Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

I would expect a collection of love poems to be lush and indulgent. Certainly there may be some which are terse and to the point, but in my experience, the best love poetry seems to enjoy itself. It lingers in sensation and emotion, inviting the reader to feel what the writer has in creating the work.

Gabriela Marie Milton’s collection, Passions, is no exception. Though each poem is short—most are no longer than a page—each is also a glimpse into a moment of beauty. Some poems are passionate, heat felt between every line. Others are more sedate, showing a calmer aspect of love. Still others are yearning, either for a love to come or for a love that has passed. No matter what mood you’re in, you’re sure to find something that will suit your need within these pages.

Where Milton really shines is in her imagery. These are no Keats-style odes, with stanza upon stanza to describe a single vase. Her descriptions come out in briefer segments: one line here, another there. She doesn’t paint details so much as she paints a feeling, with just enough precision that it becomes real nevertheless. Her words are chosen precisely, showing a distinct shade of blue or a particular floral scent. There is no laziness in her lines.

The one place where I felt the poems fell short was that some didn’t feel like love poems until the end. From time to time, I would find myself reading along eagerly, enjoying the descriptions and the lyricism, only to find the last two lines referring to a lover who had been not been mentioned anywhere else in the poem. I don’t mind at all poetry having a twist at the end, but these felt tacked on, as though at the last moment she had wanted to make it into a love poem. Had this been an ordinary collection of poetry, with some poems about romance and some not, I feel it would have been stronger.

Overall, this book is a delightful collection to have and a beauty to dip in and out of, whether on lonely nights or with a loved one. Not all the notes ring true, but those that do stand out and left me with echoes of them for the rest of the day. Fans of modern poetry will definitely enjoy this book.