A
WORLDWIDE
WRITERS’ WEB
PRESENTATION!
PUBLISHED
BY
OPA
OUR
POETRY ARCHIVE
ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL
https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com
email us to:
**************************************
A
WORLDWIDE
WRITERS’ WEB
PRESENTATION!
PUBLISHED
BY
OPA
OUR
POETRY ARCHIVE
ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL
https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com
email us to:
**************************************
NILAVRONILL TALKING WITH
POET OF THE MONTH
NILAVRONILL: Welcome to Our Poetry Archive, dear poet. And congratulations as the poet of this month. I would like to know your personal views on literature or poetry in general.
SILVANA
DIMITRIEVSKA: In a
beautiful and very famous thought by Leonard Cohen, it is said, “Poetry is only
proof of life. If your life burns well, poetry is just ashes.' Poetry is our
personal, but also our collective mirror. Historically speaking, poetry is the
first literary form, closely related to singing, to music, to song... because
man has always had the need to express his deepest thoughts and feelings.
Birth, celebration of important events, weddings, going to war, social
upheavals, and even death were always marked with a song, that is, a poem. The
poet is a medium between the earthly and the heavenly, he is someone who knows
how to see and the invisible, to understand the sound of the grass growing, to
speak in the language of birds, to paint with words the world around him, as it
is or as it should be.
NILAVRONILL: What are the factors that have influenced
you immensely in the growing phase of your literary life. When, most probably
you were not certain of your future as a poet or writer. Do you think society
as a whole is the key factor in shaping up you as a poet, or your poetry
altogether?
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: I started
writing poetry very early, at the age of ten. However, in high school, and
mostly in college, I think that the greatest influence on me was the French and
Russian romanticists and symbolists. The appearance of romanticism and
symbolism as literary trends is proof that poetry is a direct response to
social circumstances and developments. Since 'no one is an island unto himself'
and we are all part of the society to which we belong, historical and social
influence is inevitable. However, true poetry does not melt, it is a response,
a rebellion, it points out the negative aspects of living, and it elevates
everything that is virtuous, noble, sublime.
NILAVRONILL: Do you consider your literary life as an
extension of your self-existence? If so, how it is related with the time around
you?
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: Poetry is
not a matter of exclusion. A poet is someone who thinks through the prism of
the artistic in every moment of his life. That is why my literary life and my
existence are intertwined, my poetry is my deepest Self. In the context of
temporal and spatial markers, poetry is said to be timeless and cannot be
framed within any boundaries. However, each time brings its own way of living
and thinking, and poetry is a reflection of all that.
NILAVRONILL: As a poet, do socio-economy and politics
in general influence your literary visions? If so how, and if not, why?
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: They do not affect my personal political and literary
visions, because I see poetry as a universal language that unites people and
does not divide them on any basis. Starting from the thought of Dostoevsky who
said that 'beauty will save the world', poets often know to say that poetry
will actually save the world, because it has the power to purify and heal
souls. However, I think that poetry alone cannot do that, but the powerful
messages it can contain can influence and change both people and society.
NilavroNill: Is it possible to put into the words
everything that as a poet you wish to express literarily? If not, why?
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: Not
entirely. Plato pointed out that art is only 'the shadow of shadows'. Man is
God's creation and, in his essence, he is the Universe in miniature. Words are
a way to express all that we carry deep inside, but they only capture and can
never fully describe the depth of our spirit and soul.
NilavroNill: Do you agree with John Keats
(1795-1821) on his ardent believe, “Truth is beauty, beauty is truth”? Even if
we take for instance the war of Kurukshetra, the conflicts between Kauravas and
Pandavas, or the fall out of second world war in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, how
can we manage to reconcile between those truths with beauty as promulgated by
Keats?
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: The concept
of the interconnectedness between truth and beauty is something that has
challenged philosophy for centuries, and Keats managed to explain it in one
sentence. According to him, beauty and truth are inseparable aspects of
ultimate reality. For Keats, the appreciation and study of beauty - in art, in
nature, or in human life experiences in general - actually reveals to us the
truth about the world and our place in it. We live in a world in which, on the
one hand, we see that man is capable of great evil, but on the other hand,
man's true nature, in fact, longs for beauty and sublimity.
NilavroNill: Too many writers believe imagery
is an essential part of poetry. Do you agree this notion? Even if we consider
Leonardo da Vinci’s words that poetry is painting that is felt rather than
seen.
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: The
essence of poetry is in its power to describe things beyond words, to create
and awaken in us images that we will experience with all our senses and tell
our own personal story deep inside. Hence, poetry must possess that imagery,
otherwise it would not be poetry.
NilavroNill:
Do you believe, passionately
falling in love with a particular language is essential to excel in poetical
ventures? And is it possible to write poems in multiple languages preserving
same literary quality? We would like to know your own experiences.
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: I believe
that language is the basic tool that a poet uses to create his poems and that
is why he must be a master of his craft and have an excellent command of the
language in which he writes. I personally write in Macedonian, English and
Serbian. But it is one thing to express thoughts and feelings through lyrics in
a particular language, and it is quite another to try to translate a song from
one language to another. In poetry, a translation differs from a paraphrase,
precisely because it is particularly difficult to translate the verses of a
poem without losing its original message and essence.
NilavroNill: Do you consider poetry as an
emotional outbursts of poet’s personal sentiments? Or is it a long journey to
realize and express the universal sentiments beyond all personal limitations?
Again, we want to understand your views through your personal experiences of
your literary life as a poet.
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: Poetry is
a combination of personal and universal experience of oneself and one's place
in the world. In every poem there is a lot of the mind, spirit and soul of the
one who wrote it, but at the same time every poet strives to convey some
universal messages in the verses. I have already mentioned before, the poet is
like a bridge between the earthly and the divine. He knows that each person is
a person on his own, but at the same time each of us is a part of one universal
energy that connects us in one ultimate principle - Love. So, even when we
write only for ourselves, it always affects other people.
NilavroNill: I would like to quote T. S.
Eliot, “No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His
significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead
poets and artists. You cannot value him
alone; you must set him for contrast and comparison among the dead.” We would
like to know your views in details on Eliot’s comments.
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: In my
opinion, poetry contains the collective memory of humanity. Literature,
philosophy, art as essential cultural values are
something that are passed from one generation to another. They are our cultural
and spiritual wealth. That is why it is impossible to write poetry without
transferring the cultural code that we have inherited from the past. Each of us
has been influenced by a poet, an artist, a philosopher from whom we have
learned just as we ourselves will influence someone else.
NilavroNill: Would you consider, it should be
the goal of a poet to enlightens the readers towards much greater apprehensions
as well as appreciations of life and eternity in general? Or is it better to
write poems only to console the poet’s soul?
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: The
purpose of the poet is to convey a message that will awaken powerful feelings
in the readers and encourage them to think more deeply about themselves and the
world around them. Poetry has the power to touch the souls of others, and even
to have a healing, or according to Aristotle, cathartic influence. Therefore,
as I said above, even when the poet writes only for himself, his poetry affects
and reaches other people.
NILAVRONILL: We are almost at the end of the interview.
I remain obliged to you for your participation. Now, personally I would like to
know your honest opinion about Our Poetry Archive. Since April 2015 we are
publishing and archiving contemporary world poetry each and every month. Thank
you for sharing your views and spending much time with us.
SILVANA
DIMITRIEVSKA: For me,
OPA is an incredible poetic and life experience that helped me grow emotionally
and spiritually both as a poet and as a person. OPA unites quality poetic names
from different parts of the world and in its monthly editions actually shows in
the best possible way the power of poetry to overcome all boundaries and spread
a universal message of art and beauty. It is an honor to be part of OPA.
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA: She was born in 1981. in
Skopje. She graduated from the Faculty of Philology 'Blaze Koneski' - Skopje at
the Department of General and Comparative Literature in the Macedonian
language, and later she also completed the One-Year School for Journalists at MIM
(Macedonian Media Institute). She was the coordinator of the literary circle
'Mugri' and the editor of the poetry almanac of the same name. She is the
organizer of several poetry readings and promotions. Silvana writes poetry,
short prose, essays and haiku verses published in the first Macedonian haiku
magazine Mravka. She is the author of the anthology Angels with five wings,
published as part of Struga evenings of poetry. She appears as a reviewer of
several collections of poetry by young, but also by already renowned authors.
She is the winner of the second and third 'Blaze Koneski' prize for a
scientific essay. For her first collection of poetry, “You, who came out of a song”,
she won the prestigious national award 'Atso Karamanov'. For her short story
'Butterfly Skirt' she won the first prize at the national competition 'I tell a
photo 2021'. She is the winner of the third prize at the international poetry
festival 'Vigil of Kokinski Mugri 2022' and the second prize at the same poetry
festival for 2023. In 2023, she won the second prize at the international
poetry festival for children's poetry 'Stihuvalki'. In 2023, at the
international poetry festival 'Literary Sparks 2023', she was also the winner
of the second prize, and at the same poetry festival in 2024, she was again the
winner of the second prize. In 2023, she was declared one of the laureates of
the prestigious 'Naji Naaman' world prize for poetry and was awarded the title
of honorary member of the Academy of Culture of the same name in Lebanon. In
2023, she won the third prize for poetry at the international poetry festival
'Tafil Kelmendi' in Kosovo. In 2024, she was also the winner of the third prize
at the international poetry festival 'Antevo slovo'.
Verdict
You sit on the
chair and watch:
the sunset
engulfs the city
and the people
hungry for games and bread.
The women untied
their hair.
The men held out
their hands.
The children
stuck out their tongues.
It is the people
with a decisive and strong voice.
It roars from
the womb like a voracious beast
its 'justice'
and 'freedom' and order.
To get an
answer, and not necessarily have questions.
To call things
by their familiar names.
All else be
rejected and cursed,
because the day
is passing
and the sunset
rushes like the last horse,
beats out the
counted time relentlessly.
Tick tock tock
tock...
The veil of
sunset must be torn
and to pour out
the heavens upon the ominous seed.
We need to wash
our hands and silence the world.
A time should be
set for speaking
or to remain
silent forever.
The truth needs
to be stamped.
You sit,
Pilates, in your chair at the top.
You closed your
eyes. You washed your hands. You broke the hermit's silence.
You said to the
sunset: come! And it came.
But the people
you did not silenced.
Forgiveness
Forgive them,
God!
They knew what
they were doing.
And when they
kneaded the bread
and they
secretly put leaven in the dough,
and then they
offered it for communion
as a sinless
sacrifice for sins.
And when they
loved their neighbor's wife,
only in thoughts
only in thoughts
but in their
minds they cast fishing nets
and they fished
that body of fish,
in times of
fasting and in times of famine.
They turned
their eyes hungrily to the heights,
and without
looking at the land they cast the first stone.
Forgive them,
God!
Forgive them.
They knew what
they were doing.
And when they
despised the birthright.
And when they
said No when they should have said Yes.
And when they
declared a lie told a hundred times to be the truth.
And when they
sealed them with a seal
the destinies of
nations.
And now that
they believe that
heaven and earth
and everything under the heights
exists only for
their glory.
They always,
always know what they are doing.
But you forgive
them, God! Forgive them!
Because they are
just some kind of clay,
a vessel in the
hands of heaven
who receives a
soul
only because of
your forgiveness!
A Half
Spring is shyly
coming.
She peeks
half-faced around the corner.
I see them in
her reflection
the flowers in
the garden
half dewy with
salt.
They stand in
that moment of hesitation
has the hour of
twilight come
or the hour to
flourish?
Spring is half
peeping.
She wants to get
into my cup
like half a
teaspoon of sugar.
Half sweet, half
bitter.
Like a half
smile on my face.
Like half the
sky trapped in the eye.
Like half a coin
in a child's hand,
long dreamed of,
long desired
halfway through
desire and crust
bread for a
snack.
Half day. Half
night. Half moon.
Coffee without
you is that half.
As a verse, that
stand between the man and the poet.
It stands
halfway between thought and soul.
Reaches up to
touch the heavens,
and remains
registered in the law of the land.
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA
SILVANA DIMITRIEVSKA was born in 1981.
in Skopje. She graduated from the Faculty of Philology 'Blaze Koneski' - Skopje
at the Department of General and Comparative Literature in the Macedonian
language, and later she also completed the One-Year School for Journalists at
MIM (Macedonian Media Institute). She was the coordinator of the literary
circle 'Mugri' and the editor of the poetry almanac of the same name. She is
the organizer of several poetry readings and promotions. Silvana writes poetry,
short prose, essays and haiku verses published in the first Macedonian haiku
magazine Mravka. She is the author of the anthology Angels with five wings,
published as part of Struga evenings of poetry. She appears as a reviewer of
several collections of poetry by young, but also by already renowned authors.
She is the winner of the second and third 'Blaze Koneski' prize for a
scientific essay. For her first collection of poetry, “You, who came out of a
song”, she won the prestigious national award 'Atso Karamanov'. For her short
story 'Butterfly Skirt' she won the first prize at the national competition 'I
tell a photo 2021'. She is the winner of the third prize at the international
poetry festival 'Vigil of Kokinski Mugri 2022' and the second prize at the same
poetry festival for 2023. In 2023, she won the second prize at the
international poetry festival for children's poetry 'Stihuvalki'. In 2023, at
the international poetry festival 'Literary Sparks 2023', she was also the
winner of the second prize, and at the same poetry festival in 2024, she was
again the winner of the second prize. In 2023, she was declared one of the
laureates of the prestigious 'Naji Naaman' world prize for poetry and was
awarded the title of honorary member of the Academy of Culture of the same name
in Lebanon. In 2023, she won the third prize for poetry at the international
poetry festival 'Tafil Kelmendi' in Kosovo. In 2024, she was also the winner of
the third prize at the international poetry festival 'Antevo slovo'.
Scary Woman
I searched
In the city
About the coat
It covers my
beauty
But he didn't
cover it
The magic of her beauty
It was her legs
Longer than a
winter's night
Her steps are
faster
From the heartbeat
She struts with pride
he said to her:
I will carry you
from among
Loin of
balconies
I will fly with
you like a feather
Lighter than the
breeze
And I hear your
words
Not like words
I will squeeze
your letters
In the alphabet
cup
And pour you
into the toast of life
I will give you
medicine
It cures my
illness
Who mutes
languages
I will pick
pomegranate blossoms from you
And I plant it
in an orchard
Turquoise
And pour the
scent of roses
On the edge of
your mouth
Dripping with
the fragrance of passion
One of the characteristics of your hair
It pours drop by
drop
In a bottle
filled with love
What a whisperer
he was jealous of
Playing flutes
I'll spill ink
on you
In the pool of
poets
And whenever you
violate
The Ten
Commandments
I'll punish you
with a hug
The fountain pen
breaks
He scatters
words
And when you are
obedient
I will free your
braids
And he took you
away
We rock together
With the raging wind
Our hair is
flying
With wave
frequencies
We collect love
letters
From the sky
dictionary
Then we walk
around
In areas of space
we sit
Around a
fireplace full of stars
We're chatting
With dust particles
And right before
nap
Magic flashes
We accept the
furrows of the moon
We sleep in
light dormitories
We seek refuge
under the quilt of the abyss
Without whispers
and night whispers
New Birth
Clouds pregnant
with jealousy
She frowned at
me
She complained
to fate...
So she gave
birth
And drops soaked
in blood
Then the censers
of life went out!
Clouds said
Oh girl of the
moon
And the neighbor
of the stars
Choose magical
flowers
Choose a flower
Not like the rest of the dice
Not Narcissus
Like an arrogant
daffodil
Nothing like the
magic of a lotus flower
Choose her as a
rebel
And break the
power of her pride
Pluck its petals
one after
another
Make it a puppet
in your hands
Feedback
did..
The first petal
was...
He doesn't love
me!
Last..
Ascetic in the
temple of my love
So I announced
my birth date
I have given up
the reproach of life
I wandered into
a space of hope
I lived among
the mountain peaks
And she took a
red rosy cheek
velvety
"Wreaths of
mountains" were distributed.
And I fell
asleep
Without discomfort and insomnia!
I dreamed
Daydream...
Mixed between
reality and fantasy
In which he
escapes from the swarm..
And loitering on
the sidewalks of the mirage!
Yasmine Abdel
Salam Harmoush
Soul Friend
I caught a
glimpse of my soul mate
On the edge of
imagination...
So I walked a
distance
Three decades and a few wounds...
Without misery
or trouble..
We met at the
intersection of imagination
Ain al-Ghadir
sank.
A flood that
drowned the ocean...
After a sigh
broke the silence...
We exchanged
conversations in whispers.
With letters
containing
Secrets of the soul...
Jasmine scent
It was imprinted
on his cheeks
You melted away from me
A whirlwind of
memories...
sadiq alruwh
YASMINE ABDEL SALAM HARMOUSH
YASMINE ABDEL SALAM HARMOUSH: The literary
writer Yasmine Abdel Salam Harmoush, from Lebanon, the country of beauty and
culture, her birthplace is Safira, Dinniyeh, born on 8/15/1988. She has a work
entitled (Jasmine) Her academic specialty is experience and auditing in
financial accounting. Her writings appeared in most newspapers and magazines,
and she dealt with social issues as well as poetic texts.
A Steelyard
A bolt of
lightning splitting through dark clouds
A spring thunder
awakening the heavy dreams
A steelyard, is
weighing heaven and earth
A broadsword
white light from hands rising and head falling
A body full of
sorrow and anger of stepping into Miluo River
A steelyard, is
weighing history
A hand of scars
of the old farmer selling vegetable
A rainbow from
the child's painting brush
A steelyard, is
weighing life
A steelyard, is
weighing the dragon sometimes appearing or disappearing
A steelyard, is
weighing the wind and clouds sometimes gather or disperse
A steelyard, is
weighing the people hearts sometimes heavy or light
This steelyard,
words are engraved on the time pole
This steelyard,
stars are engraved on the space pole
This steelyard,
Where is the weight? Who is weighing?
一杆秤
(中国) 周道模
劈开乌云的一道闪电
惊醒沉梦的一声春雷
一杆秤,在称天地
手起头落的一刀白光
步入汨罗的一身悲愤
一杆秤,在称历史
卖菜老农的一手茧疤
儿童笔下的一弯彩虹
一杆秤,在称生活
一杆秤,称时隐时现的游龙
一杆秤,称时聚时散的风云
一杆秤,称时重时轻的人心
这杆称,时间杆上刻着词语
这杆秤,空间杆上刻着星星
这杆秤,砣在哪?谁在称?
2024.1.31晚8:59广汉居
Today!
...in this WORLD
of injustice and sick selfishness
humanity barely
breathes
feudal
capitalism continues to rule
definitely
rights are stifled
freedom is
limited
life insurance
is conditional
as in bloody
communism
unaccepted
liberal socialism
supposedly
damned democratic capitalism
we wear the same
subordinate shoes
*
I, apolitical
live life of a number
whereas they are
skin branded
howling as
walking robots for voting
humanity, take a
look
world is
entering a shell of human inexistence
generally being
arrested as a mentally ill creature...
Pleasure
Feels Today
... when nature
spills it’s glamour,
embracing gentle
world,
I feel innocent
passion of the female creature,
what a pleasure!
At this very
moment
I sat on the
rock of life,
throne of
silence of the soul,
light, angel
stream, tear of happiness dropped,
today,
I decided to
love ahead of tradition,
while her face
more than deeply
entered my heart,
beauty that
awakens, reviving senses,
gazelle, virgin
body, blue eyes,
nectar for my
sensitivity,
but no, no
something
precious is hidden behind the silky curtain,
magnificent
warmth, a great spiritual character.
*
Oh magic, the
proximity that gives birth to adore,
wisdom of
nature,
invites two
adventurers of the soul,
whispering
divine words, I Do Love You,
yes, this
blessed day
let we walk
towards the path of meritorious future ...
Sing To Me
... the Bohemian
romantic has submitted himself to poems,
long ago he has
become conscious
of the divine
world built on the power of friendship and prose ...
*
...he says,
challenges me the highest-art painting
it is so
beautiful, I feel love in it,
colors excite me
beyond the delight,
being inspired,
I am enjoying the hidden meaning ...
*
...while breeze
brings heavenly notes of cosmos,
time when divine
peace reigns,
years of youth
browses,
remembrance
brings to life happiness that still live in memories...
TYRAN PRIZREN SPAHIU
Prof TYRAN PRIZREN
SPAHIU: Being emotionally connected with peace, loves calm life and he
continues to spread kindness…. So far Tyran has written SIX Novels and around
FOUR Thousand Poems.
Flowers of Varieties
Flowers in the earthly garden,
Green and many colours.
Red and white in the essence.
The grass is singing.
The ground is joyful.
Peace is invited.
Intellectuality is invited.
The green and different flowers are dancing.
The wall has surrounded.
The people are talking.
Office is opening.
People are busy enough.
The life is really dancing to the nature.
Flowers are blooming.
Clouds and Sky
The white clouds
are heavy.
Rain is stored.
The fire is furnished.
Lightening is firing.
The shining sun is dancing.
Hidden mystery of nature is shone.
The white cloud makes joyful.
Black cloud is higher to bring rain.
The sky is hidden.
Sea is balanced by cloud.
The earth is fertilized.
The cloud and sky are mingling.
Thunderbolt
The natural weapon from nature
The cloud and sun furnish it.
The life is handled in the natural destination.
The life is shining to be explained in nature.
The shining stars are bow down to the natural thunderbolt.
The cloud is its veil to cover the thunderbolt.
The nature is strong enough.
The weapon of nature is fire.
Taking birth from sun and sea.
Thunderbolt is powerful entity.
It is the natural conflict against the enemies' side.
TIL KUMARI SHARMA
Ms. TIL KUMARI SHARMA as
Multi Award Winner in writing from international literary branch is from
Bhorle- Hile, Paiyun 7, Parbat, Gandaki, West Nepal. Her parents are Mr.
Hari Prasad Basel / Bashyal Sharma (Mayor of Village Assembly) and Mrs. Lila
Devi Bhusal/Bashyal. Til is known as Pushpa too as youngest daughter. She
has published many thousands of poems, some essays, and stories and
other literary writings in International magazines, groups
and anthologies from ( amazon) Russia, America, England, France, Germany,
Iran, Japan, Kosovo, Algeria, Korea, Turkey, Sweden, Argentina, Lebanon,
Hong Kong, Greece, Philippines, Hungary, Brazil, Chile,
Scotland, Indonesia, Egypt, Serbia, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, South Africa,
Kenya, Nigeria, North Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Spain, Sweden, India,
Nepal and many other countries. She is featured-poet and
best-selling co-author too. She is world-renowned poet now. She has got gold,
silver and excellent awards from different international groups of
poetry. She is poet of World Record Book named HYPERPOEM. She is an
international peace ambassador of Bangladesh and ambassador of Moncheri Escapes
of India too. Her World Personality is published in Multi art 8 & 12
magazine, and from Argentina and Mexico.