“Rogue is focused, deliberate, and seasoned in her latest release that is a mix of poetry and prose...a wordsmith. Her command of the poetic language is unparalleled and sets her apart from other contemporary poets.” —Alicia Cook, Bestselling author of Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately “It’s going to hit you below the belt. You’re going to reach for the closest stand-in lover you can find & you’re going to make a home in their body & you’re going to pretend your childhood memories are hung in his chest & you skinned your knee tripping over the curve of his arm & you have always been here.” In Exits, Desires, & Slow Fires Goodreads Choice Nominated poet J.R. Rogue shines bright. With heartbreaking language, the bestselling author revisits unreturned love like only she can. Unforgiving pain, wanting, longing, fierce betrayal, and sweet lies feel like a second skin in this collection about love and loss.

It's going to hit you below the belt. You're going to reach for the closest stand-in lover you can find & you're going to make a home in their body & you're going to pretend your childhood memories are hung in his chest & you skinned your knee tripping over the curve of his arm & you have always been here.

It's going to hit you below the belt. You're going to reach for the closest stand-in lover you can find & you're going to make a home in their body & you're going to pretend your childhood memories are hung in his chest & you skinned your knee tripping over the curve of his arm & you have always been here.

It's going to hit you below the belt. You're going to reach for the closest stand-in lover you can find & you're going to make a home in their body & you're going to pretend your childhood memories are hung in his chest & you skinned your knee tripping over the curve of his arm & you have always been here.

Goodreads Choice Nominated poet J.R. Rogue’s newest poetry collection—After The Blackout—explores the author’s experiment to give up alcohol for a year. And how it transformed into a new way of life. Weaving between debilitating hangxiety and the gross marriage between alcohol and her sexual encounters, the author tears down memories and walls to expose the black and white definition of alcohol abuse society feeds us. And brings the stark truth to the surface—the face of alcohol use disorder can be anyone, and any reason to give up alcohol is valid. This collection is about everything we lose and the ways we let ourselves go. And in the end—how to reclaim peace.

"this skin is my own— arms to circle my tired center, wrapping warm this heart that longs to be free of self-made chains" In her Letters for the Universe, Goodreads Choice Nominated poet J.R. Rogue shares intimate poems written lovingly for her readers. Take a journey through the eyes of author and reader as Rogue shares a glimpse into the private task of writing poetry dedicated to readers worldwide. Poems for the Dawn: Vol 1 is book 5 in the Letters to the Universe series. Each poem in this collection is a custom piece written for a J.R. Rogue reader.