Book excerpt: Silence can be as sweet as the most beautiful symphony. Or it can be a scream--so terrifying it will keep you up all night trying to get it out of your head. Loss has followed Lanser Howard his whole life, clinging to him like a wet coat. And during such times, it is the silence that always seems to speak the loudest. It screams truth, and anyone who has gone through deep, dark pain knows this. Too often, this screaming silence feels inescapable--like you can never turn it off--and can make you feel like you're losing your mind. You will do anything to block out the noise of The Screaming Silence. In his first full-length poetry collection, Lanser Howard examines loss, the most bare-bones of human emotion. He takes readers on a merciless journey through the depths of agony and grief--through The Screaming Silence--and then into the light of hope. Hope to have the courage to fight on.