Moments as They Are is a luminous debut poetry collection by Triston Dabney that bears witness to the sacredness of everyday life. Told through the arc of Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood, and Blessing, these poems navigate memory, queerness, Black cultural inheritance, grief, love, and spiritual becoming.

With tenderness and clarity, Dabney invites readers into moments that might otherwise go unnoticed: a grandmother’s hands, the quiet ache of masculinity, the rituals of community, the journey of self-recognition. Each poem serves as a small altar, honoring what it means to carry light even in the midst of loss.

Part testimony, part benediction, Moments as They Are is a meditation on survival, identity, and the radical act of choosing joy. In language that is both intimate and expansive, Dabney offers readers not just poems, but blessings—reminders that every ordinary moment holds extraordinary grace.