Sunday, July 1, 2018

NILAVRONILL SHOOVRO



WELCOME
TO
OUR POETRY ARCHIVE

The world is now in festive mood. World Cup football is going on in Russia. People are either on the ground or in front of their TV sets, monitors or watching the games in mobile handsets. No, not that everybody is fond of football but most of the peoples are football fans. That is why world cup football is considered as the greatest show on earth. So a large number of people are now extremely busy with the game itself. Yet the July issue of Our Poetry Archive is to be published rightly on time. We consider ourselves fortunate enough, that amidst this festive mood all around the globe, poets are still very keen to publish their creative brilliances in the web journals like OPA. Yes, yet again we are publishing poems of forty seven poets from all over the world in this July edition of Our Poetry Archive. This month we are pleased to introduce a number of new poets to our regular readers. We are also overjoyed to introduce poetess Luz Maria Lopez of Puerto Rico as the “Poet of the Month”. Readers will find her beautiful poems along with an exclusive interview of the poet covering her own poetical world and in-depth discussions on the present world literature with our distinguished interview panel. Poet Aprilia Zank of Deutschland, Alicja Kuberska of Poland, Deborah Brooks Langford of US, Leyla Isik of Turkey and Maria Miraglia of Italy have participated in this lively discussion with our Poet of the Month Luz Maria Lopez. OPA remain obliged to each of them. We hope our readers will also find this interview really worthwhile to spend their time with, along with the collections of poems of other distinguished poets from different parts of the world.

In spite of our constant effort to provide our readers with quality materials, it is really a difficult task to maintain the high standard of literary brilliance with every publication. Yet our effort will remain relentless in all the upcoming issues to maintain the literary quality. We therefore request our regular contributors to send us only their best creative excellences so that in the mind of our readers their poems will reign supreme. It’ll also make their poetry more famous worldwide.

Actually poetry brings different souls closer to each other. They touch the inner cords of the hearts and can create a symphony of human souls dancing with the tune of the eternity. We at Our Poetry Archive really do believe this from our heart. All our efforts always remain along with this direction only. Yes, we have come along more than three years across this path to bring different cultural traditions and literary heritages more and more close to each other. We hope our mission will pick-up to the next gear in the upcoming years with the constant support and contributions of our poets and readers around the world.

Language communicates with people and time, nature and soul. The forms may differ but the essence remains the same and powerful if the creator can express his or her talent with proper dignity and elegance. And poetry is one of the best medium for this purpose. The primary obligation of a poet is to communicate with her inner self. To broaden the canvas of his or her vision as well as feelings for both the life as a conscious being and people and time in general. Poetry is born If and only if one can achieve this.

Some would like to argue about this primary obligation of a poet, saying that the true goal of poetry or literature or any form of art in general is to save mankind from the demons of ego, pride and the greed to rule over others to gain more and more power. We wouldn’t like to argue with their views with counter arguments, but what we would try to emphasize is that one can go forward to fulfill these obligations only when one can establish a self identity communicating with his or her inner self.

To establish this self-identity is really vital especially for a poet if he or she really wants to communicate with a wider audience across geographical locations and time. Only then he or she can make an impression in literary history without which nobody can fulfill that true obligation of an artist – that of saving mankind as many people demand from a poet. And this establishing of self-identity is actually spiritual in essence. Where, the poet can find himself within his inner soul as well as along with the Universal Soul. Yes both in tandem. We can call this the spiritual cultivating of poetry.

Keeping in mind, this July we are also pleased to announce in advance to our readers, that this year also Our Poetry Archive is bringing another grand Anthology like all the previous years. This time we’ll publish OPA Anthology Of Spiritual Poetry-‘Beyond Borders’. Our readers are well aware that we have already published three Anthologies in the first three years of our web publishing. We have published OPA Anthology of Peace Poetry Against Terrorism. Which was followed by OPA Anthology of Poetry Against Racism. And last year we have published OPA Anthology of Contemporary Women Poets. So we thought that this time we can work on spirituality to extend our knowledge and experiences about life eternal and even beyond the known world in accordance with the Universal Soul. To our surprise a large number of poets around the world both known and previously unknown to us had participated in this Anthology with lot of enthusiasm. We hope like the previous Anthologies this upcoming one will also win our readers’ attention greatly.

From The Editorial Desk
OPA
A
WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB
PRESENTATION!

PUBLISHED BY

OPA

OUR
POETRY ARCHIVE
ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL
email us to:
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LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ


OUR POETRY ARCHIVE FEATURED
POET OF THE MONTH
LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ
JULY 2018




ALICJA KUBERSKA: What does poetry mean to you?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Everything that exists is a form of poesy. Poetry is by far beauty, evolution, revolution, transformation, sublimation and healing source. 

ALICJA KUBERSKA: What’s according to you the meaning of poetry in the contemporary world?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Poetry is a revolutionary force. Guards the spiritual, moral and social responsibilities that seek universal brotherhood, justice where there is abuse, peace where there is confrontation, love where there is hatred, beauty where there is dreariness. Gabriel Celaya believed that poetry is a weapon loaded with future. It certainly carries on its shoulders all the struggles and victories of our people.  For poetry urges change, renewal, cultural bliss and humanistic wisdom. Also, poetry touches all souls. Transformation is a poetic deed.

ALICJA KUBERSKA:  Can you describe your creative process while writing a new poem?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: It never is a plan. Poetry comes to me at any moment and I must grab it then or it flies away into another direction. I write – nonstop - until I feel I have reached the full force of it. If not, I leave it dormant. Afterwards I read it all, edit the less possible.

ALICJA KUBERSKA:  Did it happen to you that a poem was just your dream?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Yes. Lucid dream!

ALICJA KUBERSKA: Tell us about your inspiration. What’re the most important subjects to you?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Lately are the social issues, women’s issues, children’s issues, that have more weight into my writing.  For I have a responsibility as a poet, I do take very seriously the silenced voices and try to convey all possible mirrors to seek a response from this estrangement that is killing our sense of empathy and justice.


MARIA MIRAGLIA:  Which were the emotions that inspired your first verses?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Love! Or was it a mystic trance?

MARIA MIRAGLIA:  Was your aspiration to become a poet or did all happen by chance?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: I was always a poet at heart. For why I would fetch little orphaned birds from fallen nests and take home with me? Therefore, poetry awakened in me at an early age.  I believe that we all have that soul binding force within us.

MARIA MIRAGLIA:  Who is the first person you read your poems to and why?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: I read to a friend that believes in poetry and because this soul has greater sensibility as to trust that poetry is an act of loving oneself and others, and poems are sublimated cosmos and fractal mirrors too.

MARIA MIRAGLIA:  Have you published any poetic anthology, if so what did you feel the first time you got it in your hands?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Yes, I have published anthologies in English and Spanish. The first time to clasp it in my hands is a very emotional moment, like holding a “colibrí” (humming bird).

MARIA MIRAGLIA:  Who are the poets you prefer reading? Do you get inspiration from them?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: I prefer to read poets that are giving all their spirit and mind for the true nature of poetry.


APRILIA ZANK:  How important is accessibility of meaning to you? Do you challenge the readers to work hard to decipher your poems, or do you prefer transparency of meaning?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ:  A poem is always to be read with soul and mind and while it requires deciphering the poet’s intention and message, it shall never be a mystery undiscovered. More, like a communion, where the reader also attaches strings to itself, relates to those feelings, see things that were not intended originally in the poem, gives a new dimension to it,  because each one reads according to own history of life and perspectives. Meaning and Transparency are qualities that shall be balanced.

APRILIA ZANK:  What kind of poems do you write mostly? Do you have recurring themes, or are all your poems unique?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Lately, I am writing more about social issues, but also eco-poetry and soul binding emotions (spiritual), salt poetry (a challenge). But yes, I consider each poem unique in essence, even if the theme is a recurrent one, like “love”. 

APRILIA ZANK:  Do you think your poetry is typically feminine / masculine? If yes, in what way?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Poetry is soul, not genre. One could say however that there are instances in which feminine and masculine seem to be two ways into poetry, still I feel as oneness, not totally differentiated.

APRILIA ZANK:  Do you write mostly about yourself, or do you also have an open eye /ear for the issues of the world?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: I hardly write about myself, even if I write as if about myself. Feelings are inherent to anyone and all, like mirror neurons, like echoes in the brain and skin. And yes, I do keep wide open eyes and ears to worldwide issues and react and act upon it, hoping for empathy and possibly change.

APRILIA ZANK:  In what way is your poetry different from that of other poets?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: I write it, that makes it different already, in the unpretentious sense of it.  For I follow into my instinct, Luz’s burst of feelings, burst of conscience, burst of own mirrors.   Doesn’t we all? (Wink)


LEYLA IŞIK:  What are the main factors to make poetry real poetry?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Poetry is not an ego trip; otherwise it is an act of profanation. Poetry is pure and serves causes. Not individualistic agendas.

LEYLA IŞIK:  Do you think imagery is important in poetry? Where does the importance of imagery begin in a poem, where does it end?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: We get hit by an image, be it visual, tactile, dreamy, a memory, a feeling, any image! It is the entryway into a poem, the sphere of the senses and emotions with which the poet will get all entangled. A poem is largely a flow of images dancing before the eyes (mind). It finishes when we feel that we have gotten past the momentum into its closure. But that is perhaps the mechanical part, for we are still pulsing.

LEYLA IŞIK:  What are the most used types of poetry in your country?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: Actually, there is a trend of activism, poetry that denounces and claims spaces of justice and reformation, a poetry to awaken the nation and subvert all inconformity into actions. But truly is not new, for Puerto Rico has a history of scholarly poets fighting a cause: liberty and the rooting of own traditions and cultural heritage before the foreign imposition. Puerto Ricans are defined by a complex history. There is not singular Puerto Rican standpoint or character. We are a million things. But we are poets; an armed force of poetry dating back to the Aboriginal times (before Columbus). And it is a rich and diverse.

LEYLA IŞIK:  What’s important to be a good poet? To write good poems!

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: A good poet does not write poetry to gain any recognition. A good poet writes out of own pain, own pulses, writes to convey significance, to awaken consciences, souls, skins and also to sublimated the word into the most beautiful form of speech.

LEYLA IŞIK:     Who are the most important poets and their main properties nowadays?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: “Fill the paper with the breathing of your heart.” - William Wordsworth. That is a hard question to answer for there are poets that have become the universal essence of the truest meaning of poetry. Poets that we shall read if we consider ourselves poets, like Whitman, Neruda, Keats, Sor Juana, Julia de Burgos, Khayyam, to mention a few, and there are the contemporary poets whose contribution is not only beautiful but influential in terms of filling the paper with what is vital and undying. Those are the properties.



DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD: Understanding poetry begins with visualizing the central images in the poem. What do you see, taste, smell, hear, and feel? What is the imagery of your poetry?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: The momentum, the thunder that drives the hand to the paper. Then, imagery is a collision of all possible VISIONS humming around the triggering force behind the poem. Each poem holds a unique imagery inherent to it, so to say. But in poetry, all senses are connected pathways.

DEBORAH  BROOKS  LANGFORD:  What is the mood of your poetry? (Or How does it make you feel?)

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: A flowing mood! Don’t feel the same way every time I write a poem. It makes me feel inwards and outwards towards something bigger than my own frame of mind, a boomerang effect where I get hit back and strike others too.

DEBORAH  BROOKS  LANGFORD:  In your poetry who is the speaker of the poem? Are you speaking to yourself or to others?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: So many times while speaking to myself, I am really speaking to others, even if it sounds contradictory. I am sure you all understand that. But most of the time is to others that I speak, to those that can find themselves and others in those words, and maybe, and hopefully something happens too! Like activism against violence, compassion, mindfulness, understanding.

DEBORAH  BROOKS  LANGFORD:  What is the message of your poetry?  What messages does your poetry convey?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: One message that I never convey in my poetry is hate. All the others are sheltered in the Luz’s realm of poetic emotions and goodness of heart.

DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD:   Does the internet and social media contribute to the success of your poetry? Is this the reason you write for?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ:  The success, whatever success, is tied to my writing style and the sense of poetry significance that I might have conveyed. However, never to underestimate the power of internet and social media as tools to relate to others in this poetic universe, where everything convenes, collides, diffuses and gets forgotten too. I write not because of gratification with “success”. It is an act of my own soul who has reasons to relate to others, be the others, in this universe needed of incommensurable healing. 


NILAVRONILL SHOOVRO:  Thank you so much dear poet for the interview. We would like to know your personal experience with OPA as a literary web journal. Would you like to share anything more with our readers?

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ: OPA is a vital and reliable web journal. Here we can meet the best contemporary poets of the world, being certain of its commitment to quality, fostering diverse cultures and languages and poetic friendships as well.

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ is a poet, narrator, editor, translator, cultural promoter and activist from Puerto Rico – Caribbean. She is the author of five poetry collections, Editor-in-chief and compiler of the book "Poetic Voices of the New Century”, Spanish edition, Kafla Intercontinental, (India, 2016). Editor of the anthologies "Autism Awareness", published by the Platform of Social Journalism "Different Truths" (India, 2017; 2018). Author featured in the book "Six Important Contemporary Poets of the World" (Adorn, 2017), presented at the International Summit of Poets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, translations to bangla by Aminur Rahman; Dhaka World Anthology of Poetry (Adorn, 2018); International Poetry Festival José María Heredia - World Poetry Anthology (2017), compiled by Jorge Contreras Herrera. Is also featured in the Anthology of Caribbean, compiled, and translated to mandarin by Dr. Kuei-shien Lee (Republic of China, 2018). She has also participated in multiple multilingual international anthologies. Her poems have been translated to more than fifteen languages and published in literary magazines in America, Asia and Europe, among them: "Kalashree", Nepali Literary Magazine; Tadjeed Institute for Literature and the Arts (Iraq), KABIKHANTA, (Bangladesh), "The Vineyard Poetry Quarterly", (Taiwan, 2017); Krytia Journal of Poetry ", (India). She also publishes academic articles on psychosocial aspects of gender, which are widely circulated on websites, magazines and blogs. Continental Director of World Festival of Poetry (CED- WFP) World Poetic Front in Defense of the Women’s Rights (WM) International Book Fair in Puerto Rico (FILEMH):  Organizing Committee WFP Poetic Holiness Sanctuaries, India (2016) – Main coordinator. Organizer of multiple poetic events in Puerto Rico "Kathak Literature Prize", International Poetry Summit of Dhaka, Bangladesh (2017) Honorary President of the Universal Writers’ Encounter, Colombia, 2017 "Shaan-E-Adab", XI Intercontinental Congress of Literature, XI International Writers' Festival, Udaipur, India (2016) "Inspiring Universal Poet", International Poetry Festival, Accra, Ghana (2016)Her poetry touches themes tied to spirituality, nature, women's issues, social protest and the inherent passion subordination. www.luzmlopez.com


LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ



LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ

CRY OF THE INNOCENTS

We have seen children with weeping bones
all memories lodged in paths of flesh and blood
children with broken hands, broken smiles, broken souls
as broken as the word “P E A C E”!

We have seen children with dead eyes
looking at the dirt in which they rest forever now
forgotten maybe in a tomb with no name or flowers
but present in a picture taken by someone

We reach for that rage that comes from inside
an indignation that becomes conscious
attached to strings of unavoidable tears
and a poem gets written as solitary hope

Where do all the tortured innocents rest after all?
On the walls of civilization as a portrait perhaps,
another history book so we remember wars?
The cold stare of those that kill them to gain power?

Could it be in the memory of poets screaming
"Silence is a crime too!" , every time a child dies,
as if the whole world would really listen
embracing together against all evilness

A bird amidst shells and cries,
you will plant flowers over the sores of blood!





LOVERS

dance with me to the beat of love
where a memory hangs over a cloud
and whispers secrets to the night
calling to the moon to look at us
naked bodies on the sand
romancing a lurid waltz
turning all silence into passionate cry
tongues sealing our salt
twirls of flesh tied in one
ancient desires blushing anew
on the warm carpet of tiny crystal roses
bathed by tropical waves
lucid dreams romancing the mind
where only you can conceive
the power of your gravity
taking over all my fire
until finally subdued
into pulsing
karma!





SALT

always on a thursday
something about it,
blows own eyes away
a caged bird
but the door pleases out,
the swiftness of other hands…
backdoor histories
rocking alive,
full blast transparency
summation of memories
keeping two words,
breathless
needles prick
the love protagonist,
faith bleeds
again!





BACHA POSH

Free myself of isolation chains
all obscurity surrounding my mind
the walls that deny existence
open now the entrances of liberty
let me be a self beyond the curtains
that blinds all light, dampening the spirit,
for a bird is about to die!

I will gladly hide my soft curves
while the fresh air hits my face
with the flavor of danger
the sting of manhood
ruling the world.
*bacha posh – dressed up and disguised as a boy.
Refers to a cultural practice in which a daughter is sent off into the world as one of the boys.





SCROLLS

the written recollection
of your deepest voice
parchments of passions
tied to the salt of time
sacred longings
pulsing my veins
as refugee of love!

the echoes of the mezuzah’s
prayers are heard
deep within the beating cave
of my heart,
timeless…

yet bounded to
apocalyptic
desires

the shadows of the nights
forging a spear of light
when i seize both
your hands
to submerge in a
ritual bath…

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ

LUZ MARÍA LÓPEZ is a published poet, narrator, editor in chief, translator and cultural promoter from Puerto Rico- Caribbean. Is Continental Executive Director for World Festival of Poetry (WFP) and World Poetic Front for Defending Women’s Rights (WM). Is recipient of the Kathak Literary Award 2017 – Dhaka International Poets Summit (Bangladesh).




ZBIGNIEW ROTH



ZBIGNIEW ROTH

I GIVE YOU LOVE
(I am letting love you)

the heart is a flower, it's a rose
without flakes and thorns in the crown
the heart is a wonderful thing
you will find them in this song

people give their hearts for blood
people what they gave it to them
I would give my life for you
May we love each other

for all times, for gray hair
the coffin is hidden from the lid
I would like to die proud of love
for a moment of happiness lived

and when you give up everything
and you will go arms in the other
bring a flower to my grave
and say a prayer when I die
Zbigniew Roth Poznań
Pl. Anno Domini 1968


Miłość daję Tobie
(I am letting love you)

serce to kwiat , to róża
bez płatków i cierni w koronie
serce to rzecz cudowna
odnajdziesz je w  pieśni tej tonie

za krew serce oddają ludzie
ludziom co im ją dali
za ciebie dałbym życie swoje
obyśmy się kochali

po wsze czasy, po siwe włosy
po wieko trumny odkryte
chciałbym umrzeć z miłości dumny
przez chwile szczęścia przeżyte

a gdy porzucisz to wszystko
i w inne pójdziesz ramiona
przynieś choć kwiatek na mą mogiłę
i zmów modlitwę gdy skonam
Zbigniew Roth Poznań
Pl. Anno Domini 1968





BETWEEN US UNDER TENSION

can I be your true passion
so extraordinary
not seen
wonderful
but will passion become love

we live in streets in different squares
seemingly clean
with my own thoughts
on different floors of consciousness
we casually meet with pensive thoughts

I do not have an infoline with you
I send impulses to the electrons
I do not know if it's live
your cerebral cortex will be skin
find the scroll in which love hides
Zbigniew Roth
Ennis Irl. 2015-09-13 g. 14:50


Między nami pod napięciem

czy mogę być twoją prawdziwą namiętnością
taką nadzwyczajną
nie spotykaną
cudowną
ale czy namiętność stanie się miłością

w kwadratach różnych mieszkamy ulic
pozornie czystych
z własnymi myślami
na różnych piętrach świadomości
od niechcenia spotykamy się zadumani

ja z tobą nie mam przecież infolini
wysyłam impulsy elktrofalami
nie wiem czy pod napięciem
twoja kora mózgowa będzie skora
odnaleźć ten zwój w którym miłość się chowa
Zbigniew Roth
Ennis Irl. 2015-09-13  g. 14:50





THE ANOINTING

the flower will break through the snow
when someone is holding a heart in his hand
and the lips in love are trembling
when the cell phone rings suddenly

clasped hands lead the thought
the pupils of the eyes shine with a salty tear
to dance souls over heads
the way to happiness, see yours

anoint my temples with kisses
open your arms, break the shackles
let's be as free as birds in the sky
we will stop the time on the plate of life
Zbigniew Roth
Wroclaw Pl. 2016-11-29 at 08:10



NAMASZCZENI

przez śniegi przebije się kwiat
gdy ktoś trzyma serce na dłoni
a zakochane płatki ust drżą
gdy komórka nagle zadzwoni

splecione ręce przewodzą myśl
źrenice oczu błyszczą słoną łzą
by w tańcu dusz ponad głowami
drogę ku szczęściu zobaczyć swą

namaść me skronie pocałunkami
otwórz ramiona zerwij kajdany
bądźmy wolni jak ptaki na niebie
na płycie życia czas zatrzymamy
Zbigniew Roth
Wrocław Pl.  2016-11-29  g. 08:10

ZBIGNIEW ROTH

ZBIGNIEW ROTH – POZNAŃ: Author, composer, poet with a long-standing autorskm 1957-2018, on 22 October 2017 in Poznań celebrated his 60th anniversary of creative work, from 1968 he composes songs for all ages from children to the elderly. Member: from 2007 - Member of the Polish Academy of Poets (Polish American Poets Academy of JP II) based in New York USA, since 2009 - Honorary Member of the Literary and Dramatic Group. K. Przerwy - Tetmajer in Chicago USA, from 2012 - Honorary Member of the 83rd Circle in Chicago USA, from 2013 - Member of the Polish Association of Authors, Journalists and Translators in Europe, A.P.A.J.T.E. based in Paris, France, from 2014 a member of the Polish Society of Artists, Authors, Culture Animators PTAAAK in Poznan, and since 2016 a member of the Polish Authors Association SAP in Kołobrzeg Poland, from 2018 a member of the ACCEPTUS MUNDI ONLUS (Solidarieta ') group Italy. Zbigniew Roth – Poznań; Autor, kompozytor, poeta o długim stażu autorskm  1957-2018, w dniu 22 października 2017 r w Poznaniu obchodził swój jubileusz 60-lecia pracy twórczej, od 1968 komponuje piosenki dla wszystkich grup wiekowych od dzieci po osoby starsze. Członek :od 2007 - Członek Polskiej Akademii Poetów (Polish American Poets Academy im. JP II)  z siedzibą w Nowym Jorku USA, od 2009 r. - Honorowy Członek Grupy Literackiej i Dramatycznej. K. Przerwy - Tetmajer w Chicago USA, od 2012 - Honorowy Członek Koła 83 w Chicago USA, od 2013 - Członek Polskiego Stowarzyszenia Autorów, Dziennikarzy i Tłumaczy w Europie, A.P.A.J.T.E. z siedzibą w Paryżu we Francji, od 2014 członek Polskiego Towarzystwa Artystów, Autorów, Animatorów Kultury PTAAAK w Poznaniu, a od 2016 roku członek Stowarzyszenia Autorów Polskich SAP w Kołobrzegu Polska, od 2018 r członek grupy ACCEPTUS MUNDI ONLUS(Solidarieta') Włochy