Created throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, these poems give outward expression to an inner experience of heightened uncertainty, longing for connection, reflection on the past, and hope for a future worth inhabiting. In this minimal, fragmented form-perfect for tired attention spans-the seeds of reimagining self and society are planted.

May they grow in beauty and resilience...

Blackout poems are a form of erasure poetry. After marking through most of the words on a page of found text--from an old newspaper, magazine, or book-- what remains creates new meaning in the form of a poem. The result is a visual art piece as much as a literary one. Some say the poems resemble redacted FBI files, while others see tiny constellations written in the night sky of the page. This method highlights the significance of what is not said as much as what is. What is missing becomes as important as what is present.

Divided into seven parts, this collection explores disruption, relationship, politics, mental health, imagination, spirituality, and hope.