Zero

This is not a safe, sanitized collection of writing with tidy endings.

It is actually a bit dangerous. Erica Franz's Zero: Poems and Prose is a raw compilation of short stories and poems written from a time when she first started waking up to the reality of her own life. It's not meant to be a comfortable read, which is what makes it so necessary. It is meant to open the door on the mess of being human. We all walk around pretending our lives are perfectly clean and orderly, but Erica works to tear down the polite wallpaper and show the cracked drywall underneath.

The prose sections pull you into gripping, unfiltered narratives. They range from the danger-tipped childhood reflections in "Train Track Pennies" to the dark, transient encounters detailed in "Black Mamba". The accompanying poems strip away the surrounding noise to explore raw themes of betrayal, isolation, and eventual rebirth, featuring standout pieces like "hate me because" and "a good death". Reading it feels a lot like cleaning out a deep physical wound-painful at first, but ultimately the only way to properly heal.

Erica doesn't write from a safe distance - it pours from her life. She's navigated chronic illness, unconventional career paths, and brutal life pivots. Her perspective is entirely stripped down and the "nice" filter is gone.

"Zero" is for the reader who craves raw contemporary poetry and unfiltered prose that refuses to be polite.