Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems by C.X. Turner and James Welsh – advanced praise and two poems

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. Late July/early August my publishing house Literary Revelations will release a superb book of haiku and senyru co-authored by C.X. Turner and James Welsh and entitled Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems.

I am thrilled to share with you two beautiful poems from the book and the advanced praise we received. I hope you enyoy reading them.

Advanced Praise

“Back in my art teacher days, I used to remind students when they were having difficulties that art was fundamentally an act of play. This artistic playfulness is just what we find in Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems. Turner and Welsh dive deep into their subjects. Exploring every angle and defining every tint and shade along the way. With both broad brushstrokes and intimate details, these two poets paint the beautiful experience of their haiku worlds.”

Bryan Rickert
Editor: Failed Haiku Journal of Senryu
President: The Haiku Society of America

“In one breath tender and poignant, in the next stark and arresting, this collection of short poems is a journey of discovery through an evocative series of moments in nature. It is an exploration of that yearning to glean meaning from the chaotic lives we all lead.

There is a deftness to the poems in this selection, a lightness of touch that beckons the reader inside, leading them gently to the deep meditations and thoughts waiting behind the words.”

Joe Woodhouse
Editor: Wales Haiku Journal

“Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems, the stunning new collection by C.X. Turner and James Welsh, is a must-have for your shelves. These thought-provoking haiku and senryu left me breathless.”

Roberta Beach Jacobson
Editor, Cold Moon Journal and Five Fleas (Itchy Poetry)

Poems

I look out to sea
and see an ancient story
told in shades of blue

unsure of direction
I float my dreams
downstream

Please stay tuned for more news.

Literary Revelations Spanish Feature

Read Here

Building Sandcastles – Front Cover Reveal

Click Here

Gabriela Marie Milton
2022 Pushcart Prize Nominee
Publisher, Editor, Award Winning & #1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:

Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology (ed.), Literary Revelations, 2023
Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (ed.), Experiments in Fiction, 2022.
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose, Vita Brevis Press, 2021.
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, Vita Brevis Press, 2020

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 Amazon here.

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.

Thank you!

Gabriela Marie Milton
#1 Amazon Bestseller Author
Books:
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is shutterstock_603319382-300x200.jpg — IrenaStar; Shutterstock

Scents of linden trees illuminated by an old oil lamp.
The night is me.
I am the night where love delights dwell.
Shed you skin and come with me where minutes melt like chocolate on the tongue of a child.
You, sweetness from beyond the body, what can one say about you?

This poem will be included in my upcoming poetry collection Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: Love Poems and Poetic Prose.

Passions featured in San Francisco Book Review
Passions featured in Manhattan Book Review.

Thank you.
Gabriela

@Gabriela Marie Milton

Hello Everyone,

An excerpt from Love in Blue and Black, a poem included in my book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings [available on Amazon here] and, the book trailer (50 sec).

Thank you for reading and watching.
Have a fabulous rest of the day.
Yours,
G.

my love,
I speak to you through centuries of pain
trees spin barren branches in the air
when loneliness rains on blue hills
I crush my heart
so yours can still beat…

@Gabriela Marie Milton

on the last Saturday of every month
I see the little girl
who lives inside the world of withered roses and of plasticine
the world of our making cries
delusional
a window thinks it is alive and tries to dance
and in the world of withered roses and of plasticine
where ravens talk
pianos have shut up
I see the little girl
her dress, pale pink
her eyes, mad blue
on her cheeks two tears pantomime a waltz
and on the last Saturday of every month
from the world of our making
the world of withered roses and of plasticine
I send to you my love
a kiss and a forgotten dream
both gloved

My book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, can be ordered here.
Thank you
Gabriela

@Gabriela Marie Milton

image: olgers, Shutterstock; [link]

My book – Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings – was published.

Thank you to all my followers who’ve supported me. I wish I could make the sky rain blessings on all of you. I wish I could heal all wounds with my words. I wish I could send you a rose hidden in whispers of love every day.
I will try. I will never give up. You’ve showed me love. I’ll return your love. Every day I’ll try to give you more than I take. That’s my promise to you.
Yours
Gabriela

Shiver (a poem from my book)

A full moon weeps cold fragrant oil on my face.
Shiver.
The cicadas’ song penetrates the membranes of the space.
On one of my arms a purple mark sighs and then falls asleep.
Looking for prey a snake’s tongue splits the time in two.
I feel the bite.
You.

Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings contains new poems, poems published in various venues, and a few excerpts from my manuscript “Glass Lovers.”

Click Here to View Publisher’s Announcement

Order PAPERBACK Here!

Order Ebook Here!

@Gabriela Marie Milton

trap me
in the rhythms of the Flamenco
whose sounds invade the nights of Southern Spain
to breathe the notes of the guitars which play
and fill the lustrous eyes with burning pain

trap me
in the Florence of my dreams
to walk with Leonardo in its streets
to cry with the Madonna and to verse in Greek
when the last word of Christ forever speaks

trap me …

fragment from the poem trap me [included in my book Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings]

you can pre-order my book here

Thank you.

Gabriela

image: Everett-Art; Shutterstock; [link]

My Dear Readers,

My book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, is now available for pre-order.

You can pre-order here

The paperback version will be released on April 20th.

Below please find the acknowledgments I included in the book.

I am deeply grateful to Christina Schwarz, the author of the
New York Times Bestseller Drowning Ruth, for reading the
manuscript of my book and for offering me her wonderful insights
into my poetry.

I am also thankful to the great Italian poet, Flavio Almerighi,
for translating several of my poems – included in this book – into
Italian, a language that I love deeply.

Last but not least, I am grateful to you, my dear reader –
wherever you are in this world – for your willingness to spend time
with my poetry and to walk the roads of passion and fantasy with
me.

Welcome to my book, my dear reader. For you, I wrote these
poems. For you, I opened the doors of passion, love, and
imagination. Look no further. Come with me, and together we will
defy mortality.