Rumi (1207 – 1273): What is Love?

Rumi (1207 – 1273): What is Love?
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“What is Love?”, questions me a mate.
I respond to him: “I do not join this debate!”
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“If you become like me, you will see its gate;
Only when it calls you, you shall learn its rate!”
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Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani.
Artwork: Reza Rahimi Lasko.
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***&***
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In Persian:
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پرسید یکی که عاشقی چیست
گفتم که مپرس از این معانی
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آنگه که چو من شوی ببینی
آنگه که بخواندت به خوانی

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Saadi Shirazi (circa 1210): I step with my heart

Saadi Shirazi (circa 1210): I step with my heart
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Sighting The Beloved, your rest flies away,
Don’t expect escape, captured in this tray!

With only your thought, I was mad and blind,
Curtains pulled away, spellbound is my mind!

If in my whole life, one day’s spent with thee,
This is my harvest, the rest sinks in the sea!

Looking for The Beloved, I step with my heart;
Strolling on feet, the journey ends at the start!
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Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani.
Artwork: Iman Maleki.
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***&***
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In Persian:
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هر که دلارام دید از دلش آرام رفت
چشم ندارد خلاص هر که در این دام رفت
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یاد تو می‌رفت و ما عاشق و بی‌دل بدیم
پرده برانداختی کار به اتمام رفت
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گر به همه عمر خویش با تو برآرم دمی
حاصل عمر آن دمست باقی ایام رفت
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ما قدم از سر کنیم در طلب دوستان
راه به جایی نبرد هر که به اقدام رفت

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Beneath the Mask

Beneath the Mask

She had blue skin, 

And so did he. 

He kept it hid 

And so did she. 

They searched for blue 

Their whole life through, 

Then passed right by- 

And never knew.” 

― Shel Silverstein, Every Thing on It

We all wear one, to some extent.  We all hide different pieces of ourselves, disguising our faults and flaws, those things we see as unacceptable and shameful.  At work, we wear a thicker, bigger, tighter mask than we wear anywhere else.  We are told this is what we are supposed to do.  To keep our messy, personal selves to ourselves.  To leave our heart at home.  Our pain.  Our issues.  So we wear a mask and smile and pretend to be perfect, professional, positive, perky and proficient.

But not "people."  We must never be people.  People are flawed.  People have weaknesses.  People have problems.  No.  We are employees.  Assets.  Resources.  Headcount. At work, being a person is verboten. And so, we don our mask...then off to work we go.

There is so much pressure to wear the mask.  Many employers act as if, by sheer will, we can somehow transform ourselves into robotic gladiators who have no weaknesses.  We are expected to be stars.  Superheroes.  So we deny our failings and camouflage our Achilles heel.  We lie about who we are, all while claiming to be honest and transparent.  We feel the pressure to perform; it weighs us down and tortures us with fear of failing.  We bow to the expectations of the powerful.  We tremble in terror when we make a mistake, dreading dire repercussions.  We know...we must be the mask!

But how productive can we be in this restrictive environment, chained by fear, refuting our personhood?  How can this spur creativity and ingenuity?  How can it propel us forward, help us to be our best or to fully achieve?  To learn? To soar?

Though we deny it and hide it and put on a face, we are, indeed, human.  Wearing a mask isn't going to change that fact. It just makes us tired, trying to keep our fake face in place all day.  And so, we become less than who we truly are, selectively leaving vast pieces of ourselves behind hidden in the darkness.

No matter how "normal" people look, living "ordinary" lives, everyone has a story to tell. And maybe, just like you, everyone else is a misfit too.”
―Sanhita Baruah

We all have blue skin.  Imperfections.  Flaws.  Weakness.  We have bad thoughts.  We make stupid decisions.  We do the wrong thing.  Or maybe we do the right thing, but at the wrong time.  We fall flat on our face.  We are broken in many different ways, but we are all broken, at least a little bit.  We have things we do well and things we don't do well at all.  Yes, we are all blue and we think we're the only one because we cling to our masks and insist we aren't, never knowing everyone else is doing the same.

The mask erodes our personality in so many ways. It inhibits our growth and development.  It holds us back, locked away in fear.  It prevents us from taking necessary risks and leaps.  It isolates us.  Imprisons us. Zaps us of energy and fire.

Don't you know that a midnight hour comes when everyone has to take off his mask? Do you think life always lets itself be trifled with? Do you think you can sneak off a little before midnight to escape this?”
― Soren Kierkegaard 

We will never be the very best "us" we can be while pretending to be someone we are not.

We need to look beneath the mask.  Remove it.

I'm not advocating losing control and behaving like children.  Nor do I believe we have to say everything that comes into our head or act on every impulse. Neither do we have to completely, utterly bare our souls.  This is not what it means to toss the mask.

No, removing the mask requires courage and maturity.  It means walking into reality and living there.  Being genuine. Dealing with what is and not what we pretend to be. It means facing our inadequacies and embracing our strengths and talents.  It means taking off our gladiator armor.  Allowing ourselves to be real, unpretentious, flawed people, accepting our humanness, owning our mess.  We still attempt to do great things.  We try to be better. We keep growing. But when we remove the mask, we are no longer afraid to admit we don't know everything, aren't always perfect and can't do it all.  Risky business.  But freeing.

“Like icebergs, people normally expose only a small part of themselves, and generally just the part they wish to show.”
―Nikki Sex, Fate

Removing the mask means we unearth the rest of the iceberg and become whole.

It means, we let ourselves, our real selves, be seen.

It means we accept ourselves for who we are; the extraordinary and the ugly.  It means we may not always have a good day, no matter how hard we work at it.  That we may say something we wish we hadn't and for which we must apologize.  It means we may miss something sometimes. Make mistakes that have to be fixed, even though we tried so hard not to.  Mistakes that make us wonder at our sanity and that cause us to want to beat our head against the wall. But we must not give in to the temptation to beat ourselves up.  Instead, we acknowledge our flaws, forgive ourselves, fix the error and move on, having learned from our failure.  For you see, removing the mask means we are free to be imperfect.  To not always, every second, have our act together.  We can be human. A person.  Even at work.

We are as liquid as the tide.  We ebb and flow.

It also means we accept that others have weaknesses and imperfections. We let them take off their mask.  We allow them to be blue without shaming them.  Or using it against them.

When we aren't required to hide and cower beneath our mask, we are free to fail at times...but also to magnificently succeed.  We are allowed to risk.  To say something stupid that just might turn out to be genius.  We are no longer working in isolation and fear.  Without the masks, we find compassion and commonality.  We cooperate.  Collaborate.  Create.

This allows us to use our energy for greater accomplishments. We are more inspired. We don't have to protect ourselves all the time.  No longer worried about being unmasked, our minds can move on to more productive projects.  We can accomplish greater things because we aren't spending all our energy hiding and covering our blue skin.  We aren't wasting time trying to protect our back.

By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before. ~Edwin Elliot

That's when we discover being blue is not such a horrid thing.  It's a human thing.  A people thing.  And being a "people," even at work...is okay.

We build bridges. Between each other. We accept each other. We work together.

Harder still, we accept ourselves.  All of the pieces of ourselves.

Once we stop rejecting and hiding ourselves away, we can find out who we truly are. We meet the person lurking beneath the mask.  Then, we can discover who we are meant to be, what we are meant to do and where our talents and passions are leading us. We can grow...and soar.  Almost like a superhero.

When we soar, we see more.  Once we are free of our mask, that tiring mask that weighs us down and holds us back, we can help others to see and soar and find freedom too.  This new perspective, this new way of being, of accepting ourselves and others, of living fully and genuinely, changes our entire world.

And when our world changes in such an astounding way, everything, absolutely everything, shifts.  Righting itself.  Finally.

 #buildlittlebridges   #lookbeneaththemask  #bluerocks

Written by

Robin Bond

Health Benefits of Vitamin E for Men and Women

Health Benefits of Vitamin E for Men & Women

Vitamin E is justifiably referred to as the nutrition for sexual passion and has been used for many years by those experiencing impotency problems within the bedroom. However, vitamin E is way more than just that and may act as a preventative with cardiovascular disease, and even fight cancer. Consistent with Harvard, Vitamin E, like vitamin C, is primarily an inhibitor that stops radical cell damage within the body. Radical cells are known to attack an ordinarily functioning system and bring their efficiency down, resulting in problems like depression, weariness, and the feeling of weak bones.

Preventing Diseases: 

Vitamin E works as a natural prevention of artery clogging, atherosclerosis, and general damage to veins inside of your body. Those who have taken Vitamin E for at least two years have seen a twenty to forty percent reduction in their risk for obtaining a coronary heart disease and saw a general decline for a risk in blood clots, with those at higher risk seeing greater benefits.

Additionally, those who took Vitamin E saw a likelihood of seeing their risk for cardiovascular death decline by twenty-four percent and furthermore the decline of cardiac issues by twenty-six percent. Smokers who intake Vitamin E on a regular basis showed to have a thirty-two percent lower risk of just getting prostate cancer, and nearly fifty percent lower risk in dying from prostate cancer. Vitamin E, in specific combination with vitamin C, beta-carotene, and zinc, has shown to lower the likelihood of such diseases as cataracts, AMD, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS.

Natural Sex Enhancer: 

Vitamin E is most notable for its help in the human productive system where it acts as a natural fat-soluble that works wonderfully with Vitamin C, which can cause the Vitamin E to work even longer. The way that Vitamin E helps in the bed is that Vitamin E acts as a natural blood thinner, since it kills free radical cells to make room for healthy cells, which causes the blood in your veins to move faster. Since your penile gland can only be erect when the blood in your system is flowing to it properly, Vitamin E helps increase the flow to your penile gland. This makes it so that those having problems with erectile dysfunction can become erect more often and those wanting to last longer in the bed will last longer. Additionally, Vitamin E kills the free radicals that cause damage to normal functioning organs, which means those who suffer from premature ejaculation will see that this does not occur as often since the free radical cells damaging the pelvic area are being eliminated.

Just as well, Vitamin E is not just for men, as the vitamin also helps with women suffering from a dry vaginal region or lack of sexual arousal. While in pill form, Vitamin E increases the fluids going to the vaginal region, but as a liquidated form, Vitamin E supplements provides extra stimulation as well as lubrication. Lack of sexual arousal in women often stimulates from a lowering of the hormone Estrogen, which Vitamin E acts as a natural multiplier as seen in studies where the use of Vitamin E showed a massive increase in Estrogen levels.

Written by

Stephen Lapidus

SUPERFOODS FOR SEXUAL PERFORMANCE

SUPERFOODS FOR SEXUAL PERFORMANCE

I have had several feedback from our listeners concerning the previous edition of the discussion. Many ladies said I focused more on the foods that boost the sexual performance of men. I wish to indicate that the food items we discussed previously work equally for women. However because of popular request, I will discuss some food items that boost the sexual performance of women.

1. RED WINE

Red wine has been proven over the years to boost the sex drive of women. Several researches link the consumption of red wine to stronger libido in women. Wine is made from fermented grapes, it has a natural chemical balance. The grapes are fermented without the addition of sugar, acids, enzymes, water or other nutrients. Red wine is also rich in antioxidants that help to reduce aging making you look radiant and younger. A glass or two of red wine is enough to raise your game.

2. CLOVES

For those who may not know what cloves are, they are those spices that look like tiny nails. They are used in making 'sobolo'. In the North they are called 'mosoro'. People use them to spice a variety of food items such as drinks, porridge, meat, fish, etc.

Cloves are no ordinary spices. They have been used to enhance sexual performance in both men and women since ancient times. In men, cloves help to prevent premature ejaculation. They are also used as libido boosters in both men and women.  Cloves are also very high sources of omega-3 fatty acids which are essential for improving cardiovascular health. As I indicated in the previous discussion, a person's sexual health is dependent on the health of their heart and blood vessels.

The sweet aroma of cloves freshen breath and help fight halitosis. Apart from the fact that halitosis is a turn off during sex, emerging researches are linking bad breadth and bleeding gums to erectile dysfunction. Bad breadth can also affect one's self esteem and confidence level.

LET US NOW LOOK AT THOSE FOOD ITEMS THAT CAN KILL YOUR SEXUAL PERFORMANCE.

1. ALCOHOL

Alcohol abuse has been linked to reduction in sexual performance in several studies. Alcohol in itself is a depressant. It also inhibits the body's ability to produce testosterone which is a major sex hormone for both males and females. The irony is that alcohol increases sexual desire but reduces sexual performance. If you want enhance your sexual performance, you need to avoid alcohol abuse.

2. DAIRY PRODUCTS (animal milk, cheese, ice cream)

This may come as shocker to many people but the lactic acid in dairy products can kill your libido. One may ask, what about the calcium and other minerals that diary products provide? Yes animal milk contains a lot of calcium and calcium is linked to sexual health but the fact is animal milk is not the only source of calcium. You may want to resort to lactose free milk if you are concerned about your sexual health. There are several food items that are very healthy sources of calcium. Healthy substitutes for dairy milk are soy milk, tigernut milk, cashew milk. Green leafy vegetables are also very good sources of calcium.

Written by

Fred Amese

In Love with an Addict? Why it is a "Good" Thing

In Love with an Addict? Why it is a "Good" Thing

Does your loved one's destructive behavior and continual lies make you feel like you are going crazy? Do you ask yourself daily, or multiple times daily, "Why on earth do I tolerate this person with this addiction?!"Do you feel confused when you experience moments with the addict where you feel joy and see glimmers of hope that things will get better? Sounds like you are in love with an addict.

And, although this might sound crazy, I think it is a "good" thing. Read that last statement again if you need to and notice if you had a reaction to it. Did it make you cringe? If you are someone with an addiction, are you curious why I say that it is a good thing to be in love with you?

Well, it is. I am not saying it is good to be in love with the addiction. That is a different thing. After all, The person you love is NOT their addiction. The addiction; however, is definitely a huge part of their lives and their world; especially their body, mind, and spirit. Every aspect of a person's BEING gets taken over by the illusion of what drugs, alcohol, food, sex, work, financial addiction has to offer.

The "vice(s)" a person ends up using often becomes their reason; their excuse to repeatedly escape the feelings of loneliness, shame, sadness, guilt, pain-physical and/or emotional-etc. This desire to escape is not intentional; the brain's reward center kicks in with dopamine; the "gotta get it" neurotransmitter. The fix becomes more important than any relationship. Relying on this "vice" gives someone who has a history of trauma, shame, depression, sadness, attachment issues, etc, or even curiosity or accident (i.e. porn addiction is impacting children as young as 8 years of age) a reason/excuse to hide from who they truly are- the person you love.

Being in love with an addict means that at some point in your relationship, you saw their potential, along with their talents, intuitiveness, sensitivity, and brilliance. Many times, and understandably so, loved ones forget about these positive attributes, especially as they endure years of lies, deception, betrayal, and pain. I am not saying that because you have seen who this person really is-the "good" in them-that you should stay with them at all costs. It is crucial that partners, spouses, children, loved ones, do what they need to do in order to get/stay healthy, especially since we know that with addiction, the entire family system gets sick. For some, this may mean walking away from the relationship for awhile or forever. However, even if you walk away, it is still ok to love the person in their addiction.

Having healthy boundaries is a strong sign of loving the addict, and it may also feel really foreign. After all, you have probably found yourself enabling them out of fear that they might leave you or even die if you didn't. Setting boundaries can be the biggest form of telling your loved one just how much you care about them. Boundaries mean that because you love this person so much, you are drawing a line in the sand to assist them in getting help, not in dying. An example of a boundary is to no longer give your family member money, or monitoring their accounts, especially if you know they use it to buy drugs, alcohol, sex, gamble, etc. This may feel like policing, however, in the beginning of recovery, this behavioral boundary may prove effective. If the person with the addiction wants recovery, they will likely be open to this type of boundary. After all, it will assist them in being more honest and accountable.

Another way to show that you love your partner via boundaries is to do things for your own recovery. For example, attending therapy and joining a support group. This is a form of influence, not control, and a healthy way of showing your loved one that you too are learning new ways of coping with the addiction. A third boundary may be to limit contact with the person if they are using. If you live with them, limiting contact to a minimum; letting them know you are doing this is key as to not create more conflict than is already in the space.

Finally, and as previously mentioned, leaving for a short while or forever may be the ultimate boundary you practice which may need to be done as a sign of self love as well as loving them. If the relationship gets too toxic and the person with the addiction refuses help, leaving may be the ultimate boundary and act of self and other love.

It is ok to love someone who has an addiction; in fact, I think it is a "good" thing. Demonstrating your love by setting healthy boundaries is a beautiful way to take care of your own needs while insulating you from further pain caused by the addiction.

Remember, you are worth it!

Candice Christiansen

Founder at Namaste Center for Healing

Chocolate

Chocolate

Aren't the piece of chocolate
Suppose to sweeten cheerless mood
The darker is definitely better for the melancholy
The instant panacea curing the ill feelings
In the minute it melt heavenly in mouth

If all would be as simple as it sounds
I'd eat dark chocolate by kilos every day
At point when the occasion strike with hammer's blow
Just pop in , reaching to forbidden kitchen drawer

Not working , I can attest to fact
A little only while munching the desert
The sadness needs something stronger than sugar treat
The shot of hug , the cocktail of kisses with a cherry on the top

by Margaret Gudkov

Embroidery majestic floridness

Embroidery majestic floridness

Fait accompli to Chinese silk light beauty
The song to craftsmanship manifestation
To hands creating miracle equal to nature's

The woman's body harboring inside
Caressed lovingly by fabric soft murmuring
Her curves seeking barely zoetic touch
Celestial breath, mere whisper over skin

She wiggles in the silk embrace
The thighs rubbing in delicious tasting
Bringing desire up a notch while laying on the sheets
The sumptuous sheets seen verboten romps
That children cannot set the eyes on

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Evan Wilson

I am longing to be as free as butterfly

I am longing to be as free as butterfly
Not obligated sit on just one specific flower
Flying without any preordained thought
Adorning sky with multitude of tones
I'd relish nectar on the petals mixed into morning dew
Rest awhile and glide anew till other leaves and blooms
Catch my heart's compass, beckoning to reach out

I'd link amorphous connection, enjoying company
Afterwards saying goodbye , keeping the memory inside
To the untouched destinations, full of exotic stories
How light-weighted you might say, not serious about life
On contrary , I am filled with curiosity limitless horizon
Why bound yourself to same routine
When world present the opportunities abound
Be like butterfly or bird , not chained to the perimeter of space
But going places to partake in role , assigned from birth

by Margaret Gudkov

Nothing can compare to softness of your lips

Nothing can compare to softness of your lips
Surfing with abandon over crevices of mine
No down pillow suffocating snuggling abyss
No cuddly teddy bear from the buried past

I stare at you across the table wanting to touch
Naked under my flimsy dress, burning with fever
Can you read what my eyes advertizing blatantly
Saying not a word , seducing in the silent style

What is it to understand
Masking you embarrassment to permit the truth to fly
I command, beg you to find pretense and go under tablecloth
Indulge my lips in duel of the wills , opening the heaven door

Not courageous enough to balance on the border of absurd
Afraid the judging looks of jealous folks cause mental discomfort
You give me puppy gaze of timid stag first time laying eyes on doe
We on public darling, there are rules of etiquette bound to obey
I say to hell with it, be a pirate , abordaging me...drop the fork on floor and dive through ocean waves

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Jack Vettriano

There the limits

There the limits to the pain you bear

Knowing not when point of no return is reached
The heart assaulted by blitzkrieg of emotions 
Rolling to abyss , the eyes see darkness only
And then... you felt it moral and the physical cross roads

It can happen on the gorgeous sunny day
The weather does not compromise because of you
Nothing change around, the bench, park , lake stay calm
Witnessing deconstruction of person , wriggling in dolor
The inner spasms of desperation, loneliness and sadness
Hidden from the world, they are yours to experience

Anything can trigger the unfortunate event
Listening musicians boogie on the stage
The crowd cheering , dancing, whistling
Abruptly all is stopped inside of you in light of recognition
Another face appear in air, grimacing in return of aching loneliness
You been alone again even while making brave attempt to go out
The life, professional and personal, hanging on the scales
Nothing is settled... the goose did not lay the golden egg

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado

What heart is telling you

What heart is telling you

I talk to you
The smile grace the face
But deep inside the pain is drumming
To say I yearn to say the words to make you understand
Petrified to cut the fragile string connecting us

The silky thread of communication
Pulled by both sides not meant for such a pressure
Yet the colloquy should take a place between two sides of love
Not building the resentment in the heart till it's too late to resolve it

I am laughing, making jokes
Unsatisfied in the terms of the fulfillment, hiding angry streak
Grey hair in midst of many others starting to appear with
Regular proclivity,giving me the look of profundity , the wise woman
Which I am not , just trying to survive in the hostile waters

What heart is telling you ,does it feel unhappiness
Brewing to the boiling incalescence in my eyes
The inability of yours to change the things unfolding
Alarmed mentioning the things with open mind
Is hardly what I am looking for

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Sherry Lee Short

You think you know me?

You think you know me?

The dress , the smile, hair brightness
You think you know me just by scanning over
Visually measuring parameters of mine
Accessing inner world the complicated labyrinth
Opening the door , loosing yourself somewhere in the middle

You cannot read the woman
Don't try to be the wise man,knowing all
I prove you wrong at any given moment
Putting to shame the theories of yours
The end become beginning of the new adventure

I am like a lychee, exotic , the eye catching
You peel rough rind to find the sweet surrender
Juice running to the mouth to enhance the pleasure
Don't eat the nut or you will break the teeth
For you I am dream , mirage in desert
The cloud unpredictability , the sun rays
The rain cooling senses in the hot night
You do not know me, endeavoring is useless nonsense
The mystery is my protective shield

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Rina Sutzkever

Singular side of medal

Singular side of medal

The nervous wreck unable to control emotions
Getting insecure with each arising problem on the path
Fretting over the elements that don't deserve attention 
That how you see me from the sidelines

The things I do go beyond faux pas of manners
The root of evil planted in my heart few years back
Setbacks,betrayals, creditors who like a vultures come
Collect the money or collect the soul.. what exactly do you know

I never claimed to be an angel neither devil
Is hard to be one perfect person after devastating shakes
The skin too thin, emotions are too raw.. everything too much
But with all said i know my heart is in the right place
And I blame myself for wrongs that came to knock

You see singular side of medal
Not caring for the story written in my eyes
The raising voice without devious intent , the crying
Meeting the indifference and silence instead of patience
Taking hand in yours , calming with words, with hugs

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Angela BettaCazale

Still life

Still life

Dead nature staring at spectators eyes
Attracting with the morbid cheerlessness of expiration
The flowers decaying into dust in fashion of the movie star
Aging behind the scenes , behind the silence walls
Fruits rotting , emanating fermented odor
Even through the canvas fabric

So beautiful, so full of life moments before
While hand transferring colors on the painting
They are already on the way to disappear to zilch
Food for the birds future generations

The pomegranates losing brightness of the red
Brownish apples scrunching the appearance
The taxidermy birds could not be more dead
The glass in pupils shining in unnatural bearing
We calling it still life, French call it nature mort
Dead nature propagate life stillness, everything come to stop
Halting activities in core, everything becoming particle for universe foundation

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Luis Egidio Melendez Bodegón

We walking on the beach

We walking on the beach

The steps, measuring silence in the whispering of sand
Softly giving in under our bare feet pressure
The wind nudging, pushing slightly on the back
Witnessing muted dialog of understanding souls

How many times things getting complicated
It's our fault to overcomplex the simplicity of it
Like two of us on empty shore floating in Never land
Free of Byzantine knots in overburdened mind

The water brings cooling respite to imponderable questions
Actually , giving the answers in the ebbs and flows
I catechize the heart with he loves me ,love me not
Silly abrogation for the truth already implanted
He is here, now , walking hand in hand
Looking so peaceful and content in golden aura of sun

by Margaret Gudkov

Moon changing nature

Moon changing nature

Half moon is offering the slice to taste
Sharp appetizer of Roquefort tingling mouth
The cheese is hanging amidst black caviar of sky
Delectable morsel for aristocratic taste of connoisseur

Getting the bigger , riper every day
Till full grown new moon calls for assembly
Presiding monarch on the pedestal of never-ending merrygo-around
Night-day, night-day, holding the ornamental starry scepter

The dog on terrace, overcome by magnetic light of hers
Barked at the moon, asking to come closer for sniffing
Huge ball of fascination, eager to play with, too high
Too forbidding , for the eyes to savor only
So dog barked again and over, not getting answer

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Rufino Tamayo

Open your arms to unbelievable sensation

Open your arms to unbelievable sensation
You tasted scent of other women on your lips
Yet it was not perfumed pleasure body traveled for
Seeking the uniqueness of one meant only for you

The search for soul mate through forest of the glances
Sweet, soft, shy , green ,blue and dark, angry , disappointed
Through siphoning the mouths sensual gatherings
Probing the juices , sipping slowly on tongue

They were gorgeous, not really close to gorgeous
Variety of the female candidates to win the heart
Hoping to win the beauty pageant, judged by the heart
You tried too hard to find the right companion... it did not work

Open your arms, turn, I am right behind you
Waiting for the fortune's twinkle to flash a light on me
Clear fogginess from eyes of yours , lift on the same level
And look deeper , drowning in love's pupils
Unblanketing the divine truth

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Catherine Yastrebova

Eat cherries

Eat cherries
Their sweet nectar would cushion disappointments on tongue
Soften a bit the words that yearning to spring out in the anger
Calming the senses into surrender to the nature 's antidote

The truth is bittersweet hostility , peering at your face
Do you have a guts to handle without wavering a little
Common girl nothing will break inside , it's here to teach a lesson
Many lessons to the mind to make it stronger person

Seen message on the wall if written just for me
The lifestyle you ordered currently out of stock
Go figure if divine force trying to tell me something
Configure architecture of the thoughts
Helping to direct them into peaceful delta

Eat cherries girl .. maybe your time is still ahead
The rationale is difficult to swallow

by Margaret Gudkov
art by Emilia Wilk

White tulips drooping in the vase

White tulips drooping in the vase
Spent ballerinas in the stage of life
The tutus petals resting sadly, closing eyes 
Unready to ebb, succumbing to commandment of the nature

Few days, few hours of blooming breath
And now air is filled with decaying death
Stems rotting in antecedently clear, fresh water
The smell of end permeating nose

Came from the tiny bulbs
Grotesque to look at, reminding of the cocoon
Like butterfly spring out from the hideous shell, revealing beauty
They suddenly divulge the secret to the world
Flourishing into enormously alluring buds ..alas not for long

by Margaret Gudkov