Literary Revelations wishes you and your family a Happy Saturday.
We are thrilled to let you know that Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems by C.X. Turner and James Welsh – 8 days after its launch – is still a #1 bestseller in the UK. It is not only a bestseller in Hot New Releases. It is #1 in all published haiku poetry books.
Both authors are under a pen name. We could not publicize the book the way others can. And yet we reached the sky. That’s because of those who recognize talent no matter what. That’s because of those of you who love great poetry. That’s because of those who love quality. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. This is the kind of readership we want.
Roberta Beach Jacobson Editor, Cold Moon Journal and Five Fleas (Itchy Poetry) tells us: “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.”
Please stay tuned for more exciting news, including news that involves our Literary Revelations poetry community.
Literary Revelations is thrilled to bring you the poetry of a very accomplished author: R.C. Thomas. I hope you enjoy it.
BIO
R.C. Thomas resides in Plymouth, UK, with his daughter, where he received a BA in Creative Writing from Plymouth University. His first collection ‘The Strangest Thank you’ (2012), and his pamphlet ‘Zygote Poems’ (2015) were published by Cultured Llama. His poetry and haiku have appeared in journals internationally. Of creative writing publications, he edited Symmetry Pebbles, was Creative Writing Editor of Tribe, co-edited it’s sister journal Thief, and was Managing Editor of INK, Plymouth University’s creative writing journal. R.C. Thomas was selected as one of the ‘Top Creative Haiku Authors’ in Europe in 2021 and 2022; he received joint first place in the Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest 2022, first place in the Third Maya Lyubenova Haiku Contest, had a ‘Selected Haiku Submission’ in the 13th Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest and was shortlisted for the Touchstone Best Individual Poem Award. His short story, ‘My Third Wife Was Called Wendy-Ellen’ received an Honourable Mention in the Globe Soup Open Short Story Competition 2022. R.C. Is currently working on various projects, including a collection of fauna-based haiku.
winding down around the mountain mouflons lower horns
Literary Revelations is thrilled to bring you the poetry of Tina Mowrey. We hope you enjoy this feature.
BIO
Educator and lifelong learner, Tina spends much of her free time reading, writing, and observing the world around her. Most recently, she has been focusing on the craft of short form poetry (haiku, senryu, tanka) with original pieces published in the following journals: Mayfly, Frogpond, Presence, Wales Haiku, Modern Haiku, Trash Panda, Folk ku, Cold Moon, and Poetry Pea. Tina’s work has also appeared in several anthologies including Hidden in Childhood, To Live Here, and From One Line – If I Were A House.
In another life, Tina is a picture book author, with three books to her name and a singer/songwriter. She loves listening to music, traveling with her family, spoiling their five pets, and eating tacos. Lots of tacos!
4 haiku/senryu by Tina Mowrey
warm winds stirring the foliage summer’s last dance
recalling how distant we’ve become desert sky
water lilies a flight of dragonflies tends the nursery
Tanka poems are a representative type of classical Japanese poetry with a long history. Beginning as waka, which were widely composed starting in the 7th century, today they continue to be produced by people of diverse backgrounds while retaining their ancient characteristics. In other words, tanka poems can be regarded as a valuable part of Japanese cultural heritage that are loved and enjoyed in contemporary Japan…
It can be said that social media has had a great impact on modern tanka. As a result, the traditional framework of social exclusiveness of this poetic genre from ancient times has been removed, leaving an environment where people of any social status and cultural background can easily create and read tanka and join the tanka community.
Kensuke, Koshida. “Globalization of tanka: how Twitter contributes to development of traditional Japanese poetry.” Relacje Międzykulturowe= Intercultural Relations 2 (8) (2020).
Literary Revelations is thrilled to bring you the magnificent art and tanka of Hikari, a fabulous Japanese artist. Read more about Hikari here. Some of the art that you will see in this feature is done by Hikari in collaboration with her mentor the Japanese artist Naoki Kimura. Read more about Naoki Kimura here.
The introduction to tanka, the art, the poems, and the translations below belong to Hikari, unless otherwise noted.
Introduction to Japanese Tanka by Hikari
Tanka is one of the forms of Japanese poems consisting of 31 syllables of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 (*a).
By comparison, Japanese haiku consists only of 17 syllables of 5, 7, 5.
◆Haiku is mostly liked to seasons. tanka is not.
◆Tanka conveys one’s feelings in more detail than haiku because of its longer form.
◆The origin of tanka is said to be around the latter half of the 7th century in Japan.
Famous Tanka Anthologies
The most famous anthologies of tanka in Japan include “Manyoshu” (*b) and “Kokin Wakashu”, as well as the “Hyakunin Isshu”, a collection of poems selected from various anthologies.
I would like to introduce one of the representative tanka in Japan.
It is composed by Lady Murasaki, who depicts “The Genji Monogatari” (*c), and has been translated in many languages around around the world.
“I met you, my friend, for the first time in a long time and enjoyed talking to you, but at night, you hurried home like the moon hiding in the clouds. I wonder if that was really you…”
Tanka by Hikari/painting Hikari with Naoki Kimura
I always add a tanka written by me to the painting I drew.
Even if you regret it, put on your mask and quietly wait for the light at the gate of tolerance
“la porta della Tolleranza”(*d),
Tanka and painting by Hikari
(Japanese)残照に 今日の佳き事焼き付けて 悔い燃し進む 沖つ船みる
“Za-N-Sho-Ni Kyo-U-No-Yo-Ki-Ko-To Ya-Ki-Tsu-Ke-Te
Ku-I-Mo-Shi-Su-Su-Mu O-Ki-Tsu-Fu-Ne-Mi-Ru”
(English translation)
“In the afterglow I’m going to burn today’s good things in my heart and at the same time burn up my regret. Watching the ship sailing offshore. Moving forward to tomorrow”
“Amidst the light, where cherry blossoms dance, you twirl. Though the world may change, the seasons continue to turn”
Thank you for reading.
*a 31 characters is not an absolute rule.
*b Manyoshu is the oldest collection of poetry in Japan(Late 7th century), and includes Chinese poems and waka poems too.
*c “The Genji Monogatari” is a story about Hikaru Genji, the main character, and the feelings of the women surrounding him. It was written around the beginning of the 11th century.
Norinaga Motoori , 18th century Japanese scholar of literature, advocated that “Genji Monogatari” is the literature at the top of “Mono no Aware,” a feeling unique to Japan.
This idea also influenced Naoki Kimura, a Fine photographic artist.
Literary Revelations hopes you enjoy our Sunday Feature: The Poetry of Bartholomew Barker.
BIO
Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was “served” in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, Bartholomew worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit at bartbarkerpoet.com
Canis Redivivus!
My dog sleeps like a beach towel drying in the sun after a vibrant afternoon throwing his tennis ball into the lake, scaring fish and snapping gnats.
When he’s had his fill of fecund water, he collapses onto the sand, panting, tongue drooped. I cajole him home, where I wash the souvenir smells from his fur.
It’s the best way to get some quiet time to work until I hear the distinctive music of his tags shaking and he yawns into my office where I proclaim,
“Behold! Bobo Redivivus!” He returns my wag, ready for dinner.
I was more popular when I drove a pickup
She asked me to drop her at the airport and I was happy to repay the favor until I discovered it also involved moving her out of my apartment
Please check our latest #1 Amazon Bestseller Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems by C.X. Turner and James Welsh. Launched on August 11, 2023 Building Sandcastles was still #1 in the Poetry/Haiku category last night.
Thank you for your love and support. I am thrilled to let you know that next year I will publish a bilingual English-Spanish poetry book entitled Thorns that bloom/Espinas que echan flor. More about the book and how it came about later. For the moment I will share a poem I selected to include in the book entitled Seduction. Seduction was first published in English in my poetry collection Passion: Love Poems in Other Writings accompanied by an Italian translation belonging to Flavio Almerighi, a wonderful Italian poet. This time I hope you enjoy Seduction in English and Spanish.
Gabriela Marie Milton
Seduction
The rhythm of castanets awakens the moon on opal rings your kisses spin a cricket’s hitting a crescendo waves tattoo dark shadows on your skin sonority, you who vibrates the souls of those who haunt at night the Port of Cartagena
I toss in smells of apricots and plumes the Hand of Fatima takes off my veils your forehead sinks into the sweat of lovers who sever their veins oh, dream of the unknowns, you, latency, the sigh of blood which flows in spring both mud and flowers grow
didn’t you know that when you said I love you you stepped on roads of fables and folk tales? you glued your heart onto a purple sunset smells of lilac and of roses, impregnated strolls, seduction, it wasn’t me it was you who stole his soul.
Seducción (Spanish Translation)
El ritmo de las castañuelas despierta a la luna, sobre anillos de ópalo giran tus besos, un grillo se marca un crescendo las olas tatúan oscuras sombras sobre tu piel; sonoridad, tú que haces vibrar las almas de aquellos que rondan de noche el Puerto de Cartagena.
Me balanceo entre olores de albaricoque y ciruela, la mano de Fátima retira mis velos, tu frente se hunde en el sudor de los amantes que inflaman sus venas. ¡Oh! amor de desconocidos, tú, latencia, suspiro de sangre que fluye en primavera alimentando tanto flores como tierra
¿No sabías que al decir te quiero te adentraste en senderos de fábulas y cuentos? tu corazón quedó prendado de un atardecer púrpura impregnado de aromas a lilas y a rosas; paseos, seducción, vosotros robasteis su alma, no fui yo.
Literary Revelations is thrilled to bring you the poetry of Christina Chin and Uchechukwu Onyedikam. Together they wrote two excellent Japanese Tan-Renga.
BIOS
Uchechukwu Onyedikam is a Nigerian creative artist based in Lagos, Nigeria. His poems have appeared in Amsterdam Quarterly, Brittle Paper, Poetic Africa, Hood Communists and in print anthologies. He and Christina Chin co-authored Pouring Light on the Hills (2022).
Christina Chin is a painter and haiku poet from Malaysia. She is a four-time recipient of the top 100 in the DAC Summit Contests, exhibited at the Palo Alto Art Center, California. She is also the 1st prize winner of the 34th Annual Cherry Blossom Sakura Festival Haiku Contest (2020).
Tan-Renga
the dull midnight star a trailer to the homestead mother lay still breathless the solemn departure of the village babu
Uchechukwu Onyedikam/Christina Chin
the young boy clings to her lifeless body screams above the breath a scene of loss family mourning
Christina Chin/Uchechukwu Onyedikam
Please check our latest #1 Amazon Bestseller Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems by C.X. Turner and James Welsh. Launched on August 11, 2023 Building Sandcastles is still #1 in the Poetry/Haiku category.
Spyder is a simple wraith that spins odd and fantastic tales of horror and dark fantasy. As well, his web has been known to spawn melancholy and sometimes horrific poetry. Spyder dwells at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean or at times in the Rocky Mountains. No matter where he may be, rest assured darkness accompanies his adventures. Publishing credit of his work can be found at: Quill and Crow Publishing and Hellbound Books.
In Her
In her I’ve found the comfort of silence the crisp autumn air & the ocean’s tide she is my twilight the warmth of a blanket of stars where I can curl up & simply be no need for wasted words to say that which is known but always room for tenderness inviting arms that soothe she warms my heart & brightens my soul I have found where I belong with her
Fate’s Unholy Grave
Grave the fate of the desirous Call devotion moderna, blind lust Cardinal, your sin lies upon avarice The hymns of angels are cancerous
Tout your glutton-like holy charms Spite humanity no matter whom it harms Light the wanting with candle fire Lust for greed stakes the saints on the pyre
Quiet, you sulk as the glow fades Upon the black mass altar, your soul is laid Death weaves your flesh like lattice bone & eternity burns beneath tears to atone
Deaf are the ears of light & divinity Cast your essence to the fiery sea This fate of greed’s overreaching sin Hush now your cries lost to the sinking din
Literary Revelations is thrilled to feature the poetry of Dawn Pisturino. We hope you enjoy it.
Bio:
Dawn Pisturino is a retired nurse in Arizona whose publishing credits include poems, limericks, short stories, and articles. Her poetry has appeared in several anthologies, most recently in Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, and the 2023 Arizona Literary Magazine. She is a Mystery Writers of America and Arizona Authors Association member.
You and I
PEOPLE can only take so much pain and trauma until they shut down and tune out and wish it all away.
YOU never understood how much pain you caused to others.
You died. And so, we parted, never really knowing one another. How sad!
The Old Man at the Piano
His wrinkled fingers lovingly touched the yellowed keys of the battered upright
and he began to play a sentimental song from long ago when Julie danced and Helen sang and Lola sat beside him on the bench pounding a playful duet. The war was raging then and at night the sirens blared calling the people of the city into underground hiding. They clung to each other in the dark while bombs exploded and buildings collapsed and smoke filled the war-torn city. We have to live! We have to survive! they cried in their hearts not knowing if their houses remained intact not knowing if there was anything left but memories scattered pieces of treasured greeting cards postcards and faded photographs. In the morning the light would come
shining through the darkness and the wind would blow driving away the smoke and they congratulated one another on surviving another day.
While reading Dawn’s wonderful poetry please do not forget to check out our most recent release, Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems by C.X. Turner and James Welsh. The book is still a bestseller in several markets in New Hot Releases [including the US]. On August 13 Building Sandcastles was featured as the #1 bestselling haiku book in the UK.
Literary Revelations is thrilled to let you know that Building Sandcastles: A Book of Short Poems by C.X. Turner and James Welsh is now #1 and #2 in the US market [New Releases – Haiku and Japanese Poetry] and #1 in the UK and Canada. I am thrilled to be the publisher of this book. Thank you to those who help us.
Here is one of the reviews that the book has already received.
![Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology is now a #1 Amazon Bestseller [Poetry Anthologies]](https://i0.wp.com/literaryrevelations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Cover-HighRes-1.jpg?fit=750%2C523&ssl=1)
