In My Own Flood

By Christina Strigas

In My Own Flood is the first book of poetry by Christina Strigas. The poems collected in this volume are raw and human. They touch all aspects of love and loss, pain and relationships, death and family. They bring out the woman in you, the man in you, the mother, wife, husband, and lover. At times, the child in you. In the tradition of confessio

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christina Strigas
• Release date: Jul 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9780995186576

Christina Strigas

Christina Strigas is an author and poet. She has written five novels, four poetry books, and one self-help book based on her popular quotes on Twitter. She writes romantic love poetry in a stream of consciousness narrative. Her novels vary from paranormal fiction to erotica and romance. She holds a BA in English Literature and a Teaching Degree. She teaches English and French in an elementary school and is a part-time Course Lecturer at McGill University.

Book preview

IN MY OWN FLOOD

Copyright 2016 © Christina Strigas

All rights reserved.

2nd Edition Copyright © 2022

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author except in brief quotations embodied in critical reviews, citations, and literary journals for noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission request, email the author.

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Attention: Permissions Coordinator

All art illustrations in book by Christina Strigas

Interior layout by Maureen Cutajar

www.gopublished.com

ISBN 978‐0‐9951865‐2‐1

ISBN 978-0-9951865-7-6 (e-book)

CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA

Strigas, Christina, 1968‐, author

In My Own Flood / poetry by Christina Strigas

I dedicate this book to two men in my life who have been there for me and supported me: my father, Peter, who taught me how to see past the ordinary; and my husband, Greg, who treats me like I am extraordinary. Thank you for your light in my dark.

This book is also dedicated to all the Greek girls and women out of Montreal. To all the Greek boys and men. To all the grandmothers and grandfathers. To all whom I can touch through words.

Thank you. Efharisto. Merci.

Dear readers,

Thank you for supporting my love of words and entering my poetic world. I do not proclaim to be anything but a woman emptying my soul through words. Every page can be read on its own. Every poem has a life of its own. All poems could be a continuation of one or none at all. I found it difficult to organize them, because my mind is always in different paths; hence they are written as a book with different parts. There’s a story every‐ where I look; some in my head, some in my heart, some in my soul, some with the dead.

Thank you to my family who have supported my writing and let me be true to the artist in me; especially, when I locked eve‐ ryone out, and when they came back when I opened the door.

I also want to thank you, the reader, who purchased this book and still believes in the magic of poetry. Thank you for your support. To all of my friends and the poets I have met through social media sites, thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

All artists go through self‐doubt, it is part of existing within other realms of reality. I have been writing poetry for decades, and within this book you will find some new poems, some old, and some that were hidden in journals… All for you to read and enjoy. Human emotions are so vast—like a forest, an ocean— nothing can truly capture its essence, but I hope you connect to my words and thoughts.

Thank you to all of my muses, in human form and other.

—Christina Strigas

CONTENTS

PART ONE:

I will write an epic poem one day

The Week Starts on Friday

I can’t wait until you get the real me in a room and lock the fucking door

Whisper Secret Poems

I Would Like…

Unknown

The Road

Hospital Love

Tide

Soaked in the Rain

Enter

Epic Poem

Hanging on a Boy’s Arm

And Then

Sunlight

Charades

Break My Fall

Periscope

PART TWO:

How poetic are the lines in the palm of your hand?

Elements

Poetry

Thoughts of How You Break My Heart

In the Moment

In Simple Words

Seduce Me

Portal

To Be a Poet

Kiss

Past Lives

A Sonnet

Another Sonnet

Sonnet 3: Art

On Being a Poet

I Thought

Heartbroken

PART THREE:

Montreal is the call

Soul Tapping

My Gift

Empty Space

Clouds

Pour Toi

I Wore It for You

Back in Time

Walk

Soul Mates

PART FOUR:

Goodbye after walking three months along the wall of China

It’s Been a While

Streams

Parts Long Gone

Don’t

Focus

You Think

Unwritten

Star

Exit You Missed

Voices

Those Familiar Leaves

Ninety‐Seven Years

An Ode to Steve

Missing

In My Own Flood

NYC 2013

So Feverishly

One Thing

Shades

How I Fell From The Sky

Follow Up Poem

Four

PART FIVE:

Internal Riots

Use me as a motif

I used to

To Love

I don’t want to know

Brand New

Black Sharpie

Surrender

The Fire of my Storm

Spilt Wine

Reasons

Sanity Chased Away

Ageless

Spell

On Call

Making Love Vs Fucking

My Oxymoron

Full Moon Riding

Calendar

Black Sheep

Burns

Real life

In the Middle

Poems

GNO

Metropolis

Trashing

In the Bones

I bear words

Acknowledgements

About The Author

PART ONE

I will write an epic poem one day

The Week Starts on Friday

My first poem will be the one

you will adore.

I slide between words

like a wet pussy whore.

No, it is not smut

I write for you,

but a long forgotten moment

when you wanted me spread out

your own one night stand slut

pursued and perused.

Your family portraits are darts,

mine are a fuse.

Together we make no love,

our words abandoned like orphans.

No more perfumed rhymes to hide

the ugly. It’s here. I am alive

ready to eat you up. On my

knees, as usual. Enter my sin,

you make me