Woman: Splendor and Sorrow Poetry Contest #anoncement #poem #poetry

My Dear Readers,

The poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow is now open. This contest honors the literary community that has supported me in my writing journey, and celebrates my becoming a #1 Amazon best-selling author.

To participate, you should write one poem inspired by a piece from my #1 Amazon best-selling poetry collection Woman: Splendor and Sorrow and list the name of the piece that inspired your submission.

The deadline for submission is September 20, 2021. Please submit your work before September 20 at shortprose12@gmail.com.

Guidelines for submission:

Submit your work before September 20 at shortprose12@gmail.com

Label your submission Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow.

Do not submit more than one poem.

Do not forget to include: the poem from Woman: Splendor and Sorrow that inspired you, your name or pen name, and the email address where you can be contacted.

Please submit your poem in the body of the email. No attachments or links will be open.

Prizes:

First Place: $300

Second Place: $150

Third Place: $75

Funding for the prizes comes from my royalties.

If you do not have a PayPal account, please open one.

All winners will be featured on my blog. So will those who finish in the following places: 4, 5 and 6.

It is my hope that the winners will use part of their prizes to buy two or three books of their favorite fellow poets or novelists in order to help our literary community strive. If you do so, please let us know what you bought.

How the selection will be made?

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 mid-October. I will update you periodically.

Good luck to everyone who wishes to participate and thank you again for your support.

To the future winners: please remember to spread love in our community and buy some books written by your WP favorite authors.

A Snippet from Woman: Splendor and Sorrow

In the evening, the sky stretches itself from blue to dark violet. The silk of the gloves hugs my fingers. I feed my iguana with cookies soaked in champagne. She hisses at me. I open a package of silk stockings. The door opens by itself, and you step in. Then it closes. I stare at you. You are in by your own volition. One kiss, and you borrow my tears. One touch, and I borrow your pain. A passage rite. I keep a coffin adorned with lilies in my bedroom. I sleep besides death like Sarah Bernhardt.

Did you hear that noise? A rosary fell from the Spanish chest.

The wind slips between the petals of a rose and opens it.

Who am I? If I knew, I would tell you.

Did you say you love me? The twenty-four hours are up. Nobody is facing in the direction of the sea anymore.

There is no me.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

Summer Fantasy

poem included in my book Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings (Vita Brevis Press, April 2020) available on Amazon here

my eyes are water wells
mirroring your body
into a time which shrinks
my lips shine on stained glass
windows to the sea
a virgin violin
faints into your lap
sick with jealousy
the summer hangs in trees
seduction
fantasy

MasticadoresUSA Update

A gorgeous poem by M. Taggart is up at MasticadoresUSA. Please read it here and please subscribe to MasticadoresUSA.

Do you want to submit? Please read the guidelines here
Thank you
Gabriela

@Gabriela Marie Milton

I am thrilled that my two poems Prayer and A Night of Marble and of Gingerbread were included in Issue I of Free Verse Revolution: Hebe (the fountain of youth)

Prayer
by Gabriela Marie Milton

you, fountain of youth,
forgive me
I am the one made from mud and from the skin of Attica’s
flutes
at night, my existence feels like an impertinence or
perhaps like an interlinear
a language half-imagined
half adulterated
by the bloom of the olive trees under the sticky wing of an
angel
I was born in the swamps where the tombs of the prophets
sunk
I am blood and bones when I smell the sea and the meat
from the grill
church bell toll and speak of death, and of the mystique of
oblique winds
you, goddess of youth,
source of life from where four rivers flow
your child-like body
stands some days on the top of the mountains
and others on the top of the fountains
your skin is dewed and flowered with love
my skin haunts the night of the deserts
your destiny is that of the innocents
mine is that of the sinners
forgive me, you, Hebe
that I do not ask for the gift of youth
give it to the children
give it to the sick
and throw what is left into the sea
the fish will be happy

A Night of Marble and of Gingerbread
by Gabriela Marie Milton

on the top of the mountain
the pines silhouette against the whisper of the rocks
the night is cut from marble, and from gingerbread
the wind stops on a branch touched by a naked star
I take the measure of that which forever youth gives
red poppies that never wither
seeds that never impregnate the ground
a love that still plays with toys,
and lights candles in a Christmas tree in the middle of
summer
the moon is mortal and concerned with trivial matters
and so am I
Hebe,
how many know that you are the bud of incest and
patricide?
how many know your child’s eyes witnessed so many
crimes?
filled with pain, you stop growing up, isn’t it so?
oh, don’t cry
here is my impermanent heart
wear it for one day
in the morning you will see the old oak dying in the rain
at noon butterflies will sit on your hair
in the night a Lethean forgetfulness will lecture on the
beauty of transitory love
kisses will feel like honey on the tongue
the breath of love will rest on your skin
you will grow up
what?
you do not want your forever youth back?
dream
it’s spring

You can download the entire issue for free here

Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings featured in San Francisco Book Review and Manhattan Book Review.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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

My poem “It’s March” published by Kashmir Newspaper.
In this difficult time may God and the beauty of poetry protect us all.

Gabriela

it’s March and in the flower garden the time breaks into gigantic fire balls
moths rotate around the golden light like mustard seeds in the cool air
my hair grows long until it touches our naked ankles
I set the food on our wooden table
inside your eyes the spring sets scents of narcissuses and daisies
the valley blooms mauve tulips, eclipses of the heart,
by our mountain which is taller than the sky
love moves between your chest and mine
you kiss my cheeks
my hands tousle your hair
a smile from our non-existing past gazes at us
it smells naan and aromatic lamb
my dress is white, your shirt is dark,
I build from flowers our past until I cannot find its end
barefoot I stumble on old tears
are these the tears that you’ve cried?
an evil eye gets tangled in my hair
I hardly breathe
the evil eye now cuts my hair
in your arms,
you carry me on terraces made from your wildest fantasies
my dress is red, what happened to my dress?
your lips taste like mulberries,
mulberries from a tree which grew from the same root as my childhood
there is pain somewhere between the two of us
is this what we call our past?

it’s March and in the flower garden the time breaks into gigantic fire balls
moths rotate around the golden light like mustard seeds in the cool air
you say I love you
my dress is white
your kiss is forged in fire and black passion

it’s March
the March of our future and that of our past

Read more of my poetry in KashmirPen
marry me
spring floral certitude

My book Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings:
available for pre-order on March 30th.
publication date April 30th.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

two new poems: “Somewhere along the border” and “San Salvador” published by Tuck Magazine

“mama, I can’t see the road
the desert’s cold
there is no moon
I’m hungry and Juan is crying”

please continue reading here

@short-prose-fiction

image: kilic inan; Shuterstock; [link]

i can’t see you
the spring’s floral certitude
showers petals in my eyes
lingers on veils forgotten at the altars
dreams interpret the language of cicadas
somebody plays the violin in the green room
like a flamenco dancer in Seville
i toss and turn inside my soul
your breath scatters on my neck
i stretch my arms to harvest poems
tongues of fire from your eyes
linger on my silky dress
i fall
rose thorns bite my thighs
it smells earth and grass from an old spring
i turn the page
i close my eyes
and i can see you