Ingrid Wilson’s Reading: ‘Destiny of this earth’ by Gabriela Marie Milton #The Anthropocene Hymnal Anthology #poetry #poem

The Anthropocene Hymnal is out!

My Dear Readers,

The Anthropocene Hymnal Anthology edited and compiled by Ingrid Wilson is now available on Amazon. Please consider ordering here.

Poetry Reading

I am deeply grateful to Ingrid for her beautiful reading of my poem “Destiny of this earth.” [included in the anthology]

You can visit Ingrid’s post below

Reading: ‘Destiny of this earth’ by Gabriela Marie Milton

or here is a direct link to Ingrid’s reading and the text of my poem.

destiny of this earth
you are my destiny too
I burn in wildfires and spin in the eyewalls of hurricanes that should never be
I sit at the intersection of two bridges that lead nowhere
wonder how many days this earth and I have left
there is no more laughter in the eyes of the stars
there are no more shells on the shore
the waves leave behind the deformed plastic of heated summers
echoes of drunken voices
I vacillate between the poetry of broken glass and the memory of winters
that do not exist anymore
metallic noises breathe the air
and eat from the shoulder of the mountain
a curse floats in the horizon

you
my earth
in autumn when I used to break the fruit of the vines under my feet
you nursed me under your shades of green
dressed me in small shy roses
covered my face in the first dew of your mornings
now tell me
how to heal the wounds of your forests
placate the jaws of your non-ending storms
erase the negative of love from the face of your cries

destiny of this earth
you are my destiny too
teach me what saviors do

Gentle reminders:

There are several new posts up at MasticadoresUSA. For me MasticadoresUSA is a labor of love. Thank you to everyone who supports this site. You can read the work of your fellow poets and follow the site here.
For those of you who are interested, my new collection of poetry Woman: Splendor and Sorrow will be published by Vita Brevis Press on July 31.

Have a fabulous day everyone.
Love.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

My Dear Readers,

The purpose of this post is two-fold.

To share with you some thoughts on poetry.

To briefly give you more information about my upcoming poetry collection Woman: Splendor and Sorrow, Vita Brevis Press, release date July 31. 2021, and share with you one of my favorite poems included in this collection.

Random Thoughts on Poetry

In an interview with New York Glamor Magazine, I stated: “Poetry is the magnificence which reflects upon the landscape of our souls.” My intent was neither to offer an exhaustive definition of poetry, nor to dive into the more complex realm of conceptualization, and try to explain of what poetry is composed. How arrogant of me that would have been. For those who did not get the news yet, arrogance is not sexy. It is not a precondition for talent and/or high intelligence.

However, back to my tentative definition of poetry. It suffices to say that, if one pays close attention to my words, the most obvious conclusion is that poetry is “out there” waiting to be recognized, and to reflect itself upon the landscape of our souls. Once recognized, the reflection happens only in the measure to which our souls can create a mirror image, albeit highly distorted and with the degree of distortion predicated on our sensibility.

As Nigel McLoughlin wrote: “Recognition depends not on linguistic criteria or on conscious thought, but on what is physically felt. It does not demand structure or form. It is beyond that.” [McLoughlin, Nigel F ORCID: 0000-0002-0382-6831 (2013) Writing Poetry. In: A Companion to Creative Writing. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 40-55]

Poetry is indeed beyond structure and form and, if I may, is “out there.” All of us are poets when that which we gather with our sense starts having an emotional and physical impact on us.

[draft – Thoughts on Poetry will continue in an interview with me conducted by Brian Geiger, the editor of Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine.]

On Woman: Splendor and Sorrow

Woman is a collection of 63 love poems and 25 pieces of poetic prose. I talked in another post about the feminist and philosophical trends in my poetic prose. However, the main theme of my book is love.

Therefore, in this post I would like to quickly turn to my love poems. Out of the 63 love poems included in Woman, “The Biblical Sense Of To Know” is my favorite. The poem was first published by Spillwords Press under one of my pen names: Gabriela M on March 10, 2020. Below is the original text of the poem as published by Spillwords. In Woman, the text was slightly modified.

The Biblical Sense Of To Know

the biblical sense of to know
born in a summer that never existed
nailed to the cross of your poems
I’m losing my mind inside the blue night
I reach you in dreams you do not understand
It hurts when I’m there
It hurts when I’m not
I ask for the help gravediggers can grant
I wrote I love you on a note that I locked
It wasn’t a snake, it was an iguana
the night the tango nuevo played its guitar
on fifteen decades I counted my prayers
my fingers were naked
my fingers were gloved

Why do I like this poem so much? Because in the moments I wrote it reality deeply reflected in the mirrors of my souls. I was hurting.

I do not believe poets know only that which comes “by observation of themselves.” The observation of ourselves is only one of the preconditions of poetry. The multiple faces of reality is perhaps another one.

my fingers were naked
my fingers were gloved

Those are simply two instances of the same thing.

I will talk to you more soon.

Thank you for reading.
Love to everyone.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

The Metaphysics of My Writings

I discover myself in my own writings. I dwell in the beliefs stored in my subconscious when I was a child, and in all experiences that followed.

Yet, my work is neither that of a psychologist nor that of an epistemologist. Beyond psychology and epistemology, I try to establish a metaphysics of love. That may make some think of Thomas Aquinas, but that is not what I am talking about. I do not want “to explore the ontological structure of the human person.” My work is not about how I experience love. It is about how I allow love to experience me. That is the very definition of my work.

Passions was a work of the heart. So is Woman: Splendor and Sorrow. Yet, Woman has more dimensions to it. Some pieces are constructed via reconciliation between rationalism and some of its rival thoughts: idealism, and/or surrealism. It depends on the matter at hand.

I like Woman because in it I do not only allow love to experience me. I also give permission to feminism, and to other societal concerns to explore me.

From Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :

The day I understood I can win, I stepped into hell.
That day was the day I lost my innocence and with that the paradise.

Oh, femininity! You are the goddess of vines, the mother earth, the chalice, the blood, the fertility of the womb. I mull over these desperate efforts to equalize the feminine with the masculine. There is nothing in these symbols that points to the intellect of a woman.

–

Early morning. I was in elementary school. A basic arithmetic problem was on the blackboard. The teacher asked M. to solve it. He did not know how. I was shocked. That day my entire life changed.

Late afternoon. Home. After much deliberation Mama asked: Gabriela, again, do you believe that everyone understands everything that you understand, and everyone can do what you can? Do you believe we all think the same?

Highly distraught, I answered:

Yes. Everyone can do what I can, and we all understand the world in the same way. Something wrong happened to M.

Papa was stunned. I could not grasp why. I was trying to make my parents understand a simple truth: we all feel and think the same. They did not want to listen. What was wrong with everyone?

That night in my bedroom I started questioning everything.

These days questioning is my second nature. My first does not exist anymore. Life experienced me.

draft

MasticadoresUSA update

There are several new posts up at MasticadoresUSA. For me MasticadoresUSA is a labor of love. Thank you to everyone who supports this site.

You can read the work of your fellow poets and follow the site here.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

Dear Readers,

Here are some of my summer reading recommendations. I haven’t ranked-ordered them. They are all excellent choices.

Summer recommendations:

Midnight With Words: Late Night Conversations in Poetry.

An anthology in which you will find poetry of stunning refinement, of beauty, and subtle meanings. An exceptional recital of verses that enchants the mind and the senses. This is one of the most impressive anthologies I’ve ever read.

Author: Lisa Alletson, Joe Barca, Cynthia Capri, Delilah Doe, Mark H. Fitzpatrick, Ty Gardner, Jeffrey Haskey-Valerius, Rebecca Hooper, Andy MacGregor, Jared Mulhair, Antonia Wang, and Wanjiku Wanjiru.

A Ferryman and the Sea Witch by D. Wallace Peach

Enter a world of fantasy, and with that the mesmerizing writing style of D. Wallace Peach. The book has a fascinating plot, passages of powerful imagery, and emblematic characters; in short the real ingredients of a bestseller.

Visit Diana’s site here.

The Anthropocene Hymnal anthology is here.

Please do not forget that you can order now The Anthropocene Hymnal anthology. The Anthology is “a poetic response to the joint crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.” (Ingrid Wilson, ed.) Read more on Ingrid Wilson’s site.

Crossroads (Winds of Love) by Jude Itakaly

A dazzling collection of poetry written by a young author. Let’s listen to him:

“I wrote Crossroads for all who have not found romantic love and are on the threshold of giving up on it, for all who have love and may be about to give it up, and for all who have been wounded gravely by love and are scared of ever trying it again. It is a companion that stirs memory in reminiscent and also horrific ways only to finally awaken hope and new life in us, where the best love may come to us.”

Jude’s landing page

Update on my upcoming collection of poetry Woman: Splendor and Sorrow

For those of you who are interested in my upcoming collection of poetry Woman: Splendor and Sorrow my publisher and I decided we will not open it for pre-order. The book will be published on July 31. Both versions e-book and paperback will be available via Amazon. I will post the links on July 31.

MasticadoresUSA updates

There are several new posts up at MasticadoresUSA. For me MasticadoresUSA is a labor of love. Thank you to everyone who supports this site.

You can read the work of your fellow poets and follow the site here.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

Gabriela Marie Milton – interview in New York Glamour Magazine

My Dear Readers,

I am extremely grateful to be featured in New York Glamour Magazine.

Here are a few snippets from my interview:

NY Glam: What are your top three favorite books?

My favorite poet is Arthur Rimbaud. His work Illuminations left a profound mark in my soul. I recently found a blog in The Guardian written years ago and entitled: “Rimbaud was no genius: The vagabond prodigy promised greatness but never delivered.” I beg to differ...

NY Glam: What three social topics/theme do you care mostly about and why?

Discrimination, abuses of power, and climate change. To some extent they overlap. I despise discrimination with its claim to primordial identities…

NY Glam: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Read. Write. Do not compare yourself with others. Stay close to people who inspire and help. Stay true to your heart… Forget about social constraints. Social constraints are put in place by structures of power that fear talent of any kind. They fear progress because…. Greatness always encounters resistance.

I would be very grateful to you if you could read the entire interview HERE.

MasticadoresUSA Update

There is a new poem by Merry Maiden up at MasticadoresUSA. There are other great features coming up this week so please stay tuned.

Thank you to everyone you follows MasticadoresUSA. Building a community is a very difficult endeavor. I deeply appreciate your visits and your likes.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

Time to put yourself first? I don’t think so. It is time to put our planet first. If not there will be no you, I, us.

The Anthropocene Hymnal anthology is here.

Ingrid Wilson, who complied and edited The Anthropocene Hymnal, describes it as “a poetic response to the joint crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.” Ingrid worked hard to raise awareness of the dangers our planet faces. I am extremely grateful to her for her efforts and dedication.

The book will be published on 24 July 2021. The Kindle e-book is now available for pre-order from Amazon.

However, please keep in mind that Ingrid will sell her own version of the e-book on her site. Payment for downloads purchased in that way will be via donation to WWF. If you want to contribute to WWF [https://www.worldwildlife.org/] please consider buying from Ingrid’s site.

From my contribution

destiny of this earth
you are my destiny too
I burn in wildfires and spin in the eyewalls of hurricanes that should never be
I sit at the intersection of two bridges that lead nowhere
wonder how many days this earth and I have left
there is no more laughter in the eyes of the stars
there are no more shells on the shore
the waves leave behind the deformed plastic of heated summers
echoes of drunken voices
…
destiny of this earth
you are my destiny too
teach me what saviors do

A few reports on climate change

“Record-breaking temperatures hit the Pacific Northwest at the end of June, with an all-time high in British Columbia of 121 degrees.. An estimated 1 billion small sea creatures – including mussels, clams and snails – died during the heat wave in the Salish Sea, off more than 4,000 miles of linear shore…” [Amanda Coletta, and Sammy Westfall, The Seattle Times, July 8, 2021]. Internet available here.

“Officials in the Florida Keys announced what many coastal governments nationwide have long feared, but few have been willing to admit: As seas rise and flooding gets worse, not everyone can be saved.” [Christopher Flavelle and Patricia Mazzei, The New York Times, December 4, 2019]. Internet available here.

“2020 was one of the three warmest years on record. The past six years, including 2020, have been the six warmest years on record. Temperatures reached 38.0 °C at Verkhoyansk, Russian Federation on 20 June, the highest recorded temperature anywhere north of the Arctic Circle.” [State of the Global Climate 2020, WMO-No. 1264, 2021]. Internet available here.

To increase donations to WWF please consider supporting Ingrid’s efforts and buying The Anthropocene Hymnal from her site when available.

Thank you everyone.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

Woman: Splendor and Sorrow cover reveal

My Dear Readers,

I am thrilled that my new poetry collection Woman: Splendor and Sorrow will be released on July 31. Both formats -e-book and paperback – will be available.

Thank you to everyone who supported me, encouraged me, and inspired me.

artwork used in the creation of the cover: *Odalisque in a modern style – original acrylic painting by* *arteliia* (Shutterstock)

From the back cover:

“Woman is a triumphant collection of poetry. Milton explores with sincerity and great craft the many faces of identity and womanhood. This is the sort of poetry collection that will resonate with any reader.”

Brian Geiger, editor of Vita Brevis Press

MasticadoresUSA update

Please visit MasticadoresUSA here. There is new wonderful poetry by Karima Hoisan, Annette Kalandros, Nancy Elliott, Punam and others that I probably mentioned before. Please support your fellow poets and do not forget to follow the site.

Thank you.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

I am my mother’s daughter – short prose by Gabriela Marie Milton

I am not who you think I am. My loves are the result of my interiorities in which meanings lie. “Outside” is an illusion. I do not seek the attention of the cup bearer. I am the cup bearer.

It was evening. I was five years old. Mama wore a beautiful dress, pale lines of fresh green dripping on her body. Curves, rose scents, pearled skin. She looked ravishing.

Phlegmatic look on his face Papa smoked Arturo Fuente cigars. He said: That dress is too short.

Mama did not answer. She entered the house. I followed her. She went in the yellow room. The room had a large French tapestry on the left wall. She took a pair of scissors and cut her dress shorter.

The next morning, she looked even more ravishing.

The thought came to me in the afternoon. A big smile appeared on my face. I ran into my room and took out all my little dresses from the wardrobe. Armed with a scissor, I proceeded to the terrace. One by one I cut all dresses trying to make them shorter. I was ecstatic. I thought of how happy Mama would be. I swear I saw the roses dancing in the garden.

I am my mother’s daughter.
My sweet love, should I cut my dress shorter?

MasticadoresUSA update

Congratulations to my fellow editors of the Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and other editions of Gobblers/Masticadores on their performances.

May I please get some help? There are several new poems up at MasticadoresUSA. Please visit the site here and support your wonderful fellow poets. Do not forget to follow the site.

Thank you.

@Gabriela Marie Milton