Where We’ve Been is a collection of poetry that began to coalesce one day as Charlie watched a herd of cows grazing in a desert oasis of grass, tucked between endless stretches of sage and sand. Newborn calves learning to graze and wrestle at the sides of their mothers in a lush valley – learning to live well from their parents, in an environment abundant to their needs.

In a society of “individuals”, so many of us have been asked to navigate life untethered from environments and communities that suit us and from the traditions that draw the line between our ancestors and ourselves. We’ve been raised at the altars of Productivity and Consumption, having little choice but to let our sense of self – and our dreams – be woven for us by a society that will discard us once we are all used up.

Where We’ve Been grew out of the realization that we all deserve the opportunity to be “cows in a field” – to live within environments and communities where we can flourish and thrive and to play our little part in this ancestral game of humanity.

Where We’ve Been is a collection of ideas that brought the author a great sense of certainty about this business of being alive and far too conscious – “cow in a field” moments. The words contained within are dedicated to everyone trying to find a way to live well in their own way, as we all navigate whatever-the-hell-it-means to be on this Earth together.

Maybe That’s All There Is To It, written across the summer and fall of 2022, represents an exercise in starting to build my own spiritual practice and identity. Themes of food, gardening, childhood memories, mathematics, and cults swirl around one another, reflecting on where I came from and where I am going, reflecting on what makes life feel meaningful and what makes it feel unbearable. I believe that this collection of poetry will resonate with anyone who is trying to navigate the isolation of modern, American society and who is striving to find a place in this world that is not only spiritually fulfilling but worth passing down to future generations.

Maybe That’s All There Is To Itbuilds on my previous works, the folk music album,Unbecoming, and poetry chapbook,Where We’ve Been. In these previous works, I have reflected on the journey of unweaving ourselves from the fabric of a society that will not offer us the tenderness and care we need and deserve. But, when we “unbecome” the person that society told us we were supposed to be, the journey of becoming who we ought to be begins. Just because we reclaim the story of our lives, does not mean writing it is any less daunting. This new collection was born from my effort to step into the journey of “becoming”.