A contributor to The Ghazal Page, Azam Abidov, has just released an international anthology of poetry, Fish and Snake poetry anthology, published in 2009 by Muharrir nashriyoti, in Toshkent (more familiar in English as Tashkent), Uzbekistan. The ISBN for the book is 978-9943-354-50-0. It has nicely designed hard covers in gray, silver, and white. Each page is decorated with borders depicting fish. The size is approximately 5" x 7" (13 cm x 17.5 cm), with a total of 127 pages including front and back matter.

Each poem in the anthology relates to fish or snake in some way. In "A Short Notice on the Project," Azam explains the traditional symbolism of the theme: the snake symbolizes wisdom, and the fish symbolizes transparency. The poets' national origins range from Uzbekistan to the US to Egypt to India. Each poem is presented in English and Uzbek. The anthology is part of Azam's goal of bridging "Uzbek literature and World Literature." As such, Fish and Snake poetry anthology makes a strong contribution.

As a contributor to the anthology, I won't go further with a review except to recommend it if you can get a copy.I don't have more information about ordering it. I will also quote a poem by Bahrom Ruzimuhammed, an important Uzbek poet, born in 1961.

A striped snake
passes through the dream
something whispers in the distance

it seems the devil giggles
right in the center of an open palm
a dark yellow grass
grows greedily as it springs to skies

Passes through the dream
the dream messes until it passes to the end
the color of the snake turns pale