Once, We Lived | Poetry Collection Completed

Opening - An Author's Note

Reader,

Now, if you'd like to skip this chapter and get on the poetry, I don't mind; however, I thought it necessary to provide a bit of background to the hundred and some pieces of poetry that follow. After all, all poetry is inherently reliant on perspective; thus, I aim to give you perspective.

Every piece in the book was written some time between the fall of my first year in high school and the summer following my graduation. Thus, all pieces of poetry seem to chart this growth. For the most part, these poems are organized in chronological order (those that are out of order have notes at the beginning with some background information), and I may reorganize as my memory becomes clearer. Also, towards the end (provided you read that far), you may notice a few incomplete series (one chronically each month of the current year [2019] comes to mind) that will stay incomplete. As the American school year does not follow the seasonal year (functioning more like a fiscal year for a corporation), there is a definitive point where I will change as a person (and change in my writing as well) that would shift my perspective, the basis on which I am categorizing my poetry. Thus, the series will instead be disjointed musings that seem punctuated by death (as the same person cannot step in the same river twice, as the saying goes).

Therefore, the perspective in this novel, as the title suggests (Once, We Lived at the time I type this), deals with the impending sense of mortality, both figurative and literal, that preoccupies the teenage mind. In a time where one must make important decisions that will, no doubt, shape the future and deal with the lingering threads of childhood, there is a strong sense of what everyone's life may be, what your life, my life, may be. Thus, we are driven by false dreams and selfish punctuality that causes the worst of decisions that poison the name of youth. Thus, we make something worth remembering.

With that background, I give a small caveat about copyrights and pleading with you not to copy the work typed here (as it did take me a lot of work to write and organize my thoughts), more so for your own development than mine. As we could never be the same person with the same thoughts, beliefs experiences, and stealing mine would be cheapening your own.

Thank You,
Vivant

PS: Some of the poems in this book reflect musings and not actual events. That being said, several poems touch on subjects that may be troubling for some readers (death, suicide, depression, drug use, abuse, etc.). Thus, I urge you to read on with your own discretion.