The Book of Flowers, Birds, and Kisses

By Scott Vanya

There was a period before my divorce (one and only) I was an avid reader of Pablo Neruda. And Love Sonnets appealed to me a great deal, so much so that my wife and I used one his sonnets at our wedding. So for many years she and I had a wonderful marriage and I wrote many a love poem.

This is a collection of love poems, not just of a man to a woman, but a man to the world, nature, etc.

It stands out in my works, for its focus on a certain theme, and it's light-heartedness, which sometimes is not the case.

I think many of them are quite beautiful, and in my writing them I paid homage to that which would bring two people so close together that, as Neruda puts, the sleepers can no longer distinguish their hand from the others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scott Vanya
• Release date: Apr 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310567490

Scott Vanya

I've been writing for a very long time, what seems like my whole life, taking it seriously from the time I was about 11. Now, at 46, I think I may be starting to get the hang of it: Say what you feel, as passionately as you can, but always with an ear turned to those who are listening.Most of my more serious work is done at live performances, which i do totally extemporaneously, channeling the mood of the room as my fingers play on the guitar. You can see some of that if you go to "my" website. (Open Mics Austin is a platform I created to showcase the Spoken Word scene here in Austin, TX. Only a small role in which i play.)As far as I can tell what makes good writing is LOVE. Love ,plainly simply, and with no strings attached.I put these words/books before you, not so much because I want something back from it, because I think and feel like I feel my bones and my soul, if you were to see the world, experience it like it do, for even a brief moment, you would walk away from that happier, more alive, compassionate and in tune with all those around you.Peace, good will, and harmony. Let those be your guiding light.Agape forever,Scott VanyaPublication Credits:Stepping Stones Magazine, The Main Street Rag, www.carcinogenicpoetry.com, Texas Art Initiative, Phoenix New Life Poetry, Walt’s Corner, Manna, Perigee, Chicago Literary Review, Mobius, Cosmic Trend, Pitchfork, Romantics Quarterly, Artisan, Pegasus, The Neovictorian, Red Owl, The Story Teller, The Blind Man's Rainbow, Atlantic Pacific Press

Book preview

Without Fear

the shadows moonlight casts

feed

the hollow cavern

of my skull.

Down in darkness,

where eyes are useless,

my hands see

the curve of your

thoughts

tapering away from me

into the leaf

that hides my innocence.

For you

I have crossed

into a realm of silence.

Voiceless.

---

Previous:Next

the river bank

the waters move around your roots.

the wind carries away your old leaves.

the sun feeds your need for light.

In day's passage, time forgets

your concentration

and carries your seeds

across the stream.

The river bank holds you fast

even though it erodes

and moves on to feed

the bed beneath

the moonlight's reflection.

In all dark nights

I will be there

around your trunk

giving you support

to stand firm

against the currents

that cross our breasts.

As our future brings

us closer to union

of earth, air, water, and fire

we are together

in the hands of words.

Confused, frightened, aware . . .

others enter between us,

with faith, their names

we will decide upon.

And the river bank

has two sides

one you grow within

and one which only tastes your flesh

in rain,

communion of waters.

Rain our blood,

the earth tastes of your giving nature.

The river moves

and I am left a bit wider.

In the long journey of the night

standing firm

only rustling leaves and limbs

home to my thoughts chirping

you grow deep and high and around

my weaknesses.

Between earth and water

I am Noone's God. Only holding

what I never expected to have again.

What makes you grow,

What makes us appear in the heavens like stars,

Knowing that we lay

beyond the end

without words, or names

or love,

a movement from between

the two of us

we are forced to say

I was happy then.

for Jessica

---

Previous:Next

In living together

I play my days like an even-handed catharsis.

The past all laid out in blacks and reds.

Without a means to express

that our goals are the same.

In forging a future together

Our fire must burn hot.

Parched

forgetting myself

i wet my lips

where the taste of her sex still lingers.

remembering my place in her arms

i breathe deeply

of the scent still fresh from my clothes.

i christen this