This is my second collection of poetry, written over a period of both resignation and growth that followed “Tangier” and the event that primarily inspired it. Accordingly, the resonant themes in and organization of “Don't Follow Me,” while somewhat similar to those of my first effort, are noticeably distinct. Where there once existed disjointedness, there is now a milder abstraction; where there was once an almost brutal sense of chaos, there now exists a sad sort of tranquility. Poems such as 'Patience,' 'Darling,' 'Cellar Door,' and 'Lenore,' hint towards a certain refinement and more finessed sort of evocation previously unseen in the unhinged rawness of my past work.