Lost in Perception

Lost in Perception is a manuscript of narrative poems that are unflinching honest explorations of the self—emotional states-of-mind such as anxiety and anger, and states-of-being such as feelings of self-worthlessness. Confessional in nature these poems derive from familial relationships, domestic abuse, desire, sex and/or a combination of the aforementioned. To an extent, Lost in Perception is a manuscript of a diarist. It features a number of poems concerning a romantic relationship with an alcoholic that present a cohesive narrative within the collection. The narrator in Lost in Perception views the self as divergent from the self it once was and should be again—the self lacks well-being or wholeness—to become whole again most of the poems turn toward the natural world. The narrator perceives the self as existing in an unnatural state and what exists in nature is harmonious. The narrator wishes to take something from nature and apply to the self such that the self becomes whole again. There are two primary landscapes within Lost in Perception—Florida coastal lands and Southwest Virginia Appalachian foothills and valleys. The natural world is also the space where the narrator enacts an emotional response to work through personal turmoil. The narrator turns toward nature as a place to figure out and/or admit something about the self, rid the self of negativity and to articulate a desire—primarily for change to occur. Lost in Perception is an unabashed and clear presentation of an individual who once felt whole, but who now feels broken or stuck.