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Private Survival
To Say Goodbye Again is an emotionally candid poetry collection that turns grief, memory, love, labor, and trauma into language strong enough to bear what silence could not. What inspired you to write and publish this collection?
Writing To Say Goodbye Again wasn’t something I planned—it was something I needed. After years on the road as a truck driver, hauling freight across the continent, I carried a lot more than cargo. Grief, memories of family, lost love, the weight of hard work, and old wounds that never quite healed—they all rode shotgun with me. When I finally retired and had time to sit still, those things started demanding to be spoken. Poetry became the way, I could carry what silence couldn’t hold anymore.
I also wanted to prove to myself that I could start a project like this and finish it. I needed to leave behind something for my children to remember me by—something more than just the constant reminders to be responsible, the harping on obligations and discipline. I wanted them to know they had a father who was a dreamer, a goal setter, and who lived for humanity rather than just himself.
Publishing it was about turning private survival into something shared. If one person reads it and feels less alone in their own mess of love, loss, or regret, then it was worth laying it all bare. It’s my way of saying: here’s what the road, the years, and the heart taught me. Take what you need.
How did the structure of the book evolve as you moved from grief and family memory toward “Princess”?
It started as fragments—short pieces about saying goodbye to people and dogs and old versions of myself. The early poems circle grief and family the way you circle a wound that won’t close. I didn’t force an order at first; I just let the memories come out as they needed to.
The strange thing about the final chapter is that I was sidestepping around the idea of adding “Princess” at all. I was more focused on creating a poetry collection that was uniquely universal. I wanted the book to find readers who needed the roller coaster of emotions—that way I was certain to provide something for everyone. “Springtime,” which is a popular piece, was going to be the last chapter.
Ironically, it was during that same week I first started seriously entertaining the thought of publishing the work that the trauma of my childhood came to a head. It was a serious week of hell. I felt that at this point in my life, if I didn’t face all the toxic emotions I carried with intelligence and in a reasonable way, I would rot and die with it inside me—and my family would continue to wonder why I was so sad and withdrawn.
After a week of dealing with it head-on, I finally made the decision to incorporate “Princess.” What I felt, however, was that if I was going to write that piece, I wanted to convey a message to the reader without vitriol and without sounding like a victim seeking sympathy. It needed to be written with wisdom and to lead the reader calmly through the storm. Nothing is learned if we shock the reader and force them to close the book. My desire was to meet people where they were, and that doesn’t work if we chase them away.
Once “Princess” was in there, the whole collection felt heavier, truer. The structure evolved naturally from protection to reckoning. It had to end where the deepest silence had lived, because only then could the goodbye feel complete.
In what ways do work, masculinity, and self-acceptance connect for you across these poems?
For a guy who spent decades behind the wheel, work wasn’t just a job—it was how I proved I could carry weight, provide, and keep moving no matter what. Masculinity, in my experience, often meant swallowing the pain, staying steady for the people counting on you, and finding dignity in dirty hands and long hours. A lot of these poems wrestle with that: the pride in the labor, the loneliness of the cab at 3 a.m., the way it shapes a man.
Though we write for others, the truth is we are often writing for ourselves first. Reflecting on the years as a father, husband, and coworker—all of that was so deeply stitched into me that there was no way my poetry was going to be anything but lived truths. I was always known over the years as a straight shooter. It wasn’t always favorable, but those who knew me understood that they were getting someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and will never be anything but me.
So, my writing reflects all those incredible and heartbreaking experiences.
Self-acceptance came later, after the miles and the losses. It meant admitting I didn’t have to be unbreakable. That it’s okay to feel the grief, the regret, the softness I used to hide. The poems connect those threads—work as both armor and teacher, masculinity as both strength and limitation, and finally, the hard-won peace of letting myself be human. Vulnerable but still standing. That’s the real haul.
What do you hope readers carry with them after finishing To Say Goodbye Again?
I hope they carry the permission to feel it all—the grief, the love, the anger, the tenderness—without shame. Life breaks us in places, but those cracks are where the light gets in and where we learn to speak truthfully.
More than anything, I want readers to walk away knowing they’re not alone in their goodbyes, whether to people, to old selves, or to the versions of life that didn’t work out. There’s resilience in naming the hurt, and there’s renewal on the other side of it.
I also want those who seek my work to trust that I am not self-serving. I may not know exactly what they are going through, but I will be there for them if they need me. Whatever they read, they will know that I had them in mind and not just myself.
If this book leaves them with a little more courage to say what needs saying—or to finally say goodbye again—then I’ve done what I set out to do.
Shadows, Roads and Redemption the Memoir and full story scheduled for a 2026 mid-summer release.
Author Links: GoodReads | Jac Winters | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
“In the ache of saying goodbye, grief arrives as our uninvited guest. We
can let it consume us, or we can let it forge us—carrying us forward,
transformed, into whatever comes next.” —Jac Winters.
Jac Winters shares his deeply personal journey through childhood trauma, 48
years of enforced silence that held the pain in check, and the long-overdue road to healing that finally began in 2017 with a single, powerful poem that cracked open the past.
In To Say Goodbye Again, retired truck driver and poet Jac Winters lays bare his life through vivid, heartfelt verses born from the shadows of loss, grief, abuse, and hard-won resilience.
What began as a private act of turning endured evil into something good has grown into a quiet lifeline for other survivors burdened by silence, violence, or marginalization. These poems speak straight to the heart of anyone who’s carried their story alone for too long—offering connection, validation, and the gentle reminder that healing is possible, one brave, determined step at a time.
This book of poetry is a hand reaching out from one survivor’s road to yours, saying you’re not alone, your voice matters, and it’s never too late to say goodbye to the weight you’ve carried.
Life’s Transience
Exits is a collection of poems that moves in and out of nature, memory, and mortality with a sharp eye and an unflinching voice. What inspired you to write this particular collection of poems?
Nearly all of the poems in Exits were written between 2003 and 2021, before the idea of authoring a book ever came to mind. Three years ago, I decided to incorporate what I considered to be my best work into a book entitled Line Drawings. However, during the process of selecting poems, I noticed that a substantial number were related to various aspects of mortality. This led me to curate a more concise, themed collection, and Exits was born.
How did you decide on the themes that run throughout your poetry book?
I think my focus on life’s transience — the finite nature of our biological selves — derives from three sources. First, I was raised without any religious training, so from a very young age, I was left on my own to ponder the enormity of the universe, time and eternity, and the meaning of existence. I remember being cognizant of death as early as age five. Second, as a physician and neuro-ophthalmologist, I’ve cared for numerous patients with serious and/or life-threatening diseases. And third, since 1999, I’ve had to deal with the spinal cord variant of multiple sclerosis and the ramifications of that disease.
Did you write these poems with a specific audience in mind, or was it a more personal endeavor?
During the writing process, the intended audience was always me, or, to be more precise, the facsimile of me that constantly looks over my shoulder and critiques every word I draft. The word ecstasy comes to mind. It captures the elation I feel when a line finally comes together, but it derives from the Greek ek stasis ― to stand outside of oneself.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with writing for a defined audience, or respecting the conventions of a particular genre, or exploring themes and issues that are currently in the public eye. My approach happens to be different. What matters most to me are the words on the page, how they sound in air, and meeting the standards I set for myself.
What did you learn about yourself through writing this book?
The lessons I learned while writing the poems and designing the book (which are outlined below) may be of benefit to other debut authors and/or emerging writers:
- Write poems that reflect your unique aesthetic sensibilities. Try not to be overly influenced by prevailing trends or by contemporary poetic styles.
- Edit mercilessly over an extended period. Satisfying first drafts often begin to show their flaws only after sufficient time has elapsed to afford an objective assessment.
- Begin your foray into publication by submitting poems to literary journals. This will help you determine which of your poems resonates with experienced reviewers. Before each submission, make sure that your poem is a good fit for the journal.
- Be patient. Practically every aspect of the publication process moves more slowly than expected.
- Be persistent. Exits went through twenty-two revisions over the course of a year before I felt it was ready for publication.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
We live our lives counting moments, those we hope will last forever, and those we fear. In Exits, award-winning poet Stephen C. Pollock transforms these moments into sublime and magical music. With language both intimate and powerful, he explores the fragility of life, the cyclical truths of nature, and the mysteries of renewal that arise from even the darkest places.
Each poem is paired with evocative artwork, creating an immersive reading experience that lingers long after the final page. From myth to mourning, from dreams to decline, and from flora and fauna to the warming of our world, Exits reminds us that beauty is never far from loss, and that every departure leaves a door ajar.
Winner of the 2024 North Street Book Prize for Poetry, the 2023 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal, and seventeen other literary honors, Exits is a masterful collection for those who believe that poems should move you, stay with you, and change the way you look at life.
Step into these pages. Lose yourself in poetry that’s both technically exquisite and emotionally arresting. And discover why every exit is, in its own way, an entrance.
