Lasky, MaxPossession is a collection of poems that work to formulate a philosophy of difference; that is, these poems explore the similarities between self and Other, and from those similarities arise an understanding of difference, an understanding that is ultimately affirmative. The first love prepares for the last, and so these poems begin with the loss of love and culminate, by the end, with the regaining of love. From New Jersey to Maryland, these poems explore place and the ecological, societal, and political contexts that inform our experience of place. Recurring threads that underlie this collection include addiction, mental illness, friendship, familial relations, and the interconnectedness between these threads, how they both inform, and escape, one another.enThesisEnglish literaturePoetry