I had begun to write in English—at the time, my fourth language—upon arriving in Canada in 1996. This section traces, in reverse order, my poetic progression from the start of the ninth grade to the second year of my undergraduate studies.
The beginning of this period is marked by wide-eyed exuberance of one whose tail, in the immortal words of БГ, has not yet been "singed with an ember." Many of these pieces were initially typeset in capitals; they wish to conquer the world, yet do not know which world to conquer.
The two most notable pieces from this period are Cliché Manifesto 1.0 and Go Fish.
