Forged Where the Water Wept

What if the parts of you that survived the deepest waters were never meant to stay buried beneath them?

Forged Where the Water Wept is a journey through the places we rarely speak about—the wounds we carry, the identities we outgrow, the love that changes us, the ancestors who echo through us, and the moments that force us to decide who we will become next.

Poet, multidisciplinary artist, and Reiki Level 2 Practitioner Apito Ni-Ri Xi transforms lived experience into ten deeply personal works of poetry accompanied by immersive original artwork. Born from a journey of survival and transformation—including an almost life-ending accident in 2013 when Apito was pulled from beneath a train—this collection explores what can emerge when pain is no longer treated only as something to escape, but something we can confront, understand, and transform.

Across these pages, poetry moves through healing, spirituality, ancestry, intimacy, trauma, self-discovery, perseverance, faith, shadow work, love, identity, and rebirth.

This is not a collection that pretends healing happens in a straight line.

It moves like water.

Sometimes still.
Sometimes violent.
Sometimes cleansing.
Sometimes deep enough to make us question whether we will ever reach the surface.

From CHOOSE to WORM, DISCONNECT, ANCESTORS TO SANTOS, SOUL SEX, and ultimately TIME TILL DARKNESS, each piece reveals another stage of an inner journey—inviting readers not simply to witness Apito's transformation, but to reflect upon their own.

For the reader who has ever had to rebuild…

For the person learning to release what no longer belongs to them…

For those reconnecting with spirit, ancestry, love, creativity, or themselves…

And for anyone discovering that surviving something and healing from it are two very different journeys…

Forged Where the Water Wept was created for the places within us that are still becoming.

The water may weep.
We can still rise from it.

Enter the journey. Turn the first page. See what recognizes you.