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your star fades over the horizon,
the moon belongs to the night."
When words simply don’t cut it, poetry comes to the rescue. Adelman’s compilation examines the essence of being human, from love to loss, with unabashed furor and energy. Interestingly, a range of love forms is portrayed in Adelman’s text: the nostalgia of falling in love for the first time, unrequited love, sensual love, and the insanity of love among others. The poet is an open book, using his work to share and reflect upon his own life experiences.
Adelman’s knack for stringing phrases together that are undeniably evocative is commendable. In “Winter,” for instance, the audience can feel the warmth of the human bodies, while the sensory descriptions bring to life the taste of bitter boots, an emblem of winter. Phrases like “superman of madmen” and “flesh, straining against a soft prison” are examples of potent imagery that are simply—and literally—unforgettable.
Beyond the technical wizardry, Adelman’s poetry is intensely relatable. Poems like “I Would Apologize” employ the use of repetition to emphasize the feelings of anguish and regret in not apologizing just as the relationship is in shambles. In others like “Giant,” there is a distinct reverence toward lady love, where the speaker talks of the traditional star and moons but ultimately expresses his devotion by “licking your soul with fire.” Similarly, “Vertigo” repeats “Do you remember” as a construct to demonstrate the nostalgia of getting romantic at a drive-in movie.
Interestingly, each poem takes on an identity, as though it is its own character, dynamic and imbued with emotion. Love is the center of emotion in the book, but Adelman masterfully depicts mankind in all of its imperfections and flaws. Despite there being a mixture of poems revolving around love and loss, readers will relish the opportunity to embrace what it means to be a sentient being.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review