Tori Lemon
Lantern Staff
It is no surprise that life is filled with many twists and turns. It is also inevitable that bad things will happen, even to the greatest people. Life goes hand in hand with love- and love goes hand in hand with heartbreak, especially when the love we give falls in the hands of people who are incapable of giving us what we deserve.
Author of poetry R.H Sin released his third collection of poems, “Rest In The Mourning” December of last year. Like his other books, “Whiskey, Words, and a Shovel,” both part one and two, the pages of this book are filled with words describing life as well as the love and anguish that comes with it.
“Rest In The Mourning” focuses mainly on relationships–largely those that are unhealthy. Sin elaborates on why our love grasps on to those who are unqualified to hold it and that no longer deserve energy or time. He expresses the difficulty of knowing it is time to let go of something or someone that is no longer helping you grow as an individual, yet encourages readers to choose to once again love themselves- even if it means letting go of someone they love. Throughout the pages, Sin reiterates in new, whimsical metaphors that you, “Can’t keep what shouldn’t stay. You can’t anchor a shipwreck.”
Sin also uses his words to give a commendation and reminder to all women. He strives to demolish the stereotype that women are interchangeable, replaceable objects when it comes to relationships. He urges women, and men, to let go of people who make them feel difficult to love, or as if they are nothing more than a mere sexual object- to finally see themselves as the powerful, wonderful, electric people they are. Like famous author of “Milk and Honey,“ Rupi Kaur, Sin recognizes the worth and beauty of women and motivates his readers to view them with the same awe and respect, regardless of their past or current situations: “She is full of wounds. Riddled with scars. But she is still standing, and she is beautiful.”
With words that make your mind race and force you to question whether or not the people you love and spend your time investing in are truly worth it, Sin successfully speaks to your soul and starts the process of slowly healing it. It is a book that stays with the reader long after they uncover the correlation between his words and their life. It is a book for both men and women who have, or are in, toxic relationships and need a few reminders that they are, and have always been, worthy of love.
“Rest In The Mourning” is an anthem to women, to coming to peace with, then letting go of trauma and to saving and loving yourself in the midst of destruction.
