Forget Everything

Abstract

These poems take place in a compromised world. People who have lost their visions of life find themselves on the other side of the crisis, and suddenly the goal is no longer simply to live, but to live authentically. The narrative voice that emerges through this collection is one that struggles to face reality without self-deception, and without comfortable simplifications. The poems themselves are embodiments of faith, because a sincere search for truth implies a belief that whatever the world is, it's worth knowing. <p> Most of these poems are lyrics, struggling to convey one feeling or set of feelings. Other revelations necessary to the narrative and emotional arc of the collection require different forms. A section poem addresses fragmentation; a villanelle embodies obsessive thinking; and prose pieces allow a linking of moments and reasons not possible in other forms, but necessary to the investigation of the material. <p>