"Prepare to take a journey through rhyme and rhythm into the image of love, life, and everything in between. With every passing word another image is painted showing the loneliness and depression, happiness and bliss, and triumph and victory that linger within one man's heart and soul. Chris Lowen began writing after losing a close friend; he struggled to fi nd his voice through the pain and depression that soon followed. At the young age of fourteen, he was certain that he needed to release himself from the pain he felt. He slowly started writing various ideas down on paper and creating fantasies which allowed him to escape the diffi culties of reality. After writing several poems for his would-be book, he came to realize his knack for this genre, so he decided instead of writing just to prove a point that he would instead create a self-portrait of his own self. The portrait would be created not with paint and oils but with words in their purest and simplest form that explain the very essence of his soul within every shape, form, color, and tone that it took."