I participated in many different rituals, but for me, I'm very spiritual and I believe that there's definitely be a greater force that defines us and leads us. For sure. No question for me.

I felt it's vague enough for the reader to pull their own story and their wisdom out of the poem, but for me, it's actually very painfully transparent what I've written. Sometimes very literal, which is scary.

We fall in love forever many times, and many times we die.

I've written and translated my own poems from English to German. It's basically a summation of my identity as it stands now.

I know that there's this one Albanian myth that's always reflected on, and I think it reflects on the actual core culture. That myth is called The Besa. B-E-S-A. The Besa is a word that Albanians use to mean avow, but it's such a strong promise, that even past death, one cannot break that promise. It is unfathomable. So if you give someone your besa, life or death, heaven or hell, you have to fulfill that besa.

Every one of us strives to be a better person; and if I am to contribute one thing of myself, it would be compassion.

While some mothers sing lullabies to their children, my mother read me poetry. And to this day, I associate my strongest and most insistent feelings with words lyrically organized on a page.