The winners of the Walt Whitman 2026 Competition
held within the framework of the International Literary Association "CREATIVE TRIBUNE"
English poetry
__________________________________
Ajtic Tanja- poetry
The Future
The past slips through our fingers like sand;it does not return, no matter how we call it back.The present is the only thing we truly have,and within it, tomorrow is born.
We do not know what is coming,but we know what we can wish for:goodness for every human being,peace for every child, a life without fear.
To be human is not easy,and to be good is even harder.Yet that is what we are called to be.
There is one planet,and there is room for all.Not to divide, but to recognize one another.
A world without wars,without hunger and tears,without the blood of the innocent —is not a dream, but a choice.
If we pause and listen to ourselves,we will hear a quiet voice: love.In that word, change begins.
We must change ourselvesto change the world.We must be the light when everythingseems on the verge of breaking.
Children are watching us.What will we leave them?
The future is not something we wait for —it is something we create.
Together.
=====================
ГРАН-ПРИ
Last Name: Nagi
First Name: Parvinder
Name of the nomination: Poetry
HYMN OF WORLD PEACE
Let the war stop and borders breathe across
Let peace grow seeds in wounded soil wailing so deep
Mending future in blends of empathy bringing peace
Sowing hopes of brighter tomorrows through the roughest
and bending paths
The world is devoid of violence and conflicts
It is decorated with justice and cooperation
Healing the broken hearts so naive
A child’s suffering be looked upon
each chapter
a dream still wandering
Scribbling his wishes on the fate of time
Every wound a doorway teaching gently
Wearing the mask of protection
Let’s heal the world with mercy and compassion
Within the freedom of nations arises a soothing voice
A subtle force moving from heart to heart
Kindness walking beside the divine souls
Winds of new change unfolds gently
Reminiscing the earth to the first light of peace
Now gentle echoes learn to listen
shedding its burden past
Every shadow following the
silence of language
Carrying the weight of memories
Where truth knocks softly
The air no longer fears the shooter as subtle
melodies cradle injuries
Meeting in the shadows buried
Grasping the light through the shadows followed
The world Anthem sung through nations wide
Woven in the fabric of kindness, love and faith
Winds chanting songs of entwined cultures binding in oneness
Beneath the thunder of wars and fears
Peace comes with symphony of melodious notes so calming
Weaving cultures into chosen peace.
=======================
The nomination: poetry
Title of the work: Life's identity
Surname: Hammoud
Name: Shurouk
Sweden
Life's identityI am the tree in the mirror of earthIt extends its braids on my branches to seduce the sky with an incomplete kiss.I am the empty page in the mirror of the desire for resurrection and eternity,I am the broken wall clock in the eyes of the wallI imitate its dull nature with my intended silence.I am the cup in a mirror of wine,The river in the mirror of the seaAnd the sail in the wind mirrorI am the mother in the orphan mirror,Bread crumbs in the mirror of birdsI am the shade in the night mirrorAnd dawn in the mirror of the dewI am love in women' eyesAnd the soul in the dream of the bodyI am the manifestation in the eyes of truth,the temporary in the eyes of timeAnd the tear in the eye of the poem.I, as you are allI am all this life/ death in the eyes of the beings that gave birth to dreamsNothing invites me to survival partyBecause I am a shy breathAs a song about motherhoodThat keeps silentOn the thresholds of a sterile woman
=======================
Poetry
Biljana Chelik
LOVE ALPHABET
Life - the sea.
Sometimes calm, sometimes stormy,
I - a drop in it.
The waves carry me up, down.
But the soul goes neither east nor west,
nor north nor south.
My soul is deep in the middle of your soul.
Don't speak,
words are lost in space and time.
Allow me
to read in the silence of your eyes.
Love is the same in all languages.
Its alphabet is emotions.
======================
©® Rita Chugh
India
SHADES OF LOVE
Love in life is a treasure to behold
A supreme power even when one's old
Wonderful relations it builds till the end
Sweet emotions blossom till the last bend.
Love in its different shades creates a heaven
With colourful vibes, life it enlivens
Love blooms with beautiful, exquisite hues
Giving heart and soul ecstatic muse.
Love is the sweetest and deepest emotion
When given with joy and devotion
Love is the greatest gift of all
Makes one happy and enthral.
Love of a mother is for sure divine
Warmth of other relations is none the less pristine
All beautiful creations of God on earth
Live a blissful life of love and mirth.
Love gives true happiness and pleasure
It is the most valuable and precious treasure
Love is the epitome of exuberance and delight
Full of ecstacy, a wonderful, magnificent paradise!!
===========================
FRIENDSHIP
By Mahmoud Said Kawash
What I'm about to tell you isn't a riddle, but words from the heart.You'll understand this truth if you read and reflect on this old proverb:"Hold on to a true friend with both hands and never let go."Don't let your friend slip away, especially a true friend.Fake friends are all around you, residing in the halls of your life!In friendships, sometimes you don't need to explain your feelings and worries in detail.If you have the right friend, things become somewhat easier.When those we love leave, they take all their little things with them, except for their smiles and questions; these remain with us and never leave us.Every loyal friend you lose will leave, taking pieces of you with them.Each piece carries the stories of your lives, your special moments, and the details you shared.I believe that no new friend can fill the voids of the past or replace a friend who has left or been gone for a long time.Who can bring back those moments with them?Who can replace them?Of course, no one.For every person who leaves us, we carry their name within us, a name that will never be repeated.And for every person who is absent from us, whether traveling or away for any reason, we cherish the most beautiful memories.Every newcomer has his place and important role in our lives, but for every person who leaves us, his place in our hearts remains empty.We welcome newcomers and whisper gently, "These hearts are yours, except for that distant corner which remains for them."In the journey of our lives, many friends pass through our lives.In the hustle and bustle of life, we look around and find only a few. The fear is that a day will come when we find no friends around us, God forbid.For some are consumed by the demands of life, others are preoccupied with their own interests, and some leave us and choose other friends.Sometimes it is difficult to explain the strange cycle of life.You may be the cause, or they may be the cause.What matters now is only those who are around you, those who persevered despite the circumstances and remained in your life. Look at them and listen to them carefully.Remember them with love and offer them your warmest greetings. My message to you, after greetings:Thank you for your presence and the joy you bring.Thank you for all the happiness you've added to my life.I offer you a thousand thanks for your kind listening, your gentle patience, the warmth of your gaze, and your composure.Thank you for extending your hand and giving so much, even though I asked so little of you.Your presence means so much to me.Thank you for the beauty of your presence.Thank you for all the wonderful times I've spent with you.I owe you details that only we know.I've burdened you with my secrets and troubled you with the naivety of my dreams.Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my friend.Preserve our friendship, hold onto it, and never let it go.
Your loyal friend
===================
Yusuf Aslan
Türkiye
I WISH FOR DECENCY AND MORALITY
If I had the right to make a wish,
I would wish for Decency and Morality!
If the sun were to rise upon me one day,
I would wish for Silk to cast a shadow!
See what is born when dawn breaks,
The wilderness takes on various colors,
For those driven mad by love,
I would wish for an Angel to be a cure!
Seeing how people have become accustomed to many things,
Each has infected another,
Lately, humankind has changed,
I would wish for morality, thinking it might be necessary!
If I could inform my beloved,
If my suffering soul were happy for a moment,
To go on a vacation together, head to head, with that soul, I would surely wish!
God loves you, and you love Him,
You go down the path of knowledge, wisdom, and ignorance,
O servant Yusuf, what else would you wish for?
I would wish for a fate that overcomes injustice!
============================
Mitić Dragan
Hvala ti što si me volela!
Hvala ti što si me volela!Pazi, rekao sam hvalaA dobro znaš da nisam fin,I dabogda me nikad ne prebolela,Uspomeno mala, mala kao džin!I hvala ti što si bila iskrena,I otišla sama, pre pravoga kraja.Otišla tek tako, ostavi me uplakanaDa mozgam u tami: A šta tu ne valja?A dobro si znala da sam glupI da ne mogu da shvatim nepravdu!Ti otišla, meni osta samo trup,Da, eto živim, da sa životom zamećem kavgu.Havala ti još jednom,Za sve to, za šta ne treba reći hvala,Pa kad poželiš, pokušaj me naći, lutaću svetom!Uspomeno bolna, uspomeno mala
=============================
THE FLIGHT
Every day, just before noon
a gang of pigeons break the azure:
completing a wide, cathartic loop
they'll neatly land back at the mure.
I've never seen them in dispute,
each perching at their favorite beam
where they'll rest and coo (a ruffle or two),
look untroubled, just doing their thing.
I've made them the zenith of my noon,
dreaming to be one of the squad:
to surge above the suburban gloom,
our gracious greetings, nerdy nods.
Still, it doesn't miss my irony
that I'd never notice them as young,
'mid our striving and anxieties,
we take for granted the marvels beyond...
Though breathless, I do maintain
the best of me will fly with the birds
for, they free us of the earth's constraints.
So, one day, we go where they lead.
=======================
Priyanka Neogi
Because there is love, the color of nature becomes dark,
At the perception of nature, the colors of the mind become vivid in the lofty heavens,
A new path joins the familiar path in a burst of exhilaration,
Oindrila comes in the blue wave as Swapan Vayu,
Blows away in a passionate golden realm,
Where dependence is all but the pull of love.
Power is love, passion is kindness and love,
All-encompassing care has everything,
The horizon grows bright with dewy clouds shrinking in the wind.
Love and kindness are true to life's pace which obeys Whitman's first principle,
There is a sense of love because it is real.
Because there is love, love is the accessory of imitation,
Rhythm, form, content, language, everything is in the training of life.
This principle enlivens life by man for man.
During the American Civil War, she was busy tending to sick and wounded soldiers.
Kindness and love towards other people show humanity.
Realism and humanism flow in his writings.
Humanity comes from a good heart that does good deeds.
Love can strengthen and carry forward,
Please make me a beautiful person,
Forgiveness, mercy, peace and love are necessary to bloom in the heart for life to move forward in a healthy and beautiful way.
Kindness will create good relationships.
There is love means,there is kindness.
=========================
MY LETTERS HAVE FALLEN SILENT
©® THANAA SHALASH – EGYPT
ENGLISH TRANSLATION: TAGHRID BOU MERHI
My homeland, for your sake how easily my life is given,
O light of my eyes, yes, and the beat of my heart.
My homeland is the harbor when my ship inclines,
In its warm embrace I find my anchor.
My homeland is paradise where my peace resides,
My homeland is a hell ignited for my enemies.
Upon your soil I see life as a virtue,
And for your soil, my sacrifice, my martyrdom, my death.
Cradle of childhood, youth, and all my growing years,
Upon your dust my steps were perfumed.
I wished to live my happiness within you,
And I wished that your soil would one day embrace my remains.
My homeland, O melody whose echo has wandered,
Who will repeat my tunes to the world?
I turn to you to draw my happiness,
I turn to you to restore my steadfastness.
Yet I see you drifting from our path,
Who will hear my sighs and groans?
Who will remove the thorns that hinder our steps?
Who will wipe away my tears when they overflow?
My homeland, from you and to you I complain of my pain,
The illness is from you, and in your hands lies my salvation.
My homeland, for your sake I have written my poems,
And my words have shone in noble elevation.
My letters have fallen silent — who will return their clamor?
The pen is broken, and the ink of my inkwell has dried.
============================
Where are you?
Where are you?
Have you forgotten, my dear?...
As the sun sets, I go dark...
When the wind of longing blows...
Your smiling face is a ghost.
Where are you?
Are you left as a ghost...
A happy imagination, a wonderful telescope...
In this life, there are mountains we have not seen..
There are many peaks that we have not set out to find...
Where are you?
Are you invisible, my beloved?
Are you my unattainable dream...?
You are the apple of my love, my white neck...
I am worthy, the honey taste of a red tongue.
Where are you?
Where is my dream fro yesterday?
A dream is a ghost, if you hold on to it, it will fade away.
This is Love, a blessing from God.
The shower of unrepeatable love...
Where are you?
My mind is worried...
That one image of you is in an unforgettable volcano.
The past is gone, the future is full of secrets...
Everything seems out of reach to me.
In this world, I long for a happy day.
It is passing by without stopping.
Tomorrow, when you reach your dreams...
Whether you reach it or not, it is only you.
Even if you remain in longing and loneliness, it is sad.
I long for your warmth before my eyes...
I love you, my dear, I will love you..
I will not hide it, I will declare it to the world..
========================
Nomination: Poetry
Title of the work: “Your Flower And Neighbour”
Author: Ernesto Santiago
City and Country of Residence: Athens, Greece
Your Flower And Neighbour
Tell me how hard humanness can be
on the land of no immortal at all to see.
Not the stressful kind—but the kind
that is unbound: yes, that kind—
That makes you alive, to seek the best,
even when everything collapses from the rest.
Being single, like a blossom on one stalk,
doesn’t mean being incomplete and broke.
But it does mean carrying alone the things
that tug on your life’s heartstrings.
There’s strength in that, but there’s also exhaustion,
and it’s okay to accept that with conviction.
Humanness isn't a flaw or a failure.
It’s a connection, a reordering response to rapture.
And gifting one, or acknowledging it, doesn’t
make you less poor—it makes you decent.
Do something kind and heartfelt today,
rearrange your thoughts before you say.
The day after today is never promised,
make it count today with ease like a light breeze.
Oh nurseryman, thank you for the sprinkle
that let my morning heart twinkle.
Hold on tighter to those who matter
to you most, with or without cool character.
Hear me, oh, hear me! I’m a single stem daffodil.
To you now I reveal—
we share DNA
and I'm your flower and neighbour for the day.
==========================
Nomination: poetry
title of the work: KISSES LIKE ROSES
surname: Jovanović
author's name: Irena
locality: the city of Zaječar
country of residence: Serbia
KISSES LIKE ROSES
Kisses like roses bloom
elegantly, softly, tenderly
fragrant and mesmerizing
velvety petals of lips
are falling onto my neck
covering even my shoulders
with the most refined touch
of the mildest fragrant love care
that I have ever discovered
This perfection of love
brilliant and profound
is making my heart flourish
just like a huge, dark red rose
opulent and wild
mild in the essence of love
in ravishment and joy.
Two roses of our hearts
with the petals kissing each other
joined together, glide in beauty,
dance through all dimensions
that blossom like roses.
In a rosarium of eternity
our souls tend to bloom, too
two fresh buds, ready to open
and showcase inner splendor
of the most sublime love
adorned with the echoing truths
in the freshness of vibrant dewdrops
and my heart vibrates gently
my Valentine, with all my love
forever extended towards you
through kisses of refined lips
in the endless petals' whirls
of cosmic roses of life
=====================
WAITING
by Maria Kolovou Roumelioti
GREECE
For centuries, now, we have been waiting for her coming.
A young maiden, carrying in her hair the swallows' joy,
the birth of hope with two May wreaths worn with red poppies
around her neck; and we -burglars of the Sun, to snatch the green branch
from her dress; to forget ourselves a little under the eyes of her clear sky.
For centuries, now, we have been waiting for her beauties.
Joyful birds for flying above the vines,
mating with harmony, creation and carrying messages of peace
to the ends of the earth.
Bright mornings and longing ones, we are waiting.
Rose-colored dusks, with stars
trembling in eyelids soaked with anticipation of love.
A spring full of affection and a new beginning of struggle,
where from the wounds of the crucifixion the wounds will be healed.
we wait for the dormant seeds to swell in our viscas
and from the inertia of winter to escape….
We wait for sensations of certain life to be transfused into our blood.
From the cracked stone to sprout thyme,
oregano, lemon balm, wild mint and seeds of bread .
For the barren mountains to bear fruit,
for the will of the world to hum like a bee.
For poetry to awaken within us.
For festive music to flood our hearts.
We wait for life to bloom along with the vibrant colors of flowers.
To partake of the endless struggle.
Here, just as the earth is digested, the soil and water,
and with the caress of the sun,
it crowns all the treasures, giving promises of eternity over the years.
For centuries , we have been waiting for Spring to come!
Let us go out on its march!
let us weave songs, let the ice melt, let the cool water chirp!
===========================
REBELLIOUS POEM
This is no stem on which the world hangs,
deviding a non-existant Time;
space is narrowing, air suffocating...
God!...
Gritty hands reaching out
to stick a post stamp,
letters have lost battle
to computer keys,
creepy, like cat’s claws,
grabbing a mouse: end Chapter One;
no Chapter Two in sight
- who shall lick the stamp?
A letter sent by a train without a schedule,
or on swallow’s wing, South-bound,
when so many ravens go North or West,
who’s sending this rebellious poem, when
even baboons are no more rebellious,
gawking in the full moon, ignoring
longing cries for love,
having surrendered to power - oh, Lord!
Where do you hide your head, with
so many ropes around?
Were it Beloved, to kiss
before a new Ice Age, while
the world still hangs …
==================
Poet: Moaz Al-Sami’i
Yemen
Coffee Sense
The Foam of Coffee and Milk
Before…
God invented the Earth,
Before its idea crossed His sublime mind,
Or He inspired Himself to shape it upon the stage of existence...
There was a woman... swimming whole in the imagination of water,
And half a man... writhing in the future of smoke.
Before… all that…
That, which is deeply rooted in nihilism,
That, the nothingness,
All of that,
There was Coffee.
Suckling its darkness from an unknown point, predating eternity.
And the text was… seeping with an idea, preparing itself for the explosion!
/Let me tell you something…
On the condition that we do not disturb the water's outlets,
Or sting the fragility of the path,
Between a glass pitcher and an ordinary tray.
I do not know how you drink the conversations of nature:
Sweet, or bitter?
Bold, or balanced?!
Anyway, what I will present is not miraculous, after all.../
Coffee has no conception of
Death…
Death is the noise of another existentialism,
And the other, is a clamor for another nostalgia,
And the latter, veils itself in the wonder of
Eternity.
Eternity is a complex philosophy…
A woman’s hand—her mood is beans, water, and fire—
Waves for the completion of consciousness upon the bench of
Nothingness…
Nothingness is an unknown message,
About a God endearingly presenting His exquisite paintings
Through the presence of colors, while threatening them
With Hell…!
Hell is us…
We restrain our fingertips from writing,
Our disappointments from yawning,
Our breaths... from the wailing cups
In the dawn's astonishment.
We do not hear in their scents the gasp of
The evening.
The evening is an eternal deformity, a dark tear,
In the eyes of ancestors burning in the
Nebula.
The nebula is the heart of a man without a woman.
A woman, preparing her coffee to become whole,
Falls into its bubble like a grey butterfly.
To read your final fortune…
In the public street—
There…
Five green clearances of the throat, and five poems,
Yawning now…
Folk rooftops and colored hats,
Covers, and worn-out cans,
Stones and asphalt insulators,
Scattering now…
– There…
A drunken sidewalk…
Residential towers,
Old shacks,
Rusty and polished pillars,
Bowing now…
In a moment…
A bleak, meaningless tray,
A soaked, scentless sponge,
And five back windows,
– There…
And five thieves..!
Everything might happen,
As if…
Trees fly naked,
Building their nests on the remains of an old, featherless bird…
For a tree to grow in the ocean's imagination,
For the sun to be wrapped in the dough of noon
And driven into icy squares.
It happens…
That your dark addiction changes color…
That warships float in the foam of coffee and milk…
That a savage torpedo swallows you,
Inside a tiny, shriveled cardamom seed,
And you lose your fingertips in the pottery handles…
It happens…
That you encounter a mythical mermaid in an oil bottle.
High, and dense…
To empty your already empty self of you,
And fill it with follies…
And it happens… it happens,
That you order your coffee from a fish..!
Well… you lack consciousness.
And she, too, screams whenever she feels the sting of the sea…
Keep the bells folded upon themselves,
And open up like stardust…
The symbol is a radical bell,
And you are the last dot in the Nūn of the universe.
Reshape yourself now…
One sea… two… three…?
Coffee has no conception…
Of the beginning of consciousness, cruising through its foam
With a crooked rib…
Filling the void with half a light,
And half a mind..!
=================
GORDANA SARIĆ
MONTENEGRO
WITH NOBLE WORDS I FIGHT FOR PEACE
From the Planet of Light i came to the world full of unrest
to illuminate souls without Sun's light,
to embrace them with the radient rays of the Space
and inhale love until my last breath.
I can't understand what's going on here,
senseless quarrels and divisions among people,
wasting of time on trivial things
and only one short life we have.
With noble words and a smile I fight for peace,
for reason and harmony that everyone needs,
I want to change the world with kindness,
so that unity is among all peoples.
I carry the song of peace like a prayer across the planet,
I look for soul mates to share love,
because so, together, we are stronger
and can melt the ice in frozen hearts.
We should teach them that we are only the shadow of transience,
to live in harmony under the same sky,enjoy the beauty of friendship
and the eternity of a moment,because tomorrow is too late,
we need peace and love today.
I want to leave a trace behind me,
defeat the evil that rules the Earth with love,
eradicate hatred with noble deeds
and proudly return to my Planet of Light.
===========================
Poem
By Jamal Garougar – Morocco
I did not write to define myself,
but to save what remains of me
from a noise that tightens the chest.
The word is a migrant,
traveling without luggage,
without nationality,
crossing seas,
silence,
and long nights.
I write because I saw a child
smiling despite his wound,
a mother weeping
with eyes that know no rest,
and people
inhabited by a single silence.
Poetry is neither paper nor line;
it is a bridge without borders,
a window opening onto what has not yet been said,
an eye that sees the world as it is:
fragmented, fragile,
yet alive.
I write because language alone is not enough,
and because the world
is never satisfied with its borders.
When a word is translated,
it does not lose its soul;
it finds another home
where it is listened to
without walls.
I do not write to become famous,
nor do I sing for applause.
I write because I believe
that words
can mend peace,
even if peace is only an idea
hiding behind letters.
At the end of every poem,
silence remains a witness,
and ink remains a reminder
that together
we can cross all borders—
even those
we drew out of fear.
_
Founder and President of ILACT,
academician, Dr. Natalie Bisso
21.06.2026
