Joseph Mallord William Turner – The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire, Public Domain
When Miriam sent me the French translation of my poem Souls I was waiting for a train to nowhere at the corner of Friday and Saturday.
Oh, fragile blossom of my dreams how friendship and beauty go together.
Miriam, thank you for bringing tears of joy into my life. Thank you for being you. Thank you for this marvelous translation. Thank you for giving me “the kind of things that money just can’t buy.”
Souls by Gabriela Marie Milton
I had to go through your soul to get to mine once in mine I wish I would have stayed in yours boats memories of that port where demons haunted you empty chests our hearts taken out every evening mornings pumping despair and agony no blood left between your soul and mine an autumn naked sky
French translation by Miriam Descendres
Il me fallu traverser tes méandres Pour revenir en moi-même; une fois parvenu, combien aurais-je désirer alors être encore en ton âme.
Les bateaux… Mémoires de ces ports où les démons hantent Les battants de ta poitrine.
Et nos coeur laissés là à l’abandon; chaque soir; pour de nouveau pulser sous les feux de l’aube, entre désespoir et agonie.
De sang, il n’en reste plus goutte s’écoulant en mon âme, la tienne. …
The poem Souls is included in my first collection of poetry Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings (Vita Brevis Press, 2020) available on Amazon here.
“Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry” author Shailja Sharma, published by Pittsburgh-based Setu Publications, a merit-based, peer-reviewed publisher with a preface by Gabriela Marie Milton.
When Shailja sent me the manuscript of her book and asked me to write a preface I was sure I was not going to do it. I had too much work to do: too much research, too many responsibilities, too many hours helping various communities, including the poetry community. I definitely was not going to do it. That was valid before I opened the manuscript. The moment I opened it I could not put it down.
First, here is Shailja talking about her book:
“Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry” is a secret tear flowing from an immigrant’s heart. It’s the tear that is hidden from mama for many years while settling in a land away from home. It feels better when it finally flows. These poems depict lacks and memories, struggles and hardships, as well as hopes, promises, potential, and empowerment. Some of these pieces were recently published world-wide. Due to an excellent readership, the author was compelled to extend and compile this book.”
Below is my preface and the Amazon link where you can find the book.
In 2017, Jessica Traynor, wrote an opinion piece in The Irish Times entitled “James Joyce, the emigrant who left Dublin in body but not in mind.” The theme of immigration has been a constant presence in world literature. Most recently, contemporary novels such as Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic, and Cristina Henriquez’s The Book of Unknown Americans excellently depict the challenges and struggles of immigrants.
Shailja Sharma (Ph.D.), a psychologist practicing in the USA, steps on the same roads with her beautiful poetry volume entitled Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry. The book reflects the trauma immigrants endure when settling in new lands. The opening poem screams alienation: “I missed telling you how much I missed you.”
In order for the new life to keep as least a semblance of past – a past where the familiar lies – the author tries to reproduce in her place of settlement Indian customs. Lines like: Hold your Deepak/Flaunt the sari, are representative. Shailja decries the lack of free-play, discrimination, prejudice, and longs for the smoothness and protection that once she felt at home.
Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry, stands apart not only because of the theme the author addresses – immigration being a major subject in multiple societies these days – but also by the power of its astonishing verse, the talent of its author, and the empowerment the author offers. In the pages of this book the reader will find poetry at its best. Shailja Sharma’s verses are the mirror in which immigrants can find themselves and, equally, the highest expression of poetic endeavor.
Here is a snippet from the book
There used to be a wall with a hook that anchored my belongings. Some wet memories have pickled over the years. It’s raining and my feet are running to the backyard to save grandmother’s pickle jars. I know it’s too late, but I continue to stand in prickly rain drops. My wounds are wet and I am shivering. I am crying for the concrete floor, on which, sat a folded towel holding her steaming pressure-cooker. I have lost that floor…
A Gentle Reminder – Please do not forget to submit to the anthology Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women.
You can find the call for submissions HERE. Please follow the guidelines for submissions. Poetry that does not follow the guidelines will not be taken in consideration.
The Penitent Magdalen, Georges de la Tour, Public Domain
A New Poem
(excerpt from my poem You Night to be published in January in an new anthology).
I found the rivers where fish were born & nightingales sang. You night, how beautiful you are crowned with black poppies. Tell me something after I die & let me blossom on the Hill of Slane #starve-d for love. Eyes see no clouds. You night. #vss365#poempic.twitter.com/Car3cQTtOd
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose by Gabriela Marie Milton featured in Portland Book Review
In Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: Love Poems and Poetic Prose, author and poet Gabriela Marie Milton takes the reader on a deeply personal journey across the globe and into her heart. The verses delve into themes ranging from love to loss to feminism, all of them clearly inspired by the author’s own experiences. The palpable emotion and unique turns of phrase ensure that this will be a book that will stay with you long after you set it down…
In “The Six O’clock Café,” Milton’s prose takes a turn toward the fictional, combining poetry, magical realism, and mystery to tell a short, impactful story. Once again, loss takes center stage in a highly creative way.
This collection of poetry and poetic prose will be a hit with fans of contemporary poetry looking for something that doesn’t hold back from sharing its innermost emotions and for those who enjoy creative word play.
Samos, perhaps Crete – a poem from my book Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings
Samos, perhaps Crete
on the barren shore you play your mandolin I conjugate “to leave” in the voice of trees the air reverberates expressions of old gods the space changes its mind maybe it is Samos, perhaps it is just Crete traces of death, glimpses of the future your thoughts are cut in marble scratches turn to yellow delineations, conquerors of islands the shore melts in the waters your eyes tell prophesies the time changes its mind perhaps it was just Samos, maybe it was Crete the dying mandolin, the smell of ripened olives an unmade wooden bed solemnity, delirium the names of I, You We
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings was published by Vita Brevis Press in 2020. It is available on Amazonhere.
Updates:
Please do not forget to visit MasticadoresUsa. I have so many beautiful pieces up. Subscribe and follow us.
At the end of the month I will announce the new project I am working on – a project that will hopefully feature numerous poets from our literary community. Please stay tuned for more news.
A heartfelt thank you to Ingrid for her beautiful review of my book Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose
“I have just finished reading Woman: Splendor and Sorrow, the second poetry and short prose collection from the exceptionally talented Gabriela Marie Milton. It is no word of a lie to say that the book transported me, to a world, not only of the senses, but to the association of those senses with all that is true and beautiful in life. This collection flames with the passion and intensity of the true Artist.”
Please visit Ingrid’s site to read her wonderful poems and learn about her plans. Please continue buying Ingrid’s superb anthology The Anthropocene Hymnal.
Lilies of the Valley – a poem from Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose
I can see the woman who assumes things. Every night she picks the flowers that I throw on the road: withered lilies of the valley. She wants to be me. She wants my blood. She does not know I rearranged the bell-shaped whites so no one else can breathe their sweet scents. No one else can be me. No one else can make you, you.
The woman puts the withered flowers in her bag.
A new moon rises over her left shoulder. Bad luck.
I shiver.
I rush to protect her.
I stumble.
Before he, died my father said:
If you try to do justice to the wicked, you will forget to do justice to the virtuous. And if you forget to do justice to the virtuous, you only work for yourself. That is the biggest sin of all.
Updates:
The winners of the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose will be announced on NOVEMBER 16.
Soon I will launch several initiatives to help our literary community strive more.
Do not forget to read, like, and submit to MasticadoresUSA. MasticadoresUSA community is growing: beautiful poems and fantastic interactions.
you, my adulterated love I light your fire blindfolded I seek a buyer for all my sins a sunset lingers on my dress October #hesitate-s the walls are gray the music plays delighting at your feet chants of prayers from my faraway Corinth#vss365#poem#poetrytwitter#poetrypic.twitter.com/m7tC9eRXC2
For you the poetry of morning roses and one of the greatest voices I have ever heard: the voice of Elīna Garanča.
“Among other roles, she [Elīna Garanča] is particularly famed for her portrayal as Bizet’s Carmen which she has sung at both the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Metropolitan Opera to critical acclaim; the NY Times named her “the finest Carmen in 25 years…”. The Carmen production was broadcasted in more than 1,000 movie theatres worldwide and is one of the most viewed and successful “Live in HD” performances of the Metropolitan Opera.” Read more here and here.
I hope everyone enjoys her fabulous voice.
On a different note, I will be back soon with more poems and exciting updates on the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose.
May you have a glorious weekend.
May you be loved and inspired.
Yours,
Gabriela
You can find my poetry collection Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose on Amazon HERE.
image: Gabriela Marie Milton, somewhere in Southern Europe
Poem
open the window let me feel the #wind which blew when I was born open you palms let me eat the fruits of the soil which fed me first open your heart let me breathe the poetry of the sunsets when roses sleep & church bells toll over the land where I was born#vss365#poetrypic.twitter.com/Nxc1TXNhFa
To Hestia: who was forgotten – by Gabriela Marie Milton
it’s quiet now inside the shapes of our burning hearts tortured the endurance of surreal trees a headkerchief full of blood dries on a bench unknown the mark upon the sky to which you point the windows of bookshops read “kill” and “f..k”
Hestia, strangled, your virginity hangs on a rusty wire inside the chimney a creaking creature with bat-eyes streets filled with guns mundane caricaturesque phalloi, demonic blisters rub the hearts there is no home for millions of us
come back you, virgin goddess of the heart, the murder and the sex will stone you in the boulevards premonitions there are back streets where you can walk songs of nightingales and roses will hide you in their arms
you sacred fire, give a home to hungry children with no clothes to those who sleep under the bridges of cursed stars in nights when linden trees in cemeteries bloom flame the ebb and flow of skies that know no tides you, goddess, the very subject matter of which I write.
I am thrilled to be part of Issue III of Free Verse Revolution. You can download the publication for free here.
Update on the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow
Thank you to everyone who enter the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow. I am honored and touched by your submissions. Your entries are magnificent. Everyone’s writing is so dear to my heart that I will never be able to choose a winner. As a gentle reminder here is how the winners will be selected:
The selection method is similar to that of a double-blind peer review: the reviewer doesn’t know the identity of the author, and vice-versa.
To achieve that I will do the following:
Create a master document with all submissions. Remove the name of the authors and replace them with numbers.
Create a second document with the name of the authors and their assigned numbers.
I will not participate in the process of determining the winners. Winners will be determined by two of your peers.
However, I will disclose a piece of information and deviate a bit from the fully double-blind process: the editor of Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine, Brian Geiger, will be one of the reviewers.
The winners will be announced in late-October. I will update you periodically.
Prizes: First Place: $300 Second Place: $150 Third Place: $75
Funding for the prizes comes from my royalties.
To the future winners: please remember to spread love in our community and buy some books written by your WP favorite authors.
Update on MasticadoresUSA
Please visit MasticadoresUSA. Support our community. There are several new and wonderful poems up. Do not forget to like, follow, and submit.
My poetry book Woman: Splendor and Sorrow was reviewed in Seattle Book Review.
You can read the review in the link below.
Here are several snippets:
“Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose, written by Gabriela Marie Milton, is a brilliant arabesque comprised of authentic artistic stanzas and poetic prose penned the multifaceted emotive lines that highlighted the dichotomous complexities of womanhood in history and modernity…
Milton detailed the stark dualities of feminine divinity hidden within seemingly everyday occurrences via twenty-five pieces of poetic prose at the end of the book. The prose contrasted aching souls, aging, fear of the unknown, mysterious characters, and a genuine penchant for feeling the essence of life in all experiences, whether negative or positive outcomes.
Poetic collages adorned with emotional ephemera captured raw femininity dovetailed within the life cycles of womanhood; enmeshed in struggles, trials, and tribulations were depicted with fortitude and honor that chronicled the beautifully gritty feminine experience…”
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose available on Amazon here.
Updates:
Thank you to those of you who entered the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow. I am deeply touched and incredibly grateful to everyone. Your poems are magnificent.
Help our literary community strive. Do not forget to read, like, and submit to MasticadoresUSA.
