A long overdue hello to you all. Life has been a kaleidoscope of never-ending responsibilities and obligations to tend to, but I needed to take the time to finally sit myself down and give a thorough update. Today, a personal essay I’ve written has been published and is out now on the Rappahannock you can read here. My work in the past has always been very personal to me but not as sharp and direct as this. This essay was a straight forward account that paralleled my internal and external worlds from when my family first came to America to the present. The essay has served as a foreground to build my next book of poetry off of and highlights some of the most significant times I’ve personally experienced, as well as historical moments. I did an interview as well you can read here. It’s always nerve wrecking to publish anything I write and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to publishing things that are so personal, but I suppose that’s the life of an artist. We have to be vulnerable and lay ourselves under the knife with our work and it’s people, even just a few, who appreciate it that makes it worthwhile.

I’ve been taking my time writing my fourth book. Not that the ideas aren’t coming as fast as they did when I was writing my last, but I’ve made it a point to be as concise and honest as possible with these essays - I think I’ll call them essays at this point - without needing poetic language to dress up each piece anymore. It’s been a challenge to write in a more diaristic way that’s more straightforward and although it’s something I’ve done before, I’ve never done an entire collection of poetry that’s strictly free verse. Well, not so strictly, as there are a couple traditional poems that have forced their way into the final edits so far. But I’m pleased so far. It feels like a lifetime ago since I’ve released a book, but this next project is my most ambitious, especially in terms of visuals, so I’ve been taking my time nurturing each step of the process. But until then, Gold Chain is yours to read as a small glimpse into my future poetry.