By: Eralieva Umutkan Polotovna

HAPPINESS HAS COME

Late, but the happiness has arrived:

I will tell you my secret, my way.
It says the happiness, taking my wrists,

I want to scare the “sluggish” dreams away.
It all seemed to be handed out as it should be.
And I was the only one who was left out,
No matter what I asked, I didn’t have the key…
The dream didn’t come true, it was in doubt.
Life is like a camel’s hump, and it’s true,
Life as a wild hawk, then like a nightingale.
I turned my feelings into ice, I got so blue,
I didn’t believe in people, in a magic tale.
Fate sifted us through the sieve,
I didn’t stop trying and gained strength.
From the bad days, only resentment remains,
The good days passed as a fairy tale,
But without the length.
A hole in the bottom – hope is empty,
I’ve mended all my life’s flaws.
And no matter how much I endured suffering,
I waited for happiness, but without applause.
I didn’t give up my efforts, even though I was sad,
Suffered in humiliation, pain, and anger,
Luckily, life changed – the moment have come,
Happiness has arrived, not the sorrowful tears.
The morning after the night is back again,
The withered grass of longing has burned away,
Happiness has come, no blemishes, no wormholes,
Despite troubles, my soul and heart rejoice and play.
Only the patient wins in our life
Who believes in purpose, walks confidently,
You turn to a corner there is a victory awaits,
The sky doesn’t always rain gray,
Happiness may come suddenly.

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###(translated by Zeki Gelik)
STOP WAR

Stop fighting,
don’t orphan children,
Stop fighting,
don’t make a woman a widow.
The earth was bombed and stained with blood,
Do not exterminate the human race!

Stop fighting,
don’t light a stormy fire,
Don’t think about loneliness,
dreams, sadness.
Animals, innocent massacres,
Do not disturb or harm nature.

Stop the war,
Poverty has spread,
The number of homeless people has increased.
The baby’s future is in doubt…
Homeland cloud fled and suffered!

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FORGIVE ME

My inimitable one,
Please forgive me.
I won’t deny love.
Dearly beloved, you see.

Don’t be offended, honey,
I don’t want to be apart.
It was a misunderstanding,
Don’t take it to heart.

Rivers don’t flow backward,
Be the cure for the ailment.
You are my worthy flower,
Let’s bring love back.

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“GAMBLING THAT TAKES AWAY THE MIND”
Asan is a sixth grade student, an exemplary and successful boy. In the evening, he completed the tasks, learned the poems, put his briefcase in order and went to bed. I woke up, as usual, early in the morning.
I went into the bathroom, washed, toweled off, combed my hair in front of the mirror, then, after having breakfast in the kitchen, put on my school uniform. He approached his mother, caressing and hugging her by the neck, asked for 50 soms for the road. Mom also turned affectionately to her son:
– My darling, don’t turn anywhere, go straight to school and come straight home. Learn your lessons well.
After kissing her son on the forehead, she went to her daily place in the bazaar. In truth, she didn’t have much time for parenting, as she left for work early in the morning and returned late. She had to provide the family with the most necessary things. Therefore, she was often disturbed by thoughts: “Who is my boy friends with? How will he grow up?”
That day, on the way to school, Asan met a classmate of Kanat – a pampering, from a rich family, from among the students of average academic performance. The rope said:
– I go to the computer club every day. It’s very interesting there, students like us come there to play. Come on, I’ll show you this club, let’s play Counter-Strike, Dota, GTA, World of Tanks. These are cool games! Let’s go, let’s try, let’s compete, which of us will win. Asan, not realizing that he was straying from the right path, followed the Rope to the computer club “GAMER”, which was a large hall that seduced players. It was a richly equipped room: bright, beautiful, gleaming with new computers that seemed to be talking: “Play with us.” There Asan saw the same guys as himself, his peers.
And classmates, taking money out of their pockets and paying the cashier, comfortably settled down, began to play. At first, Asan felt guilty that he didn’t go to school, but soon he got excited and lost track of time. “Just today… I will never come here again,” he assured himself.
After the game at the proper time, he allegedly returned home from school. The next morning, as usual, he took money from his mother for transportation, but instead of traveling, he met with the Rope at the agreed place. They went to the club again. As the people say, “The good way is long, to get off it is one moment.” Yesterday’s promise that he would not come here tomorrow was forgotten. The boy himself did not realize how he got into the computer excitement. Every time he promised himself that this was the last time, that he would not come to the club tomorrow. Asan did not notice how time passed and lived, reproaching himself for weak will, but he could not help himself. Soon his psyche and even his body began to suffer. From spending a long time at the computer, my head began to spin, appetite and sleep disappeared, the first signs of malaise appeared. Nevertheless, he continued to attend the computer club and played without raising his head, despite his fatigue and depressed mood. Spending his time at the computer, Asan missed classes for four days.
He was obviously unlucky that day. In a gambling game, he lost to the Rope, but persistently continued to play and did not notice that he had been sitting without looking up from the computer for five hours in a row. And even when the cashier reminded that time was passing and it was necessary to make a calculation, Asan could not restrain his desire. He knew that there was no money left, and so that his mother would not distract him from the games, he turned off his mobile phone, scraped up the remaining money, paid and sat down to play again. He got so carried away that he didn’t even notice how the limit of the game ended. Without thinking twice, he gave his mobile phone to the account of debts. In the heat of excitement, he forgot how his mother saved up money to buy him.
Asan went outside when it was already dark, but did not dare to return home so late. The player did not know what to say to his mother and decided to spend the night at the club. Meanwhile, Asan’s mother, worried that her son’s mobile phone was not answering for a long time, called the class teacher. The teacher said that Asan has not come to school for the fourth day. Hearing such an answer, the mother was completely confused. In desperation, she began calling his classmates and friends whom she knew, but no one gave her information about where Asan was. It remained only to inform the police. Kanat’s parents were also worried about their son’s absence and also called the class teacher. The teacher, hearing the unexpected news, became alarmed. She called each student and one of the students was aware of the case. He said that recently Asan and Kanat have been attending a computer club. She found out that the children go there right in the morning and spend time playing games. The teacher went to the specified institution early in the morning. The administrator confirmed:
– The boys spent the whole evening playing and stayed here overnight. And in fact, the teacher found the guys who were sleeping in the club. They competed all night, spent all the money, and, carried away, continued to play in debt, falling asleep only in the morning. The teacher, having paid the debt to the club out of her pocket, bought Asan’s phone and took the boys to school, but she sternly told the administrator:
– Why did you let the boys spend the night at the club? Their parents were tormented by the search. Today they already wanted to inform the police about it.
At school , Asan was tormented by questions: “What will happen now? What will I say to my mother, what will I say?. She will ask, “Where have you been? You went to class every day, and you cheated on me?”. What can he say to his mother when she comes to school? What will it be like for him to look his mother in the face? Asan could not find an answer… He recalled his mistakes, and his body trembled slightly, then he was thrown into a chill. The boy could not find a place for himself, did not know where to hide and thought about it, lowering his head in embarrassment. He did not notice how he had strayed from the right path and was rethinking his recent actions again, replaying them in his head. The endless hours he spent playing computer games were not in vain: his eyes were swollen and red, his appetite was gone. In addition, he became a liar, and his attitude towards people changed dramatically. He felt depressed… The boy remembered that some teenagers, doing wrong things, eventually becoming completely confused, can commit suicide. The thought made him uneasy. Then his mom came into the classroom. Asan, without raising his eyes, sincerely said:
– Mom, I’m sorry! I do not know how to look you in the eye!.. I’ve lost my way!.. I lied!
Tears were streaming from his eyes:
– I promise in front of the teacher and classmates not to repeat my mistakes for a second. I want to justify your trust. I give you my word that it won’t happen again! Now I understand the meaning of the proverb that I have always heard from you: “The good way is long, it takes a moment to get off it,” because the proverb is taken from real life. Mom, now I know that it is very difficult to become a real person!

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Eralieva Umutkan, a poet and publicist from Kyrgyzstan, was awarded the “WORLD ICON OF PEACE” award at an international conference held at the World Peace Institute in Nigeria on December 14, 2022. Her work “Stop the War” became an anthem of peace and was translated into over 20 languages. Umutkan was also appointed “Ambassador of Peace” at the World Peace Institute in Nigeria and received certificates of international peace forums from several countries. She is a member of various literary and creative organizations and has won over 50 international awards for her work as a poet, writer, and publicist.