everyone wanted to meet Aafia. Wanted to talk to him. Undoubtedly, the words of Aafia's mother had been proven true that one day there will be a day when people's tongues will mention Aafia's performance.

Arti-Blog Title: *Medway International School* #MIS  – *5th Anniversary* & *1st Major Graduation*.

Program / Event Date: 10th December,2022. 

Time / Durarion: 10AM To 3PM 

*Program Outline Or Order Of Program As Follow*:   

MC: *Ike Boat* 

Opening Prayer: Reverend *Prince Ampaapeng* Of *Fire Of Favour Chapel International* #FCI 

Purpose Of Gathering #POG : Proprietoress Madam *Araba Baidoo* #HeadMistress 

*School Boys And Girls Performances As Follows*:

* English & French Recitals By The Pre-School.

* Song Ministration By The School Choir.

* 12 Days Of Christmas

* Dance Craft By The Nursery 2 Pupils

* 16 Regions Of Ghana

* Ballet Gig By The Graduants

* Melodrama Dubbed *Birth Of Christ* 

* Drama By The Basic 2 Pupils

* Cultural Dance, Ethnic Related Coupled With Local Dresses Put On The Pupils.

* Choreography By The Pupils.

* Modelling By The Pupils.

* Presentation Of Certificates – By The Head-Mistress / Proprietoress – Madam *Araba Baidoo*. 

* Vote Of Thanks – By *Blessing Adwobah Nda – Ackah* #SchoolGirl 

* Closing Prayer : Apostle *Lincoln Asare* – Founder/Head-Pastor *Fire Of Favour  Chapel International* #FCI 

* Conclusion: Refreshment As A Means Of Merriment Or Merrimaking,Thus Food And Drinks Served By The Teachers Of *Medway International School* #MIS. 

Sound System Equipment, Provided Courtesy Apostle *Lincoln Asare* Who Doubled As DJ Or Music Controller Whilst Yours Truly *Ike Boat* Did Most Of The Speaking As *MC* Job Entails. 

Kindly,Note And Publish The Descriptive Poem Titled *Medway International School – MIS* On Top Of It. Also,Use The School Crest Or Emblem On As Part Of Pictures. Thank You. Yours In *Synchronized Chaos International Magazine* #SCIM – *Ike Boat* 

 Kindly,Fix The Following TikTok Web-Link Into It Respectively.  

*Ike Boat* On A Promo-Vlog Of *Medway International School* #MIS – Motto: *Nurturing For Excellence* . Location: *Blue Top Estate* Of Kasoa,Central Region Of Ghana,West Africa. To Enroll Your Wards/Kids,Kindly Contact: *+233267580333* Or *+233244617556*. #DayCare #Creche #Kindergarten #Primary #Admission #Good #Teachers #Better #Compound #Best #School – You’re Welcome To *Medway International School* – MIS #NurturingForExcellence

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMFbpSFg1/  #Click #Follow #Comment #Share #Repost #Thanks 

I Do Wrong


I do wrong while going to draw a rose every time
Every time my absent mind flickers and falters
Back to the darkness
Swim on the bed
No sight of night queens
No scent of tuberoses
Touch my head or mind
Only in the vacuum I watch and fight
I do wrong every time, no chance of drawing my love bird
The light of the day sometimes covered with
The brown ashes of gunpowder
No greenery getting the pass
I'm standing here for long in chain
Can anybody come forward to free my chained condition?
Oh! The beauty I like most.  


Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh
30/12//2022



Riot

That started years and long years or decades ago
The insect never permits to bloom the flower
You can see no bud having any fruit
We live in such a place where we cultivate the land
But without any harvest back to home in silence
Not that the land is barren, watered or desert
Something unexpected always harms the crops 
We frustrate and blame our fate
How should I go on such hungry life?
Life spoils the lives staggering on.

Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh
30/12//2022

a rainbow halo
around the bright moon tonight—
somewhere, a dog barks



neighbors’ Christmas lights . . .
Orion reclines as he
rises in the east



cold, dark December—
is that a jet way up high
or the space station?



power lines ripped down
by high winds before the storm—
first day of winter



eleven below—
the two chickens have to sleep
in the humans’ house



silence at midnight . . .
six inches of heavy snow
weighs down the tree’s boughs



-------------



bio/graf

J. D. Nelson (b. 1971) experiments with words in his subterranean laboratory. His poems have appeared in many small press publications, worldwide, since 2002. He is the author of ten chapbooks and e-books of poetry, including Cinderella City (The Red Ceilings Press, 2012). Nelson’s first full-length collection is in ghostly onehead, published by Post-Asemic Press in December 2022. Visit MadVerse.com for more information and links to his published work. His haiku blog is at JDNelson.net. Nelson lives in Colorado, USA.

On the wings of dreams

 Nilufar Rukhillayeva

a student of the National University of

Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek

Dreams are a way to get into a world where you are happy.

Some people think that dreaming is stupid, others just live with it.  Scientists have come to the conclusion that the ability to dream is one of the main characteristics of a successful and happy person. Probably, there is no person in the world who has not indulged in dreams at least once in his life.  It all starts from childhood – thoughts about the future appear in our clear heads.  Psychologists say that in this way the formation of the child’s thinking takes place, the imagination of a small person develops.  They also point out that most children’s dreams are illusions that are unlikely to ever come true.  But this fact does not bother the little ones, they have a short memory of blessing and disappointment. Thought streams are formed in their heads, and what is happening now, right now, is important to them.  Everything else flows like a river without a future or a past.

It’s hard to live without a dream,

There is a consequence, everyone step.

Good, bad, big, small,

Everyone has their own dreams man

So that a person does not get tired of living, a world of dreams is given to his heart. There is a human race that wants to satisfy the dreams that he was born with every moment.  To live in life, only the dream itself is lacking. If you are asked, “What is your biggest dream?”, you will be silent for a moment. I wonder if the dream can be big or small?  as it changes depending on how it looks. A dream is not a whim.  It is the pillar that has caused humanity to reach the present day. What is the human dream not good for, you say?!

I have heard a lot that “Everything depends on the intention”. As a person grows up, his desire to “return to childhood” replaces his dream. A person with big dreams requires effort to achieve his dreams. As for my dream: Patience to man! If the element of Patience leads a person, then there is one step left to achieve the dream and achieve success!

Dreams,

Dreams that are stretched to the height of the sky,

In flight, the falcon smelled

Dreams.

bursting like fire

stung like a deer

The wave hit and swam like a wave