Ever since I stumbled on Sonnet Mondal’s poems, I have been captivated by their stunning simplicity and words evoking a magical experience. That he achieves this consistently is breath-taking. In this occasional series, our aim is to connect you with some of these exceptional beauties I come across. These are rare, as they don’t…

Photograph Omar Ramadan by Ulises Paniagua I miss football: the old kind, the real kind. The era of the World Cups we witnessed is fading into the distance, overtaken by a paradigm that erupted, ferociously, at Qatar 2022. The gilded splendour that adorned that sheikh-laden spectacle, the gold of the television ads, of social…

The American lion feasts. Photograph Derek Keats Two friends debate Brian Berletic’s arguments against blaming Zionism for US wars, and hope that the EU can once again be a healthy region of a multi-polar world. RICHARD: It sounds like you want to overturn the whole world order, Phil. You say it’s not Israel – it’s…

Photograph Renan Lima, Pexels by Richard Steinhardt Stasis is a state of stability, equilibrium, or inactivity, with meanings that vary across contexts. The word comes from the Greek stasis, meaning standing or stoppage. In medical and pathological contexts, it refers to the slowing or stoppage of bodily fluids, as in venous stasis. In biology, stasis…

Photograph Bryan Smith The inspirational minister of the Methodist Church in New Malden and Kingston, Karl Rutlidge is sick with an inflamed heart. This is not a metaphor! He has Myocarditis an inflammation of the heart muscle. It is usually triggered by viral infections. His many friends in and outside the Methodist Church wish him…

Photograph El Capra by Peter Cowlam The Transmutation Si came down from the fields, where he’d been working, for the day was nearly departed. The sun had sunk towards the mountains, while the mingling hues of evening had faded in a wash of summer twilight. It was a pleasant, tranquil hour. As was his…

Photograph Salih Pexels.com A Water Jog of Larks You wore zopilotes in your hairand you didn’t knowyou went down to the river to submergethe light blue as you movedthe river washed you of timethe river carried your time awayWhen are you from?How much of you has gone?in the depths of dream you gather flowersA…

Armendia Qyqja. Courtesy of the author A few years ago, I published an anthology of contemporary Albanian poetry called The New Condemned with my company World Inkers Printing and Publishing. Its purpose was to document the effects of the repressive communist regime on Albanian culture and to highlight its cultural uniqueness in literature. This…

The USA targeted and killed 175 girls in its opening salvo against Iran. The US people are now deeply demoralised at home and the US government and corporations are desperately hated abroad for their death dealing and grotesque warmongering. Mehr News Agency My second letter to Trump was written in the warning tone of…

My visitors were mule deer, not pronghorn antelope. Photo by Samuel Sweet Pexels.com A reply to the article: Carol Rumens & the Birth of the Online Literary Commons Dear virtual Phil, What a surprise. Thank you for including such a stimulating delving down to the seeds of the keiretsu-cooperative in your elegant tribute to…

The Poet and founder of the International Colloquium of Poetry and Philosophy, Ulises Paniagua Olivares Our wondrous journey to the 6th International Colloquium of Poetry and Philosophy The International Colloquium of Poetry and Philosophy comes round again. This year, 2026, it happens in two countries: Colombia (face-to-face) and Mexico (online). The celebrations will take…