SORROW OF SIRIK

a wedding requiem

by Nolan Sahand Dannels

they heard the jets before arriving

the kids came to revel with the rest

but now

with immeasured breaths

they stumble ‘cross the bricks

that broke all ‘round them

now surrounded

by the faces of lost loved ones

encircling their heads in midair 

no matter how hard

they close their eyes

no matter how soft

those voices still are

no matter how wide

they extend their arms

no matter how narrow

they squint with eyes

made squalid by knowing

the greatest weight of sorrow

by way of sight

by way of thought

by way of love

joy hope compassion

they heard the jets before arriving

but the kids and the rest still knew

this wasn’t supposed to happen

perhaps enough of the world does too

perhaps most already understand enough

while the rest don’t want to

all our heartaches ablaze in some way

tender to the touch

but too sharp to shut

when the fire wants to stay

wants to burn within us

all the while and all the longer

so we say what we may

knowing it won’t make us stronger

but at least our words and thoughts

can love our lost with honest honor

pinching the kids’ smiling cheeks

as their faces float around us

now surrounded

by worlds and worlds and worlds

holding what we could have been

that sorrow can’t be explained

only understood within

Sirik knows

Minab knows

and many more do too

as you may have guessed

the sorrow burns through the heart

before it makes its way out the eyes

lachrymose and drenched

like a fire that can’t put itself out

no matter how many tears are wept

like a love that must live on

because love is all we have left

they heard the jets before arriving

the kids came to revel with the rest

and then

the jets struck as they went

sticks and stones hitting homes

before they returned to their nest

Nolan Sahand Dannels is a Persian American writer-musician and Best of the Net nominee with a Master's in English Language and Literature from the University of Edinburgh and a Literature PhD from UC San Diego, where he served as the Editor in Chief of Alchemy. His writing has appeared in Kissing Dynamite, Trouvaille Review, Wishbone Words, The New Verse News, Qafiyah Review, San Antonio Review, and elsewhere. His music appears in Hare's Paw Literary Journal. His poetry chapbook, Horizontal Ensemble, was published by Bottlecap Press in 2025.

THE EMPTY CELL

by Lynn White

AI-generated graphic by NightCafé for The New Verse News.

Bosnian Serb war criminal Mladić commemorated in Belgrade, but no state honours: Thousands are expected at Mladić's burial in Belgrade on Monday, which will proceed without serving officials, artillery salutes or ceremonial military presence. Brussels has said earlier any glorification would be "incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built". Mladić died last week while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Bosnia. His remains were flown to Serbia from The Hague on a government plane on Thursday. —EuroNews, September 5, 2026

The Butcher is dead.

His meat decayed bones

broken

burned

buried

now waiting

for him to follow.

His cell is empty

waiting gravely

for those

whose meat 

is fresh

blood

and bones

broken

burned

buried

sometimes in rubble

always in the rubble of words.

So we wait

wanting

them

to be unearthed

the earth

made empty

as the cell

waiting 

for the ones

who are chosen.

Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality and writes hoping to find an audience for her musings. She was shortlisted in the Theatre Cloud 'War Poetry for Today' competition and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and a Rhysling Award. Her poetry has appeared in many publications including: Apogee, Firewords, Peach Velvet, Light Journal, and So It Goes.

DESPITE THE WRECKING BALL (ROOM)

by Indran Amirthanayagam

Cartoon by Dave Whamond

I celebrate you, reader, and me

despite the chaos, despite 

the willful neglect

of the public purse, 

despite the murder

without trial,

the rounding up 

like cattle, 

the callous disregard

for public health,

the spreading

of snake oil beliefs,

United States

in loathing, lurching

towards ruin

but somehow

surviving 

still despite 

jabbering

and chipping

away at 

all due process

by this monster

who came in 

elected

to the erstwhile

People’s 

House

to make

room

for a

wrecking ball.

Indran Amirthanayagam writes a Substack. He has just published Isla itinerante ( Editorial Apogeo, Peru, 2025) and White Space Sonnets ( Sarasavi publishers, Sri Lanka, 2025). His other publications include El bosque de deleites fratricidas ( RIL Editores), Seer (Hanging Loose Press),The Runner's Almanac (Spuyten Duyvil), Powèt Nan Pò A: Poet of the Port (Mad Hat), and Ten Thousand Steps Against the Tyrant (Broadstone Books). He is the translator of Kenia Cano’s Animal For The Eyes (Dialogos Books) and Origami: Selected Poems of Manuel Ulacia (Dialogos Books). He edits The Beltway Poetry Quarterly, hosts the Poetry Channel on YouTube, and publishes poetry books with Sara Cahill Marron at Beltway Editions.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE

by Mary Saracino

Cartoon by Monireh Ahma

What will it take to end

this multi-millennial madness,

this lust for war and power,

this emphasis on fear,

scarcity, competition?

What will it take to wake up,

to say no to all that seeks to harm,

to say yes to all that seeks to heal, to unite

to see that we are kin to all—humans and non-humans,

to celebrate diversity and dance in the arms

of cooperation and love,

a symbiotic tango imbued with gratitude

where flourishing is mutual?

What will it take to uncloud our eyes,

unjail our hearts,

unchain our minds,

free ourselves from the edicts,

the dogmas, the ideologies that spew

hatred, cruelty, lies, and every other

evil known to humankind?

We need circles, not ladders,

communities, not hierarchies.

We are not commodities

to be bought and sold,

and neither is the Earth

with all Her bountiful gifts.

The trees are trembling,

the lands are on fire,

the winds are roaring,

the birds are begging us

to heed the cries of Mother Nature

who gifts us with abundance,

water, rain, wind, food, sunshine, shelter,

asking only for reciprocity, giving

back what we take, honoring Her

by sharing her bounty, not hording it.

We are destroying our only home.

We are polluting our souls.

We are committing ecocide,

decimating everything

that is sacred and true

and vital to our future.

What will it take for us

to reclaim our birthright,

the gifts bestowed upon us by Nature

in all Her many forms?

What will it take for us to walk,

hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm,

shoulder-to-shoulder

to change the world,

dismantle what has been so wrong

for far, far too long?

We need leaders who will lead us

to prosperity and peace,

who will proclaim our joint responsibility

to care for one another and the planet,

who know that might is not right,

that war is not the answer,

that kindness, compassion, empathy

are the seeds we need to sow

to create a better way to live,

build a symbiotic future

where we can all survive and thrive.

What will it take for us

to raise our howling voices,

in unison and proclaim:

“We’ve had enough! You do not own us, or the planet.

We must seize the reins and reinstate sharing and caring,

establish a new way, a better way, before it’s too late!”

Mary Saracino is a novelist, memoir writer, and poet. Her book of poetry, Motherlines, was published by Pearlsong Press (February 2026). She is the author of four novels: Heretics: A Love Story (Pearlsong Press 2014), The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006), No Matter What (Spinsters Ink 1993), and Finding Grace (Spinsters Ink 1999), and the memoir, Voices of the Soft-bellied Warrior (Spinsters Ink 2001). She co-edited (with Mary Beth Moser) She Is Everywhere! Volume 3: An anthology of writings in womanist/feminist spirituality (iUniverse 2012), which earned the 2013 Enheduanna Award for Excellence in Women-Centered Literature from Sofia University.