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Pulling them so close
That they become
Inseparable from each other"
In this dear and earnest collection of poems, love is a destination, a commodity, an aspiration, and an enlightened state of being. Love is transient, as it comes and goes, and capricious with its tendency to seduce then fade. Most of all, love here is precious and pursued—a focus, purpose, and quest.
The poet writes in the voice of a young dreamer enamored with the idea and ideal of romantic love. His entries offer a whiplash of highs and lows from a voice still more adolescent fantasy than adult complacency. Each poem seems to pinpoint a location on an imagined continuum of love—from infatuation to joy to loss to unrequited invisibility. Taken as a whole, the collection tells a story of cycles, with love as a fluid experience of which there is always more to find.
With his soul bared in a startling, honest fashion, the author hints that he understands his vision of love is that of a young, wandering heart. Perhaps he has an inkling that love will not always be a combustible, temporary phenomenon but may mature with time into a sense of comfort, companionship, and calm longevity. But that’s a story he’ll tell another day. For now, in a collection that is part memoir, part fantasy, and part travelogue, love is magnetic and explosive. To read such candor is to experience the suspense of youth, wondering whether and when love will arrive and stay. For a young person, the anticipation can be familiar. For the old, such heartfelt attention to love may bring back yearning and wonder long forgotten.