Many years ago, in a poetry class for beginners, I read one of my early efforts which contained the following three lines: "A young poet drops his pen, astonished / by the twenty lines he has just written, / certain it is the Poem of Total Realization." The teacher smiled and said, "I remember thinking I had written that poem when I was sixteen." What we learn from writing poems over a long expanse of time is that each one takes further along the path of our daily life, leading eventually to whatever fulfills our existence. Each poem illuminates for its moment the darkness surrounding us, and in that light we can see the World in its glory or, sadly, in its degradation. Finally, we will carry within, not only the poem as a piece of literature but also the emotional growth it promotes. [DJ Brick] ***Nature is wild and eagles and wolves will never be lovers. But certainly Poetry can overcome every obstacle and translates our dreams, desires, passions.. in images that evoke even a new, different Universe. Furthermore, Poetry is such a powerful tool: violence can kill, of course, but Words are stronger. Thus, Ideals/Values will be the final winner, because they can speak directly to hearts and minds - and touching them deeply, they can profoundly change a human being - Even the whole Humankind [F. Frosini] ***In the arts repetition is the path of mastery. John Gielgud is said to have performed the role of Hamlet more than any actor in history. Only his innate modesty and respect for Shakespeare's genius kept him from claiming he had mastered the role. Those who witnessed his stage performances several times readily called him the master. A pianist of the caliber of Glenn Gould achieves greatness by rehearsing 'The Goldberg Variations' over and over, performing them again and again, continually discovering new details for each new performance. And the venerable Robert Frost was still reciting from memory poems he had written just before World War I in the 1960s and still charming audiences who knew them almost as well as he did. [DJ Brick] ***Stating that our human nature is evil, would not be acceptable at all. Yet, it is beyond doubt that we humans are capable of behaving much and much worse than the most ferocious beasts, when our mental inhibitory-control fails to curb the worst and most pressing impulses. Nowadays, the rise of mass media has changed the way societies think and, unfortunately, exploiting mass psychology has become a lucrative affair for many. Politicians and CEOs of large corporations, in particular, know very well how to manipulate the masses, and in doing so, they can profoundly change our societies -our lives. Above all, through an increase in social inequality. And failing to deal with inequalities only leads to a rise of political extremes. [F. Frosini]