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In emerging democracies like Russia, in authoritarian states like Iran or even Yugoslavia, journalists play a vital role in civil society. In fact, they form the very basis of those new democracies and civil societies.

quote by Christiane Amanpour
Added by Lucian Velea
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Hope Demands We Embrace Humanitarian Needs

serve as a language interpreter
in immediate aftermath post
apocalypse Yugoslavia war split

few are raw images peace ready
to build embrace while flesh soot
ashes still blow onto our clothes

into our hair hope faith demands
we embrace humanitarian needs
gift heal mediate peace raw wounds

into fires fresh flesh flames look
deep into crime military looking glass
to laugh dance at recent adversity

to serve needs of suffering humanity
such character courage cultural activities
are needed to help heal restore souls

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poem by Terence George Craddock
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Obsession

Obsession
The pianist Albert has got a job in Loulé last time
I saw him in Faro and fell over a pollard, he said
he was not my father. When he spotted me he ran
into a café, they let him run through the kitchen
into the back, a dead end; I waited for him there.
“If you don´t stop following me I will have to call
the police, I´M NOT YOUR FATHER.” To mollify
him I said: “ I know you are not, but I do admire
your piano playing. ”This pleased him and we had
a drink and he told me he came from Yugoslavia,
had wanted to be a concert pianist, but there was
no money, so he ended up as a café pianist… just
as my father I thought but said nothing… then he
had to leave for work, saw him walk out of my life
just as my father did, there was nothing I could do
to stop this man who refused to be my dad.

poem by Oskar Hansen
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Burmese Democracy Expected Ethnic Problems

been watching
the future today...

from past lens astray

Burma as expected
has developed
ethnic problems

with sudden absence
of strict communist
dictatorship firm leash

Burmese are no longer
all brother communists
controlled by the state

past civic grievances
rise from postmortem
state of frozen stasis

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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Stagnant Sailor Hears The Old Ship's Whistle!

O This Wedlock!
How strong it's like concrete?
I dropped my anchor once
And thought it's a muddy bottom
No it's rocky?
And I cannot heave up the anchor
and sail again.
Wind is so wild and the Ocean's frozen!
If I get a chance soon I reach Portugal
The upper Railway station apartment in Lisbon
Deceased brother & myself we shared a delicious rotten
Tomato soup with a slice of brown bread,
The well learned cobbler Pedro Rodriguez
Who speaks little English like me
We discussed about the fine book of Eca De Queiroz's 'Sin of Father Amaro'
Jade eyed girl in Antwerp who said rain stopped
when I asked the umbrella
and in Cairo the Mummy in a Pyramid
gave me a lovable smile?
That middle aged Gypsy woman Varna in Yugoslavia

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poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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St.MOTHER TERESA

She’s born in Skopje, in Yugoslavia;
And came to Kolkata to be a nun;
She chose to serve Jesus, through her brethren;
Most admirably, the world, she could stun!
She chose the poorest folks, the world did shun;
The diseased, dying, orphaned, downtrodden;
And turned her life to a phenomenon;
All life, she’s busy, always on the run;
Like a goods-train, pulling a wearied ton;
There was no turning back; Life was no fun!
And rose to be the ‘world famous woman’;
Her heart was full of love, her main weapon;
That caused the hearts of millions, so stubborn;
To turn towards God, in life, once again;
To feel loved, cared for and their souls reborn;
To realize the truth why one is born;
To feel the world is not yet so forlorn;
To live in dignity, see one more dawn;
To sleep soundly, well-fed, until the morn;
To heal their minds and body-parts, some torn;

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poem by John Celes
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Russian travel program

Every now and then
there are Russians
travelling to foreign countries
standing in lines
at aeroplanes and vehicles
to on government command
take a return trip without cost:

In 1932 it was right through Siberia
into Mongolia
with excursions through the country side
to look at the wall of China.

In 1939 together with some German friends
they visited Poland
and the old town square in Warsaw,
looked at the armour
of the Teutonic knight Sigsmund II
and the cathedral of St. John.

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poem by Gert Strydom
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Menstruation At Forty

I was thinking of a son.
The womb is not a clock
nor a bell tolling,
but in the eleventh month of its life
I feel the November
of the body as well as of the calendar.
In two days it will be my birthday
and as always the earth is done with its harvest.
This time I hunt for death,
the night I lean toward,
the night I want.
Well then—
speak of it!
It was in the womb all along.

I was thinking of a son ...
You! The never acquired,
the never seeded or unfastened,
you of the genitals I feared,

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poem by Anne Sexton
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And let the oil flow cheaply!

Heads of state or government of 25 nations met in Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia at the first Summit of Non-Aligned Nations on 1st September 1961. Sri Lanka was a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement which consisted mainly of developing countries that preferred to stay away from any power blocks. These nations were not aligned to any superpower – either USA (America) or USSR (Russia) .Sri Lanka’s newly elected Prime Minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike attended the inaugural Summit, stepping on to the world stage as the world’s first woman Prime Minister. She attended the second Summit held in Cairo in 1964 and in 1976 hosted the fifth Summit in Colombo. Thereafter Sri Lanka occupied the chair for three years.The origin of the movement dates back to 1954, when the Prime Minister of India, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru had coined the term “non-alignment” during his speech at the Asian Prime Ministers Conference in Colombo. In this speech, Nehru described the five pillars to be used as a guide for Sino-Indian relations. Called ‘Panchaseela’ (five restraints) , these principles would later serve as the basis of the Non-Aligned Movement.The five principles were: Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereigntyMutual non-aggression
Mutual non-interference in domestic affairsEquality and mutual benefit
Peaceful co-existence

I hear a sad Bedouin song of an aging Dictator
Who sung with his deep voice for a long period!
Yes, let others to sing and get rid of the power.
Bring the lute and leave the wealth.
Like your younger days remember
You touched the Sri Lankan soil once
As Omar Mukthar the Hero!
At the 5th Non-Alignment Summit, Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1976.
We're old now and leave aside the burden
Watch how they sing with the different pitch?
Companion Camel too old now
And no more desert crossing
Stop at an Oasis!
Take the lute out and sing the oldest song;
'Where we've come from
And where do we go? '

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poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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Born during the seventies

I

The deepest thing within
Destroying the possibility of breathing
Will cry even when we’re gone
Even after our own death
We will remain
The homeland poets in the foreign countries
Obscure forces of alien lives
Too tired sights of alien eyes

The deepest thing within
Will move on breathing
When all our days are gone
Hopefully not dying again
Insane
Wretched descendants of alien pasts
Paying their bills with our own skin
Moving back to illusions
Building the worlds

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poem by Miroslava Odalovic
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