In The Moonlight

✩⋆Introduction⋆✩

The introduction to my first poetry collection was exactly right and perfectly polished. It was first drafted many years ago for another project and only required some small edits to work as the collection's introduction.

This introduction is so much harder. Defining this collection has been a nightmare. Explaining what this collection is meant to be has proven nearly impossible.

But nonetheless, I shall try—to introduce it, to define it, to explain why it exists.

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I started a poetry collection about space the last time I was on Wattpad. However, that collection was ultimately deleted, along with my account, when I decided to leave. Wattpad had become an unhealthy app for me to spend time on, and I needed to leave permanently . . . or so I thought.

When I came back to Wattpad earlier this year, I quickly realized that my poems were meant to live on here. I never planned to publish this much of my writing on a platform like Wattpad, but once I started, I couldn't stop.

I knew I wanted to continue posting poetry collections, but compiling a second one turned out to be a lot harder. My first collection, We All Carry Ghosts, was already mostly done before I ever decided to publish it on here. Five of the pieces had already been compiled into a portfolio for a prior project. This made it much easier to decide which other poems of mine would fit cohesively with the theme of the overall collection.

But publishing a second collection meant compiling an entirely new set of poems that were only loosely tied together by mood in my Google Drive folders. What had been easy the first time was suddenly a brand new challenge with brand new worries.

What if the theme wasn't consistent and cohesive?

What if the titles didn't make any sense together?

What if the playlist was all over the place, both emotionally and aesthetically?

What if the separation of the collection into two "books" was a horrible idea that backfired?

All of these things—the theme, titles, playlist, and book concept—were suddenly choices that I found myself second guessing like never before. I'd set the expectations with my first collection, so what if the second one failed to live up to them?

Compiling this collection has allowed me to truly understand why it's so hard to publish your second book. With the first one, nobody really knows what to expect. If it flops, then it flops. But if it becomes massively successful, well, suddenly people have expectations of you.

Expectations that can be shattered if your next book isn't at least as good as the one before.

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This collection is not perfect, but it is something I'm proud to say is mine.

This collection is a glimpse into new parts of my soul that I haven't really shared about online. It reflects some of my darker moments that I don't often admit are mine.

This collection explores some of my own internal conflicts that I've experiences over the years, including self-esteem, loneliness, relationships, and heartache.

This collection highlights the aesthetic of space, which has captured my heart for many, many years. It offers an insight into how I think about human experience from the lens of a voyager, of a comet passing through the night, and of the stars that burn brighter than even they know is possible.

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I wrote We All Carry Ghosts for the lost girls and the ones who seek someone who understands. That collection was spun together with the purpose of helping gentle souls realize that they are not alone in their darkness.

In The Moonlight is for the midnight girls.

It's for the girl who sits by the moon and wonders if she has value. It's for the girl who dreams of belonging to a home where judgement and shame do not exist. It's for the girl who hides her heart and yet falls in love so easily.

This collection is for all of the souls who dream of mercy, strength, courage, beauty, and acceptance.

So, to the dear ones who have opened up this virtual book: Thank you.

Thank you for giving my words a chance or for coming back to read more.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your voyage and for embarking on this one with me.

I hope that these poems are able to remind you of how valuable, how precious, how unique, how beautiful, and how important you are. I hope that the poems full of doubt, uncertainty, and desperation are able to remind you that we are only human.

I hope that the poems full of small epiphanies are able to light up your soul, just as the moon does when she, too, remembers her purpose.

⋆˖⁺‧₊Bree₊‧⁺˖⋆