Irregardless

By Janine Riker

"irregardless" is a collection of inspired 'free verse' poetry, born from a lifetime of re-memorable experiences and cherished moments, marked by periods of aloneness, languishing in the dark depths of depression.

• Language: English
• Publisher: j9 ink.
• Release date: Aug 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393017950

Book preview

Dedication

To my father-in-law, Donald Lieber, whose lifelong example of a strong work ethic, helped motivate me to see this book to completion. You are sorely missed.

And ...

To my mother-in-law, Susanne, who was there for me after my father passed. Mere words cannot express my gratitude. But, I thank you.

With ...

Individual poems dedicated to particular people.

Themes

Free Verse

Lamentations

Snippets

Rants

Submissions

Past Tense

Preface

This simple poetry book has been a long time in the making. My original idea was to try my hand at ten different types of poetry, writing ten poems in each style.

However, as time went on, and as more time had passed without this project coming to fruition, I realized a change of plan had to be made. So, here we are.

As a first offering, I hope this effort passes its muster. Or, at the very least, you - Dear Reader - find something noteworthy within these pages.

Thank you for reading.

~ j9 ~

* * *

The above ‘Intro’ was written on May 25th, 2017. It’s nice. I think. Yes. It’s nice. But here we are a couple years later and I’m like, no. It’s not real. It’s not what I want to say. And so, I’ve written another. Here goes.

Poetry as therapy? Perhaps.

Depression sucks. Flat out sucks. It’s a monster. A hungry, unforgiving monster. Voracious in appetite, merciless in method. It lies to you. Plays with your emotions. Even as your mind is telling you the truth. The way it really is.

The only good - and I use that word exponentially loosely - good thing I’ve gleaned from having depression is that it doesn’t last, you can escape it. Torn, bruised, bloody even, and it may take longer than it has before to claw your way out of that dark, dank pit, but you can, you do, you must. That’s all I got. My personal wisdom. Take from it what you will.

So yeah, I have reasons. Reasons are not excuses. Excuses are excuses. We all have stuff. Stuff that helps shape who we are and what we become, and influences the choices we make. My stuff prompted me to write