Introduction

This book is the culmination of my experiences as a student in English W 513: Poetry Writing at Indiana University. It represents the most extensive amount of poetry I have ever written as well as the greatest breadth of formal experimentation I have ever utilized. It is my hope that readers of this short book will find themselves with a window into my thoughts on philosophy, my personal life, and a selected variety of briefly explored poetic themes. I have also included experimental verse that is designed to test and push the boundaries of what poetry can accomplish.

Poetry is very much becoming a “lost” art, but this does not mean it is obsolete. As society becomes more and more homogenized and competitive, the art of focusing emotional and intellectual energy into poetic form will suffer. Yet, we can compete against competition as it were, which is to say that we can tap into feelings of universal community and try to bring people together by codifying, in poetry, some of humanity’s greatest aspirations, successes, and failures, and indeed even what in the end it means to be human.

In a sense, all of the poems included here are can be strung together into one artifact that gives you, the reader, an avenue for exploring how I would answer the question: “What is important in this life?” Your answers will not be the same as my own, but I hope that in reading my thoughts as I grapple with this question, your own thinking will be clarified and illuminated.

Michael Ecker
M.A. Candidate, Indiana University, 2022