A Constellation of Kisses Has Landed on Earth

Click Cover for Amazon

I am happy to announce that A Constellation of Kisses has just been published and is available wherever you buy books. I am enormously proud of this anthology. I received a record number of submissions and had to turn away many good poems, but I believe that the 107 I selected give the reader a wonderful variety of poems on the topic of kissing. The collection includes poems about first kisses and final kisses, French kisses, hot kisses, cold kisses, chocolate kisses, wanted and unwanted kisses, forbidden kisses, dangerous kisses, and even dog kisses. There are long poems and short ones, a few in parts, formal poems, prose poems, and free verse poems. You will laugh and you will cry. You will remember your own kisses. And you will want more kisses.

The book begins with a wonderful foreword by poet Lee Upton. Then the 107 poems are by such poets as Dorianne Laux, David Kirby, Ron Smith, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Kurt Brown, Kim Addonizio, Caitlyn Doyle, Jeffrey Harrison, Robert Wrigley, and Cecilia Woloch. I'm happy that there are also several Terrapin poets included in the book, poets such as Ann Fisher-Wirth, Christine Stewart-Nunez, Jessica de Koninck, Karen Paul Holmes, Neil Carpathios, Michael T. Young, Patricia Clark, Geraldine Connolly, and Lynne Knight. See the entire list of contributors here.

The collection includes poems with such intriguing titles as "A woman just wants to sleep" by Nin Andrews, "Strategy of a Kiss" by Michele Battiste, "Just a Kiss Goodbye at the Airport" by Debra Bruce, "The Tiniest Toad in Moore County, NC" by John Hoppenthaler, "The Numerology of Kisses" by Allison Joseph, "Sycophant's Guide to Ass-kissing" by Marilyn L. Taylor, and "Kissing the Long Face of the Greyhound" by Yvonne Zipter.

There will be a book launch/party on Sunday, October 13, at 2:00 PM at the West Caldwell Public Library In NJ. So far I have 17 poets signed up to read. It should be a festive celebration. Please mark your calendar if you live anywhere in the area.

Here's a sample poem by Jeffrey Harrison:


Temple

Not a place of worship exactly
but one I like to go back to
and where, you could say, I take
sanctuary: this smooth area
above the ear and around the corner
from your forehead, where your hair
is as silky as milkweed.
The way to feel its featheriness best
is with the lips. Though you
are going gray, right there

your hair is as soft as a girl’s,
the two of us briefly young again
when I kiss your temple.

Get yourself a copy of the book and enjoy! Think ahead to holiday gifts and Valentine's Day gifts. Perfect for the poets in your life.