The poems in this collection are mainly drawn from personal experience, especially the experience of place as seen through the perspective of the I. Many of the poems have overtly spiritual themes. I envision even those poems that aren\u27t overtly spiritual as being prayer-like because both prayer and poetry require a connection to something outside the self as well as deep honesty about the self; There are some poems in this collection that are inspired mainly by research rather than personal experience. I focused much of this research on women\u27s issues and bringing to light women who have been overlooked by history. Though based on research, some still overlap with my personal experience. Miranda in Las Vegas is both about Shakespeare\u27s character from The Tempest and my own experiences as a woman living in Las Vegas. Thus, the intersection of several different themes hold together the poems of Jesus\u27 Shadow
