DRAW SPACES – serie

We are pleased to present to our European readers “In The American Grain”. This anthology is a fine selection of the best contemporary American poets, who have won the most important awards of the American literary critics in recent years. Among the poems collected in this anthology, you will have the chance to read the verses of illustrious authors such as Forrest Gander, Rae Armantrout and Vijay Sheshadri, winners of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. Present as well, several other authors recognised by the critics of the Walt Witman Award, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, Griffin Poetry Prize and the Young People’s Poet Laureate. It is an important opportunity for us to bring the best of American poetry to European readers, something not too well known to the wide readership in Europe.We therefore invite our readers to surprise themselves and discover new verses, through the purest example of an art that is deeply alive in the USA, flowing impetuously through American veins.

An aphorism, a memorable phrase full of meaning. Often you don't need many words to express a concept, you just need to find the right ones.Georgescu Cosmin-Stefan provides us with a series of useful aphorisms for every occasion, explaining life with the right words.

It is almost midnight and before I turn off mylight,I see my Moleskine resting on the tableunassumingly,but its presence is so loud that Icannot ignore it.This is my time.I scratch in my purse for a pen.Let the poem begin.

Written from a personal perspective, POEMS FOR SEX, SMOKE AND RAINSTORMS is a collection of passionate, sensual verses about intimacy and love.Never underestimate the power of a female poet. Kaya Hafeli's poems are filled with sensory detail to bring ...

We've got plenty of time, darlingAll these hours are oursWe're walking words and wonderThis collection of poems lets the readers dive into their inner selves, gently dragging them beyond words and inviting them to dialogue with their own most instinctive and deepest part with love, strength and spontaneity. ...

Through a modern style, strong and yet delicate metaphors which often draw on the natural world, the poet conveys to her readers both a representation of a modern world firm in its banalities and the portrait of a human being, a strong woman who, at ease in her own skin, ...

Born of personal experience this anthology is representative of a heartfelt poetry collection by Anglo Asian born author Dawn Beasley.The collection is the fruit of trauma and her extremely difficult experiences including being a cancer sufferer who lost her ability to paint because of it. ...

Everyone in life coped with the turbulence of Love.This beautiful collection of poems, structured in four parts, opens with a powerful incipit: a broken and agonizing heart.Pages after pages you will find a poet that reappears on her strength at a certain moment:My tides will sew you back together wave by wave....We leave to the reader the fantasy of discovering growth and catharsis, with that bittersweet taste of asking oneself: who are we really in the turbulence of Love?Is the Heart really a Liar?

Haikus is a collection of poems that draw inspiration from the nature, seasons, love, human values and person-al experiences.Haiku style encourages the author to express many things in short words, the unspoken is what matters most and the intimate thoughts remind the reader of many feelings and emotions.Through the seasons and the transformation of life cy-cles, Haikus focuses on the cyclical process of renewal, and the passing of time is the gentle touch that leads us to progress.

Divided into three sections, Existence is a dream-like collection of poems whose words express the feelings of love and sadness we all experience at some point in our lives. The author has written a down-to-earth, accessible collection that speaks to many aspects of life and love, with one section focusing on death. Readers will be able to relate to many of the poems and feel a connection to their words: the author has a magical way of having you connect on a personal level with every one of his poems.

As we begin our journey of taking responsibility, we will encounter many life lessons to be learned. They can be called seasons, and each season brings challenges and joy. Sometimes painful experiences remain with us for many years. Sometimes we will believe that satisfying others' needs is the best way of serving ourselves, and we will be willing to sell our souls when we are taken for granted or even abused. Religion plays an essential role in our life cycle.We might have been brought up in a strict religious environment because that is when the Universe allows us to experiment with what suits us during those specific seasons. Until one day, when you realize that there must be something more to it you begin to question and find your place in the spiritual realm. It is then that you experience deep remorse for what was wrong without you knowing it. That is when you become awakened and see the world in another context being one with the Universe. It is also when you begin to love yourself first, knowing that you are a universal being with immense light within and letting go of emotional barriers that hurt. This is the best season and maybe the last season in your life. Relations embodies our intimate and spiritual essence and shows us the wisdom of, finally, becoming aware.

This book of poems is the poetess’ very first poetry collection, and it holds a really dear place in her heart. For the writing of it she was inspired by how she imagined a King’s realm and everything that lies within it looks like.The poems that build this collection all contribute to creating the image of the King, by telling each time a different story about him. Poem after poem the figure of the King becomes more and more wide and unveiled, and the reader gets to live through this character’s figure.I would like for this passion/talent of mine to never grow old and to keep being inspired by everything around me in order to fill in all the empty pages in my notebooks with poetry.

Savva Emanon's new collection, as the title announces, Luminescence in Verse - Poetry about the human condition, takes its inspiration from the author's personal experience as a psychotherapist, counsellor, and dance/movement therapist.With a deep appreciation for having translated his extensive wealth of therapeutic knowledge into the practice of mental health and spiritual exercises and now into verse, these poems convey a profound sense of moving toward a state of bliss, as they make a sincere effort to overcome every human challenge with unwavering positivity and spirit.The perfect metrical arrangement is also a search for care to make every poetic reflection harmoniously musical.This body of work is not a magic cure, but if you use these incredible verses as a daily "mantra" you will significantly achieve an inner balance that will make you face the path of life with harmony and lightness.It is not provocative to say that perhaps today's world needs more sweet and profound words than a bulimic world of artificial and retouched images: the profound sense of beauty is above all internal and poetry can be an excellent vehicle for this intent.

This broad collection of songs, humour, poems, prayers and monologues came about because something in me got stirred up, and with that stirring came the desire to put pen to paper! It might have been a talk that resonated in me, or a snippet of conversation. That dear elderly lady complaining to the minister on the way-out of the meeting about all these new-fangled songs in the service - will never know what she inspired with, "It's Our Church"!I've found that God has a wonderful sense of humour. Psalm2:4 says, The One enthroned in heaven laughs! He must smile at some of the situations we get up to in church life - and probably weeps at others! I'm still on a journey with this; but my hope is that these poems and songs will encourage you as you read them and listen to them online. The accompanying website must make this book rare, if not unique!Robin Hawkins

Lost Soul is a work that touches the deepest chords of the human soul.Through the author's words, we are led to reflect on life, love, loneliness and the search for the meaning of existence. The metaphors used are powerful and engaging, taking us on an emotional journey. The writing is intense and moving and leaves us with a sense of deep reflection and contemplation.This collection is a work of art that deserves to be read and reread and will surely leave a lasting impression on the minds and hearts of those who read it.

Gardener in the Moon is a story told in verses that explores the realms of spirituality, self-discovery, and self-awareness. This is afascinating exploration of the journey of reconnecting with one's innerchild, through which the author reveals layers of innocence, sweetness,and curiosity, as she shares this journey with us. In a way, each poem acts as a guide, steering the reader through moments of introspection, embracing the spiritual essence within, and guiding the reader along theway. By emphasizing healing and spiritual awakening, the author invitesreaders to reflect on their own journeys, resonating with universal themes such as innocence, resilience, and the profound connection between the inner child and the spiritual self.

After You – A Collection of Words takes the reader on ajourney of emotions and thoughts. A compilation with varied hues and shades, these verses tell the story of the powerful hold of love and thedaily struggles faced in the aftermath of loss.Here, you’ll find poems that capture a sense of chaotic despair interlaced with both a hopeful and hopeless sense of calm. The words have a relatable ebb and flow of feelings, a weaving of conflicting thoughts, and reflect uplifting or heartbreaking moments.In this treasure trove, poetry continues to hold the world enthralled by its lyrical intensity and casual intimacy.

Throughout the poems, the author navigates the rough waters of the schizoaffective disorder with raw honesty and profound insight, beginning with the bewildering onset of symptoms and ending with the arduous quest for healing.It's hard to act,very hard not to react.I can hear you in my head.Are you really the voice of the dead?How am I supposed to act like I'm fine,when I want to drink the whole bottle of wine?You distract me in public and make me act weird.You are the reason people around me disappeared!It's hard to act normally when you existand everyone around me is pissed.

Alastair takes readers on a journey into the realm of Ouradiso, whereconflicts among powerful figures and mystical beings unfold. Throughoutthe adventure, the characters confront inner and outer adversaries while grappling with existential dilemmas as they grapple with themes offaith, redemption, and the afterlife. A profound exploration of human experience is offered to readers through the weaving of spirituality, moral quandaries, and allegorical elements.There was a resounding silence,And the sounds of panics around the little boy,The heartbeats of his paters now deeply in tears,And the surprising expression of joyon the knight's confidentface after he put his handon the little boy's chest.The instant was absolutely the brightest.It was interestingly the richest,In emotion, in compassion, in love, in mindedness.

Psychic retreat is most of all about freedom, it is an intimate retreat into the unseen life, into an unlived life. Poetry is away of digesting the world, of recycling and growing a subjectivity that found a home into a foreign language. To give voice to one’s thoughts, feelings, and dreams was so dangerous behind the Iron Curtain,where the author was born and raised. Poetry has become a vital habit, asafe space for a self who meets the world with wonder, pain, delight, fear, with curiosity and passion.You float like an enchanted nebula in my mind,pass like the clouds inside my veins,are the easiness of breathing in my dreamsyou forget me for millions of seconds in the imaginary timeyou are more real than reality itself in your spontaneous combustionso that I destroy you each day inside my bones,I ignite the narrative of dawn, the blueness of your ribsI forget about you like I forget crying in the aliveness of loversI need to forget you like one forgets faraway explosions, storms andmiracles because I love you with all the songs of the wind,the wind that spreads the seeds further away from each other thesame way the flow of mystery so precise is caring us further andfurther away towards ourselves

This collection of poems interweaves the perspectives of three individuals who sometimes love and other times hate each other. Nevertheless, they battle their own inner demons. If you want to immerse yourself in the emotional rollercoaster of remarkably stable individuals, this will be a soothing balm for your soul.When you put three souls together, one cold, one fragile, and one selfish…What good can come out of it? The fragile soul shatters under the weightof the cold, the cold melts and then breaks. And the selfish one? It always prevails.I don’t want to see the result of your fallI’ll be as selfish as youI’d rather close my eyes and fill my ears with cottonSo I won’t hear your screams.

Cloaked Mystery is a collection of poems in which it is possible to sense right from the very first lines the author’s need to express her interiority, a sort of motion of the soul that transcends time and space and plunges us into a whirlwind of emotions and sensations, amidst mythological references and allusions to a nature that the verses seem to personify.Each reading calls into us a set of emotions expressed in a romantic, literary language that echoes themes dear to the mid-nineteenth-century Romantic literature. This is evident in the constant reference to natureand its elements, which become entities imbued with strong symbolism.For the author, poetry represents an inexhaustible creative force that speaks for itself and of which she becomes a simple means and an instrument.Poetry is an emulation of the subconscious, and it gives voice to ideas,feelings and emotions, something without which it is impossible for thewriter to build up her personal life.

As the opening motto recites: IN THIS WORLD, LOVE IS THE ONLY CURE FOR A SICKENED SOUL! Dan Duțescu immediately establishes the essential character of his poems: it is not society that consents to love, but the very planet, a sign the poet is certain that the values he believes in are shared by all his fellow beings.Poignant words that emerge from the depths of his essence, the author generously strips himself of any superfluous structure.Every word is pinned down with candour and strength, in an endless expanse that falls into the abyss, into the sea and then always rises upand rises again, because the strength of love is impregnable and eternal.

Do you ever look at the trees?Do you ever see them looking back at you?Sometimes I swear I can hear them whisperingsweet songs to each other.

Music From the Forest I Died in, Distant Drums of Silence is a collection of poems in which thoughts, emotions and reflections are interwoven, in a whirlwind of words and verses that captivate the reader, accompanying and inviting him to personal reflection. The collection is divided into two parts, the first more traditional in its structure, while the second is bolder both in its organisation and in the way the poet approaches the themes.The entire collection, in any case, vibrates to the sound of the verses that compose it, which somehow, although dealing with different themes, seem to be held together by a single thread: what makes us human, that is, man’s ability to adapt to life, its changes and challenges, without ever losing hope.

Blue Toes and a Dog is a collection of poems in which the author expresses all the wonder and beauty that poetry is able to convey. Poetry is seen as a source of amazement, as a tool and lens through which to see and perceive the world around us. In this collection the reader will find numerous styles, based on discovery, not only of the wonderful creativity poetry allows them to experiment with, but also thenumerous avenues language allows them to access the universe. The author believes poetry is meant to constantly change the view of whatever we see, in multiple ways, one time beautiful, another time vicious, another time perplexing, another time with grace and love.The author explores different themes, ranging from love to simple, everyday life scenarios, filtered through his watchful and ever-active eye.Some poems were free flowing, some were a struggle. But isn’t that what poetry and life are all about?

Whispers of the Soul is a journey through the uncharted landscapes of the heart, a delicate weaving of pain, longing, love and healing. These poems are not merely words on a page but reflections of the quiet, often unnoticed moments that define our deepest experiences. In this collection, the unspoken finds its voice, and the unseen is brought into light. Each poem is a whisper, an intimate confession from the soul that speaks of grief and the quiet struggle of moving through life’s shadows.They explore the rawness of loss, the ache of unfulfilled desires, and the bittersweet process of letting go. At their core, they are love letters to resilience, reminding us that even in our most broken moments, there is beauty and strength to be found.This collection is not just about sorrow; it is also about the quiet, persistent hope that carries us through. The words here linger in the spaces between heartbeats, capturing the resilience that often goes unnoticed, the way the soul bends but does not break, the way it heals in soft whispers rather than loud declarations. This collection invites you to sit with your own shadows, find solace in shared experiences, andembrace the tender vulnerability of being human. These poems are a testament to the enduring power of the human spirit, a reminder that we are not alone in our struggles, and that every whisper, no matter how soft, holds the promise of healing.As you read, let these words wash over you like a gentle breeze, carrying with them the echoes of every unshed tear, every unspoken word,and every quiet triumph.May this collection be a companion to your own journey, a place where you find the whispers of your own soul reflected back to you.