The Fragments of Shadow and Sound

The Fragments of Shadow & Sound: Prose and Poems is a genre-defying debut collection that fuses lyricism, vulnerability, and visceral honesty in a powerful journey through identity, longing, disability, love, mental health, and becoming.

Told in five evolving sections- Faultlines, Reflections, Thresholds, Descents, and Ascents-this collection offers a poetic mosaic that captures the trembling fault lines of youth and the climb toward selfhood. From confessional verse and formal structures to free-flowing prose poems and haunting haiku, every piece contributes to a dynamic narrative arc of fracture and reconstruction.

This is poetry for those who've lived at the edges:

• For the romantics trying to make sense of broken connections
• For the neurodivergent, disabled, and overlooked who still reach to be heard
• For those drawn to midnight cityscapes, orchestral metaphor, and the echo of the unsaid

With influences of musicality and kintsugi-the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold- The Fragments of Shadow & Sound leans into the beauty of imperfection. These poems are stained with ink, moonlight, silence, static, and flame.

You'll find reflections on:

• Living with visual and hearing impairments
• Navigating autism and emotional communication
• Unrequited love, infatuation, grief, and the resilience of friendship
• Mental health, self-worth, and the poetic body

"May you find yourself in the fragments-

and discover that even broken things can sing."

Perfect for readers of Ocean Vuong, Sabrina Benaim, Blythe Baird, Sierra DeMulder, or Clint Smith, this is a collection that invites you to read aloud, underline deeply, and return to the poems when you need a voice to echo your own.

Richard Michael Risi holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance with a minor in Creative Writing from Hofstra University. His passion for the arts fuels a body of work that bridges lyrical precision with emotional depth. In his debut poetry collection, The Fragments of Shadow & Sound, Richard explores themes of love, longing, identity, disability, and healing through the language of music, shadow, and fracture. Inspired by the Japanese art of Kintsugi, his work reveals the beauty in imperfection and the quiet strength found in restoration. Drawing from his experience as both a musician and writer, Richard's poetry captures vivid imagery and rhythmic introspection, offering readers a rich, resonant portrait of the human experience.