Tragic Hero

Introduction to Contemporary Visions I

The working title of this book was Memoirs of a Young Boy in His Early Twenties. But soon after the pieces started coming together something magical happened. It became obvious that I was tapping into something quite larger than the confinements of a narrow age group. What I had stumbled upon seemed to transcend the boundaries of a generation or even an era. I realized, quite surprisingly, the topics I covered encompassed the universal human experience. This “experience” includes conflict, triumph and the sharing of common goals; no matter what our upbringing, ethnicity or economic status.

At the onset of the project I felt akin to the young Michelangelo attempting for the first time to construct David. Starting with a grand slab of marble, I began with nearly 500 poems. These poems spanned from the writings of my childhood to the present. I cut, whittled and polished away until the sculpture began to take a life of its own. Along the way it became clear that I needed to change the title of the book to a more bestowing appellation. Finally, after years of toiling, the masterpiece is ready to be unveiled. With great excitement and anticipation I present to you Contemporary Visions. Enjoy!

~Rick “Tragic” Anthony