Scottsdale resident Andrew Neumann has a message he wants to share with the world.
It’s simply to take a step back from life, allow yourself to breathe in the fleeting joy that’s in every moment.
“When you look at a sunset, the beauty of that can go away in a minute, and we just take it for granted because we’re on our phones,” Neumann said. “We’re oblivious.” That’s the theme of his new book of poetry, “Hate the View.”
The book’s 116 pages of poems is about observing that idea from different angles.
The first poem in the book, “Hate Room” sets the stage for further ruminations on the theme.
An excerpt from his first poem, “Hate Room” shows the interplay between love and hate, light and dark.
"The only people allowed are just the ones that indulge in
Hate over and over again
The hate that fills the room will always be the hate
That never leaves the room
It becomes a great sense of what people choose
Some would rather choose
Being negative than positive
While others choose to just be stuck in just one room
Some would want to escape
And never leave the dark room that is set
There will always be dark rooms
The only darker room that won’t exist
Is the hate room that flows with dark thoughts
The dark thoughts that start out positive
But turn much darker when a person
Changes and becomes the situation
The only room that will never exist is
The light room where all the brightness set in
Sometimes it is best to remove oneself
From both rooms and instead just embrace
The possibility of the best possible.”
Neumann, 32, calls the book a “poetry novel” because it delves in to the idea of staying in the moment in a form that was natural and fluid for him.
Though he was influenced by such poetry greats as Emily Dickinson, Neumann said his style is all his own. You won’t find any poetry forms in the book, it’s all free verse.
The book only took about two and a half months to write.
“I’m writing all the time, it’s something that is natural to me,” he said.
The COVID 19 Pandemic was the inspiration for the book.
“When we were all alone and isolated ... we couldn’t access any money and we didn’t know what was going on,” Neumann said. “It was a period in time and now that the pandemic is kind of over I guess, it really inspired me to start writing this book because I think sometimes when there is just so much happening and coming at us it’s just so overwhelming. I think it just gets a little bit emotional at times.”
“Hate the View” will be available May 9 on websites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well places like the Apple Store and andybliss.org. Neumann writes under the name Andy Bliss.
His second book, an autobiograhpy titled “Past Memories” will come out in August and a second book of poetry "Sad Dark Clouds" is scheduled to come out in October.
J. Graber can be reached at jgraber@iniusa.org. We invite our readers to submit their civil comments pro or con on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
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