By Joanna Svensson

                                 

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

We all went to bed in one world
And woke up in another
The third world war
We all feared so heavily
With nuclear warheads
And planet extortion
Twentyfive times over
It never came
It never did happen

But something different came
Something else did occure

Paris is not romantic anymore
Its streets are empty and bare
Rabbits are its pedestrians
The Eiffeltower gather but moss

In Melbourne a violin concerto is played
In the Concert house for all empty rows

In Warsaw you pay big fines
If you don't wear a mask
At a funeral may only attend three

Hugs and kisses
Are new dangerous weapons
Love and empathy
Has been restrained
Not to visit
Friends and related
Old parents kept
In healthcare lockdown
They die without family
'Cause no one's allowed

To keep social distance
Is now how to care

You find that all of money
Power and beauty
Can not buy a breath of air
The nature all around us
Carries on its daily life
With springtime beauty
Brighter than ever

It sends us a message
A message so clear:
You little humans. You are all so tiny!
I really have no need for you
The earth, the air, the sea and the sky
Do quite alright without your help

When you come back
And learned your lesson
Then remember very clearly
You are forever not my master
If you'll behave
You'll be my guest!

Swenstorp, Sweden 15/6/20
©® Joanna Svensson
© Photo: Per Josefsson

By Joanna Svensson

                            

IN THE AFTERMATH

In the aftermath
When the world has held its breath
For what would happen - what will come

In the anteroom of the aftermath
Where all the humans
Feared for their lives
Their whole existence

Even they with painted smiles
To cover up their anxiety
They who all said: it will be alright!
Something will for sure turn up

So I sat on my thinking stub
Contemplating all by myself
But then my soulmate came
The one I love and share my heart with

He took my hand and we wandered off
Off into the wilderness
To mother nature's meadows
Hand in hand in our tiny wood
Where trees and flowers
Raise their eye-brows in pure surprise

And so we felt like a part of nature
We have survived the invisible death
Thanks to natura - we did survive
Because we live - by its own accord
By unwritten rules - and laws of life
Using wisdom in the best of ways

We both do feel - so very sorry
To find that many just return
To their previous life style
As if pandemic there never was
With self content - no lesson learned
With noses pointing - up in the sky

Oh, all of this - was not so fearceful
After all -  I did alright
Instead of thankfulness
For surviving
The shop owner raises his price
And profit once again
Despite charity from all of us

When will we learn
When will we see
How can we change
Our way of life
There is room
For human need
But there is not
For human greed

Swenstorp, Sweden
©® Joanna Svensson
©Private picture

By Bozena Helena Mazur-Nowak

                                     

life hurts ...
© Bozena Helena Mazur-Nowak

someone strapped your dreams so high up
eyes are tired but can't sleep at all
a swarm of black thoughts penetrates the head
everything around is stripped of color

sometimes life hurts so much

you signed the contract for life imprisonment
don't matter it hurts you have to go-ahead
although your knees are heavily scratched
from constant falling and eternal disappointments

stand up and go no matter if it hurts

reduced-fare only for selected ones
hump and gray hair are within reach
love and respect stand up  so high
for us, working-class are only sweat droplets

life hurts but is so sweet though

each of us has one life assigned
in dreams, in pink and gray daily life
some people can live a long-life
others look old when they are still young

sometimes life hurts so much

حلمي أنت للدكتور منتصر عزيز

بقلم عزيز منتصر

سينبثق في أفقي القريب

حلمي الخالد 

في نومي الذي لاينام 

في صمتي الناطق مع نفسي

حلمي أنت 

هل ستأتين

بناي من قصب

بعشق كبير

إلى قلبي الصغير

الذي تكبّرت عنه الأفراح

هل ستأتين

كإعلان الشمس  على الحيطان

لأصبح أغنية كالحب 

أخاطر بكل شيء 

وأتحطم في يمينك 

ويتلاشى الإنتظار والصمت

وأتململ في عيونك 

دمعة فرح 

كقطرات الغيوم الأولى

بداية الشتاء 

على براعم الزهراء

وفي هدوء 

أناديك يا معطر نسيمي 

يا ثوب الآمان

هل لي منك غِلة 

ولروحي نغمة

أنت صبحي 

أنت مسائي

حيث الهوى مناهل

أنت أحوالي وراحة جواري

افتحي باب المحراب 

إني أميل في سكراتي 

دون نبيذ 

لست بسائح

إني أريد أن أُدفن فيك حيا

لتحميني  من مياه الزمن 

وأكتفي بحدودك 

لا أخاف ولا أسمع كلمة  وداع

وأنقلك إلى ملكوت إنسان