“Her trademark was stellar, and so was her beauty.”
The biggest mistake you could do when you pick up Kevin Hollingsworth’s latest prose poetry book, Stellar, is to end up skimming through the collection of poems and be left with the impression that love is nothing more than a delusional mirage. Take the time to grasp the meaning of each piece and you’ll surely find yourself jotting down some memorable and encouraging verses. They could either be in a personal notebook (which functions as a sanctuary) or on colorful post-its, spread around your room, constantly reminding you to both share and seek out love.
The “flick-through” decision will urge you to believe that the author prefers to mostly linger over presentations of women’s somewhat typically luring movements. In reality, there’s much more than that. Love, the main topic which is meticulously explored, is displayed as a tender feminine touch. It could come in the form of a Desire, bold Confidence, uplifting Inspiration or an Eternal Promise. It could make a glorious entrance in the bodies of women whose names roll off your tongue like honey (Adriana, Karen, Sumira, Hazel, Julie Martin). However, there’s even a more noteworthy aspect to consider. Whether love embraces you or you embrace the tragedy of love, you picture shades of colors and read the poems with certain tones, purely based on the impactful atmosphere. The recalled moments usually take place in a natural environment and most of the time you feel as if the ocean, the breeze, the rain and the forest have suddenly become part of you. Could it be a mere suggestion that the specific feeling resembles the unmistakable sensation of having conquered the world? Maybe.
It doesn’t come off as a surprise for me that night settings, blue shades and rainbows were the key elements which caught my attention while reading the poems. Here are some of my favorite picks:
“The waterfall opened life’s dreams for a moment, and the ocean captured her dreams for a lifetime.” (She Found Me)
“Her every heartbeat was a reflection of my heart.
A heart in love with a rainbow with tears.
She cried love, and she cried passion.
I took her in my arms, and she cried no more.” (She Cried No More)
“Pitch black was all I could see,
and it was no surprise that midnight had arrived.
I felt a tender touch at the stroke of midnight.
I felt someone’s soft hands tour my body.
It was a lady’s touch indeed. (...)
I was not searching for happiness that evening,
but I found her at midnight.” (Midnight)
The most heart-warming poem, Love’s Story, made me inner-shout “Perfect timing!” and spoke to me at a deep level that not many people can fully understand. It also helped me realize that it summarized the main idea of the book: love is part of us, we just have to believe in it so as to let it escape from behind our turbulent fears and immoral impulses:
“Once upon a time a story was told.
It was a story of love that is so lacking in the world today.
We live in a world filled with hatred, torn apart by jealousy,
tricked by envy and governed by hostility.
A leaf was turned over, and Love was allowed to rise.
The sky and her clouds, the wind and her currents, the earth and her oceans welcomed Love’s joy.
They welcomed Love’s happiness, goodness, righteousness, elations, and her love.
Love changed the world as she only could. (...)
Surprisingly, however, disappointment made an unwelcomed appearance,
and there was a conflict between dreams and visions.
Now surrounded by doubt, I can only hope
that Love’s dream will never end.”
Indeed, there are many people out there who write about love. Therefore, why should you consider Stellar as well? In all its apparent simplicity, the book pushes you to ask questions. Could love be felt and cherished in countless different ways? Did the author gather bits and pieces he’s heard from family and friends, and came to create this collection of poems? Or do all the distinct perspectives belong to him, due to his changing point of view throughout his life journey so far? Because yes, it is quite fascinating how the writer has managed to talk about hope (“His last day on earth became the first day of his life when this beautiful flower simply told him that she loved him.”) and resignation (“I would never know, for death would take my hand before love took hers.”) in an equally credible way.
Just as I started the review with a verse from the poem entitled Stellar, I want this collection to reach that praising point where other fellow writers quote Kevin Hollingsworth at the beginning of their books or pick suitably effective verses to place before each chapter of a story. And here’s a mental note which might help you in the future: as you’re reading the poems, imagine you’re sitting in a cozy living room with the author, drinking wine by a crackling fireplace. You ask him to recall both positive and negative moments from the past, in an artistic manner. As soon as he opens up, his carefully chosen words speak wonders. You’re absorbing the magical flow of light-hearted confessions (“I did, however, leave Sophistication with a sense of class; that I was somebody to a special person. / I faced homelessness with a sense of pride.”) and cordial warnings (“Beware of jealousy, for her life begins only when she ends yours.”). It doesn’t even matter if the writer talks about unshackling or mystifying experiences. There is proof that love truly exists and you receive a warm rush of reassurance in your soul. And this time, it’s not from the comforting fireplace.
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