Casting Seeds

by Donny Winter, Alien Buddha (Contributor)

In his first chapbook collection of poems, Donny Winter takes readers back to his childhood growing up in rural Northern Michigan. Written entirely in the Japanese tanka form, these poems invite readers to join him at the kitchen table with his Grandma Winter to enjoy a cup of tea and watch the natural world. Casting Seeds acts as a love letter to his grandmother, her house, and his family’s property – all of which still bearing the warmth of childhood memory. Through these poems, Winter seeks to cast for others the same seeds his grandmother planted in him – a knowledge that we linger in the spaces we inhabit, leave imprints of ourselves for others to harvest, and possess the power to rebuild ourselves into beings free from our childhood bullies.



“Casting Seeds is a reliquary of childhood. It will transport the reader back to those summer days, sitting on their porch in the twilight, fireflies lighting up the night, but in a way that is self-reflective and true to the storm of emotions that those memories can bring. Beautiful, time-honoring, and nature-filled, Casting Seeds is a joy to read and would make any grandmother – Jack Pine or Lofty Oak – proud to be its inspiration”

– H.M. Kanicki, author of The Airless Door

Paperback

Published November 1, 2022

About the author

Donny Winter is a poet residing in Midland, Michigan. He writes LGBTQ+ themed nature poetry rooted in sci-fi, cyberpunk, and solarpunk subgenres. His debut full-length collection, Carbon Footprint (Alien Buddha Press, 2020) topped Amazon's LGBTQ+ poetry list and his second full-length collection, Feats of Alchemy (Alien Buddha Press, 2021), topped both the LGBTQ+ poetry and American poetry lists. His recent chapbook of poems, Casting Seeds (Alien Buddha Press, 2022) was met with similar success.

His poems, "My Closet is a Reliquary", "My Therapist is a Bumper Sticker", and "On Being Ashamed to Cry", were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Additionally, his poem "Alabaster" was nominated for the Best of the Net Award. Winter's poetry has been published in multiple magazines and literary journals including Sonder Midwest, Awakened Voices, and Millennium Pulp.

For more information on live events, past publications, and media, visit donnywinter -dot- com.

Reviews

[Mary Sherpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book from cover to cover. Bought a 2nd copy for my mother as a gift as well.

[Arpi Kalikian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donny has done it again, as I knew he would. This chapbook is a beautiful and moving tribute to his grandma and I know she'd be proud of him. He captures the memories he keeps with her perfectly, which makes you feel like you're there experiencing it all with him. I can't pick favorites when it comes to his poems but two that really struck a chord with me were "On Being Ashamed To Cry" and "A Child in Hiding". The first one illustrates his struggles with toxic masculinity, while the second one shows how his paternal grandma was a source of comfort for him during childhood. Plus I loved the tribute to his grandpa and would recommend Donny's books to any fan of LGBTQ+ poetry. His voice deserves to be heard.

[Jeanne Lesinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Donny Winter at the Roethke Poetry Festival in Saginaw in 2023 where he was a poetry slam judge and I a participant. I bought a copy of Casting Seeds from him later and was moved by the encouraging note he wrote to me.

His tankas and series of tankas are polished stones and other treasures children keep in their pockets [not unique to boys, girls who insist on pockets cache these things too]. It is touching to look over young Donny's shoulder as he displays his treasures, and as we follow him and his grandmother into her garden in Northern Michigan, and Donny into his adult life and retrospective awareness.