Author Edwin Betancourt’s Perfect Dream
Reviewed by Realistic Poetry International
We would like to start this book review out with an honest warning and disclaimer as its content does contain some explicit material and scenes that include violent thoughts and graphics, for Author Edwin Betancourt doesn’t hold back one bit when expressing his uncut and uncensored tempestuous emotions in this riveting volume of blistering heartbreak and pain, ‘Perfect Dream’.
The beginning of the book opens up with a thought-provoking, defining quote that appears to encase the overall theme of this collection; “Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives,” with the multiple themes of the book concentrating greatly on pain, disconcertion, mental instability, disenchantment and sorrow.
His emotions bleed from his wounded heart like passion red blood dripping onto the pages of this book, and at times, he portrays not only an outward battle with someone who broke his heart, but also an internal fight with his own inner demons in the psychological, mental melancholic poem entitled, “Aidenn.”
In this poem, Betancourt opens up and says, “In the midnight hour, I am not alone, there is something crawling deep in my bones. It is watching me sleep and haunting my home…” Bluntly confessing to the fact that he is well aware of the dark, haunting energy looming over his soul in the hours of darkness. His words and unnerving reality is chilling, sending a series of cold winter chills straight down our spines! For we wonder, who is it that watches him, mysteriously, in the shadows of the darkness? And what will be the outcome of this haunting experience? Either way, we figure this can’t be good!
In emotionally intense poems such as “Black Widow” and “Drowning,” Betancourt’s words cut and penetrate as sharp as a double-edged sword to all those dealing with the same type of disappointment and ordeal in their own lives. The disturbing reality of some of his poetic dreams has the ability to nearly rip the bandage right off of a wounded heart while still in the process of healing!
Regardless of how disturbing or unsettling his thoughts may be, his exposed thoughts and feelings are a prime example of what many would describe as the purest form of poetry, due to the candid honesty emitted and authentic emotion exerted into each painful piece.
Broken, damaged, neglected and abandoned, the Author’s poetry describes in several different ways how love, relationships and commitment have the ability to lead one down a dark road of resentment when a partnership becomes tainted or adulterated. And for any person who’s ever had to deal with the agony of losing love to the mischievous hands of lies, mistrust or betrayal, the idea of anger and inconsolable relief aren’t anything the average person can’t relate to in one way or another.
In addition to the heightened emotion reverberating from beginning to end, we also want to point out the irony of the book title and interesting enigmatic cover to match, as both concepts (creative-wise and strategically) are relevant to Author Betancourt’s underlying meaning and entice us, reeling readers in with what many may assume without research is some type of whimsical fantasy, after all, it is entitled “Perfect Dream,” why would anyone expect anything less than a fairy-tale composition of beautifully inspiring words, thoughts, and messages?
Well, we definitely feel as if Betancourt knows just how to play with the fear-factor of suspense! Because after reading a few more poems such as “Cupid Ate My Heart,” the devastating tale of the princess, “Cinderella”, and also about what his actual reality of a “perfect dream” really feels, sounds, and looks like, surely, it is everything and anything but perfect. Why? To answer, In the words of the author, “Perfect Dream is when I’m with you, Perfect Dream, because you’re so true. Perfect Dream, your love I feel, Perfect Dream is never real.” An interpretation and main feature of the book, this poem, even in its brevity, says it all.
The allusion of ‘perfection,’ in this case, only amplifies how far away he really is from ever achieving such an idyllic love in reality.
There are poems in the book that are written in red rogue and make us wonder just how far he will go to inflict hurt and pain on the person who hurt him first. It also forces us to consider the depths of retaliation, revenge and hatred, reminding us of the violent, cruel and unforgiving world we must exist in and how dangerous rejection and heartbreak can be. The poem entitled, “Break You Down,” is a good example of this, as it is an intimidating piece that verbally threatens, and worst of all, predicts a bloody, dreadful fatality as the result of an unquenchable vengeance.
In all honesty, this type of poem reminds us of the plethora of murder-suspense thrillers on television such as “Snapped,” or the American classic, “Forensic Files,” with many people’s stories of love and passion turning into nothing more than gruesome, wicked ends. Author Edwin Betancourt doesn’t hide the fact that his soul and heart is on fire either, in no way, shape or form prepared to handle the insurmountable grief his spirit carries. Ready to spark the fire he says, “You poured gasoline on us, I lit the match and then threw the flame straight to the ground. I’m Burning Paradise, I’m Burning Paradise.”
So, as you can see, the poems included in this heart-wrenching collection are filled with passion, but certainly not the magical kind. Author Edwin Betancourt’s poetry takes you down a dark journey with a very unique style and rhythm (rhyme) that makes the read easy yet theatrical and dramatic. The Author is excellent in switching roles, sometimes portraying himself as the ‘bad guy’, like in the poem “End Of Me,” where he references to himself as a ‘liar,’ and other times identifying with the role of the victim, as in the poem “Mayday!” Where he elaborates on the emotional after-effects of unfaithfulness, devastated by the impactful blow of infidelity. Figurative and explanatory phrases and words like “sinking,” “drowning,” “foolish pride,” “hungry lust,” and “waste my life” coincide with the poem’s overall conclusion in which Betancourt says, “…It’s time we finally embrace our ending,” and we concur!
Author Edwin Betancourt’s Perfect Dream is a collection to influence readers to do either one of two things: a.) indulge in the cut-throat expressions of pain and resentment he offers as a way to release and vent distress, OR steer clear of ANY relationship that shows warning signs of an unhealthy, unsafe situation, for it is possible to become lost in the unfathomable darkness of twisted passion that only disguises itself as love, but in all reality, evades all impurity and hunts hearts to destroy.
Poem after poem, readers will search for a way out of the Authors “perfect dream” only to find themselves falling deeper into the forbidden pits of cold-heartedness, a place only a numb heart can withstand. Where does he go from here, we ask? Will he climb his way out of this rock-edge sharp valley of despair? Or will he give in and oblige in the darkness that awaits his vulnerable, beautiful soul?
Find out by reading Edwin Betancourt’s “Perfect Dream” today! A painful representation of love on fire and a graphic depiction of a heart pierced by an arrow, we present this collection with a 4-star rating, left to absorb the evocative verbal echoes of sadness and broken heartedness dispensed from the Author’s hurt soul.
Ominously riveting, Author Edwin Betancourt!
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