Collateral Damage

By Da'vion M Wheeler

Collateral Damage is a collection of stories and poems detailing two influential years of my life. It all started when I graduated high school in May 2022, a day that should have been filled with bittersweet excitement was met only with a genuine need to get it over with. There I was, surrounded by people who I had just spent four years in close proximity with, but no relationship was substantial enough to warrant a goodbye.

Feeling like I had wasted the last four years of my life, I set out on a mission to completely reinvent my life. The 19th Year guides you through the transformative experiences I underwent at the pivotal age. It was there that I finally had the chance to love someone for the first time, with all its complexities and contradictions. It's where I learned that it lived inside me all along, and it was, in fact, me that I was falling in love with. My energy, my vibe, my interests-my, everything. The good and the bad of me-it's all love, reflecting back at me on every page.

The Long Way Home is the exploration and eventual overcoming of my fear of connection and intimacy, which can be traced back to my childhood. I had found the love inside myself, but I was still unsure of how to channel it into something tangible-how to not let myself get lost in the clouds of my daydreams-how to love someone and let them go in the same breath. Ultimately, returning to the connection that matters the most-the one the world tries to chip away from us as we age-the connection to our inner child.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FC6B6TB5
• ISBN13: 9798284105832
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 438 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"