A Letter to the Universe

This collection of poetry takes on the abstract concept of fate and relationships and how these ideas move together throughout the story of one’s life at a particular moment. Even when people or incidents seem random, perhaps they are not. The collection is concerned with exploring these fates through the use of maps and letters, water and land, and people and places. These are the elements that define the speaker’s identity in the poems as she beings to recognize how her past is connected to her present. The result is a collection of poems that ultimately measures the life of this speaker. The collection appropriately ends with her index—a personal indicator of the most important signs in her life.Note: This thesis is under a author requested embargo until 2215, after which it will become available in accordance with end of expected copyright protection. This embargo year is intentional and not an error.