Izina - Ketty Nivyabandi

History will remember this man
Our grandchildren will study him between school recesses
Old women will speak of him as a strange enigma
A myth, an eccentric aberration . . .

Credo - Guy Tirolien

me too, I have my pocket credo
but don't go and repeat it before the garrulous winds
and the passing crowds
they'd laugh at you

My only begotten - Nadezhda Chernova

A strange kind of wish we have here,
to grasp at a moment’s picture
of a tomtit, a cloud, or a deer,
then flick through our pages even quicker.

My world - Anonymous

Say goodbye to our courtyard.
Tomorrow we’re setting out on the road,
leaving our little courtyard to be demolished.

Speak Up - Yesenqul Jaqypbek

I have a secret that hurts my soul.
There is one night I will remember forever.
There is a debt I still owe to society.
There is a complaint I couldn’t voice to the UN.

A wonderful night - Jontemir

The night bus stop.
Waiting in the corner.
Smoke rises from my cigarette.
“Are you waiting for the 94?”
I shake my head.

Mt. Paektu (Chapter 1: 1) - Jo Ki Chon

Hills and mountains, hills and cliffs
Stretch unending out of sight.
Pass one valley on your way
And another lies before you.

Dandelions of Hope - Park Soo-jin

Amidst concrete walls and barbed wires
Dandelions bloom, defying despair

Turning to God - Pietro Bembo

If, gracious God, in life’s green ardent year,
A thousand times thy patient love I tried;
With reckless heart, with conscience hard and sear,
Thy gifts perverted, and thy power defied!

I Walk On Water - Aisha Al Saifi

Like prophets
I gently walk on water
I do not stumble