— Marisa Donnelly, Somewhere On A Highway

This is a quote that encompasses the first section of my poetry book, Somewhere On A Highway, in particular the first segment (of four), Restless.

Restless focuses on the feeling of indecision, of questioning, of desperately searching for who you are and what you want. It is words from the heart—my heart—about how I felt in my teens and early twenties. I was longing for love, longing for answers. I was longing to know who I was and who I could be—in and out of a relationship. And ultimately, I wanted more.

When I wrote Somewhere On A Highway, I wanted to create a collection of poetry that could speak to everyone, regardless of their journey. I wanted to share about personal pain, about heartbreak, about loss, and about frustration with not having all the answers (and my constant struggle to find them).

Restless, I think, is such a powerful section because it meets us right where we are. It expresses the emotions that we face, both as children and adults where our sense of self is changed by the world around us. And it dives into that longing, that search, to get out of that state and back into wholeness—a state we fail to realize we’ve had within us all along.
 

Featured Image Credit: Alex Suprun