When I first heard that Finishing Line Press was going to publish my book of poems, I couldn’t quite believe it. I had worked on the collection for several years, somewhere between raising my daughters and counseling my patients.
But poetry has been a love of mine ever since I was a child, captivated by its many sounds, rhythm, and imagery. Life was precious with it, and often, because of it. I don’t consider myself a poet as much as someone who writes poetry out of love and a deep engagement with the world. It is this engagement with the world that I would like to share with you and with anyone else you might think would enjoy it.
This book began because I did not want the Portugal of my childhood to disappear. As a child negotiating two countries, two languages, and two cultures, I embraced both. But I found the Portugal of my childhood to be more vivid at times in smell, sensation, and story. It was as if this little country had crawled under my skin when I first visited it as a child of six, lodged itself there deeply, and never left. As I continued to spend time there as I got older, I saw it change as did my relationship to it. But the Portugal of my childhood remained as vibrant and meaningful as ever. I was terrified it would dissolve, and so I wrote. This is my attempt to commemorate and to honor those memories by fixing them on paper through written and visual work.
And while this collection of poems revolves around my experience negotiating two particular countries, I trust that it will speak to anyone whose memories of childhood, family, and place are intertwined and lodged somewhere under the skin of who they are and how they experience the world. Thank you for sharing in this with me.
If you have signed up for a copy already, I thank you and hope you enjoy it. The shipping will be sometime in September of this year. If you haven’t yet ordered, please consider doing so now. I’ve provided a link below to order online. I’m told the press run is determined by advance sale orders, and we are approaching the end of that period on July 13th, 2018.
Thank you — um abraço —
Barbara
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/saudades-tuas-i-miss-you-by-b-d-esgalhado/
b.d.esgalhado 