Volume One: Tulips Touching
A collection of lesbian love poetry in honor of Sappho, the Greek poetess of the isle of Lesbos, by 18 contemporary female poets from around the world. Also includes original artwork images in black and white from two contemporary artists.
Volume 1 in the Sappho's Corner Poetry Series, launched in 2011.
Sappho's Corner Website
Tulips ...for you
Tulips ...for you
Tulips, touching
just barely
like a gentle kiss
sweet, really.
Two lips, touching
more firmly
like a bending toward sunshine
warm, truly.
Two tulips, touching
forever entwined
like one to another
a precious painting, for you...
--jaynes pehney
Volume Two: Wet Violets
Volume Two: Wet Violets
Volume 2 in Sappho's Corner Poetry Series, published in 2012.
wet
violets
moisture
settles like dew
upon petals soft and tender.
your fragrance rises to meet my face,
as I bend to inhale
the bouquet of your desire.
I breathe in your essence
and stroke your sweet blossom
with the light touch
of a practiced gardener.
you are the violet of my garden,
the flower of my passion.
upon petals soft and tender.
your fragrance rises to meet my face,
as I bend to inhale
the bouquet of your desire.
I breathe in your essence
and stroke your sweet blossom
with the light touch
of a practiced gardener.
you are the violet of my garden,
the flower of my passion.
~Beth Mitchum
Volume Three: Roses Read
Volume 3 in the Sappho's Corner Poetry Series, published in 2013
A Red Rose*
A Red Rose
Brings Joy
Eyes Sparkle
A Red Rose
A Sign of Love
A Red Rose
Harbors Thorns
Draws Blood
A Red Rose
A Sign of Love
A Red Rose
Beauty veiling Pain
Love and Hurt
A Red Rose
A Sign of Love
A Red Rose
Give It Back
Shut out the Pain
A Red Rose
My Hand
Bleeds
Alone Again
My Hand Bleeds
*Written for the novel, The Diary of Allie Katz by Beth Mitchum
©2011 Beth Mitchum. Reprinted with permission.
Foreword to the Sappho's Corner Poetry Series
I had in
mind when I started this project to compile a book of poetry, written by
contemporary lesbians for contemporary lesbians in the tradition of Sappho, who
in the 6-7th Century B.C.E., wrote tender love poetry and songs
about women. By the third century B.C.E., some ten volumes of verse penned by
Sappho had been collected. Unfortunately very little of her work is extant.
Most of it was incinerated by the early Christian Church, first in 380 C.E.,
and then even more thoroughly in 1073 C.E., in an effort to suppress her work
and influence. Only one entire poem remains intact. The rest of her extant
works are fragments, the longest of which consists of sixteen lines. Everything
that survived the fiery persecution of this great Poetess’ works survived as a
result of references to and quotes from her poems in other works that escaped
the reach of her persecutors.
Sappho,
born circa 630 B.C.E. on the Greek island of Lesbos, lived in a community of
women who gathered often to enjoy social activities and share poems
and songs they had written. These female communities and the poetry celebrating
love between women resulted in the term lesbian
being applied to women who love women.
The term sapphic eventually
became synonymous with lesbian because
of Sappho’s association with her birthplace, Lesbos. Indeed any inhabitant of Lesbos is considered a Lesbian, regardless of
gender or sexual orientation. The poetic term Sapphic form, however, is used of the type of poetic meter in which
Sappho wrote, rather than the content of her poems.
Sappho was
the most famous female poet of her time and many argue that she is the most
famous poetess of all time. In ancient times, when one referred to “the Poet,”
it was known that the reference was to Homer, who penned both The Iliad and The Odyssey. When mention was made of “the Poetess,” it was
commonly known that the reference was to Sappho.
All of this cultural history was in
the back of my mind when I first established the branch of my
UltraVioletLove.com website called “Sappho’s Corner,” and when I put out the
call for submissions for a collection of poetry written by women in celebration
of lesbian love, I was nearly overwhelmed by the response. The first volume of poetry (Tulips Touching) filled up quickly and
led me to set aside the overflow of poems for a second volume. The second
collection (Wet Violets) followed six
months later. With this third collection, I decided to start limiting
publication of these anthologies to one per calendar year so we don’t flood the
poetry market and so I can continue to publish one of the Sappho’s Corner poets
per year if possible. I am moved that so many women are answering the
call for submissions for this project, and I’m delighted that there are already
five and nearly six volumes carrying the Sappho’s Corner imprint. It has been
in my mind for over a decade to honor Sappho in some tangible way as the
founding mother of these ancient roots of tender lesbian love poetry. It is a
dream come true to be able to do that, both in these volumes that celebrate
“lesbian love in poetry” and also with the poetry collections in the Sappho’s
Corner Solo Poets Series.
I offer my heartfelt thanks to all of
the women who have been brave enough to share their tender and often very
personal poems with me and now with the world as well. Some needed a little
coaxing, while others were ready and willing right at the start of this
project. From start to finish, this has
been a cooperative work, multi-cultural and international in scope. I couldn’t
have brought this project to fruition so quickly without the cooperation of all
the poets and artists who lent their talents to the effort. Thank you, ladies.
I appreciate each and every one of you, and I’m delighted to have undertaken
this project with you.
Thank you
too to our readers for being adventurous enough to pick up a book of poetry
written by a group of women, some who are occasional poets, and others who are
prolific in writing verse. A number of the poets represented here are also
novelists and writers of other genres. For a complete listing of each poet’s
writing accomplishments, please refer to their bios at the beginning of their
poetry selections.
--Beth Mitchum, Editor