Atop a Mountain in the Winter

Atop a Mountain in the Winter is a poetry collection that primarily examines the formation of the self. It’s divided into six sections with excerpts from a single “long poem” connecting them together. The early poems focus on an internal movement examining the subject-object contradiction that lies at the center of an individual’s identity. The poems then progress to incorporate a more wholistic understanding of one’s self. The poems gradually search for an identity that’s based on relationships and the specific things that a person cares about—rather than a secret internal essence. However, like life, the progression is not linear. Instead, specific themes and uncertainties are revisited in different contexts throughout the collection.