October 2026 V-12 N-7 Issue No. 139

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI INTERVIEW

 

NILVRONILL SHOOVRO 

Talking With

Poet Of The Month

LIDIA CHIARELLI

NILAVRONILL: Welcome dear poet to Our Poetry Archive. Every month we feature one poet as ‘Poet of the month”. And usually, we take an interview of the featured poet, to introduce an overall true picture of the poet to our reader. Tell us about the growing phase of your life as a writer. Did you suddenly discover your passion for writing or it evolved gradually?

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: First of all, let me thank NilavroNill Shoovro for this opportunity. My first encounter with writing was back in the early '70s, when I went to London for an English summer course for foreign students. One of the teachers suggested a small poetry competition: we had to improvise some poetic verses, and my poem "Rhythm of Life" was ranked among the best. This was just a start: from there, my passion—especially for poetry and short stories—gradually developed. The turning point was my meeting with the English writer Aeronwy Thomas, daughter of the great poet Dylan Thomas, with whom I founded the art-literary movement Immagine & Poesia (Image & Poetry) in 2007. As a teacher myself, I taught creative writing courses. In my workshops I led my students to transform their emotions into short poems and - with the help of an art teacher - even into images.

 

NILAVRONILL: Do you think, your social and cultural backgrounds played a pivotal role and helped you much to become a writer. 

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: Yes, the social and cultural backgrounds played a fundamental and indispensable role in forming my identity, style and worldview as a writer. I think that this invisible baggage acted as a lens through which I saw reality and shaped my own stories and poems.

 

NILAVRONILL: What are the factors that inspire you to write and how do you relate yourself to the ground realities surrounding you.  

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: My first poems were inspired by nature in all its aspects, wild and beautiful, but also by urban views, the same images, the same perspectives that had attracted the attention of Allen Ginsberg. His poem Supermarket in California has appealed to me since the very first time I read it. I have always written after experiencing a real emotion, according to William Wordsworth’s definition "Poetry is emotion recollected in tranquility.”

After founding Immagine & Poesia, Poetry and Visual Art nowadays proceed on parallel tracks for me. Today I mainly try to put into practice the principle enunciated by Aeronwy Thomas: "Artists and poets can experience moments of cross-fertilization". I often look for inspiration in the images of fine art photos or of paintings created by other artists or vice-versa:  sometimes the words of poets lead me to put on canvas the emotions they have called forth in me.

 

NILAVRONILL: Do you think in-depth knowledge on a particular language is essential to become a great poet? And what about the language of poetry? Isn’t it something quite different from any native language?

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: A deep knowledge of a language is vital to great poetry, and the language of poetry transforms ordinary speech into a concentrated, musical, image-driven realm. It is not a completely separate language, but rather everyday words pushed to their absolute limits. And how does all this happen? In poetry, the way a word sounds and appears on the page matters just as much as its direct dictionary definition. Instead of explaining an idea at length, poetry packs maximum meaning into a little space. Poets often bend standard grammar, invent new combinations, or use deliberate silences to evoke feelings that ordinary prose cannot achieve.

 

NILAVRONILL: Is emotional detachment a necessity in writing poems for a poet, to excel in literary works? We would like to know your thoughts, as your personal experience.

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: I think that emotional detachment is not a strict necessity for a poet to excel, as great writing often comes from deep feeling and vivid memory. Many famous poets use intense emotion instead of distance to make their work powerful and true. Emotion matters in Poetry. Strong feelings help readers feel the poem in their own hearts. Some of the most significant poems I have written were inspired by my deep affection and admiration for my father Guido Chiarelli , a pioneer in public lighting systems in Turin. I wanted to write these poems so that his name would not be forgotten.

 

NILAVRONILL: Many poets believe, sense and sensibility are the two most important aspects of poetry in general. As a poet what do you think?

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: T.S. Eliot argued that great poetry requires a "unification of sensibility"—the seamless blending of thought and feeling. Sense (reason) and sensibility (emotion) are both vital to literature, famously explored as a balance of head and heart. Critics say that Sense (Intellect) provides structure, logic, irony, and philosophical depth, while Sensibility (Emotion) drives imagery, empathy, and a deep, visceral response to beauty and suffering. Generally speaking, masterful poems do not separate thinking from feeling; they make intellectual ideas into an emotional experience.

 

NILAVRONILL: Do you think the primary obligation of a poet should be to communicate with the temporal as well as with the eternal essence of life and the universe? If so, how can one fulfil that particular obligation?

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: Yes, a poet should communicate with both the temporal and eternal essence of life, achieving this through the use of sensory details, emotional truth, and deep reflection. How specifically can poets fulfill this obligation? Poets can observe closely, watch the world with care, noticing small details in nature and daily human actions. Then they should reflect deeply, think about why things matter and how life links to the past and the future. They will have to choose words wisely, pick clear, sharp language that carries both a direct meaning and a deeper feeling.

 

NILAVRONILL: No literature can survive without communicating with different languages and cultures, as well as various traditions and heritages. I would like to know your opinion regarding the growth and evolution of the literature of your motherland.

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: Literature grows and changes when it shares ideas with other languages, cultures, and traditions. Italian literature evolved through continuous cross-cultural exchanges, absorbing French and Provençal medieval forms, shaping European Renaissance humanism, and later engaging with Enlightenment and modern international currents like Naturalism and Futurism.

 

NILAVRONILL: Do you believe conflicts and confusions immensely help a writer to grow as a poet? Or do you think it does actually the opposite?

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: Conflicts and confusions can help a poet to grow by deepening emotions, forcing fresh perspectives, and sparking creative tension, but they can also cause burnout if left unmanaged.

 

NILAVRONILL: How would you evaluate your contemporaries and what are your expectations from the younger generation?

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: Contemporary poetry has shifted toward raw accessibility, digital democratization, and free-form emotional expression. Younger generations are led to multi-media integration rather than rigid adherence to classical meter and form.

 

NILAVRONILL: Thank you, so much dear poet, we hope our readers would also enjoy your interview much to their likings.

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI: It’s on me to thank you dear Editor.  OPA is a tool for building bridges and breaking down barriers. It brings together poets of different nationalities and backgrounds. I do hope OPA will continue its commitment to spreading culture and genuine friendship among peoples for many years to come.

 

 

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI (Torino - Italy) is one of the Charter Members of  Immagine & Poesia, the art literary Movement founded in Torino (Italy) in 2007 with Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan Thomas’ daughter. Installation artist and collagist. Coordinator of #DylanDay in Italy. She has become an award-winning poet since 2011. Six Pushcart Nominations (USA). In 2022 one of her poems was engraved on a clay tile and installed in the town of Montanaro (Turin). First Prize “the Best Poets & Translators”, China 2023. In Montecarlo (Monaco) she won the Second Prize at “Le Parole della Vita” Poetry Contest 2024. Her writing has been translated into different languages and published in more than 150 Poetry magazines, and on web-sites in many countries.

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI

 

 

Lights In The Rock Garden

 

(Torino “ville lumière”)

 

 

 

A slash of Blue! A sweep of Gray!

                   Some scarlet patches - on the way -

                   Compose an evening sky . . .

 

—Emily Dickinson

 

 

Darkness surrounded me.

At the distance

echoes came in subtle vibrations

in a slow crescendo

a gloomy, confused whisper…

 

Then the lights switched on

in the garden of a thousand colours.

They switched on vibrant and warm

on the water of fountains

on the petals of roses

caressed by the April breeze.

As I walked

on the flowered paths

subtle fragrances

wrapped me up in the deep silence.

 

Legacy of magic memories

that every night come back alive

again, and again

in my beautiful Turin, "ville lumière”.

 

(in memory of my father, Guido Chiarelli, pioneer of public lighting)

 

 Where Dreams Dwell

 

So tremulously like a dream …

(“Clown in the moon” - Dylan Thomas)

 

 

In a separate world

dreams are alive.

Constellations of lights and

interstellar sounds attend their birth.

They creep into our minds

through a meandering trail

when the night is darkest.

Like dancing shadows

tremulous they enter

they play, mutate, dominate

are lost in dissociated sequences.

They plunge into the unfathomable

depths of memory

to emerge again.

And when the first blades of light

pierce the sky

they vanish … crumpled, shattered

toward invisible horizons

in echoing silence

 

Vision Of New Worlds

 

(To Dylan Thomas)

 

Your words

as parables of sunlight

unveil visions

with blurred edges

new worlds melting

into fluctuating immensity.

 

Into your swirling darkness I fall.

 

Lift me with wide wings

higher and higher into the blue.

Bring me to know the vibrations of the sun

 

where blades of fire evaporate

where I can finally savor

 

 

the emerald kiss

and the indigo breath

 

in the rainbow’s

evanescent embrace

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI

 

 

LIDIA CHIARELLI (Torino - Italy) is one of the Charter Members of  Immagine & Poesia, the art literary Movement founded in Torino (Italy) in 2007 with Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan Thomas’ daughter. Installation artist and collagist. Coordinator of #DylanDay in Italy. She has become an award-winning poet since 2011. Six Pushcart Nominations (USA). In 2022 one of her poems was engraved on a clay tile and installed in the town of Montanaro (Turin). First Prize “the Best Poets & Translators”, China 2023. In Montecarlo (Monaco) she won the Second Prize at “Le Parole della Vita” Poetry Contest 2024. Her writing has been translated into different languages and published in more than 150 Poetry magazines, and on web-sites in many countries.

 

 

NITA B GEORGE

 

 

I The Breeze Called Life...

 

Life

Has its own

Sunrises

And

Sunsets

Not

Forgetting

The

Twilights too...

Twilights,

When

Shadows

Overwhelm

The

Sun...

The

Clouds float

Their

Merry way

For

Neither

The

Light,

Nor

The

Darkness

Matters

To

Them.

I,

A

Cloud,

I,

The

Breeze

Become

When

My

Spirit

Lives its life,

A

Life

With Its own

Sunrises

And

Sunsets

And,

Its own

Twilights too!

 

The Final Moments...

 

Moving

From

One state to the other,

From,

The

Earthy concrete

To

The

Heavenly abstract,

Is

Perhaps

Like

A snake

Molting...

Shedding

Its skin

For

A new one,

Wriggling

Struggling

And

In

The

End,

Achieving...

 

NITA B GEORGE

 

NITA B GEORGE: Short story writer and a Poet is a Post Graduate in English Literature from the Osmania University in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Her teaching career at the Degree level extends over a period of 37 years. This experience of dealing with young growing minds has enriched her immensely in life. Poetry entered late in her life, almost, at the age of 54. She graduated into writing, Creative writing, from an English teacher to a Poet and a Short story writer.

 

CONCETTA LA PLACA

 

 

Water Source

 

I get lost in ecstasy

in the sweet sound

that spreads in the immense expanse.

You water

that you keep in you

the value of life on this planet.

 

Majestic flow and drips, drop by drop, All your strength and power and you reveal yourself in all your former glory. You know how to be vital, for all of us, but also so deadly.

 

You contain within you all the strength, beauty and violence of nature

and, for this reason, you have been in the millennia and you are still in our days,

muse of ancient and modern poets.

 

Without you there would be no life and, anyone who hears

your urgent need, to refresh with your freshness and transparency,

So much so that in the desert you turn into a mirage.

You are a precious element

which, together with fire, earth and air, 

fascinates  and quenches the thirst of the peoples of our planet.

 

Many fail to recognise your worth

and let you trickle away

into a thousand streams, never to return.

 

Your marvellous beauty can be admired in the boundless expanse of the seas,

the rivers and the waterfalls, where you become a gentle cradle for the fish

and thus provide the amniotic fluid for human life.

 

In the glaciers, you transform

from liquid and colourless into solid and white,

to preserve yourself and all of humanity.

 

In the infinite, you plunge in and embrace the sky like a brother, 

transforming yourself into grey clouds and mischievous

and graceful white clouds, suspended in the atmosphere.

 

Fresh and sweet water,

be merciful to us all,

and remain with us forever, for all humanity.

©Concetta La Placa. Rome

 

SORGENTE D’ACQUA

 

Mi perdo estasiata

nel dolce suono

che si propaga nell’immensa distesa.

Tu acqua

che mantieni in te

il valore della vita su questo pianeta.

 

Scorri maestosa e stilli, goccia dopo goccia,

tutta la tua forza e potenza

e ti palesi in tutto il tuo antico splendore.

Sai essere vitale,

per tutti noi,

ma anche tanto mortale.

 

Contieni in te tutta la forza, la bellezza e la violenza della natura

e, per questo, sei stata nei millenni e lo sei ancora nei nostri giorni,

musa ispiratrice di antichi e moderni poeti.

 

Senza di te non ci sarebbe la vita e, chiunque sente

l’urgente tuo bisogno, per rinfrescare con la tua freschezza e trasparenza,

tanto che nel deserto ti trasformi in miraggio

Sei elemento prezioso

che, insieme al fuoco, alla terra e all’aria, 

affascina  e disseta i popoli del nostro Pianeta.

 

Molti non riconoscono il tuo valore

e lasciano che ti disperdi

in mille rivoli senza ritorno.

 

La tua meravigliosa bellezza la si ammira nella vastità immensa dei mari,

dei fiumi, nelle cascate, dove ti trasformi in dolce culla per i pesci

e ti fai, così, brodo amniotico per la vita umana.

 

Nei ghiacciai ti tramuti

e di liquida e incolore, ti fai solida e bianca,

per preservarti e preservare tutta l’umanità.

 

Nell’infinito, ti tuffi e ti abbracci fraternamente con il cielo, 

trasformandoti in grigie nubi e in birichine

e leggiadre nuvole bianche, sospese nell’atmosfera.

 

Fresca e dolce acqua,

sii clemente con tutti noi,

conservandoti eternamente, per tutta l’umanità.      

© Concetta La Placa. Roma li’

 

A Mother’s Heart

 

Every mother’s heart

is a safe haven for every child.

It is a well-trodden path

through the impenetrable forest.

It is a helping hand

to escape every danger.

It is a lifeline

that holds you fast against catastrophic storms.

It is a balm that soothes every wound and pain.

A mother’s heart is one,

unique and the only one that can

never be replaced.

No one can ever do

without a mother’s heart.

© Concetta La Placa

 

IL CUORE DI UNA MADRE

 

Il cuore di ogni madre

è’ un rifugio sicuro per ogni figlio.

E’ una strada battuta

nell’impervio bosco.

E’ una mano tesa d’aiuto

per sfuggire ad ogni pericolo.

E’ un’ancora di salvezza

che ben ti aggancia dai soffi catastrofici.

E’ un balsamo che lenisce ogni ferita e dolore.

Il cuore di mamma e’ uno,

unico e il solo che non potrà

mai essere sostituibile.

Nessuno potrà’ mai far

 a meno di un cuore

di mamma.

© Concetta La Placa

 

CONCETTA LA PLACA

 

CONCETTA LA PLACA is Doctor Honoris Causa (CIESART) and a poet, writer, aphorist, critic, translator, social activist and author of the *Alessandria. Post*. Her poems were published in over 50 anthologies and in magazines in the world, translated into several languages. She published eleven collections of poetry. The eleventh is: “Poesie d'Amore Cosmico”. She is an Ambassador for IFCH Forum and also an Ambassador for Indonesia for Rini Valentina and an honorary doctor from the IFCH. She worked as a lecturer at L.U.M.S.A. University in Rome and at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. She received: Honorary Doctorate 2025 and the Palma de Mar Award 2025, (CIESART), as well as the Medal of Merit and Career Achievement from the CIESART.

DONATELLA NARDIN

 

 

Jadegreen

 

Let this turgid moon be your eye

scattered in the shape of a heart

in the unclosed rooms

while outside struggles rage

and torment, nightly commotion

blood spilled on the exhausted

soil.

Let the ray that like jade-green

wraps up the banks be fleeting

peace for you like the slow

dripping of a smile overflowing

the afflictions and happier the day

unfolds after having crossed

true anguish and placidly flows

a little light – like an unburied

embrace – from my thoughts

to yours.

 

The Last Dreams

 

Who knows to whom

they may belong the dreams

heaped up in a dark corner

of the kitchen.

Perhaps to this present time

of disturbing moods and

overwhelming screeching.

Bathed in nothingness,

they have become in a few

moments food for the air

and for the birds as perfectly

well knows who belongs

to no home, to no life,

in tiny sparks made of poetry

and nothing more.

 

DONATELLA NARDIN

 

DONATELLA NARDIN was born and lives in Cavallino Treporti-Venice, Italy. After completing her classical education, she worked in the tourism field with managerial positions. Her poems and short stories, multi-awarded in numerous Literary Competitions, have been included in collective collections of several Publishing Houses, in Anthologies of Literary Competitions, in foreign magazines, in literary websites and blogs. Some of her lyrics have been translated into English, French, Chinese, Spanish, Polish, Romanian and Japanese.  In poetry she has published ten collections. The latest are: L’occhio verde dei prati and Isole d’aria for Fara Ed, Il dono e la cura with Arabic translation by Emeritus Professor Hafe Haidar for Aletti Ed. Fioriture d’ombra with Romanian translation for Editura Eikon/Cosmopoli, Poesie velate for Il Convivio Ed. and Intingo le dita nella parola for Macabor Ed.

 

MUAMMAR AL-SUFYANI

 

 

We Eat Our Dreams Raw

 

The month walks by 

on the light feet of a mad moon 

across the sky 

asking for its salary?

 

The night said to him: 

Shake the tree of noise 

so you might eat your dreams 

before they ripen—by a letter 

from the branch of the hour.

 

Time flew away 

to a valley inside the poem 

before the sunrise of her eyelids.

 

The Prophetic Poem

 

I asked her about her identity...

She said:

 

The features of the Qur’an

The hue of the moon

The artery of peace

 

My letters’ blood type is positive with values

I am the Prophetic Poem

 

The train of Hijra arrived through the years

And set me down in the bags of memory

 

I send salutations to Muhammad among the nations

 

On A Street Of Poetry

 

I found my homeland 

on a street of poetry…

 

calling me:

 

“What do you want from life?”

 

I answered:

 

Calm on the journey, 

Presence in the place, 

A heart free of regret, even amid the crowd.

 

MUAMMAR AL-SUFYANI

MUAMMER AL-SUFYANI: Poet & Writer | One of the International Poets and Writers. Ma'mar Al-Sufyani is a Yemeni poet and writer recognized among international poets and writers for his work on exile, identity, and resilience. Based in Taiz, his poetry fuses classical Arabic imagery with a modern existential voice, addressing universal human questions through a Yemeni lens. His poem _“The City of the Cup, The Kingdom of Sand” _ reflects his signature style: concise intensity, metaphorical depth, and emotional precision. Al-Sufyani’s writing captures the fragile balance between fate, memory, and belonging.

SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR

 

 

Delaying The Inevitable

 

the extended forecast

has bolted with new purpose

 

you miss your shot

to devour

 

then nature starts seeding again

 

say something meaningful on the spot

or never utter another word

 

uh, well, uhm, ahem, yeah,

hallelujah

 

let us rejoice

third person, editor at large

 

release the bounty

seven digits wide

 

I’m going to play this game

with fire and flood

for one more spin

 

Repetitive Motions

 

I saw a god

tied to your kite

painted with wings

softened by storm

whispering echoed prayers

back down in bolts

 

loosely tethered by each

harsh emotion bound too tightly

and sent up to the heavens when

there’s no further depth to travel

 

I’ve been clinging to sanity

gripping the guardrails

with white knuckles

 

churning up the same experiences

one day into the next

and the only differences that emerge

are the words in

meaning, flow, and sequence

 

SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR

 

SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR originally hails from Lilburn, Georgia. He now resides and writes in Frederick, Maryland. His work has been nominated multiple times for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. He guest-edited the Hope Anthology of Poetry from CultureCult Press as well as the 2019-2023 Western Voices editions of Setu Mag. Selections of his poetry have been translated and published in 15 languages. More about Outlar's work can be found at 17Numa.com.

LISELLE POWDER

 

 

The Unexplainable Truth

 

No one will tell you to walk on purpose.

They will say that you are too good.

They will say you know too much.

You need to sit down, you said enough.

This is not for you.

You are not welcomes.

Who told you to do that?

You don’t matter in this situation.

Your ideas is not needed.

Since when you are so bright.

These are just some of the negatives.

The truth is once people are threatened,

they will always have something to say.

Once self knows self,

the words breathe better.

Self will not be valued by the noise.

Self is on its mission to grow and walk steps,

that carries burdens and upholds its place.

Self-truth will be valued once the balance is not lost.

The unexplainable truth will always be heard.

It will never learn and grow, unless

it transforms and becomes.

 

The Walk

 

I decided to walk this way, that no one understands.

They spoke the things I needed to hear.

The things that irritate, bullied and bringdown.

I wanted to hear it.

Because there’s something about a walk,

that takes off like propellers.

Your feet are on takeoff.

Rising above the minds that is still in slavery.

The minds that are shackled and chained.

The minds that are stagnant because,

it calls its own name.

The more they spoke, my feet got higher.

The more they demand I fall.

I rise like wings on eagles.

I stepped on every doubt, fear and poverty.

I stepped on the I don’t have and I am afraid.

I stepped on the things that deemed me unworthy.

The things that spoke the noise.

The things that rode with me and said it’s ok when I was not.

No one will understand the walk,

because they have to be in the shoes that fits.

They have to feel the pain of hurt,

which is walking on broken glass.

 

 

LISELLE POWDER

 

LISELLE POWDER was born in the small Caribbean Island of Trinidad and Tobago. Born to Edwina Warner (deceased) and Bindley Powder. She is the last of six siblings. She is divorced and a mother of two daughters and a granddaughter. Having migrated to the US in 2014, she decided to write poetry about her experiences coming to America. She met with Edna White an Author, and the rest was history. Liselle has written in Edna’s book “No Sweet Meat Tell Me the Truth” and contribute to the school newspaper where she works. Liselle held her first poetry show on July 10th, 2021, she also writes in Ms. Edna’s Magazine called “SPEAK MAGAZINE.” and wrote her first short story titled “Teenage Mom” and her poetry book titled “Still Overcoming”. Her short story “Teenage Mom” together with other short stories, is a combination by different authors coming together for the Anthology “Women Write Now” which was launched in November in 2022. With her continuous writing, she was entered in an Anthology for the months of June, July, and November of 2020, also June and July of 2021, and for July 2022. Also, anthologies for June and November 2023. Liselle was awarded the Cheryl R Canton Incentive and the Willie Henry Riddick Memorial Award in June 2021, for winning an essay competition placing first. Liselle wrote another book entitled “Welcome to America,” which is on Amazon. Liselle is also an artist and has also sold some of her work. Liselle was honored in July 2023 with the Women Empowerment Award, and one of her poems was chosen for Black Poetry Day, in October 2022., and the reviews was excellent. She received the Beautiful Heart Award September 2023 at a gala ceremony for her contribution to writing. Liselle also recited two of her poems at the Juneteenth celebrations 2023, in Harrisburg Pennsylvania, as she was a guest of honor sponsored by the Writers Workshop curated by Nathaniel Gadsden. Liselle is also an artist in which one of her painting was accepted for an open call from the East Islip Council Gallery, the exhibit was in March and ended on the 14th of April ’23. Another painting form Liselle was also accepted in an open Call to be posted on social media for the month of April, ’23 it was posted on Lisa D’Amico Arts platform and social media. Liselle also showcased her artwork and recited her poem at the African American Museum on March the 23rd 2024. On January 28th 2025, Liselles’ artwork was selected to be on a website for healing, The website name is healingarttogether.com. Liselle held her first art show on Tuesday March 25th 2025. Liselle takes part in her school activities, reciting her poems and being a voice to the unheard. She also contributes to “Invisible Poets” on Facebook. Liselle strives to be the best of top poets and artist the world is yet to see.