mantra for the lonely
I am so proud to announce the release of my debut chapbook, mantra for the lonely, beginning September 13 on Blurb. (find it here!) I hope to have it available on Amazon and other online retailers in a few weeks.
This chapbook features sixteen poems divided into two sections, each designed to imitate the innate human experience of both feeling and healing from emotion. Part 1, feel it., focuses on some of the darker, more transformative types of change and thought, while heal it., part 2, hones in on the evolution of the mind as it navigates and reexamines reality post-trauma.
I want to thank two teachers and one student organization whom I can credit for my ever-evolving love of the written word. Mrs. Highfill, your fourth-grade class gifted me with a hobby and a passion that serves as my lens for viewing the world to this very day. I still have that Emily Dickinson poem memorized syllable for syllable.
“There is no Frigate like a Book
There is no frigate like a book (1263) by Emily Dickinson
To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears a Human soul.”
Professor Alan Soldofsky, your dedication and excitement for poetry has bled off onto me throughout my time at San Jose State. Your classes and literary events taught me how poetry honestly captures the human experience on a level far higher than the individual.
And finally, the Poets & Writers Coalition: I have never felt more encouraged and supported as a writer (and as a friend!) than I have in this group. Great minds truly do think alike.
