Neurotic Delirium

Beneath your gaze is a series of wild delusions and insane deep thoughts filled with hopes, dreams, nightmares, and a bit of unrelenting madness... This is the fourth volume in a series of chapbooks containing a nearly endless collection of art, poetry, prose, and insights into the psychological ramblings of a bi-polar mind, healing itself through written word and astonishing artwork with a profuse humor and wild imagination. Each book includes a wide range of topics and styles, with a centralized theme. The theme of this volume is Neurotic Delirium. To let go the tethers of perception and become one with entropy, unfocus your mind and feel the self drift apart from your body. Abandon concern and embrace the abyss within, without... The delirium of falling away from yourself, to find the numbness of calm, free from fear or care, allows you to see just how pitiful all the struggles of the material world actually are. Neurosis: a relatively mild mental illness that is not caused by organic disease, involving symptoms of stress (depression, anxiety, obsessive behavior, hypochondria) but not a radical loss of touch with reality. The contents of this book expose the raw emotional state, the stressful anxiety of life, and release those trappings of ego into the void. Many play with words, twist and turn, reverse and shuffle ideas and letters in an attempt to untie the knots of perception and defy the rules of definition. This is intentional and can be confusing at first, but in the end leads to an enlightened perspective on life, the universe, language, and everything... Note for Parents and Sensitive Readers: Some poems and anecdotes in this volume contain language, situations, and topics unsuitable for small children. Each has been identified in the Table of Contents as adult content. All responsibility for judging what's appropriate for your own youngsters must be exercised by your personal preferences and parental choices. Artwork by Xoandre - created using Corel PaintShop Pro & Adobe Illustrator.

About the Author :
Xoandre grew up in and around Galesburg, Illinois-a small town in the heart of the state. The constantly changing landscape of Galesburg fueled his passion for expressing thought, emotion, and analysis of social norms. The second of four children, Xoandre endured (and has recovered from) countless vicious attacks, beatings, whippings, and punches from his brutal addict of a father, as well as some from bullies at school. "Some people write diaries, some keep daily journals. While I only rarely kept a journal, words have never stopped flowing. Poetry allows me to explore the world I perceive, expose the underlying revelations in my mind, and extrapolate the possibilities of human potential. I write to expose raw emotions and thoughts that would otherwise drag me to the deepest, darkest pit of anxiety, poverty, and self-destruction. I write from the heart; sometimes what comes out of my heart and mind has frightened those who have never known strife. Some have told me to remain silent on these disconcerting issues. To those who do not understand, and equally to those who understand more than they wish to admit, I say this: Set your emotions free and expel the darkness before it consumes you. Poetry is my diary, a journal: my way to release the pain and seek joy in life." When not performing stunt work in community theatrical productions, writing all-new poetry, and working on a long-neglected novel and short fiction, developing a children's book, an epic and very odd autobiography, more volumes in this book series, and polishing ideas for screenplays, Xoandre actively performs Spoken Word readings of poems and prose monthly in various settings around the Chicago Suburbs.