Phases is a love letter to the everyman A collection of poems hung out to dry by dirty hands Blasphemously righteous, with a light twist on crisis An eyesore for the lifeless, but full of life for those pondering in silence. Love and Angst breath a disseminating euphoria across the pages... Pages that a sage would have. to make a map. of the heart of man. The stillness, the pauses, the fragmented clauses Listen between the lines to listen to what the heart says The circumstance ambiguous, irrelevant to the blissfulness Words splattered on the canvas, a timeless tale of youthful cognizance Yet ignorance one of the important players, a stage of mistakes and crumpled papers Caped crusaders a myth for the evils we face in drink and labor. That's life...a coming of age story chock full of regrets and worries A miseducation to educate. The lapses we have, and the memories we forsake. These words. These stories. This book. Poignant. True. Beautiful. A simple realization that...all you have to do is Be-You-To-Full. All of it. It Evokes a flame of passion for those who were passively gaining traction Rise up from the ashes, be inspired, toast to this man's valiant, romantic attachement. BY JAKE LOZANO
About the Author: Zach Whitman is a student at the University of Oklahoma where he studies Theatre Performance. Born in Grand Prairie, Texas, he grew up with two loving parents, Sally and Arch, and his best friend and brother, Greg. Zach began writing and performing his own poetry at 15. His poems are largely autobiographical and cover a breadth of topics ranging from love and loss to civil rights and injustice. For the first time outside of a performance, his self-published, debut collection Phases allows readers a relatable glimpse at the life and times of a young artist. This collection of poetry is a small fraction of the material he has written and is sure to write in the future. For the years that I've known Zach, I have always seen him as an artist, a creative thinker and visionary. When we sit across from each other, I find myself regularly surprised by the thoughts and ideas he shares and at the same time equally surprised by the way he expresses them. People are noticeably drawn to Zach, which works fantastic for him since he loves to be surrounded by people. Always eager to please an audience, be that on stage or in his home, he has the ability to make people emote with him and that's what I think is so great about this collection. Joe Dougherty