Weaving stones - Valerie Bichard

Deep within the jungle

Where no missionary dared to tread

Part of my great-grandmother's finger lost

To calm the cannibal king

No girl child could be the family's firstborn

So in the night they fled

Sint Maarten - John Robert Lee

i.

The Blue Bitch Bar, on the boardwalk

behind Front Street, Philipsburg,

was where we read, Friday night,

during the Book Fair —

So, faith is certain - John Robert Lee

So, faith is certain of tomorrow’s epiphany

but how to meet the apocalyptic moment of now

under fallen colonnades of the Presidential palace

tent cities of cholera and rape and empty-bellied children

Return to the Mother Country - MAB Elhad

There I am again, tender and dear country,

I come back to you empty handed,

But the heart rich of hope.

My Own Reality Sign - Valeen Kan

I don’t know my feelings anymore

I feel insanity enveloping me

Not allowing a small opening

For me to taste happiness

spring notes - Sonam Chhoki

first thaw

dwarf rhododendrons

colour the slope

Jasmine Revolution Poem - Mohammad al-Ajami Ibn al-Dheeb

Prime Minister, Mohamed al-Ghannouchi:

If we measured your might

it wouldn’t hold a candle

to a constitution.

The Worthlessness of this World - Abdulla Fahumy Didi

This ethereal world of ours

Is alien to worthless trash.

And that which craves it most

Is a creature but unnameable.

They remain lying on the earth - Agnès Agboton

They remain lying on the earth

the dark bodies of men

after a useless death

The curse of being black with no direction - Sibusiso Adontsi

The curse of being black with no direction, 

lost with no resurrection, 

hopes of a future blurry, 

lost and it’s looking scary.

Child - Didier Marouani

Child,

Forget your lonely fathers,

Beguiled

Not able to look farther,

Than they should, than they could.

 

Chill - Shrawan Mukarung

Children are basking in the fire under the lamppost.

This chill has been prevalent for ages.

Silent warriors - Innocenta M. Sound-Kikku

Mama

a silent warrior

a familiar and comforting

voice I often hear

Nei Mwanganibuka The Legendary Fisherwoman - Tereeao Teingiia Ratite

I’ve always wanted to be like Nei Mwanganibuka

With all her skills

I could survive, conquer the realities of life

Put back the little fishes where they belong

Yangon 2010 - Maung Yu Py

Parents and guardians jostle over the quality of education available to their children, it’s been observed.

The Fire Chariot - Michel Lentz

The fire chariot, it's all set,
It whistles and off we go,
Rushing over the road of iron
And it will proudly show to our neighbours
That now, we have also found our way
To the great league of nations.

Yearning for Mountain Solitude - Patrul Rinpoche

Having seen the bewildering scope of never-ending activities,

All so unnecessary and frivolous,

Within delusory perception of this world, this city of saṃsāra,

Abu's attention turns to the solitude of the mountains.

No Death Can - Patrick Chamoiseau

There are so many oak trees in Atlanta that moan still

Fields that mourn

That also sing

And that imprint upon capsules of cotton unbelievable torsions!

XIV - Frank Martinus Arion

Same way a melody can enter a man, rips into him

Sending him to shimmy and dance on his feet,

Pushing him to lose his balance and his good name,

making smoke come smoldering off his marching body—

Ink: A Recipe - Bryan Thao Worra

Mo. Ink.  Two characters:

Hei, Black. Earth, T’u.

Song of Peace - Arif Khudairi

If we all

Belong to

One father,

And one mother.

If we all

Are brothers:

Yellows,

Blacks,

And whites.

Lady Macbeth's Confession - Neisha Tweed

Never mind thick night! Darkness move quick!

Madness engulf me like Jacob's coat;

colors tighten like sickness 'round me throat.

Wha it is do already can't tek back

but it still got me a wash me hand

til they sour and callus, de visions

plaguing de dark a me mind like locust.

Why is the child crying? - José Carlos Schwarz

Why is the child crying?

His body hurts

Why is the child crying?

He's tired of seeing blood

 

On the incompatibility of Pride and True Glory - Abu Alola

Think not, Abdallah, pride and fame 

Can ever travel hand in hand; 

With breast opposed, and adverse aim, 

On the same narrow path they stand. 

Nauru our homeland - Margaret Hendrie

Nauru our homeland, the land we dearly love.

We all pray for you and we also praise your name.

There is not only you - Dara Kanlagna

There lived a widower with her descendants

She is not anxious with any assistance

Day by day she does merits making

She thought there are no other mothers who can do as her

Legends of Time and Place - René Noyau

The stars are no longer lights,

They are faces that smile

Because the sky as well as my heart is clear.

Anne Frank - Heberto Padilla

In front of Cologne Cathedral

—divided by two black columns—

once more the children

are taking up their songs.

You are my song, my dark-blue dream - Velemir Khlebnikov

You are my song, my dark-blue dream

of doves, of winter's drowsy drone,

This is my country rising - Ernest Pépin

This is my country rising 

With the sun's luminous fist

It puts sandals of justice on its feet