This is the third volume in a series of chapbooks containing a vast collection of art, poetry, prose, and insights into the mental escapades of a once damaged mind healing itself through written word and unleashed, uncensored imagination.
Each book includes a wide range of topics and styles, with a centralized theme. The theme of this volume is Myths & Legends.
The distinction between a myth and a legend is subtle, but significant.
Myth: a universal story that contains assumptions and ideas meant to explain how the universe works, how we came to be, and why certain everyday occurrences happen.
Legend: specific in its topic or character, relating directly to our cultural understanding of the world.
Both contain fantastical and sometimes supernatural concepts and embellishments to excite and make the telling of them memorable.
The contents of this book explore the often-overlapping grey areas where myths and legends collide. Many of the works are pure fantasy, based loosely on a film or book I was enjoying. Some are character extrapolations from friends or colleagues, merged with those found in fiction or on film, while others are simply free through exercises that lead to some disturbing ideas... My intent is to share art and emotion without limitation of language, style, or content.
Note for Parents and Sensitive Readers: Some poems in this volume contain language, concepts, situations, and topics unsuitable for small children. Each has been identified as adult content.
These may be wicked tales of horror-fiction with uncomfortable, even shocking conclusions, or tall tales of misadventures with a dark twist at the end. All responsibility for judging what is appropriate for your own youngsters must be exercised by your personal preferences and parental choices.
For those seeking in-depth analysis of metaphysical concepts, you will find a few of these in this book. Several of the "about" sections go into great detail on topics such as time travel, the history of vampires, religious indoctrination, historical influences, and may contain references to additional reading materials, songs, or films that have informed and influenced the mindset and topic of a poem.
Artwork by Xoandre - created using Corel PaintShop Pro & Adobe Illustrator.
