The Curse of Letting Go by Prashant Paras is not merely a poetry collection – it is a silent wail of the soul, echoing through verses that bleed longing, heartbreak, surrender, and philosophical resignation. The book unfolds like an intimate diary of someone who has witnessed the sun rise only to watch it set with unfulfilled prayers still caught in its rays.
Structured thematically, the collection traverses stages of love’s ephemeral journey – from blooming affection and fragile hope in Before the Goodbye, through wrenching internal collapse in While Letting Go, towards grief’s lonely embrace in After She Left, whispered prayers in Whispers to the Wind, unspoken truths in Love Letters Never Sent, and culminates in stoic acceptance within The Endings We Don’t Speak Of.
Paras writes with the heart of a romantic steeped in philosophical melancholy. His verses blend everyday imagery with metaphysical depth: “You pulled me close like gravity, now you scatter like dust,” he writes, making heartbreak feel cosmic. At other times, poems capture India’s cultural rootedness – moonlit prayers, Meera’s devotion to Krishna, mothers sensing pain from afar – evoking timeless resonance for Indian readers.
The poet’s craft lies in making the personal universal. Every heartbreak is layered with reflections on identity, faith, death, and memory. His words often read like whispered prayers – the unspoken ones uttered only at dawn or in a temple’s quietest corner: “Dear God, let death find me first—before I’m cursed to love again and again.”
Stylistically, the poems alternate between traditional romantic lyricism and contemporary realism. While some verses feel timeless, others speak to the digital loneliness of this generation – unsent texts, deleted ‘I love you’s, and filtered reels that aestheticise pain. Paras captures the essence of modern heartbreak with the depth of an old soul.
At times, the abundance of metaphors risks overwhelming the reader, as each line strives to pierce with maximum emotional force. But it is in this excess that Paras’s authentic voice emerges – that of a poet unafraid to lay bare even his most desperate thoughts, like when he writes: “Ask me to burn, and I’ll become ash that writes her name in the wind.”
The final sections are especially poignant. His philosophical musings on love’s futility, death’s certainty, and silence’s wisdom create a meditative reading experience. The poem on Meera Bai subtly weaves devotion as an eternal form of letting go – a beautiful thematic bridge to the poet’s own surrender before love’s curse.
Overall, The Curse of Letting Go is a tapestry of emotional truths, woven with the threads of nostalgia, pain, and fleeting beauty. It will resonate deeply with those who have loved and lost, those who pray without answers, and those who understand that letting go is not liberation but a lifelong exile from oneself.
Verdict:
Prashant Paras offers readers an evocative, soul-stripping exploration of love’s remains. This collection is not for casual reading but for silent nights when one seeks to sit with their own shadows.
Title: The Curse Of Letting Go
Author: Prashant Paras
Publisher: Evincepub Publishing
