Nature is our mother. It is our baby crib to where we “return” everytime we feel we need comfort and renewed hope. Hope: that feeling made of insights into a peaceful, happy and green future and present.

A tree help us to see the good “flavors” of a garden with her shadow that protects us from our stellar parent: the Sun.

He is also the source of our energy, he is also the source of our poetry; and poetry, maybe just another way of living or another tool to live in community.

Today, Covid-19 make us feel like a prey, thinking in a new condition inside a world built by mother nature. Hope, to face this reality is needed more than ever and we will move forward albeit not ignoring this new “map of life” and new mindset.

Our Contest Nature 2020/2021 is a new opportunity that we, as organizers, create to reach the rest of the world. Every Contest is a challenge for authors participating and to people that make it happen. This year we prepare new relations of Nature and Love; Nature and Ecology; Nature and Energy; Nature and Friendship; Nature and Gardens; Nature and Cinema; Nature and Music and Nature and Family. Family, that fundamental asset during these pandemic times.

This year we would like to share with you some inspirational photos and “horizons” and we kindly invite all authors to visit the following places/websites:

https://www.lisbonlux.com/green-lisbon-10-beautiful-parks

https://www.proflowers.com/15-best-botanical-gardens-california

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_botanical_gardens_in_Canada

https://www.algarvefun.com/algarve-tips/top-beaches-algarve/

https://www.coastalliving.com/travel/california/best-beaches-california

https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/amazon

https://www.gorongosa.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peneda-Gerês_National_Park

Additionally, we invite all authors to Honor one cinema director, for example, Hoody Allen, specially considering the eventual relationships of Nature with his work. The work by Hoody Allen is inspirational because he portrays many aspects of Human Nature. Nevertheless, you are free to even criticize his work. Who knows, for example, if there is still a human characteristic, so inspirational, that should take him to give us the pleasure to see a new cinema creation? A new screenplot?

Details of Regulation 2020-2021:

1. 
   Participation in this contest is free.
   2. Any person from any country can participate as long as they submit work written in English.
   3. Each participant can submit a poem, without limit of words, and a short story, with a maximum of 3000 words. 
   4. The works must be sent by e-mail to blogsnat@gmail.com along with name, country, electronic contact. The subject of the email should be "International Literary Contest 'Nature - 2020-2021'". Line spacing: single spacing; Letter dimension: 12; Type of letter: Calibri; in the body of the e-mail.
   5. The participating authors agree to receive e-mails in the future that have as their main purpose to advertise future literary initiatives.
   6. Award-winning finalists are entitled to a digital certificate.
   7. All the selected poems will be published in anthology, which will be available in PDF format (possibility to exist in Windows), with a cost of 2.5 € (payment of a donation by PayPal). Award-winning authors are entitled to a free version.
   8. Author rights: authors have their rights over the works published, in order to publish as they want in any other place. The organization of the contest retain total rights over the published works in the context of the Anthology of the Contest or any other Anthology or collection of Short Stories they want to publish in the future or online in the websites of the Organizers.
   9. Contest starting 15 October 2020.
2. Deadline for participation: 15 April 2021.
   11. Pre-finalists announced on 10 May.
   12. The final results will be announced on June 28 at http://talesforlove.blogs.sapo.pt and, when possible, at http://synchchaos.com/.
   13. The first one of each category will be entitled to a prize: artwork (an A4 painting) sent by mail and the first three classifieds will receive a digital certificate.

If you need help with your English or writing skills this year we have special external writing help by Shmavon Azatian.

Contact: shazzai@yahoo.com

Adjudicators

Organizers

Synchronized Chaos (California – USA)

http://synchchaos.com/

Rui M. at Tales for Love (Lisbon – Portugal)

http://talesforlove.blogs.sapo.pt/

contact: ruiprcar@gmail.com

Word Poetry (Canada)

http://worldpoetry.ca/

Inspiring Photography

We thank you your participation in this Literary Adventure.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any question.

Dance life in its smallest essences
It is an infinite set of probabilities
Life pulsates in the smallest complexities
It is an ode to existence.

Endless waves wander in the sea
They are dense waters of life to dance
Look here, look over there.
So many beings to contemplate

Even in the face of so many diversities
The sea still
There are so many colors, it's a beautiful art.
There are so many ways, it's a challenge apart

The infinite and challenging blue sea
From crystalline tones to an immensity to be discovered
There are so many depths to enter
So many places to walk

Waters in motion
And they reveal suffering
The Attempt of Enchantment
In the midst of so much disenchantment

Pollution-free thought
Destructive activities
Lack of reflection
Infinite consequences of degradation

Enjoy.

1.
noi doi ne ciocnim
involuntar
atât de tare
încât facem brusc
schimb de vise
apoi adormim pe patul meu de gânduri
îmi reamintesc ca eu doar visez
ce mi se-ntâmpla
totul se întâmpla
atât de repede
cât pauza
între reclame
e toamna, îngenunchez, în fata padurii
ca în fata plutonului de executie
împart fiecarei frunze
câte o pâine coapta
strazile sunt pustiite
lumea e parasita

de o vesnicie
în loc de inima, am ridicat
o biserica
fara ziduri

In English:
we two collide
involuntary
so cool
that we do suddenly
exchange of dreams
then sleep on my bed of thoughts
I remind myself that I just dream
what happens to me
everything is happening
so fast
how much longer
between ads
it's fall, I kneel down in front of the forest
as in front of the execution platoon
share each leaf

one loaf of bread
the streets are deserted
the world is gone
for eternity
instead of the heart, I picked up
a church
without walls

Enjoy.

Curtain of night
pinned with stars
crickets serenading a dancing breeze

Water wafting wilfully
on slime-smoothed stones
singing songs of appease

A lilting song
picking pirouetting petals
from fragrant frangipani trees

Intoxicated spirit
quietly redolent of the Highest Call
Enamoured Soul on its knees!

Breathless

I woke up early as usual on Saturday morning in anticipation of all the things
listed on my to-do-list. Visions of chores such as loading the dishwasher, loading
clothes into the washing machine and kneading biscuits from scratch all danced around
in my head. As I lay in bed, I could hear the sound of the freight train nearby as it rattled
my bedroom window pane with each turn of its metal wheel. The alarming horn blew
going from soft to loud to soft again and finally out of the audibility of my ear to detect it.
While slowly exiting my bed, I performed a lengthy stretch with my arms raised
above my head and my legs extended and toes pointed like a ballerina. With my mouth
opened wide, I took in a deep nostril inhalation and finally a long exhaling sigh enjoying
what would probably be the best quality of air that I would encounter for the day. As I
peeped outside my bedroom window, I could see a featherless red bird hopping from
one branch to another among our dozen maple trees. From past observations, I
speculated that the bird was having another dispute with one of our neighborhood
squirrels seemingly trying to claim the tree as its own.
Shortly after consuming a delicious home-cooked breakfast including hot
buttered biscuits, brown scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, buttered grits and a glass of
freshly squeezed orange juice I headed outside to wash my car. After noticing the
mailman going by in his private vehicle, I realized that it was Saturday and due to the
water usage restriction, it was not a day that I could wash my vehicle, so I decided to
just sponge off my electric car with a damp cloth to remove some of the dust and dead
beetle bugs. I worked up a sweat from this task and so I headed to the bathroom to get
a shower. I knew that since it had been an hour or so since the washers had finished
cycling that there should be some hot water available now to take a comfortable
shower. Using my energy efficient shower head, I enjoyed the pulsating warm water
dancing against my thirsty skin and spent ten minutes enjoying it, five more than the
usual week day routine. I air dried for a few minutes before finishing up with the use of
an old pure cotton t-shirt and got dressed in a black and pink athletic outfit that I
purchased from a local thrift store last week which supports a shelter for abused and
neglected animals.
As I headed to the market, I waited patiently at the entrance to my neighborhood
for my chance to scoot across the busy divided highway. Zoom, zoom and faster zooms
could be heard as vehicles sped by, at speeds much more than the posted limits. Lots
of paper and other litter circled in the air along with black smoke from exhaust pipes of
the hurried vehicles. My eyes began to tear and my left nostril began to drain as I
coughed repeatedly trying to breathe through the fumes.
Finally, I got the chance to carefully venture out on to the main highway. I could
see piles of remnants of deceased animal body parts strewn along the highway
including a deer, a collared dog and a large raccoon that didn’t quite make it to the other
side of the rode. When I first moved to this neighborhood, ten years ago there were
trees and wooded areas all along the highway, but now you can hardly find a single
empty lot. Wildlife have to search desperately to find brush or streams for survival now.
After arriving safely at the market, I gathered my freshly washed reusable lime
green shopping bag, paper coupons, and glass bottles for recycling. I paused at the
recycling vending machine and earned two dollars for my ten glass bottles.
I used one of the dollars to purchase a newspaper to check for additional savings
to use during my shopping trip and for later use to wash windows with at home instead
of using paper towels. Just as I turned to approach the entrance, I dodged the spittle of
a tobacco dipper trying to be sure not to contract Hepatitis from the bottom of my shoe
when I later removed it.
Once inside the store, I immediately cleaned the handle of the shopping cart with
a disinfectant wipe provided by the store. I made my way towards the meat section and
pondered about buying some chicken drumsticks to cook for dinner but changed my
mind when I noted the drumsticks were the size of my forearm. I put them back for fear
of the amount of hormone that may have been used to grow them that size which also
probably explained why the butcher had a third eyebrow just above the bridge of his
nose and a small ear like projection just below the nape of his neck. It only took me half
and hour to complete my shopping trip as I had my shopping list saved to my
smartphone along with my digital coupons. I got a nice surprise when I got to checkout.
My initial total was one hundred twenty-two dollars and eighty-nine cents but ended up
being only sixty nine dollars and twenty five cents after sales, coupons and reward
dollars were used.
On the way back to my car, a few very warm rain drops splashed across the rim
of my glasses and the top of my head as I noticed a light fog and a single colored
rainbow in the distance. I thought it would be a really hard down pour from the darkness
of the sky hanging overhead but by the time I had loaded my grocery in the car it had
already stopped raining.
Once back in my neighborhood, I could see several neighbors tidying up their
lawns. Weedeaters were buzzing and lawnmowers were humming. The smell of freshly
cut grass and gasoline was seeping into my car although the windows were tightly shut. I started to sneeze repeatedly and drove a little faster to get pass the allergens. Once I
got to my garage, I noticed my neighbor, Mr. Clear, trying to make it to his box to check
the daily mail. Since I knew, he had a history of asthma I scurried over and offered to
get his mail for him and provided him with a disposable mask. He thanked me and
returned safely inside his home. I immediately let my garage door down to help block
out the smell of the pollutants.
Just as I finished unloading my grocery, I could hear a loud buzzing noise going
around the neighborhood. I peeped out my blind and I could see white spray being
emitted from the back of the truck that we labeled as “the mosquito man” coating the air.
I ran to my cabinet and put on a mask to try to prevent inhaling a full dose from the
exterminator truck. Someone drives through the neighborhood twice a year blasting
some unknown chemical that is supposed to help decrease the mosquito population
that may cause the West-Nile virus. I am not sure what adverse reaction these
chemicals cause in humans. If I had to guess, it would be some carcinogenic outcome
I removed my mask and disposed of it around thirty minutes after I could no longer hear
the truck that was spraying the area. It had been an exhausting day for me. I washed
my face thoroughly with warm water, my hand and forearms with soap and water and
settled in on my antique sofa passed down from my great grandmother. I pushed aside
the letter on the table I was writing to my legislator requesting him to implement the law
requiring inspection of all vehicles every three years for our state. I turned on the TV
only to see that permission had been given for the city to build five new hotels over the
next three years which only meant more and more trees would be destroyed. After
hearing that news, I turned the TV on mute and turned on some soft meditation music
and drifted off to sleep with dreams of living in a city with fresh, clean air.

Enjoy.

Enjoy.

Enjoy.

Enjoy.

A poem by Stelio F. (Mozambique), second place in the Poetry category of the Nature Literary Contest 2018-2019:

Dear Friends and Authors,

We are very happy to share with you this beautiful poem, by Clair O. (Cork – Ireland), the winner of the “International Literary Contest Nature 2018-2019”.

The Lady of Coram

Who is she wish of hand?

Fainted lady of Coram,

Calling to the frozen abyss,

Hush to the dead-

-Fast asleep.

Floating frozen ocean shore,

Lost of sight and broken sea floors,

Simple words that string the line,

Gain of nothing; lost of the divine.

She taunts them to escape frozen shores,

Under her rule of taunting pain,

Giving false hope to the frozen souls,

The lady of Coram owns the game.

What is her aim but to win?

She surely carries out her task,

Stay a moment and hear her callous laugh,

To silence the lost is her forte,

All the souls trapped in ocean ice,

Victims of directed fallen Angels winged in black,

The being of many names traps them,

Still to me she is the lady of Coram,

Calling to the dark I hear their roars,

It’s all I ever really hear,

Frozen soul, Ocean Sea,

I wait for the sun to set the shore alight,

Still all that is before me is the Ocean Coram,

I walk away all alone,

I ignore the lost and frozen,

Does that make me worse?

Still under all the façade-

Am I just like her - the lady of the dark.

Thank you for reading this website.

At the moment, with a small donation to use in the plantation of trees and other plants, we can send you some original art work. Here is the contact, to get more informed: ruiprcar@gmail.com.

See you soon.