Showing results by author "Zachary Phillips" in All Categories

Poetry kills inner demons. It takes away their power. Removes their teeth. Loosens their grip. It turns them into mere words in a narration. Something to be heard and remembered, but no longer feared. What follows is an act of therapy. In moments of inner crisis, I put pencil to paper and let the words come. This process is not pleasant, but it is cathartic. I share this with you in the hopes that we can both feel less alone in our suffering and to show you that when you look at your demons, they lose all their power.

As children we can’t help but dream of all of the amazing things that we will accomplish. Then life happens. We get a job, we get a house, and we get into debt. We settle. We trade away our youth for security in old age. We spend countless hours performing mundane tasks that leave us depleted and empty. Our souls crave meaning, but we are too afraid to make any change.

Enter a dystopian future where integration with technology may cost us our humanity. A bleak prediction of a world where consumerism and technological advancement has been taken to the extreme. In an anthology of short stories, Upgrade attempts to answer the fundamental question: What does it mean to be human?

From the subtle dance of power dynamics, to the fiery embrace of submission, and the promise of unspoken fantasies made real, each poem in this sultry collection pushes the boundaries of lust, inviting listeners to shed their inhibitions, explore their limits, and surrender to the allure of sex, kink and BDSM.

This is the story of a dark night of the soul, of traversing the depths of despair, and of rebirth. It shows the reality of hitting rock bottom. Not by a self-reported narrative written after the fact, but through unfiltered poetic expression written in real time during breakdown and recovery. The poems within this collection were written over a 24-month period and are presented in chronological order. They show the inner tumult and turmoil of a man desperately trying, and failing, to hold together the crumbling status quo of his prior existence.

Join Matt Antonello, owner of The Bearded Pig, an American-style BBQ restaurant, and Zachary Phillips, an counselor, coach, and author, as they share the highs and lows of their entrepreneurial journey. Together, they explore the unique challenges and insights from two distinct sides of the start-up world, offering valuable takeaways for aspiring entrepreneurs.