Twilight Generation Poetry

A story of a young poet. A misfit generation. The book is predominantly a collection of poems but also incorporates the use of short narrative, essays, and personal historical documents to explore and express aspects of various themes presented throughout all six sections. Some of these themes include: coming of age, self-acceptance, redemption, recovery, mental illness/wellness, young love (both romantic and platonic), learning how to balance, reconcile and honor the brightest and the darkest parts of who you are; a struggle to acknowledge, understand, and accept both. The poetry is presented in an atypical chronology to better contrast different periods of the poet's life. In one sense the "story" could be described as one of a writer's journey as a writer; one that starts when he is six years old and is barely able to demonstrate any language comprehension or ability in written expression. In an IEP report it is stated that he is ranked in the bottom 8% aisle in regard to written expression. This book could also be viewed as a love story where the poet finds and loses true love not once but twice. Both loves affected him in such a way that years later he is still processing the experiences, still haunted by life changing mistakes, and still in love. In an attempt to move on, he writes everything down to cage his spiritual and cognitive dissonance into poetry. In addition to attempting to reconcile his past the poet searches and struggles to identify his place in the 21st century, where he stands in relation to his peers, if his isolation is artificial or inherent. Twilight Generation Poetry is, perhaps more than anything else, a story of losing one's way. It's a story of being overwhelmed by one's dark and becoming so lost that the will to live is a flame constantly on the verge of flickering out. It is also a story of addiction; of letting one's character defects become their defining traits. It is a story of redemption and recovery.