About my work

Following the release of Treavor Wagoner’s first poetry collection, The Remaining Trouble and Other Battles (2016), readers responded favorably to the personal and vulnerable nature of the poems, sharing that reading the compilation helped them heal from traumas like past relationships and invasive surgeries. In creating an exclusive edition for backers of the project, Wagoner produced so much material that he immediately began drafting the manuscript for a new version of The Remaining Trouble.... Attemping to create, produce, promote, and independently publish multiple editions within a year on his own caused him to experience burn-out. He ceased production and progress stalled for three years until the worldwide pandemic, covid-19, caused the world to seek shelter at home. Noting everything he’d learned from publishing his first collection, Wagoner blew dust off the in-progress manuscript and sought to create a fresh approach to the “Trouble world” with inspiration from various pop culture re-imaginings like Battlestar Galactica and Lady Gaga’s first album, The Fame Monster. In creating this fresh approach to the manuscript, the project received a new name.

SO MUCH TROUBLE explores the journey to enlightened healing and empowerment from the dark depths of relationship and childhood trauma. By portraying a battle with menacing ocean titans from the perspective of the protagonist (Soothsayer), TROUBLE blends realistic and fantastical elements of various themes and topics, like love, relationship, identity, and mental health. TROUBLE contains many allusions to music (see Inspirations and References section). This collection is divided in two chapters diving into various currents of trouble.

The Remaining Trouble is the heart of the collection, depicting the many shades of depression and heartbreak like sadness, anger, and malevolence (“Tornado,” “Heartknot/Butthead”), explores desertion after coming out as well as grief causing unresolved and un-healed trauma to bubble up (“Prelude,” “Black”) as ghosts and menacing, thwarting creatures. While “Soothsayer Spells” captures a jilted lover casting spells, “Shimmers” are glimpses of clarity in a dense cloud of depression and are signs that one is reaching the surface (resolution) and seeing a way out of darkness.

Other Battles features the extremities of SO MUCH TROUBLE and retains various themes, including artificial nature (“Disconnecticut”) and identity (“Double Minority,” “We Are Ourselves”) all while presenting conflict. This chapter also contains alternate and previous versions of published poems for a glimpse into my writing process.

SO MUCH TROUBLE depicts a chapter of the writer’s life in free verse and also contains a hidden chapter. This is a Black and queer perspective. 

The Playlist

Inspired deeply by a carton of songs and albums, SO MUCH TROUBLE is essentially a mixtape of metaphors. Here is a playlist of fresh tunes that relate to the vibe of SO MUCH TROUBLE.