In moments of reflection, I often recall how my early years were altered through addiction. As I ripened, I watched a spirit diminish from the afflictions deep inside. It carried with it a heavy burden, inciting my soul endlessly for peace, a peace that never came.

Looking back with a tender sadness, I can now understand it was a time of darkness and euphoria. These words are a way of forgiving myself for not appreciating the difficulties of life that can break a young man's spirit.

I have come to those dark memories with a perspective that, in those moments, I was naive, not realizing there would be more to me than yesterday.

But now it's in these words that I'm able to acknowledge it, listen to its truth, and speak it back to you as poetry; it's a form of acceptance - it's this tender sadness that gives birth to a new consciousness, welcoming peace that finally has arrived.

These words of poetry are reflections of my travels throughout life. They represent a lifetime of joy, suffering, pain, grief, anxieties, those love things, and moments of peaceful solitude. They are my way of expunging those introspections I've carried for too long. I hope you enjoy these words about the poetic complexity of one man's travels through life.