Cover of Jail Verse Poems from Kondenquin Prison by Cameroon author and political prisoner Enoh Meyomesse . (PEN International) “Sometimes: the struggle and willingness to say the unsayable –– has cost poets and artists their lives.”––from Journey through the Power of the Rainbow Each year the value, presence, and volume of poetry in the world intensifies after spring arrives largely because the international community celebrates March 21 as World Poetry Day and people in the United States celebrate National Poetry Month in April. Both of these events since their establishment––National Poetry Month by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and World Poetry Day by UNESCO in 1999––have served to magnify the focus on, and respect for, poetry as a universal cultural legacy. People around the globe felt World Poetry Day significant enough that they celebrated it (some are still doing so) in a number of notable ways, from individual blog posts and the public...

           Untitled photographed mixed-media painting by Jaanika Talts. (All rights reserved by the artist) One need not, after all, call oneself an artist in order to embrace either the beauty that roses give to the world or the genius that one’s love does. (Aberjhani) I. ENCOUNTER WITH BEAUTY When viewing a recent untitled painting by Dublin artist Jaanika Talts a strange thought came to me. It was this: Between the elegant reach of an artist’s color-stained fingers toward  her canvas and the haunted explosion of a soldier’s bullet inside his brother’s  chest, somewhere a terrified soul is seeking shelter inside the warmth of a  stranger’s voice, or an infant is squealing at the incomprehensible delight of discovering  it is alive . As I said, it was a strange thought. Talts’ painting  depicts a cluster of multi-colored roses in different stages of blossoming, nestled against the flesh of dark ...

Advocates for civil and human rights march in Washington D.C. (photography by Getty Images) “We must not approach the observance and enforcement of this law in a vengeful spirit. Its purpose is not to punish. Its purpose is not to divide, but to end divisions--divisions which have all lasted too long. Its purpose is national, not regional. Its purpose is to promote a more abiding commitment to freedom, a more constant pursuit of justice, and a deeper respect for human dignity.”–President Lyndon B. Johnson (Remarks upon Signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964) Because so many social and political turning points took place in the United States during the 1960s, the country in recent years has observed a number of important historical milestones and continues to do so in 2014. One such milestone is the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . The act became a law July 2, 1964, making the official anniversary date July 2, 2014. Awareness of that date is particularly ...

Varieties of angels, like varieties of love, are many. It is therefore not too surprising that the angelic imagery utilized to help celebrate Valentine’s Day tends to range from innocent blushing cherubs to winged beauties swagged out in erotic creations worthy of placement in a Victoria’s Secret catalog. Valentine’s Day itself, like most holidays in the modern era, has been heavily influenced by commercialism that focuses on the appeal of romantic fantasies. The effective marketing of Valentine fantasy movies such as Winter’sTale (with Colin Farrell, Jennifer Connelly, and Jessica Brown Findlay);and the film Endless Love (with Gabriella Wilde and Alex Pettyfer) support that observation. Movies can provide tear-inducing or comically-entertaining representations of love but many agree that its deeper conflicting complexities often seem unfathomable. That is largely because different human hearts often interpret their experiences of love in different ways. ...