Most of us discover poetry in early childhood via nursery rhymes and children’s books. And for many, this fosters a tendency toward equating a poem to ‘lines that rhyme.’ Of course, poetry is so much more than a series of couplets. A good poem has the power to describe the indescribable, translating a seemingly complex subject into something that resonates on an emotional or even spiritual level. With INSPIRATIONAL LOVE, Vernon John Sinnott seeks to do just that by exploring the multifaceted landscape of one of humanity’s most universally complicated experiences: love.
INSPIRATIONAL LOVE opens with a dedication to the past loves who’ve inspired Sinnott’s poems. From there, Sinnott dives right in. Be it desire (“A Froggy Sat On a Lily Pad”), unrequited love (“Who Is The Lucky Guy”), and, of course, heartbreak (“Our Parting Makes Me Blue”), Sinnott thoroughly explores the many shades of love. In lieu of flowery prose or pretentious embellishments, Sinnott opts for an unflinching, heart-on-his-sleeve honesty that is often as arresting as it is endearing. For instance, “Bus Depot’s Cafe,” Sinnott’s ode to the one that got away, reads like a scene from a lost Woody Allen film: “There was an old lady standing in line. I got the impression that she thought you were mine…Right now things are really grim. You are going home to marry him.”
With over a hundred poems, it’s understandable (and maybe even inevitable) that INSPIRATIONAL LOVE occasionally feels redundant. Where dreams of “Shannon” might inspire a smile, “Holly,” “Bobbi Jo,” “Gwen,” and “Cindy” tend to mine interchangeable ground with increasingly diminished returns. Additionally, the further one gets, the more the thematic balance tends toward pining and self-pitying. Fortunately, Sinnott (for the most part) keeps it light and self-effacing throughout. For instance, “Heather I Love You,” reads like something you might find on the back cover of a student’s notebook, “H is for Heather, you my sweetheart, E is for everything I want to give to you…”
There’s an inherently subjective component to all writing, especially poetry. To that point, what one takes away from INSPIRATIONAL LOVE is likely a matter of perspective. Steeped in yesteryear imagery and heavy-handed metaphor, Sinnott’s work reads like the lyrical musings of a busking Springsteen-indebted troubadour. Depending on one’s point of view, lines like “We make love in a Chevy” or “They say he is a dreamer, but he is only a make-believer” are either authentic, heartfelt triumphs or easily dismissed as trite. Neither opinion is wrong, per se, but the point illustrates that INSPIRATIONAL LOVE may not necessarily garner universal appeal–not that it strives to.
Vernon John Sinnott navigates love’s many complexities with INSPIRATIONAL LOVE, a collection of heartfelt prose from a self-professed “incurable romantic” that may not work for everyone, but is sure to resonate with those who embrace its honest exploration of the human heart.
~James Weiskittel for IndieReader
