This collection is a group of works that I wrote over the past forty years.  They are loosely connected by specific periods in my life that could be categorized into three areas darkness, lightness, and the gray places in between.  As the title of the collection suggests, the darkness periods lasted far longer than the lightness or gray periods.
If I left the description of this collection at that, I am sure that anyone reading it would make one's own conclusions about what the Darkness, Lightness, and Gray periods meant.  Instead of going into great detail as to my own thoughts on that, I would like to simply make some comments that might interest those who are reading this for more than just the stories and poetry.  After all, I am publishing this now for more than just that.