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An Elkins author has published a book of poetry and hopes readers will be able to relate to his poems of various emotions.

David Cox, 35, of Elkins has recently published a book titled "Everyday Poetry." It features his writing along with photos from the area.

"I put the book together from a bunch of poems that I had written over the years," Cox said. "I would let people read them and they would always say that I should put them together into a book. At first I didn't even think about it because I didn't think that they were good enough, however, after several years of people telling me to get them together, I finally thought that maybe they were right, and so I finally decided that I would. I figured if they were good enough for anyone to enjoy reading at all then I definitely needed to share them with whoever else would be willing to read them."

Cox described his book as a collection of poems that includes "every emotion that we feel or experience everyday, as well as most everything that will cross our minds during the course of any given day." It includes poems about depression, joy, religion, love, romance, frustration and more.

"My poems are all from personal experience or the experience of my closest friends," Cox said. "I have had every one of them inspired from things that have happened to me or to friends of mine in the past. I have learned that personal, real-life experience makes the most interesting poems. They also make it easier to relate to them and easier to emphasize with the feelings of the poems."

Cox also took all of the photos included in the book.

"I believe that we live in one of, if not the most, beautiful states in the country," Cox said. "I do believe that West Virginia is not really looked upon for it's natural beauty as much as it should be. So, I took all of the photos for the book in the area surrounding Elkins. We are truly fortunate to live where we do, and we should all be very proud of the area that we live in."

Cox said people would be interested in reading the book because they may be able to relate to the stories.

"I have found that poems provide an outlet for some of the things that we face every day, whether it would be through reading them, or in my case writing them," Cox said. "They always provide a healthy, safe outlet for the thoughts, feelings and everything that I experience in everyday life."

The book was published through Createspace.com and is available online through Createspace and Amazon.com and locally at Main Line Books in Elkins.

Cox was born at Fort Sill, in Lawton, Okla., in an Army hospital where his father was stationed in the military. He has two older brothers and two younger sisters. He graduated from Elkins High School in 1992.