In his second volume of poetry, Jace Paul takes a retrospective look at the works of his early years. Roughly divided into two eras, the ""King's Road"" years of his childhood and the time spent in a ""Pleasant Street"" apartment during college, the poems are deeply confessional and richly textured with strong and often conflicting emotions. From the award-winning ""Breakfast"" and ""The Serpent,"" to poignant set-pieces like ""Bill"" and ""L'Americain,"" Paul consistently employs colorful, straightforward language to capture his subjects and experiences. Though poetry has lost much of its appeal and value in the twenty-first century, Paul charges it with new energy by making it more about stories than images and more compassionate than abstract. In this special annotated volume, each poem is given context with footnotes and anecdotal commentary from the author.