I have just finished a novel I plan to submit to a literary contest in the next few days.  It is a love story.  The title is “A Monarch on the Lilies.” I began to write it a long time ago under the name “The Flight of the Monarch.”  The plot has changed over the years, and the initial name has become obsolete. One can find quite a few works with this title on Amazon. I always like to introduce my books with an abbreviated poem. I have decided that one by Federico Garcia Lorca—probable the greatest poet of all time—will fit well.

I came up with three choices:

1.

Her thighs eluded me

like startled fish,

one half filled with fire,

the other half with cold.

That night I rode

The best of my paths

on a pearl mare,

without a bridle or stirrup.

From “The Unfaithful Wife.”

2.

You’ll never understand how much I love you

because you sleep in me, and you are asleep.

Crying, I conceal you, pursued

by a voice of penetrating steel.

From “The Beloved Sleeps on the Poet’s Breast.”

3.

With a lily in your hand

I leave you,

my night love!

A widow of my star,

I find you.

Tamer of sad

butterflies!

I keep along my way.

After a thousand years are gone,

you’ll see me again …

From “Curve.”

I already picked one, but I thought you might find these verses inspiring.   Wish me good luck.

I want to thank Pixabay for the attached photo.