blade delicately balanced

between finger and thumb,

her most recent Mother's Day present

glittering on her ring finger.

Written as a way of exploring our darkest emotions, Forbidden Fruit: Poems of Love, Loss, Hope and Regret is a collection of poetry that pulls at the tendrils of thoughts we tend to sweep aside for fear of what bringing them into the light says about us.

This collection shines a light on those thoughts hidden within us where despair seems too close and love all too fleeting to be any barometer of truth. The poems guide us through those blackest of feelings back to where we can see the good. They allow us to express the unimaginable and realize we are all capable of regret and loss and, more importantly, love and hope.