‘Confessions’ now available on Barnes and Noble!

Hey, Followers! Good news, my latest chapbook of poetry, Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic is now available on Barnes and Noble’s online site! Check it out now!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/confessions-of-a-hopeless-romantic-charles-banks-jr/1120674597?ean=9781312467965

Also, if you’re interested in a copy, I am accepting payments via PayPal. If you’re familiar with the site, just send $12 along with your mailing address to spiltinkpoetry@hotmail.com, and a copy will be mailed to you!

Here’s the synopsis for the book, written by Poet Sonia Di Placido:

“Classic poetic forms combined with the modern confessional of free verse, these poems inhabit succinctly woven rhymes, verses and stanzas while professing the profoundest faith in romantic love–entanglement, desire, erotic sharing and compulsion. This is a “”hopeless confession”” filled with the irony of hope in love. Soft, gentle, fearless and shameless admonitions of losing oneself in the other are no threat. The delusion and sacrifice towards the profession of love remain an insignificant pleasure. The confessions here return to Neruda’s erotic–loss of self parallels and postulates entirety. Love resonates as the opposite of self gratification and self preservation. There are no boundaries. A poet speaks in tandem with the ancient scribes of Egyptian Love Poems–sharing an exotic papyrus of altruistic love.”

*As written by Poet Sonia Di Placido.

Here’s a poem excerpt from the book:

LILY
(For Leslie)

Still magnificent
Is Lily
In spite of this cruel, cruel world.
Even through this depression of sun
And repression of soil,
Lily is still beauty personified.
She always bats her butterfly kisses.
Lily, so graceful
In the aftermath of violent winter’s storm.
I am in her awe.
Gentle and giving
Strong and stern.
Others gather ’round her
They stare with appalling jealousy.
But when I look at her
I do so with lighthearted affection.

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.

Writing as Curiosity

Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry.

Do You Ponder Me Yet (Writing as Curiosity)

Photo taken from the WEB

 

DO YOU PONDER ME YET?

When the rain ceases to guide
The exclusive waves to your concern,
Do you still ponder my good health?

When the scent of my estranged
Presence is lost in your nightmares,
Do you still ponder my whereabouts?

When the last remnants of ache
Dry upon your dehydrated cheeks,
Do you still ponder my embrace?

When the brave flames of ardor
Tire and powerful crackles resonate,
Do you still ponder my chaste warmth?

When the fine blades of your betrayal
Are nourished by my countless tears,
Do you still ponder my broken disposition?

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry.

My New Artist Interview!

Good morning, Poets and Poetry Lovers! Check out my recent artist interview where I answer some in-depth questions about writing, my inspirations, and women I’d like to spend one night with!

 

http://ppigpenn.blogspot.com/2014/10/interview-charles-banks-jr.html

 

Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic now available on Lulu.com!

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry.

 

Good morning, Poets and Poetry Lovers! Today, Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic is officially available over on Lulu.com! And beginning in Mid-November, the book will be available for purchase on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com! Check it out now!

http://www.lulu.com/shop/charles-banks-jr/confessions-of-a-hopeless-romantic/paperback/product-21839154.html

Here’s the synopsis for the book:

“Classic poetic forms combined with the modern confessional of free verse, these poems inhabit succinctly woven rhymes, verses and stanzas while professing the profoundest faith in romantic love–entanglement, desire, erotic sharing and compulsion. This is a “hopeless confession” filled with the irony of hope in love. Soft, gentle, fearless and shameless admonitions of losing oneself in the other are no threat. The delusion and sacrifice towards the profession of love remain an insignificant pleasure. The confessions here return to Neruda’s erotic–loss of self parallels and postulates entirety. Love resonates as the opposite of self gratification and self preservation. There are no boundaries. A poet speaks in tandem with the ancient scribes of Egyptian Love Poems–sharing an exotic papyrus of altruistic love.”

*As Written by Poet Sonia Di Placido.

Succumb (Writing as Curiosity)

Photo taken from the WEB

 

SUCCUMB

Give in to seduction
Succumb to pleading hands.

Give in to temptation
Succumb to thy neighbor.

Give in to untamed passion
Succumb to newfound ecstasy.

Give in to desire
Succumb to curiosity.

Give in to searing libido
Succumb to thirst.

Give in to the sizzle
Succumb to blazing flames.

Give in to tangled bodies
Succumb upon the balcony.

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry.

Petite (Writing as Curiosity)

Photo Taken from the WEB

 

PETITE

Mighty small, petite mon amie
I wish to approach thee, but you seem
To be so deep in a private thought.
And even if I did, when I’d stand before you,
My mouth would become sewed shut—
I’d hyperventilate, and choke on the whimsical salutation
I wish to whisper to you.
So I remain distanced,
Silently admiring your petite frame of thought.

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry.

A Leaf, Dried (Writing as Curiosity)

 

 

Photo taken from the WEB.

 

A LEAF, DRIED

A leaf, dried
Stepped on
Purposely?
Scattered self.

Everything is dried
Parched goods
Loses life.

Heart
Trust
Love.

Hope
Flutters
Deserts.

A companion?
Another leaf dried?

Someone to share in the loneliness.

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry.

© 2014 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
ISBN: 978-1-312-46796-5
Published by Lulu.com and Spilt Ink Poetry.

My New Book Cover!

Check out my new book cover!

“Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic” (Writing as Curiosity) is coming soon! Stay tuned for details!

 

Announcement (3/24/2014)

Announcement:

It brings me great disappointment to have to announce that I learned on Friday morning that my cancer has returned, this time in my right lung. As of now, the only method of treatment is chemotherapy. I want to first thank everyone for their support in the last year during my first battle with cancer. I will remain persistently busy with work at Spilt Ink Poetry, diligently helping poets publish their work, as well as attending college. I look forward to releasing Spilt Ink Poetry’s Inaugural Newsletter in April, as well as working on the (re)publication of Melissa Medina’s first book of poetry. I am also collaborating on an erotic chapbook of poetry with Elizabeth Castaneda. Further, I have also signed on as an editor for Melinda Cochrane International Motivational Magazine: Summer Edition, 2014.

As I mentioned, I will remain actively involved in publishing, and I will reign victorious in my second battle with cancer. Thank you all again for your continued support, friends, family, poets and poetry lover!

Respectfully, Charles Banks, Jr.

 

 

 

Beauty of Butterflies

I remember walking in haste
One sunny day in May,
As many of us often do—
Unattached from nature.
It was chance, I guess,
Or fate, I assume—though
I’ve always relied on the empirical,
That I stopped by this particular garden.
Rich in flowers and bushes,
It was like having an optical orgasm.
I fixated on a group of butterflies,
Five or six, resting on a bush with
Strange flowers. They were striking
Shades of red and purple and orange.
I found a connection with them.
“Maybe I am a butterfly!” I thought.
Maybe cancer is like the lifecycle of a butterfly.
Maybe my life before cancer is like
The caterpillar before the butterfly.
I remember smiling for the first time
In ages it seemed. I had something
To look forward to, life as a butterfly perhaps,
Colorful and vibrant, after the cocoon of cancer.

© 2013 by Charles Banks, Jr.
Writing as Curiosity
Published online at Cadence Collective: Long Beach Poets.