Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose

by Gabriela Marie Milton

#1 Bestselling New Poetry Collection by Gabriela Marie Milton

Brian Geiger, editor of Vita Brevis " Splendor and Sorrow...is an arabesque of womanhood, depicting the broad strokes and finer details of love, identity, and femininity. With vibrant imagery and fresh ideas, Milton’s poetry and prose explore these topics with passion and sincerity. There’s something here for all readers."

Willow Greymoor, Seattle Book Review (5/5 Stars): " Splendor and Sorrow by Gabriela Marie Milton, is a brilliant arabesque comprised of authentic artistic stanzas and poetic prose penned the multifaceted emotive lines that highlighted the dichotomous complexities of womanhood in history and modernity...
"Poetic collages adorned with emotional ephemera captured raw femininity dovetailed within the life cycles of womanhood; enmeshed in struggles, trials, and tribulations were depicted with fortitude and honor that chronicled the beautifully gritty feminine experience...
" Splendor and Sorrow provided solace for the weary feminine soul; seeking to heal through the power of poetic writings will discover inspiration and reprieve within the tendrils of prose that weave themselves around the reader’s heart."

Jennifer Padgett, Manhattan Book Review : "Milton’s poetic artistry is bold and beautiful, deep and confounding. It’s laced with gorgeous symbolism and imagery...Due to her gift in this area, college literature professors may find her work worthy of analysis and use. It is rich with an assortment of literary personification; simile; and metaphor, just to name a few. This collection is noteworthy in its uniqueness and eloquence. Many will likely savor the journey it invites them to travel and will gain insight into the powerful impact of poetry and prose on its connoisseurs.

Theresa Kadair, San Francisco Book " ... A touching poetry collection centering on love, philosophy, and heartbreak. Packed with rich imagery and figurative language, Milton’s poems color the pages with beauty, inspiration, and sincerity. Any poetry lover would find a piece to pique their interest."

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2021

About the author

Gabriela Marie Milton is an Amazon bestselling poet and an internationally published author. She is the author of the #1 bestselling poetry collection Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose (Vita Brevis Press, 2021) and the author of Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings (Vita Brevis Press, 2020). She edited the #1 Amazon bestsellers, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women(EIF, 2022) and Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology (Literary Revelations, 2023). She was awarded 2019 Author of the Year at Spillwords Press (NYC). Her piece "If I say I love you" was nominated for 2020 Spillwords Press Publication of the Year (Poetic). Gabriela was featured multiple times in New York Glamour Magazine.

Reviews

[D. Peach]

Best-selling poetess Gabriela Marie Milton is making a name for herself in the literary world, and it’s easy to see why. Her free form poems are rich with imagery and emotion, gently loving, full of longing and loss, and sometimes shining with personal strength. In every way, this collection captures the diversity of experience that comes with being a woman.

The book is divided into two sections—the first titled Love Poems and the second Poetic Prose.
Many of Milton’s love poems have a dream like quality. The lines of poetry are as beautiful for their words as for the way they flow. Some of my favorites were You in Another Life, If only…Autumn, Son of the Desert, Night Poem, The Moon and I, and Bring the Summer.

Excerpt from The Moon and I:

In the green meadow by the lake,
the moon and I knit poetry like silk,
the language of the birds sleeps in the trees
like ripened fruits
your eyes are closed and faraway
the world rotates between two cherries and a kiss….

Milton’s prose reads like poetry but without the form, and much of it seems to be a reflection on aspects of the author’s personal experience or her thoughts about subjects such as poetry, feminism, identity, and again, love. Some of my favorites were My Name is Gabriela, Of Wounds, Creation, and Who Am I?

A highly recommended collection for readers of poetry who enjoy flowing imagery, beautiful words, and a deep dive into the soul of womanhood.

[Dawn Pisturino]

I met Gabriela a year ago, when she was editor for MasticadoresUSA. Impressed by the quality of the poems and prose I read there, I began to submit poems - both old and new - for her consideration. Well, she published them! And I have been following her ever since. It was her kindness and encouragement which prompted me to start writing poetry again after a long hiatus. She inspires me to reach farther and try harder than ever before.
A Pushcart nominee. A #1 Best-Selling Author on Amazon. The 2019 Author of the Year at Spillwords Press. Gabriela has published two books of high caliber poetry, co-authored anthologies, and edited the recent Amazon Best-Seller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, which she published with Ingrid Wilson of Experiments in Fiction. She resides in a higher realm of imagination, pulling ideas and images out of the clouds that Wow! the reader and transport him/her to another world. She employs language that is lush, exotic, sensual, and stimulating to all five senses. She is her poetry. Her poetry is her. She pushes the boundaries of creativity and encourages others to do the same. She is poet, teacher, mother, friend, divine goddess of the poetic art form. Many of her themes revolve around the strength, resilience, and beauty of women. She adores children, the magic of childhood, and the blessings of motherhood. And then, there's Love! -- and the perpetual tango between two lovers.
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow is a testament to the hypnotic power of love and its ability to elevate us to the heights of ecstasy or fling us into the burning depths of Hell. Every word is exquisitely crafted:
"each word I write cries on the tunes of spring,
a spring that ends in graveyards and in dreams
the night I abandoned you on that bench and left
snows in my mind the syllable of hell
I wanted to return
I wanted to love you . . ."
Poetry and love are the divine twins that rule Gabriela's heart:
"Poetry?
Oh, poetry was too good to be read.
We tasted it and ate it with silver spoons."
Gabriela runs her own publishing house now, Literary Revelations Publishing, which seeks to publish high-quality poetry and fiction that grab the reader unawares and trample down the boundaries of creativity.

[Victoria Ray]

Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: Love Poems and Poetic Prose by Gabriela Marie Milton is a book of the divine, platonic, sometimes erotic, but often intense and thought-provoking poems.
The language is fresh and delightful and reminds the famous poets' classic works at the beginning of the XX century. At the same time, it is very modern, too. Rendered with richness and beauty, experiences of true love, sadness, sorrow, and grief we all felt at some point or another. You’ll find everything there: from madness to deep ache, from romantic dreams to constantly shifting relationships.
In one word, her poems are magic. The author’s central message is always love, and her writing is a true gift to us all. I recommend this book to everyone!
Some of my favorites are - The Easter of Roses, with a great line: ‘my love, you know that spring will come…’; The Train to Vienna because I’ve been there many times, and I love that city; The Sea Becomes the Word; Bloom, and many many more.

[Christopher]

I’m not usually a poetry reader, but this one grabbed me (as did the collection “Passions” that I also purchased). There is an intensity and a beauty here that rarely seen, and that I wish I could emulate in my own (prose) writing. I don’t know if it is fair or even meaningful to make the comparison, but I was reminded of Neruda when I read the poems, just from a predominantly sensual and female perspective and yet none of those feeble attempts to label does it justice. It is very uniquely its own and I can strongly recommended. I I wish real life (tm) allowed for me to sit each afternoon for the next four weeks just delving on the layers of each poem, but I will have to take refresher here and there nd then read some more of what Milton also offers. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[Tricia Sankey]

Gabriela has a gift of not only words but deep emotion and insight. We not only feel our own hearts beat while reading her gorgeous poetry and prose, but we understand better why as we explore love and what it means to be a woman.

[Virginia Mateias]

The poetry of Gabriela Marie Milton takes us into the depths of existence. It compels us to immerse ourselves in the solitude of being and to be reborn like a phoenix within the span of a single poem.

[J. Ellen]

Gabriela Marie Milton has created a stunning collection of poetry, she has such a beautiful style to her writing. I'm looking forward to purchasing more books from this wonderful author.

[Cassa Bassa]

Love through time and history

Reading Gabriela's poetry and prose, is like journeying the time and history of love through a woman's passion, struggle, strength and fighting spirit. I tasted blood, cried tears and walked the ancient street guided by Gabriela's words.