by Mani Padisetti We find ourselves caught in the web of ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts,’ like actors following a script written by someone else. These well-intentioned guidelines, rules, and societal norms, come at us from all angles, urging us to conform to emulate the successes of others. We’re told to follow the Joneses, those elusive neighbours […]

by Paul O’Donnell   not just words from the hollow not just deeds for someone to follow to give value to our life and life to our values, to give them voice our story cannot simply be a hobson’s choice it is for us all to choose a path that is just and choose we […]

by Shahmeen Aruna Sadiq   a steady diet of terrible news hurts me still, I keep looking waiting for a way to help, even just a bit while the hot tears flow perhaps this is it remaining present, awake? it is not enough one more thing to do give love to every being refusing hatred […]

by Sheri Jacobs I hear you pray both day and night, eager to end pain and make things right I watch you hide behind the screen, shoulders hunched feeling unseen I feel you ache for those you miss to soldiers lost… to your first kiss I taste your fear in tears you shed for all […]

by Susan LePlae Miller Deep and sorrowful at times Bright and colorful at others Embrace both sides, And somewhere in the middle You will see … life. Your life Your love Your value Your values Your possibility They are wrapped In the packaging of experience, And cannot be swept away By another’s opinion. Let go […]

by Yu-ching Lin  In a small Eden of the Galaxy, Gentle seasons roll on. Without words, the God of nature speaks. The Earth with its warmth of soil, has thrived Generations of shining motes softly. In the resplendent name of civilisation, Avalanches of turmoil pile up on the road of history To the tempestuous final […]

by Paul Palmarozza Life’s challenges have been teachers for me, Revealing powers that I did not see. It began with the challenge, ‘Don’t bother.’ But a voice inside was like my father. Not enough will or talent they assumed. If I accepted their word, life was doomed. Instead, I took a step into the dark, […]

 whose Sanskrit name means the first ray of sunbeam that breaks through at dawn You are my light You are fourteen now, and going through all that teenage angst discovering yourself wanting independence wanting to own your voice You now want to be called Naomi, pronounced Nyomi, the Hebrew way You wanted to go buy […]

by Meral Alizada  Mehmannavaz, I morph into my bubble, ‘to each their own’, I leap to catch my tongue but my tongue colonised, slips out. Ashamed, I drip through the gaps Finally, come clean. Your smile catches rays, you say, Let my back be your bridge from one stream to the next. Mehmnanavaz, That glass […]

by Mark Cumicek That dream. That big step. That relationship. That career change. That new business venture. That intimidating physical challenge. That difficult, but healthy conversation. That opportunity that makes your heart sing. Your best is yet to come… If you choose YOU!