DROWN IN THE SUN

Helvie’s debut collection offers poems about heartbreak, loss, self-doubt, and redemption.

These untitled works address personal but universal experiences, from loving someone “enough to feel peace / when you are happy without me” to feeling “meant for something hurtful / …after the fallen have risen.” Each poem is positioned on a page with a repeated uncredited illustration of a girl sinking, with bubbles rising from her mouth—an image that acts as the heart of the collection. The poems don’t serve to answer life’s many questions, but they deliver honest admissions of pain, worthiness, and remembrance. Helvie often uses maximalist diction and imagery: “In the crispy delighted jungle / Like a miming misfit alliance / Hyper spiritual waves / Come through the production.” Over the course of this book, the reader will find that these pieces are raw and radically candid, if slightly messy, which is fitting for the works of a poet breaking onto the scene for the first time. Fans of the works of Rupi Kahr and other beloved youth poets will find that Helvie’s book touches on similar themes, including personal growth, first loves, and internal struggles. The collection’s style is one that values simplicity over complexity when approaching its heavy moments and uses free verse that tends to be spare and nontechnical. However, as readers navigate through the many deeply personal stories in this collection, they may be able to relate to that feeling of immediacy: “To hear your scars / And read your pain / I behave in a way so daring / Somehow we are still alive.”

A set of deeply felt poems that are likely to appeal most to a YA audience.