The beauty of tradition

Some traditions come and go with the years, but others stay for life… and beyond. Since 2014, I’ve made it part of my traditions to publish something in honor of Mom and all the other mothers in this world on Mother’s Day. It’s a tradition that’s important to me because she is so important to me. Notice how I wrote is and not was, for Mama Estrada shall always be present within me.

If you know me, you know I carry my Mom with me every day. Beyond the memory, on a genetic level she lives on through her three sons and four grandsons. I talk to her often though today is the first time I wrote a letter to her. Words I don’t feel the need to share but did feel the need to write. She loved getting letters from me and I always loved writing them. You see, I may have flaws, but when it comes to words, it seems I’m pretty good at using them to either tell stories, capture an emotion, or say I love you. I try to be a man of words and of my word and although she never asked me to, I wanted to publish something on Mother’s Day for as long as I live, because it’s important to me.

From last year, I’ve had a hard time finishing projects because life has been life and it’s been a challenge to focus and concentrate. It’s never been and shall never be because of a lack of will or desire. I’ve pushed forward several books, collections, and plenty will be coming along during the year, because, why not? Still, for 2020 and a year that has definitely turned out to be intense, I wanted to release all of my English poetry in one collection as my first release for the year.

No ad campaign. No mega hoopla. No teaser camphttps://www.amazon.com/Recollection-First-Wave-JD-Estrada-ebook/dp/B088DMQ8J3/aign. Just my English poetry in one collection as a promise of more to come. More poetry, more projects, more novels, more creativity, more bananas, more socks, more smiles.

Y vendrá más en español. Paciencia mi gente que soy Sólo Humano ;)

Recollection includes all my published poetry including what appears in Twenty Veinte and what appears at the end of the Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore. It includes all my sides as a poet as an invitation to you to give poetry a chance. To show that poetry has many sides as do we. I’m also releasing it as an invitation to you to pick up a pen, pencil, or keyboard and write. Poetry has been extremely powerful in my life and has helped me heal in ways that although I could describe wouldn’t do it justice.

You’ll notice that the cover for Recollection says first wave, because Mother Ocean also means a lot to me and has taught me a lot about life and myself in almost 40 years on this planet. When you surf, waves often come in sets and depending on the beach, the weather, the swell, and all sorts of conditions, it could be a set of two, three, four, five, or lord knows how many waves. I also wanted that subtitle because ripples can and do reverberate around the world and when I decide to share something, I want my ripple to hold a smile, kindness, empathy, laughter, and hopefully something that inspires someone to do good just for the sake of doing good and to enjoy just for the sake of enjoying.

Life is as complex as it is simple. The variables are endless; the challenges sometimes too many to count; but we don’t need scientific testing, divine intervention, or overwhelming evidence to know when something makes us happy. It just does. Writing makes me happy and it has for the longest time… and part of me wants you to feel that joy that springs from any of your soul wells, because there is poetry in you. You just need to let it out.

Peace, love, and sauvignon blanc

El hijo de Marietta