Relationships can be exhilarating, devastating, rejuvenating, and terrifying. Sometimes these all happen in the same breath, and other times they slowly materialize over the course of several years.

In "The Zero Years," author Domenic Blair offers a deeply personal set of autobiographical poems based on a series of life- and soul-changing events. Centered on the rise and fall of a single relationship, these poetic verses trace the love, loss, depression, and growth surrounding a passionate yet ultimately unsuccessful romance.

Using rhythmical structures in addition to free verse,...