PoetryandProse

Poetry and Prose

MISCELLANEOUS

A labyrinth of secrets
Lives under the tempting walls of my throat,
Extinguishes the urge of spilling words unsaid,

Forces me to brawl with my own expectation.

A hidden treasure of unuttered love,

Poisons my mind with the terrors of questions,

Breathes the heavy smoke of being labeled with nothingness,
Laughs at the shrunken rose of yesterday,
And bullies me for all the blood I have been bleeding
Since the day I wrote 'love' on my heart.
Death has been so blatantly easy and displeasing

That paining feels like more divine,
and having pleasant orgasm
Under the sacrilegious darkness of nights.

Poetry grows in the voids of my palpable chest,

And I swear I have nothing to offer

Except a handful of intense metaphors

To entangle you in my parched heart and doleful thoughts.

My eyes too lost to even sink,

Foresees of a strange cemetery full of laughter,
Puns and horrible jokes.
Once a magnificent flower, now a living cadaver,

My life is served as the waste salad with extra regrets and sins.
And one day just after our last supper,

You will blindfold me,

Take me to the unknown forest,

Leave a smooth kiss on my forehead,

Throttle my malformed secrets,

Bury me under the soil

Play the last rites,

And watch me turning into ashes

With my vain verses, one heart, strange love!

© Storyteller Suchismista Ghoshal

Make the situation mutual
And take a different turn
Achieving same yearning!

Total excitement is truly flexible
Sporting attitude can be a great means

To break ego-ice with your beloved!

"UNCOMMON WAY"

You have touched one's heart
In an uncommon way!
Sooner or later
Fortune must be better
If you never give up
Winning attitude!
Things are bound
To fade away
All the criticizing sound!
Stay turned on promising ground
Tidal wave to be defeated
Dare to reach matching role, animated.

© Sharif Hossain

Engraving on Walls of Silence

Engraving on walls of silence
Echoed with war drums
Dressed in the blood of oldsters,
Bereaved mothers and children
While stench of death is kissing children's laughter
And innocent children buried under the wall of shame
Shame of politicians...shame of trafficking
With idiotic words and sick verses.
Engraving on walls of silence...silence of grave
Silence of fear...in Women and children's hearts
Night and day...praying to die
While still wondering...is it inevitable?
There is no escape
Except for...Escaping from death to death
Death by war killing machines
Death by stings of cold...in forgotten refuges
Death in the depth of dark oceans and seas
Or
To lay down
Embraced by the darkness of a grave
Grave of silence...
SILENCE OF THE GRAVE

© Mandour Saleh Hikel

Escape...
To Eternal Void

Restrained...
In my solitude
And terrible eternal void
Reeling randomly...
Between waves of expansion...
And contradiction
Leaving my dismembered body
Shaking in my wings
Shackling my poems...
In a gloomy silence
Streaming flows of chill
Into my feelings...
My thoughts
Balking my pen...
In a suspicious breakdown
As if to collude
With my solitude
And that eternal void
God
What can I do
When feeling lost
In the labyrinth of
The monotonous rhythm of boredom...
What weird time
Where we live like stupid machines
Or...
As walking-dead
We carry names
Or numbers
Or hold
Large fat titles
But the
But...
Forever we remain
UNIDENTIFIED.

© Mandour Saleh Hikel

Poet, Mandour Saleh Hikel hails from Egypt. He started as a lyrics writer, in the early 80's, for Egyptian rock band called, No! (1982-1984).
Later, he stopped for quite some time, before resuming his writing in 1999, until now. He gives his highest priority to Anti-war, Anti-violence
poems that are always evocative and moving, and with great messages. He published two books and is now working on a third, which should be

released in January 2021.

Shimmering wings of spirit
Heart tremulous with light
Winging to heaven in majestic flight
Hope is the passenger
Hitching a ride
Into the realms of time
Delight to discover
The way is illuminated
Past diminishing
Present
Future refined
Searching the sky Spirit soaring above
Hope everlasting never ending
Display of faith and love.

© Elaine Yanni

Art by Elaine Yanni

Hum of Humanity

Universal wailing rainforests burning
Choking up the atmosphere -
Rivers clogging newsreels spinning daily
Global grinding gnashing of hungry
Children gulping polluted air just hoping
To stay alive whilst mothers desperately
Kneel in dark corners begging for open
Borders so their innocent children
Can be saved from starvation sickness
And zero nutrition hoping desperately
For charity angels to soothe their daily
Lament maybe even miraculously
Create healing smiles to brighten young
Eyes and sing, jump, shout, with glee
In an imagined childhood expected
Reverie but that was not meant to be as
Power hungry rulers insist on continued
Global crashes stifling words
Halting progress destroying
Humanitarian bridges causing existential
Seizures
A cry, a prayer, a melodic lament,
Hands raised to the heavens, a plea for invading
Forces to end their tyranny hopefully
Embracing humanity but what about
The children? They beg, they crawl, they cry,
They die, they plead, they bleed -
Come, join in this global chorus, add
Your notes to the hum of humanity...

© Don Beukes

Warped Chirality

We are meant to be part of the same species
Yet you forge your own warped realities
Pretending confessing announcing
Orating your alternative existence from ideas
Born from your elected ignorance -
Listening absorbing accepting broken lullabies
From hoarse false poison-tipped
Tongues of larks whispering untruths
Spinning words
But you allow your essence to soak up
Its negativity garnered from deformed
Misguided
Mentalities now so twisted you just
Cannot resist owning that leaking, lying
Legacy -
You see me as an unknown racial oddity
Not knowing my true mixed race
Genealogy
As you burn your obvious dislike for me
Through my startled pores but I see you
As a lonely lost soul indoctrinated by
Spiral ideologies bleeding through you
For
Generations whose voices now whisper
Even taunting you to throw that stone
Clutched in your shaking hand. Your
Conflicting inner rage I can somehow
Understand even pity you but here I am,
About to become just another
Statistic of divisive rhetoric and there
You are, contemplating my fate - Just
Another unfortunate fatality in
Our
Warped Chirality

© Don Beukes

Don Beukes is a South African and British writer. He is the author of 'The Salamander Chronicles' (CTU) and 'Icarus Rising - Volume 1 (ABP), an ekphrastic collection. He taught English and Geography in both South Africa and the UK. His poetry has been anthologized in numerous collections and translated into Afrikaans, Persian, French and Albanian. He was nominated by Roxana Nastase,

Editor of Scarlet Leaf Review for the 'Best of the Net' in 2017 as well as the Pushcart Poetry Prize (USA) in 2016. He was published in his first SA Anthology, 'In Pursuit of Poetic Perfection' in 2018 (Libbo Publishers) and his second, 'Cape Sounds' in 2019 (Gavin Joachims Publishing). He is also an amateur photographer and his debut Photographic publication appeared in Spirit Fire Review in June 2019.

His new book, 'Sic Transit Gloria Mundi'/Thus Passes the Glory of this World' is due to be published by Concrete Mist Press.

The Heart Dies First: Follow Me

Years I have not ordered grow on me
What cares less of us then life itself

Remember that if was only out of politeness that they
Told you
Out of habit that they served you
They had nothing to lose so they waited for you
The road lingered before you
Knock for you
Return with the understanding that it comes for you
That here it comes to you
And there's no way knowing why do you
Why do you
You defeat them
Defeat them

Ugh to you

Finally the predators fly away from you
From your road

© Lali Tsipi Michaeli

Homo Poeticus

This is what we should be.
No, this is not El Dorado.
No one promises that in this world you'll find
Gold in a blue street.
It's a different consciousness,
Which allows to walk and be, imagine and stay free,
Bloom and take off high,
Escape the virus of death.

Above all, today.
When we're not in danger of becoming Homo Roboticus,
It is important to remember that poetry can save
The human element.
Read. Listen to poetry.
Go to poetry readings. It is an immersive experience.
It absorbs you in it.
It's absorbed in you.
Commit to writing instead of committing suicide.

Words will protect from words. Let's keep the spirit
Because the rest
Will be already kept.

© Lali Tsipi Michaeli

Lali Tsipi Michaeli is an Israeli Independent universal poet. Born in Georgia in 1964, she immigrated to Israel at the age of seven.She has published six poetry books so far.

Attended international poetry festivals, she was part of a New York residency program for
talented writers in 2018.

Her books have been translated into foreign languages in New York, France, Italy, Georgia,

Ukraine, Russia, Romania and Iran. Lali was defined by Prof. Gabriel Moked in his book

as "Erotico-Urban Poet" and was highly regarded by critics, who consider her as innovative and combative.

In 2011, Lali conducted an anthology for protest "Resistance", in which she presents her personal
poetic manifesto, claiming that "poetry as a whole, is a revolt." In the past decade, Lali has created 15 Poetry Video Art that have taken part in world poetry festivals such as ZEBRA in Berlin. "The poem is not purely individual. It is common ground and should be heard in a great voice," the poet claims.

Lali teaches Hebrew at Ben Gurion University. She has one son and lives in Tel Aviv by the sea.

PORTRAIT OF A POET

In a land of imagery,
He sways his words with nature.
In a rhythmic symmetry,
A poet's a strange creature.

In an enraptured manner,
He draws a smile on our faces,
And in his flowing manor,
He's full of air and graces.

He spreads love and hope in verse,
Speaks truth and sporadic lies,
Maybe a fool, crazed or worse;
He, as an artist, ne'er dies.

© Walid Boureghda

Dear Humanity

All the cheers may be followed by tears
All the courageous may be followed by fears
All the sweet dreams may be followed by nightmares
After calmness may be a devastating storm

After happiness may be a painful life form...

But...

Like an oasis in a desert...
Like a song in the morning...
Like flowers in a flower vase,
That make a room charming...

Won't you come?

Won't you hear?

O, my dear!

I, a human being, calling you...

Hello, humanity!
...O my dear!

© Abhijit Chakraborty
India

AUTUMN LEAF MEMORIES

I was hanging here my dear
Most of the year
You never look up to see me
Im my gorgeous dressed scene
Spring it's all in beautiful green.
I decided to come down
This time in my golden dress
Something your eyes never miss
Shower you with lovely memories
With spring and summer's wreath
Now you can see my flying
I'm not. yet falling, darling,
Watch your step,
Please don't crash into me.
All I want is to attract you
And maybe in winter
You'll fall in love with me.

© Muhammad Ismail

WATCHFIRES OF THE SKY

O' the moment, this moment;

This moment towered the steep umbrella sky:
And be the dust of night!
The dark...outside myself,
A shadow without fear...
Encumbering the soul:
And as it bathes...with its majesty
Intoxicating the heart!!!
O' darkness mine, the cloth
Of eternal days; your aspect
'though bleak, transcends with delight -
With the ocean sky - the celestial body
Planetoid admirably...
Of a crescent moon
And the brilliance of sparkling stars -
Reaching out through the darkness...
Endowing guidance
To the myriad, the passionate...in belong.
And be a dreamer of obedience!
In seizure of its volume...
With a sensual look, inveigling
The watchfires of the sky.

© Henry Farrell

LOVE

Softly shy full mimosa
Reddish, pinkish shape
Heart throbs, mind shivers
Sensitive wintry moonlit night
In terms of emotion and amour
It's like being Helen and Romeo
Even if this earth gets destroyed
On the soft dark bank of the lake
In the blue eyes and red lips
In life and death, you are true.

© Fulguni Ghosh

LOVE FROM A DISTANCE

Like a horizon,
So far so close it seems to reach
Her mirage;
A distant run away in a mist
Blurred
In the gossamer of her tiny trust.

Unreachable she lives
Staring at me in my mind of her;
Poles alike we repel
Nectars in their petals though,
As pollinated to yield;
Wilted is the sepals
Sapped is the roots,
And to a shredding threadbare of trust
Is the illuminated promise;

Where a thin film of understanding
Holds the bond in her abode;
And here am I
In the shady mist
Of where she stands
In this gap of a distance...!

© Philibus K. Elisha Elisha

FATHER AND DAUGHTER'S BOND BEAUTY

Walking with you holding your hand,
Remind me of the days when you were an infant,

Mewling and crying in my arms, I heard
A voice so thrilling like a cuckoo bird.

You took your first step holding my baby finger,
It felt as if spring is brought upon me in extreme winter.

Saving you from mommy's scold was my foremost
Duty, I called it the father's and the daughter's
Bond beauty.

For a solitary event, a lot I plan,
Do you know who I am?

I am the father of my little girl,
Following the custom of this world.

I have to give the piece of my heart
This is what customs impart.

You are like a pearl in a shell whom I protected for years,
A thoughts of giving you away brings me into tears.

Your marriage is celebrated with great pomp and show,
The father's inner cry no one bothers to know.

Your prince looking at you with sweet accord,
Shedding the tears divine I can't afford.

My heart pounds faster as beside you I stand,
Handing you over to another man.

With a stone heart, my girl and I are set apart,
So that with a new journey she can start.

May your couple be like Adam and Eve,
The epitome of love exceeding peace.

I believe, as I embrace you and say goodbye,
Saluting me the angels, bow their heads on the sky.

No matter to whom you marry in this zone,
You will always be the princess of daddy's throne.

© Iraj Shariq

'Pledged'

Long, long ago
You pledged your heart
Etched your eternal love
Causing you to constantly
Keep washing up at my feet
Like a half forgotten
Mystical message
In a bottle, cast into the sea
Of souls, centuries ago!
Our paths constantly, curiously crossing
In a predetermined puzzle of perplexities
Leaving us pondering, on the part played
By Providence - and he most loving hand
On a heart, etched with initials
Carved into an ancient, magical tree

That still stands somewhere, bearing witness
Long after the bodies, bearing initials
Became fodder for its roots!
Lifetime after lifetime,
We're magically, momentarily
Drawn together, to decipher
Soul memories, we vaguely recall...

© Adiela Akoo

Arduous

You ask me
To clarify my mystery
Unfold my story
Put flesh on bare bone...

Where do I begin
The arduous retelling
Of a secret story
Very few have known...

And even then
I held back my pen...

You say you need to know
"To help you grow"
But little do I show
How relentlessly,
He kneads this dough!

© Adiela Akoo

A LONER

An old bearded man in the pathway of a jungle
Told the wind, here exists the poetry of blessed life Which can be recited only by dynamic loneliness.

Loneliness mixing with mustard flowers
Goes to the twilight's den with flickering teeth
To borrow some sweet melodies of tidy leaves...

He's just sprouted from mud of metaphor as if,
Insane clouds and rains hug him spirally
He speaks out magical verse at midnight showers.

A loner's a shadow of God he shrugs,
Letting some doves fly knowingly, he treads
The silence of ignorance and then goes on saying:
A lot of deaths I have crossed
In the black and white dreams...

© Kamrul Islam
Bangladesh

KAMRUL ISLAM, a Professor of English, was born in Bangladesh. He is a published bilingual poet,
essayist, translator and a short story writer. Eleven books of poems, four essays and one short story have

been published to date. He has been honored by Gujarat Sahitya Academy, India's Governmental Premier
Institute in Literature and Motivational Strips, on India's 74th Independence Day. He has won certificates
of excellence and awards from many global poetry platforms and organizations. His poems have been

published in different magazines at home and abroad. Recently, he has been honored on the 60th

Independence Day of Nigeria for his contribution in world literature.

STILL

Autumn came,

With a sound,

Of peace
And regrets on us,
See still, unchanged human.
Surrounded by sting of sins.
See still, unchanged minds,
Thinking about lust,
See still, unchanged hands

Indulged in sins.

Taking illegal money.

See still, unchanged eyes,

Seeing the evils.

See still, unchanged soul,

Not speaking against evils.
See still, unchanged color,

Which supports racism.

See still, unchanged weather,

Raining of sins everywhere.

© Nasir Roshan Khan

Nasir Roshan Khan, a student of 10th Class and Co-Author of Sheen, Peace and Poetry, Broken Soul,

International Magazine, 'The Vision'. He also writes articles for newspapers. He is a member of several

organizations including Jkifts. He is from Nowshera Boniyar Baramulla Kashmir. He loves to write and

works for the well-being of humans and humanity.

THE NOW

The truth sealed because of love
The longings hidden because of vow

The sovereignty locked because of power

The dust washed because of shower
The pain resisted because of fear
The treasures sold because of share
The screams shattered because of tyranny
The hatred developed because of irony.
The competition is not but form of jealousy

The respect is not, but thought of supremacy
The friendship is a mere word for gain
The youth is drowned in the world of fame
The religion is turned into sectarian battle ground
The wisdom is used to delay scar on wound
The truth is of society we live in

Busy in celebrating only their win.

© Jaffar Ahmad Bhat
Kupwara

Ay, she is a woman, All know!
She is gorgeous and dainty;

However, that doesn't imply she is solely vincible.

That doesn't imply she can't achieve anything.

That doesn't imply she is afraid of you.

That doesn't imply she can't fight back

That doesn't imply she can't demand her rights,

That doesn't imply she can't hate you

That doesn't imply she is dominant

That doesn't imply she can't comeback.

That doesn't imply she condones your debacle.

That doesn't imply she needs your help.

That doesn't imply she is your maid.

That doesn't imply she is just the mother of your children.

That doesn't imply she doesn't know the world.

That doesn't imply she can't be successful.

That doesn't imply she leans on you.

That doesn't imply she isn't somewhat right.

That doesn't imply she is unwise and a fool.

That doesn't imply she is an offal joke.

That doesn't imply she can't dwell her life alone.

That doesn't imply she is not your true mate.

That doesn't imply she lacks moral sense.

That doesn't imply she is altogether boring as beans.

That doesn't imply she is simply a mom.

That doesn't imply she has to work for the whole day.

That doesn't imply she may not get disgruntled.

That doesn't imply she is characterless.

That doesn't imply she is awful for the nation.

That doesn't imply she is for elation.

That doesn't imply she is a hostile one.

That doesn't imply she is not fit for herself.

That doesn't imply she has to admit gilt for everything.

That doesn't imply she may not grin.

That doesn't imply she can't be ardent.

That doesn't imply she can't be prized.

That doesn't imply she can't be adored.

That doesn't imply she is uneasy to someone.

That doesn't imply she doesn't have wings to fly.

That doesn't imply she is scandalous.

That doesn't imply she isn't even gifted.

That doesn't imply she can't win against you the way you win against her.

That doesn't imply she doesn't have faith in you.

That doesn't imply she is a prevaricator yet,

That doesn't imply she will moan for the whole life.

P. S. Respect Women:

A true man realizes how to regard a woman. Indeed, the bridge

may have been burnt between, but honor must not be repealed.
Yet, they don't get the honor as much as they deserve. Honestly,
She earns her respect by cherishing others.

© Adnan Shadi

Image, courtesy of Wix

SAME BREATHS

Oh day! I'm tired of you

Same the sunrise from hills

And boil wounds to highs

Where you rest at night

I will change that nation.

A year is just a day

The blood lacks vitality

Else, the ears are bored

And eyes fell down daily.

Songs, I listen many

Several lines I remember

With same melody I murmur

Cause the felling of words.

By my side, death laughs

'Million streets I changed

Billions are my homes

I lament, I serve

Still I'm a knight."

Ordeal, hate or love, what?

I'm lost in heart's pother.

Mutely moon appears always

Never brings tidings along

How the day will converse

At least I can slumber long.

Time's soul is busy in ruining

My soul revolves around!!!

PEACE

No more hatred, no more frenzy

No more infuriation, no more envy

Love and peace bring eternal pleasure

They have a mysterious power

How many peace treaties should be made?

If we look back toward history

Already, there are many wars happening for victory.

How many hours will soldiers be on their duty?

Where nature is flourishing us with its resources,

So why are we busy felling off trees?

God is showering His blessings,

Or busy dividing Almighty's creations?

We have to stop discrimination and casteism.
No more division, we have to stop communism,

We have to stop gender bias, no more inequality,

Let's try to remove the stains of poverty.

It isn't only our comfort zone, our earth.

Animals and nature also have an integral part.

Let's spread love and peace instead of hatred.

Let's bring back peace for Mother Earth.

Imagine the world where air is fresh,

Where there is no more smell of weapons or arms.

We are human, God's supreme creation,

Isn't it unfair to be busy with only destruction?

Let's pray together for mankind.

Let's cooperate with each other to build a new World.

If we sprout love and peace seeds,

It will germinate with many branches.

Let's hope for a better tomorrow

Agartala, Tripura, India

Deepa Acharya is a budding writer. She is a government schoolteacher. She loves writing
and her hobby is gardening. Many of her poems are published in various anthologies, and

she has won many awards of excellence. She believes in the power of positivity and lives

in simplicity. Writing became her leisure pursuit and since, she continuously pens down

her feelings in everyday life.

YOU KNOW MY SECRET FROM A LONG TIME AGO

You know my secret from a long time ago,

Hidden in the shell of time,

The restless waves are stirring up above it,

Wishing to touch it,

When a sudden storm is getting ready...

You've been suspecting my secret from a long time now,

By the step echoing the asphalt,

I'm with you when you rejoice or angry,

When I tremble,

Under the celestial watch.

It connects the distances of the two worlds,

A bridge that connects two shores,

Gives the wings of a take-off,

An opportunity to love gently,

Making the tired stars fall asleep...

You know my secret from a long time ago,

Maybe that's why you keep quiet,

A warm hug is enough...

...to indulge in your tenderness...

It's love, it's real, eternal,

My soul's companion,

I'm happy with you, pleased,

While you exist...

...I know my life is filled...

Republic of Serbia

QUEEN OF RICHNESS

Take a look,

Electrifying bubbles of splendor -

Hovering blissful light over,

Flowering savor;

Look, passion flower's petals are winging on

Passionately, heart brings out regal purification.

Be glanced, embody its fragrance deep in heart,

Get lilac momentum in strutting filled moment.

Take a chance - innocent sun wishes not to depart,

From heaven

Queen of richness has just stepped.

Brightness never be hidden by deserted cloud,

Take a minute, inhale at gate of serene ground;

Gaggling, tweetering chanting of drake, water hen,

Memories coming alive with gosling and gray crane.

Take a minute, take a look, bathe in dawning ray,

That meets at western valley at end of day,

Of happiest days divine plateau, oscillatory memories,

Stories of paradise, how queen of queen beautifies!

BROKEN VERSE

The agony of mind that cries for the death

Torments endured, realistically portrayed.

Rectifying each unidentified atom in depth

Long run dissection came up to be raised...

Carrying tattered heart

I fell as heavy stone.

Wound pierced to cut my flesh and bone.

Overbearing offensive events proclaimed,

Mortifications snuggled up, nerves frayed.

Discrimination was on its cat-mice play

Solely I was feasting with dreamless day.

Grief was accompanying standing grave

With power, inner aspects I stood brave.

In name of fearless compassion and its turn

Unnoticed, who I am to justify I am reborn.