The forest can be a place of refuge, a secret labyrinth, where buried treasures live as well the opposite. Lured into a wordless lullaby, it is a world removed of unpaid bills, loans, obligations, and various responsible roles. The way back is suddenly lost and disorienting. A peaceful respite of nature is now devoid of known light and full of tall towering trees. Lost in the middle or still close at the mouth or near the end of the forest, who knows? The uncertainty and bewildered panic sets in. Will a kind forest ranger or an ancient nonhuman spirit show the way out and maybe give up its colors? Or will a rogue bear or an elusive coyote appear before it's too late? To wonder to wonder, a person's mind may only be able to do. 'A Mindful Wilderness' is a gathering of such poetry.

The poems and short stories in "Random Chemicals and Snotty Love Poems" capture youthful expressions of wonder at the world, the hunt for self-truth, and finding a place in it while experiencing the strong emotions of a maturing, young adult. The search for identity, the longings to fall in love, striving hard for accomplishments, and all the other explorations of the young adult horizons are maybe some things today's youth can relate to and older adults can be charmed in remembering fondly of. As the stars in the sky seem an impenetrable constant, this is not the case with stars in outer space similar to the life of human beings. All the water droplets in the ocean could not sum up the entire breath of human existence. The familiar and unfamiliar are vast terrains to be ventured into and rediscovered on the journey of the heart. Life's ups and downs are expressed in seeking refuge behind fairy tales, by the desire to disappear, by capturing phases of moon, by the depiction of unseen worlds, and so on in this varied poetic and prose collection.