POETS OF THE WORLD UNITE AGAINST WARPOETRY PLANETARIAT ISSUE 2, FALL 2019, ISTANBUL / MEDELLIN POETS...

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Poetry Planetariat Issue 2, Fall 2019 Istanbul / Medellin Poets of the World Unite Against Injustice

Transcript of POETS OF THE WORLD UNITE AGAINST WARPOETRY PLANETARIAT ISSUE 2, FALL 2019, ISTANBUL / MEDELLIN POETS...

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POETRY PLANETARIAT

ISSUE 2, FALL 2019, ISTANBUL / MEDELLIN

POETS OF THE WORLD UNITE AGAINST WAR

World Poetry Movement

Istanbul / Medellin

Poetry Planetariat

Issue 2, Fall 2019 Istanbul / Medellin

Poets of the World Unite Against Injustice

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Copyright 2019 World Poetry MovementPublisher: World Poetry [email protected]

Editor: Ataol Behramoğlu [email protected] Editor: Pelin [email protected]

Editorial Board: Mohammed Al-Nabhan (Kuwait), Ayo Ayoola-Amalae (Nigeria), Francis Combes (France), Jack Hirschman (USA), Jidi Majia (China), Fernando Rendón (Colombia), Rati Saxena (India), Keshab Sigdel (Nepal)

Design and layout by Eduardo Emilio Esperza Mejia and Gülizar Ç. Çetinkaya [email protected]

Adress: Tekin Publishing House Ankara Cad.Konak Han, No:15 Cağaloğlu-İstanbul/TurkeyTel:+(0212)527 69 69 Faks:+(0212)511 11 12www.tekinyayinevi.come-mail:[email protected] XXXXXPoetry Planetariat is published four times a year in Istanbul by the World Poetry Movement in cooperation with

Ataol Behramoğlu-Pelin Batu and Tekin Publishing House

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CONTENTS

POETRY AND PEACE/ATAOL BEHRAMOĞLUPOETRY: REJECTING ALL BORDERS IN THE SOUL/JIDI MAJIA

REPORTS FROM CHENGDU/FERNANDO RENDON

POETRYAZAM ABIDOV (UZBEKISTAN, 1974)

DRAGAN DRAGOJLOVIC  (SERBIA, 1941)ELLIE PEONIDOU (GREECE, 1940)

PAOLO RUFFILLI (ITALY, 1949)LAURA GARAVAGLIA ((ITALY, 1956)

HASSANAL ABDULLAH (BANGLADESH/USA, 1967)DILEEP JHAVERI (INDIA, 1943)

KAREN MELANDER MAGOON (USA, 1943)SERGEY BIRYUKOV (RUSSIA,1950)

MAXIM AMELIN (RUSSIA, 1970)RAMIZ ROYSHAN (AZERBAIJAN, 1946)

GREG POND (USA)DIVINE ONYEKWENA (NIGERIA)

SHEIKHO (KURDISH, 1986)FRANCIS COMBES (FRANCE, 1953)

IN MEMORIAMYannisRitsos (1909-1990)Iris Murdoch (1919-1999)

MANIFESTOSWilfred Owen’s Dulceet Decorum Estas an anti-war manifesto

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POETRY AND PEACE

Ataol Behramoğlu (Turkey)

We know that like all concepts, good and evil are the products of mankind’s evolution.

But at this point these are not relative but absolute concepts.

No sane mind can assert that the spilling of blood, the taking life, or in short, war is a good thing.

Then why can’t the world reach a stage of peace without recourse?

Science and poetry can answer this crucial question in their own original ways.

Science shows us that the origin of war is ambition, exploitation and the economic order of the world.

Poetry underlines the good and peaceful sentiments within us, the plain purity and de-votion we nurture against all that is evil, selfish and ruthless thereby deepening us emotionally, intellectually and ethically.

Therefore it behooves both science and poetry to help bring about peace.

During the Third International Poetry Week that took place between 3-9 September in Chendgu, China, The World Poetry Movement’s coordination committee decided that our November-December activities would center around the idea that “Poetry is the Path to Peace.” The second issue of the Poetry Planetariat was therefore put together around this motto.

In a session he held on the 6th of September, the Vice-Chairman of China Writer’s Association and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of Chengdu International Poetry Week JidiMajia underlines the peaceful nature of poetry under the title, “Poetry: Rejecting All Borders in the Soul.” In this talk, Majia states:

“Poetry as and art form of the highest levels of spirituality for human beings, can doubtless sustain the dialogues and exchanges between souls of people of different ethnic groups. It can also bridge the differences and enhance understanding so we can reach the fu-ture shore of fraternal love.”

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You will get to read the whole speech in this issue of the Poetry Planetariat.

We will also share sections of the speech of a leading member of World Poetry Move-ment’s coordination committee, Fernando Rendon, also uttered in Chengdu.

After our poetry section we will commemorate our great contemporary Yannis Ritsos (1909-2010) on the 110th anniversary of his birth and 19th year of his death with his immor-tal poem “Peace.”

Another guest we commemorate in our second issue is the novelist, philosopher and poet Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) on the 100th anniversary of her birth and 20th year of her death. We thought it apt to publish Winfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” as an anti-war manifesto in this issue...

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POETRY: REJECTING ALL BORDERS IN THE SOUL

JidiMajia (China)

Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Chengdu International Poetry Week 2019

Mr. JidiMajia,Vice-Chairman of China Writer’s Association and Chairman of the Or-ganizing Committee of Chengdu International Poetry Week

Ladies and gentlemen, poet friends, as the Chairman of the Poetry Week’s Organizing Committee, I would like to welcome all poets to Chengdu, the city of poetry. It is because of you that this poetry week has become a poetry festival, and it is also because of you that we are looking forward to fruitful interaction this week. During Poetry Week we will continue our pursuit of peace and the development of mankind through communication and exchange among poets from different countries, ethnicities and cultures. I am confident that this year’s poetry week will prove that poetry will play an extremely important role to serve this purpose.

We live in a world of drastic changes. Every morning people wake up only to find news that causes us great concern on TV and in the newspaper- news of disputes, conflicts, violence and disasters. It seems as if the existing international order is no longer maintained and that a new one has not yet been established. This, along with the growing uncertainty of the world, means it’s safe to say that today human beings once again stand at a crossroads, and we must decide which path will lead to a bright future. I believe that it is not only politicians who must answer this question, but that every person living on this planet must answer this question. Perhaps because humans have made unprecedented achievements in science and technology, especially in nuclear and biological technology and artificial intelligence for military use, as soon as human conflict is no longer contained, the results will be catastrophic. The reality of today’s worlds tell us once again that since the two world wars ended, human beings have yet to complete a meaningful examination of our deficiencies. Of course, this self reflection should be conducted on moral and ethical levels, but also from the historical perspective and in terms of current realities. As witnesses and victims of war, many great thinkers and philos-ophers have written in depth about the causes of the Holocaust and crimes against humanity. The philosopher Hannah Arendt, in her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, thoroughly analyzes why people are constantly producing new kinds of evil. The book not only reveals the evil of individuals in human nature; more importantly, it shows her reflections on mankind as a whole. She tells us a simple truth, which is that none of us should remain silent during crimes

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or disasters. Rather, we must speak out with courage, or eventually we will lose the chance to speak out.

Since the end of World War II, conflicts have continued to arise due to territorial and religious interests, along with geopolitical reasons, and the casualties have been equally shocking. Particularly within the context of globalization, new crises confronting all people such as climate change, eco-catastrophe, mass starvation and lethal pandemics seem to emerge endlessly. When faced with such challenges, it becomes necessary and urgent to build a com-munity with a shared future for all mankind. Poetry as and art form of the highest levels of spirituality for human beings, can doubtless sustain the dialogues and exchanges between souls of people of different ethnic groups. It can also bridge the differences and enhance un-derstanding so we can reach the future shore of fraternal love.

These dialogues and exchanges, of course, not based on any of the so-called patterns or standards, will have the greatest respect for differences and the respect for diversity is a due virtue in human nature. The fruits of our communication, as well as the outcomes facilitated by this type of constructive dialogue, will give new meaning to this era. Therefore, I firmly believe that every nation, in addition to upholding it traditional culture and other distinct features, will identify with the human consciousness of universality that will eliminate all the barriers among human beings and turn this into reality.

Only this way can we eliminate all the friction and oppositions caused by differences, and stand on the height of building a common destiny of mankind so as to perceive, recog-nize and share all the creations which are conformable and conductive to the comprehensive development of the individuals and human society. Poetry will not die out, like man will not. Admittedly Adorno’s No Poetry after Auschwitz has been quoted a million times, but until today the voices made by poetry and the strength it shows still represent the flowers on the flag of human justice, the wind of freedom blowing across the land, the brightest stars in the dusky sky, the shiniest dew at dawn. I once said, and I will tell you again here today, it is the existence and continuation of poetry that gives mankind and all the great civilization on earth a reason to embrace a bright future.

My poet friends, it is because you have come here that we can work together to complete this glorious mission. I believe that regardless of what country or region you come from, we gave an irreplaceable role as poets. We have the responsibility to make the world safer, hu-man society more harmonious, and to make people’s lives more satisfactory. The principles of openness, respect, inclusiveness, understanding and sharing advocated in international poetry exchange cannot merely be confined to poetic essentials in terms of content or format. What is more, at a time when great clamors have arisen about unilateralism, extreme nationalism, terrorism and the like, we need to speak up for justice, for a world to be free from all barriers. Our poetry will reject all borders in the soul, and we will build a community with a shared future for mankind today with our strength, wisdom, action and poetry. My poet friends, I believe that with your joint efforts, this festival will successfully complete every item on the agenda. I also believe that the achievements of your frank and creative exchange will become a glorious part of the recorded history of international poetry exchange.

Thank you.

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REPORTS FROM CHENGDU

Fernando Rendon (Columbia)

The circumstances of enormous gravity, which represent the political, military, social, economic and cultural situation of our time, which inevitably brings us closer to the edges of a nuclear conflict, to which the continued genocide against many peoples of the Earth are added, the activation of historical conflicts within many nations, the planned ecocide which was painfully evidenced much more with hundreds of fires in the Amazon jungle during the past month, the visible danger of the extinction of the life in the oceans and the difficulties extreme survival of more than one billion people in the world, among other serious situations, lead us to conclude on the essential need for the voice of poetry to rise above the horror and despair to accompany the peoples of the Earth in the process of radical and definitive solution of its crucial problems.

For this it is necessary that we focus our attention on improving our internal and exter-nal communications, on sharing all our responsibilities and the tasks collectively, on building processes towards the formation of strong continental and national collective directions, on nurturing with our own texts, and on friends, poets throughout the world, our website and our social networks, in visualizing the spirit of convening our next campaigns in the short and medium term and, finally, urgently identifying funding sources consistent with our policy spiritual, to preserve a basic WPM working group that makes our tasks and objectives viable in the practical field.

I suggest summarizing some of our fundamental principles in these lines:

If poetry can feed us, it can feed everyone.

Poetry is not written for critics or academia. It exists for all individuals and peoples. It is their way of inhabiting, dreaming, transforming themselves in the midst of the incessant change of human society.

It is necessary to found new and many poetry festivals throughout the world.

Festivals are the open book of contemporary poetry. The book of those who “have no books.”

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Global poetic actions must be developed as an expression of human cultural and spiritual resistance.

Poetry should use all possible means to nourish human nature.

Thus poetry will contribute, through a world poetic revolution, to the transformation and liberation of society from our time.

The night of September 5th, a group of members of the Coordinating Committee of the World Poetry Movement (including five members from American countries, three from Asia, three From Europe and one from Africa) met at the Xinhua Hotel in Chengdu, to examine the situation of our organization and consider work proposals aimed at strengthening them and their influences in the world.

In the midst of the meeting we consider it necessary to continue working to achieve the goals of WPM, looking for ways to disseminate poetry in a more efficient way and to con-tribute to promoting communication between poets and the peoples of the different nations of the Earth, to help the world achieve peace, justice and harmony.

We agreed to continue promoting a responsible reflection on the crisis in the world to-day, to converge on actions that materialize the unity of poets and peoples and bring closer the time of a profound spiritual and cultural transformation.

Above all, we consider it essential to promote the participation of peoples, that is, that peoples can be part and to form the World Poetic Movement.

Contributing to changing the history of the world through poetic revolution is an em-blematic proposition that can be a guide to WPM’s next action, aimed at promoting a World Without Wars. The next global WPM action should be associated with the content of the new edition of Poetry Planetariat.

Given our relationship with poets of all generations in 170 countries, we should consid-er changing the format of communications, conceding and implementing a strategy to bring new generations closer. To do this we must work with greater commitment on our website, which is urgently urgent to redesign and put our attention on social networks. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and WeChat and, through a programmer, optimize searches and access to WPM content. We need to introduce experimental poetry to communication to communities, appealing to the constant editing and publication of audiovisual material and all possible technological medias, including video games.

It is urgent to seek and materialize an alliance with all arts and artists, and even with journalists and progressive sectors of thought and academia.

Our work must favor the world’s children, adolescence, youth and older adults and be strategically projected with great energy at all levels of formal and informal education, prima-ry, middle and university education, democratizing the word, and should also focus on the new voices of poetry, increasingly including them in international poetry festivals, to encourage their works and their commitment to the creation and to the World Poetry Movement.

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POETRY

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AZAM ABIDOV (Uzbekistan, 1974)

Do not leave a small space in between! Make sure none on it can ever crawl – Set up a burning wire and touch-screen! As you build it – take a look above – See us laughing – so would you bewitch? In our hearts full of delight and love We have built a higher Lyric Bridge! We share future, present-day and past, We target common people, not the witch! We will break below the overcast –

We are the poets on the Lyric Bridge!

AazamAbidov is poet and translator, one of the founders of the Creative Writing and Translation Club in Tashkent, winner of Ulughbek Fund’s prize for poetry. He also gained BBC Uzbek Service’s award for literature. He published more than ten poetry and translation books, including Tunes of Asia (anthology of contemporary Uzbek poetry in English); A Miracle is on the Way; and I leave You in Complete Boredom. Aazam tries to become a bridge between contemporary Uzbek literature and World Literature. He attended creative writing programs, poetry and translation festivals in the USA, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India, Kazakhstan and Colombia.

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DRAGAN DRAGOJLOVIC  (Serbia, 1941)

THIS EVENING WE WERE

at the serviceof our friend’s  artand had the pleasureof mingling with the colorsthat emanate moments ofhis soul’s  solitude. Besides that,we discussed other issues,mostly the power of paintingand the capacity of colorto restore the oldand discover new worldsaround us and within ourselves,we also talked about casual matters,but not about refuge columns,not about the migration of peoplefleeing democratic bombs,not about the future. At this frantic timecould we possiblyhave spent the eveningin a better way!

Dragan Dragojlović was born in Serbia. He graduated and obtained his master’s degree in Economy at Belgrade University. He published 20 poetry books in Serbian language then three books of selected poems and a book Selected and new poems. He has also published numerous novels, short stories and childrens books. His poetry books have been published in many languages. He is the recipient of many literary awards in his own country and has received two literary awards abroad. He is the member of the Academy of American Poets. He became a full member of the Eropean Academy of Poetry in 2009. Dragojlovic translates poetry from English language. He lives in Belgrade.

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ELLIE PEONIDOU (Greece, 1940)

APHRODITE’S MOURNING FOR THE DEAD ADONIS

This land, like a bitter-mouthed Madonnareluctuntly half turned towards the Mediterraneanand undecidedcradled and gathers still my sorrowlike a sheep’s bleat or the cicadas lullaby.

My feet a headrestmy lips a breathand my sunsheilding hair...o joy, o bitter joy.

Thus as the flying fish slice the watergently yet sure of their element I pass my hands through your hair.

On your upper lip three dropsof sweat still glisten;at your fingertips I am sure a small forgotten veinstill pulses in duty’s habit.And I am here, like the Earth, forever suffering.How priceless to the immortal Godsis the gift of Death.

Elli Peonidou was born in 1940 in Vasa, a vine village near Limassol, Cyprus. She is the author of more than 30 books of poetry, prose and children literature.. She has also translated foreign poetry into Greek.Her books are translated in France, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovakia, Rumania ,China etc. Her poetry has been translated in several European languages. Her work for children has been highly praised and one of her books was chosen for the honorary list of IBBY.E.P. has been awarded many prices and distinctions including the First State Price more than once.She is married to the author PanicosPeonides, has two children and three granddaughters and lives in Limassol, Cyprus.

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PAOLO RUFFILLI (Italy, 1949)

TUNNEL

And all at onceinside the tunnelthat goes on and on,in the dead airthat tickles your throat.All those journeysThat have led me here before.And yet, no, it’s no useRecalling or comingForward once.I knock into the wallAnd thus become aware,during the blindand selfsame passagelike a reflectionof a ghost of myself,of what has beenof how, deep downand against my very will,I have quite changed.

Paolo Ruffilli was born in 1949. He published the following volumes of poetry: Piccolacolazione(1987, American Poetry Prize) (its English translation isLike it or no, Bordighera Press 2007), Diario di Normandia (1990, Montale Award), Camera oscura (1992)(its English translation isDark Room, Bordighera Press, 2012), Nuvole(1995), La gioia e illutto(2001)(Prix Eu-ropéen) (its English translation isJoy and Mourning, Dedalus Press 2004),Poesie(2001), its English translation isWhenever I go, de Bonnefant, 2003),Le stanze del cielo (2008), Affari di cuore (2011), Natura morta (2012, Poetry-Philosophy Award), Variazionisultema (2014,)(Viareggio Award). He also published the story books Preparativi per la partenza(2003) and Un’altra vita (2009), the novel L’isola e ilsogno (2011) and essays.

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LAURA GARAVAGLIA (Italy, 1956)

YUSUF

Yusuf is sitting next to his mother, his body lying faceup in the field.The sunshine is now carving his childish gaze.In the morning lightening in the sky, a blast:perhaps a thunderstorm, but no rainthat melts the soil into a thousand dark rivulets.War deletes the borders of sense.And perhaps it was a game, his mother had been sleeping for hours, her arms folded on her bellyand wouldn’t wake up.And the black chasm had swallowedthe poor things of home.

Yusuf still doesn’t know, his fatherand his brother killed far awaybeyond the dunes of bloodfrom sunrise to sunset.

His mother had been telling tales of love, tales of peace.Yusuf is now waiting for her voice.

Translation by Annarita Tavani

Laura Garavaglia was born in Milan and lives and works in Como. Poet and publicist, she collaborated on the cultural pages of newspapers. He has published various collections of poetry, some of which have been translated into various lan-guages and featured in international magazines and anthologies. He founded and presides over the cultural association “La Casa dellaPoesia di Como”. She is the organizer of the International Festival “Europa in versi” which has been held every year in Como since 2011, linked to the eponymous literary prize, of which she is member of jury as well as the Antonio Fogazzaro Literary Award. He is a member of the Italian and Swiss PEN Club and of the World Poetry Movememt. For her cultural and poetic activity she has been honored with various awards, including in 2018 the Poetry Prize awarded to her by the European Academy of Science Arts and Literature of Paris. She is invited to various international poetry festival.

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HASSANAL ABDULLAH (Bangladesh/USA, 1967)

A BOWL OF HOT SOUP AND A HOMELESS MAN

As I start the day sipping a spoonful of hot soup, I peek from behind the window curtains at the New York sky;the awful stillness all around showsas if it were the sky of Germany right before Hitler’s claculated genocide.We proudly possessEinstein’s poison of human massacre.The warplane with loads of ammunition traveling apace towards the base in the Middle East,though the fragments of my favorite poemswhimper right in front of me.And I remember the hapless eyes of a homeless man to whom I gave a quarter in the subway last night,stumbled out of the train with hisrancid clothing and remaining energyto buy a beer as the train stopped in the station.War, ammunition, and the atom bomb do not make any sense to him.

Fatima, an Iraqi mom, laid her second son in the grave just two days ago for the lack of food and medicine, now is ready to sacrifice her last child to the misguided shrapnel from a bomb.The only son of Marian, an American mom, flies out towards the desertleaving behind the heartfelt screams of his mom. The homeless man of last night and the hot bowl of soupin front of me have nothing to do with this at all. What could I do now except weaving the contorted depression of human suffering?

Translated from the Bengali by EkokSoubir

Hassanal Abdullah, a Bangladeshi-American poet, translator, and critic. He introduced a new sonnet form, Swatantra Sonnet, seven-seven stanza pattern and abcdabcefgdefg rhyming scheme, more than 200 of which he wrote in Bengali. He is the author of 43 books in various genres, has written a 304-page epic, Nakhatra O ManusarProchhad(Ananya, 2007, 2nd edition 2017), where, based on several scientific theories, he illustrates relations between human beings and the universe. The second edition of his Selected Poems was published in 2014. He edited the Twentieth Century Bengali Poetry (Bangla Text, Mowla, 2015). His three bilingual poetry collections, Breath of Bengal (CCC, 2000), Under the Thin Layers of Light (CCC, 2015) and Swatantra Sonnets: Bengali with English Translation (Feral Press & CCC, 2017) are available at Amazon.com. In 2016, he was invited to attend the International Silk Road Poetry Festival in Szechuan , China where he was awarded the Homer European Medal of Poetry & Art. He also received the Labubhai Foundation Award (2013) for his innovative sonnets, and was the honorable mention of Queens Borough Poet Laureate in 2007. Mr. Abdullah is the editor of Shabdaguchha, since 1998, and a New York City High School Math Teacher.

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DILEEP JHAVERI (INDIA, 1943)

ONCE THIS MIST CLEARS

Once this mist clearswill I see the mountain ranges beyondwith dense treetops and waterfalls along the slopes?Will I see the birds? The stars? The clouds?The lighted windows of the town?The bakery? The pavement?The solitary finger tapping on the door?The palpable darkness?The darkness holding the shroud of mist?

Once this mist clearswill I see ice blue air and topaz skyand curling smoke from the chimneys?An eternity has festered within this dreary roomlittered with hulking chairsdisarrayed desk, worn out carpet, compliant curtainsvacuous vessels, scruffy shelves and maudlin mirrorssurviving in a silent cacophony of lifeless existence

When this mist clearsI want to emerge in simple wordsthat vibratelike a trill from trickling faucetswirl like steam from a coffeepotfloat like dust in a sunbeamslip softly from lonely lipsand say I love youto no one in particularbut to everything

Born in Iowa, Karen Melander graduated from Indiana University in Music and received her Masters Degree from Boston University. She spent two decades in Europe singing on the major stages of Germany and Austria. In 2008 she received her Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She has been active as Chairman of Unitarian Universalist Forum for two years, addressing issues of social justice, human rights and ecological responsibility. She has published numerous books, written musicals and songs.

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KAREN MELANDER MAGOON (USA, 1943)

FOG

The fog ate up the cityVestiges of thought remainedClinging to her teethA bird knocked at my windowSlipping into nothingness The fog smothered the cityIn feathers”Spilling from a pillow of lightGulls flew through feathersUnaware of their kinship The fog walked silently Holding hands with ghostsDisappearing in the morning airTo sounds of bells Smoke rises Reaching up into the afternoon fog blanketDissipating in the brilliant sunHiding herself not so discretelyAbove a fog-drenched city

Born in Iowa, Karen Melander graduated from Indiana University in Music and received her Masters Degree from Boston University. She spent two decades in Europe singing on the major stages of Germany and Austria. In 2008 she received her Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She has been active as Chairman of Unitarian Universalist Forum for two years, addressing issues of social justice, human rights and ecological responsibility. She has published numerous books, written musicals and songs.

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SERGEY BIRYUKOV (Russia)

MOST CONCISE DEFINITION OF A PHILOSOPHER

Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear being a philosopher.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear being a person.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear being.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t.Philosopher – it is a person, who.Philosopher – it is a person.Philosopher it is!Philosopher!

(Read distinctly, gradually strengthening the voice. Repeat everything in the opposite order.) Philosopher!Philosopher it is!Philosopher – it is a person.Philosopher – it is a person, who.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear being.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear being a person.Philosopher – it is a person, who doesn’t fear being a philosopher.

Translated from Russian by Erina Megowan

He was born on 19 May 1950 in Torbeyevka village at the Tambovskaya region. Russian poet ,and literary critic. Founder and president of the Zaum Academy. Doctor of Cultural Affairs (2007).He was graduated at the Tambovsk Pedagogy Institute.

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MAXIM AMELIN (RUSSIA, 1970)

Satiety prevails, not taste,despite the Frenchman’s discerning mouth.At least four centuries he’s spentloving taste, urbane and proud.Still, his subtleties prove paltryto any man who’s hungry.

The normal folk just don’t prefersmall plates arrayed until they’re dizzyin lieu of lots of soup and porridge.It’s easier to stomach beautywhen your stomach fills your vest:satiety is our happiness!

The one who stuffs these folks with pap,fills ’em up and staves off hunger,will soon excel in verbal craft.So empty your fridge, unload your larder,cook up the contents however you choose—just don’t be stingy, Russian muse!

Translated by Derek Mong& Anne O. Fisher

He is a poet, essayist, translator, researcher of poetry, and publisher. Born in 1970 in the city of Kursk in Western Russia, he studied at the Gorky Literary Institute in Saint Petersburg, and for fourteen years was the director of Saint Peters-burg’s Symposium Publishing House. He currently lives in Moscow, where he is the Editor-in-Chief for OGI Publishing House. Amelin is the author of three books of poetry, Cold Odes (1996), Dubia (1999), The Gorgon’s Steed (2003), and the collection of poetry, articles and essays The Curved Speech (2011). His poems have been translated into numerous languages. He is also the author of numerous articles and essays about poets and poetry and has compiled a number of poetry anthologies, including An Anthology of Contemporary Russian Poetry (Beijing: National Literature, 2006). Ame-lin is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Anti-Booker (1998), the prestigious Moscow Count Prize (2004, 2012), the Bunin Prize (2012) and, most recently, the Solzhenitsyn Prize (2013).  He is a member of the Russian PEN Center and the Guild of Literary Translators. In the U.S., Amelin’s poetry is included in Crossing Centuries: The New Generation in Russian Poetry (Talisman House Publishers, 2000).

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RAMIZ ROYSHAN (AZERBAIJAN, 1946)

THE SKY CANNOT HOLD A STONEHey guy, throwing stones up in the skyThe sky cannot hold a stone!My son, what happened to your head?Who cut your hair?Who gave you this funny look?

Hey guy, throwing stones up in the skyYour pants and jacket are bigger than you,The sky is wider than your eyes.

Feeling pity for you,The sky will hold the stones for awhile.Keeping the stones in its hand,The sky will test you for years.The sky will keep those stones,Until hair grows back on your head,Until your clear eyes become blurry.

You will eat what you have,You will wear what you have,You will grow up, my son.Your eyes will become larger as you grow,The tears will grow in your eyes.Your hands will grow bigger, as you growThe stones will grow bigger,Which you have thrown up in the sky.

If fate smiles at you,If your death is a little late.If you could build up a fence or a house,From those stones on Earth.

If your life lasts as a rainbow,You will get a bit of each color.When your grave is dug on Earth,Maybe the gravestone will come down from the sky.

Hey guy, throwing stones up in the skyThe sky doesn’t hold a stone.

Translated by Aynura Huseinova

Poet and screenwriter Ramiz MammadalioghluRovshan was born in Baku on December 15, 1946. He graduated from the Philology Faculty of Azerbaijan State University (1969) and a two – year filmmaking course in Moscow in 1978. Several films are base on his scripts. His poems and stories have been translated to many languages. He was honoured with “Turkish World Science, Culture and Art Award” in 2013. Elected to the Eurasian Academy and honoured with the prestigious Eurasian Legend Award (2019) and conferred with the Honorary People’s Poet by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s Order of May 25, 2019.

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GREG POND (USA)

THE EARTH’S IN CRISISthe earth’s in crisisthe earth is reelingthe earth is cryingthe earth is screaming and bleedingthe earth is dying right before our eyeswith the severity of hurricanes, heat wavesenvironmental abuse, misuse and neglectblistering cold, record lows and years of human disrespectthe earth’s in crisisthe ice cap melts as the globe warms the climate changeswe wonder what comes nexthow do we expire the fires that ravage and scorch the land?when will we ever stop dropping oil in the ocean and plastics in the sand?the earth’s in crisisif we continue to pollutemother earth and sister seathere’ll be no legacy for our youthdaddy animals or brother treeswhich will spell the demiseof the planetary familythe earth’s in crisiscan’t you hear, can’t you feel, can’t you seethe earth is reelingthe earth is cryingthe earth is screaming and bleedingwhile we are all dyingright before its eyesthe earth’s in crisis

He was born in Brooklyn, NY to Panamanian immigrants and moved to San Francisco in the late 1970’s. He enjoyed a 30+ year career in commercial/cable television and radio. Greg is the author and publisher of four books of poetry, Af-termoon / Blackened Blue /4:00 a.m. (LIGHT) / 4:00 a.m. (DARK).He is  also featured in: Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal and Overthrowing Capitalism anthologies.Greg is a regular open mic participant, including events sponsored by SF Public Library, The Beat Museum, SF Queer Open Mic, Howard Zinn Book Fair, etc. 

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DIVINE ONYEKWENA (Nigeria)

POETRY IS A PATH OF PEACE

Yesterday, I went downstairs Downstairs to that part of my house, I wanted to forget For demons blurred my visionDotted my T’s, crossed my I’sEyes that saw Mumbreathe her last Last fires that burned out for my hands turned to ashes in helplessness The helplessness that made me curse my letters and throw my pen away Away into that part of my heart that held poetry 

Yesterday, I unlocked that part For in a jar of fireflies In a smile like a symphony, bravery like thunder In laughter like the sun, healing from time, tears that whisper peaceI found poetry again.  

Onyekwena Divine Adachukwu, a black-brown lady who comes from a place filled with love and hopes she has enough sunshine for the shadows. She is a student of NnamdiAzikiwe University, Awka. She loves poetry and she is not about to drop her pen anytime soon.  

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SHEIKHO (Kurdish, 1986)

I feel the thousands of people who dwell within me They are walking under my skin Their footsteps are hurting me They share my breath When I breathe in I become shameful When I breathe out I yawn This is getting annoying These people live a normal life At midnight, the racket Of their parties wakes me up They rouse me from their work so they can sleep And I become dull and cold Their long walks tire me My feet cannot bear All their shoes anymore I’ve even closed my ears until further notice As the voices within have saturated them I cannot stop thinking. Stories I haven’t experienced Worry me *** I feel I can fly I go on the balcony and try I’m positive: there are birds dwelling in me I throw myself in a swimming pool In an attempt to save The fish within me *** Yesterday I made a mistake Instead of taking off my shirt I’ve torn off my skin I would have loved to meet them But I haven’t seen a soul I stroke my chest And screamed Is there anybody in? A FAT LAUGH that lasts minutes, hours, days, and years And no answer yet But the wrinkles starting to show on my face. ..

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Stranger Show me your face You are as pale as a dream As weak and yellow as death As distant as life As truthful as a lie Come sit by my side We can both sit on a single chair I am the lady of the void Lie at my feet Like an autumn leaf I will drown you in a glass of water Which I’ll drink in the morningI will be full of you Which will suffice to carry on living blooming In a room with neither Doors nor Windows Translated from the Arabic by Maram al Masri and Alexis Bernaut

Sheikho was born in 1986. She taught at the Fine Arts University in Damascus. She has published four collections of poetry, and is currently completing a book about artistic experiences in Syria dur-ing the war.She is not a member of “Shaghqat Al-Dawal.”

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FRANCIS COMBES (France, 1953)

THE PLANETARIATFor Jack Hirshman

We who have but one Earth to hold in our hands one Earth to cradle one Earth to care for one single Earth for a homeland one Earth to dwell and on which to stand together We who have nothing except our hands to live and our spirit We who have nothing but our dreams of love and our starry nights We whose electromagnetic waves cross the world at the speed of light We who talk to each other by word of mouth over the borders We who are nothing but on whom everything depends and the fate of planet Earth itself we the new outcasts we the clear shadows we the many, we the numerous we who are the people, who are the world the people to come here we are, here we come, men women children Earthlings we are the Planetariat.

He was born on May 31, 1953, in Marvejols, Lozère (France).He holds a degree in Political Science (1974) and has studied Eastern languages (Russian, Chinese and Hungarian).He has committed himself to the defense of independent publishing, and in 2003, he was one of the founders of L’Autrelivre association, which has a little over one hundred independent publisher affiliates. He was president of the association until February 2012.As a poet, he has published fifteen selections of poems, anthologies and several works in prose.Some of his poems have been translated into different languages (Arab, English, German, Italian, Czech, Portuguese and Spanish). For fifteen years, he has enrolled himself, together with poet Gérard Cartier, in the poetry posters campaign in the Paris subway.He has worked with musicians (primarily with the Chilean composer Sergio Ortega) and written songs as well as opera and musical librettos that have been presented on stage.He has translated Maïakovski, Heine, Brecht, Attila Jozsef, the American poet Jack Hirschman amongst others into French, and has also adapted poets from different countries (Czech, Spanish, Persian, etc.).In December 2011, he was named director of the Poetry International Festival in Val-de-Marne, France.

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IN MEMORIAM

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YannisRitsos (1909-1990)

We respectfully commemorate YannisRitsos on his 110th birth anniversary and on the 19th year of his decease. He was a great Greek poet but not only that, he was one of the greatest poets of the Twentieth Century. Like all great poets, his subjects have been mankind, life and everything pertaining to existence. I was lucky enough to have met, conversed and listened to the great poet at a big peace demonstration either in Thessaloniki or Athens in 1977 where he recited the Peace poem you are about to read in this issue. Our paths crossed a couple more times in Athens and Thessaloniki. We always conversed about poetry, peace, his close friend NazımHikmet, the future of our neighbouring and fraternal countries’ friendship and the future of mankind. As a founding member of the Turkish Peace Association I had to do prison time in 1984 and when it became obvious that I faced a heavy sentence it became imperative that I flee my country. When I took my leave for France first passing through Greece, Ritsos came to bid me farewell from the island he lived on to Athens. We met at his studio for the last time and conversed. As a young brother and co-thinker, I cannot forget what he said to me. “Our lives are beautiful…” he said and continued…”I do not say life, I say our lives…” That is to say, the happiness of his people, the happiness of people and the lives dedicated to poetry was what he we talking about…He said his goodbye like a father greets his son, or a big brother bids his younger brother farewell as I was forced to live abroad as an exile for more than six years. I commemorate him with love and admiration.

AtaolBehramoğluOctober, 2019

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Peace

The dreams of a child are peaceThe dreams of a mother are peace

The words of love under the trees are peace

The father who returns at dusk with a wide smile in his eyeswith a basket in hands full of fruitand the drops of sweat on his brow

are like drops on a jug as it cools its water on the windowsill,are peace

When wounds heal on the world’s faceand it the pits dug by shellfire we have planted trees

and in hearts scorched by conflagration hope sprouts its first budsand the dead can turn over ion their side and sleep without complaining

knowing their blood was not spilled in vain,this is peace.

Peace is the odour of food at eveningWhen an automobile stopping in the street does not mean fear

When a knock on the door means a friendAnd the opening of a window every hour means skyFeasting our eyes with the distant bells of its colours,

this is peace.

Peace is a glass of warm milk and a book before the awakening childWhen wheat stalks lean toward one another saying: the light, the light

And the horizon’s wreath overbrims with light,This is peace.

....When death takes up but little room in the heart

And chimneys point with firm fingers at happinessWhen the large carnation of sunset

can be smelled equally be poet and proletariat,this is peace.

Peace is the clenched fist of menit is warm bread on the world’s table

it’s a mother’s smile.Only this.

Peace is nothing elseAnd that ploughs that cut deep furrows in all earth

Write one name only:Peace. Nothing else. Peace.

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On the backbone of my versesThe train advancing toward the future

Laden with wheat and rosesIs peace.

My brothersall the world with all its dreams

breathes deeply in peace.Give us your hands, brothers,

This is peace.

Translated by Kimon Friar

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Iris Murdoch (1919-1999)

The different natures of Philosophy and Literature

On the 100th year of her birth, we are celebrating Oxford novelist, philosopher and poet Iris Murdoch. As an important writer and thinker Murdoch always separated the two disciplines and took care not to amalgamate her philosophy with her fiction. When asked about writers such as Sartre, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky who openly incorporated their philosophies into their novels, her opinion was that literature and philosophy should stir clear from one another.

In 1977, Iris Murdoch was interviewed by Bryan Magee on the relationship between liter-ature and philosophy. Murdoch holds that the nature of both sciences is very different and that they address different issues. Philosophy according to Murdoch by nature problematizes issues relentlessly. The body of literature in philosophy is very small in volume and many of the problems have not changed since times immemorial. In fact it would not be unfair to say we are still questioning the main issues posited by Plato. Literature, on the contrary, is life. We love telling stories and even relating what happened to us during the day can be considered a form of storytelling. It is omnipresent and does not necessarily impose critical thinking or deep analysis as philosophy does. Literature is often blamed for being sentimental; the au-thor’s feelings, thoughts inevitably seep into the text. But this is not something to be shunned. A good writer needs to have character; his or her tastes, impressions, likes and dislikes could be expressed in the fiction. Philosophy on the contrary is cold; you do not necessarily have to know the philosopher behind his or her works. It is very much like science in this manner. In fact, the more distant, the better.

That being said, philosophy and literature are interlinked in a very subtle way. Though they are different disciplines with differing natures, a writer inevitably incorporates the qualms and questions of his or her times. In this way, even if a writer distances his or herself from his/her times, certain feelings are invariably reflected. No matter how universal a work, the sooth and ash of the times rub off on the work of literature. Philosophy on the other hand is timeless; independent from the war and peace of days, as are its ever-recurring questions. There are of

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course works that are both literary and philosophical, but it is difficult capturing the best of both worlds according to Iris Murdoch. In her opinion, works such as Sartre’s La Nauséeare rare. Works of philosophy that bring art into question are rare too, in her opinion. Schopen-hauer is one of the best examples of philosophers that analyze art deeply, says Murdoch.

The interplay of literature and philosophy comes to the forefront especially when we address the issue of ethics. A novelist should be a moralist but not a teacher, according to Murdoch, for a teacher suggests a didactic approach. In an interview she gave to the Paris Review Murdoch stated that, “A novelist is bound to express values, and I think he should be conscious of the fact that he is, in a sense, a compulsory moralist. Novelists differ, of course, in the extent to which they set out to reflect on morals and to put that reflection into their work. I certainly do reflect and put this reflection into my works, whether or not with success. The question is how to do it. If you can’t do it well, you had better not do it at all. If you have strong moral feelings, you may be in difficulties with your characters because you may want them to be less emphatic than you are yourself. In answer to your question, I think a novelist should be wary of being a teacher in a didactic sense, but should be conscious of himself as a moralist.”

Pelin Batu(October 2019, Istanbul)

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MANIFESTOS

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We thought it would be poignant to share Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” which was written after this dreadful experiences of trench warfare in Northern France during World War I as an anti-war manifesto. He was 24 years old when he wrote the poem and was killed a year later in 1918, just once week before the Armistice of 11 November, 1918. The poem was published posthumously in 1920. In the preface, Wilfred Owen wrote: “This book is not about heroes…My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.”

Page 42: POETS OF THE WORLD UNITE AGAINST WARPOETRY PLANETARIAT ISSUE 2, FALL 2019, ISTANBUL / MEDELLIN POETS OF THE WORLD UNITE AGAINST WAR 4 POETRY AND PEACE Ataol Behramoğlu (Turkey) We

POETRY PLANETARIAT | ISSUE 2, FALL 2019, ISTANBUL / MEDELLINPOETS OF THE WORLD UNITE AGAINST WAR

42

Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.— Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

Note: The last line is a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Horace: “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”