What (E)Merges - Omar Sakr

It is a national emergency
when people with faces
(like mine) seek refuge.

A Bag of Perseverance - Shahd Alnaouq

I am to live in a tent, together with my perseverance.
Each night I wrap myself in her, begging her
not to abandon me on this long dark road.

Emergency Meeting - Abdullah Al Salem

Baghdad, be patient.  What’s the rush?
We’ll come solve the problem.
We’ve never forgotten you;
We’ve just been busy with related tales.

War Chant - Kai Uwe Faust

The household wanes,
Vil threw a death wave over those
the oar locks wore out for, with the tired mast-top 
Who brought...
Who brought the horde over to the far country?

When you ask me where I am - Nazira Berdaly

When you ask me where I am
I could ask myself the same
as I think about life and verses.

White Blindness - Pireeni Sundaralingam

My country is a white blindness,
an absence of newsprint,
a vacuum of words,
the falling snow of radio static.

Man Without Fear - Sholeh Wolpé

I hear shots.
It’s the wind, I say.
Then, loud murmurs.
Surely the fountain below my room.
The moon is a bruised fist tonight.
It has obliterated the stars.

Your scent is in the air - Rauf Tagiyev

Beside me, a cup of tea has gone cold,
My days and months keep passing as I stare at the roads.
I forgot the seasons,
I can’t even tell if it’s winter or summer anymore.
Where are you, my love?
My voice, my cry… it can’t reach you.

Keys of the Better Place - Heritier

Before this distraction
Life was a simple word to describe
We were used to mingling with different people from different cultures and races.

A Flock of Birds - Saddiq Dzukogi

    I want to force birds against the sky of my mouth.
               Beating their wings toward that infinity of songs.

Land of my Forefathers - Mathalea Ntaote

High in the bosom of snow-crowned mountains,
Where winds sing hymns only peaks know,
The valleys hold whispers of cattle bells,
Silent vow-taking spirits linger where my forefather’s graves lay.

Box of coloured pencils - Nadia Mifsud

you are my cousin, my aunt
you are my brother-in-law, my sister
you are the boy who sat next to me
on the classroom bench

Distinctive face - Anila Bukhari

I was born into a family of beauty and charm,
But I was the odd one out, with a distinctive face.
My hair wasn’t long and black, but short and brown,
My skin was not fair, but a deep shade of brown.

The Luny law - Maryam Ala Amjadi

WARNING NO (1):
This is not a poem
I’m just trying to ask you 
to hear what I’m not saying 
and I promise
these tears are not mine 

Like Elephants - Gaamangwe Mogami

Before the sad years made homes in our bones,
And our blood turned into riots,
We hang our swelling breasts in the branches of mamma’s¹ morala tree,
And we sang old gospels to the humans sleeping thick in our ribs,
Yet to be born.

Freedom Writers - Nimah Ismail Nawwab

The scribe’s spirit lifts
scenting the perfume of promising openness
taking a deep breath of tangy freshness
freedom of speech hailed in surprised jubilation

Listening to Mukesh - Pooja Nansi

Driving to your block,
I slide in my father’s cassette
of old Hindi songs and
I am humming in twilight
to the legendary
playback singer’s baritone

It's morning and the sun carries naked treetops like antlers - Almin Kaplan

It's morning and the sun carries naked treetops like antlers

*
Trucks emerge from the night
And vanish into the day

Yesterday you fell asleep - Margarida Ferra

Yesterday you fell asleep, we
still had all the knives in our mouths,
three unused.

Why do you look like them? - Victoria Amelina

Why do you look like them?
Maybe you are brothers?