Most of what I write or enjoy reading has a significant amount of word relationships and phrasing that evoke imagery. Whether it's prose on people or life or metered rhyming verses I find that the way they read should have not just metaphor, word plays, and all other typical "poetic" usage, but should also have a visual quality that is some what like painting or illustration. I'm not saying I do this well in my own writing but I'm merely stating what I am going for as an artist. Like anything creative, the more of yourself you put into it and dedicate time to, the better it ultimately becomes. The collection of poems that are subtitled Nest in the Black Tree is a series of concept pieces. The setting is in the Bad Lands (purgatory). When a "Soul" has been born it belongs to the Watch Tower(God). Once one is created the Clock Maker creates a "vessel"(a human body). The Time Keeper starts the Heart-Break-Timer and this would be the life one is given from begining, life, old age, and the end. When the timer runs out the soul must be delivered back to the Watch Tower, but to do so is tasked by the Sprinter(an angel). The Sprinter takes the soul across the Bad Lands running as God's Speed. The Bad Lands are filled by an evil race known as the Wretched. The Wretches are ruled by the war machine Brontus Singlairn. Brontus wants the souls the Sprinters carry to turn them from a life into a Wretch(demon). The Poems are free-verse prose left open to to the imagination of the reader and to the foundation of the story. "Space, Universe, Stars" are part of the idea of creating a setting, being that this is a place of the in "between", and also is a way to give a little more poetic depth. One day I would hope to get the "The Nest and the Black Tree" published. This is where you, the reader, comes in to give me comments and ideas for this evolving story. —Nicholas Gress —Saidwhattha