Captures the innocence of fully losing yourself to love.
Violet is an honest collection of fifty poems that may look small on the outside but reveal themselves as huge on the inside. The frame of mind when falling in love for the first time and other emotional excerpts are explored from the perspective of a teenager, a viewpoint that is often recreated, but seldom told with the authenticity of this firsthand portrait. Personal insecurities and vulnerabilities, emotions we’ve all felt while navigating the rough and unsettled waters of love, are questioned, mulled over, and thoroughly examined through verse. The more seasoned among us might find that Simon’s ideals of love echo a Hollywood-sheened version of reality, but these impressions take audiences on a journey that will touch hearts, stoke memories, and arouse our own intense feelings. There is a driving yet unfixed story arc guiding the flow of poetry. am I? considers “why unrequited love is my destiny.” Things evolve in WHAT CAN I OFFER HIM?, moving from a distant, unidentifiable feeling to a more selfless and well-thought-out position. Visions of marriage, children and lazy weekends spent with a lover help shape the notions of what being in love looks like as the author’s own feelings evolve. Just as the sands of our hearts can shift unpredictably, so Simon’s graceful words cut their own unpredictable path, touching on loss, elation and just how much we’ll allow ourselves to be affected in the absence of reciprocated love.
Using her own untainted heart as a hopeful canvas, Sabrina Simon paints in words a showpiece for anyone that has ever been in love. Ominous, dark notes anchor the sad lyrics in places. “Wishful thinking never hurt anyone until now.” Other moments are filled with raw optimism and endless possibility, keeping readers on an ever-changing course overflowing with sincere sentiment. When talking about these intangible matters, we often use tangible terms and phrases to identify our feelings, such as having a broken heart or being swept off our feet. Simon takes things a step further and adds lightness and tactile guidance when suggesting we get checked out by a doctor, finding the diagnosis for how long our heart has to live, ending up in the ICU or seeking a cure. All this emphasizes the dramatic effect love, or its absence, can have on our reality. Fairytale notions are grounded in reality in Violet, a moving work that perfectly captures the innocence of fully losing yourself to love.
