The Evolution of Love follows the human heart through the intense highs and lows of First Love, the frustrating but instructive path of Middle Love, and the battle-tested yet eternal light of Final Love. From a first crush to the death of a spouse and beyond, these poems and stories capture what connects us all: the search for true and unimpeachable love.
The Evolution of Love follows the human heart through the intense highs and lows of First Love, the frustrating but instructive path of Middle Love, and the battle-tested yet eternal light of Final Love. From a first crush to the death of a spouse and beyond, these poems and stories capture what connects us all: the search for true and unimpeachable love.
before this, your heart lived in blissful infancy, completely unaware of the absolute joy and utter devastation love can bring. This is the love that makes you ask yourself, “Is the heart supposed to be open like this? Isn’t it dangerous? What if something happens... oh wait, it happened. Am I the sun? Why do I feel like I’m exploding with light? We should carve our initials in a tree and take pictures with our feet in the ocean.”
It’s also the one that makes you ask yourself, “Is the heart supposed to ache like this? Isn’t it dangerous? What if I die? What if I never feel like laughing again? Am I a cloud? Why do I feel like I’m exploding with raindrops? We should never see each other again, unless you want to. Do you want to? No? I hate you.”
Violets are Violet
Roses are red,
violets are blue –
wait. Aren’t violets, violet?
I don’t want to lie to you.
Roses are red,
violets are not blue.
Ugh! Still sounds cliché,
and you deserve something new.
Okay. Here goes.
Roses are thorny,
and being with you makes me...
no, no, can’t say that.
Even though it’s true,
it’s way too corny.
Roses...
Roses are...
Roses are alright,
whether red or yellow or white
and some metaphor about light
and... and...
Dammit!
I just like you, okay?
I like you.
Wanna get tacos?
Jedi
You’re that Jedi
who doesn’t know
she’s a Jedi yet,
and I’m that stormtrooper
in the background
who dies
in the first battle scene
because I’m too busy
watching how
beautifully badass
you are
to realize there’s a war
going on around me
Boss
If we were a video game,
you'd be the boss
at the end, and I’d need
100 lives
just to get to you.
But I wouldn’t try to defeat you.
I’d just be happy to be there.
I’d lay down my weapons.
I’d tell you everything I endured
just to see you,
and you’d tell me those flames
you spewed were not
meant to kill, that you were
just protecting yourself.
Then I’d ask if you wanted to
end the game and go listen to music
or get cupcakes somewhere.
You’d say yes, and we’d both win.
Poems about love are overrated. They tend to be generally very corny, full of stereotypical messages of eternal happiness, or underwhelming laments of unrequited infatuations, eliciting no real emotion or reaction from the reader. But this collection of poetry and micro-fiction hover over the edge of cliché, painting the nuances of falling in love, staying in love and choosing the same person as "the one" over and over again, while reflecting newer perspectives that each stage of our lives can bring into the frame. The title of the book, The Evolution of Love, does justice to the different forms of love that transcend time or logic throughout these pieces.
They move us in ways we were last touched in our personal encounter with love, forcing us to blink away the tears and gulp the stubborn lump that begins to form in our throats in a frail attempt to overlook the visceral nature of such strong feelings. Love is no longer a fleeting emotion, rather, it takes on a tangible shape, becoming a way of being, a mode of living itself. It is the reason why people cling to one another in hopes for better days and it is what results in the desperation that follows the loss of our dear ones. It encompasses the small joys we keep tucked away in our memories, and the special moments with all the glory of their insignificant minute details. All that comes together in this carefully selected bundle of writing like in a final exuberance of celebration.
Elison immortalizes the emotions that we often experience in the throes of our passion, whether it is lust, mutual respect, love or even spiritual connection with someone who understands us at a deeper level. This book makes you see beyond the facades and pretensions of present day's prescriptive love affairs, it is almost a tribute to the sense of believing in true love and fighting for it vigorously, despite the apparent futility of seeking something so vague and uncertain. It harks back to the power of genuine relationships, the strength in loving with the ideology of accepting a person for who they are, irrespective of their flaws and past baggage. Perhaps, one can sum it up in the poet's own words as, "Loving is the bravest thing/any of us will ever do." Recommended for all those who enjoy reading sensitive, soul-stirring pieces on the matters of the heart and the soul.