CULLMAN — Young poet Tyler Elizabeth has recently released her debut book, “Constellations: The Poems of the Stars,” in which she shares her personal and emotionally charged poetry, capturing the intensity of young love and the ache of heartbreak.

Through free verse style poetry, the Cullman native articulates the contradictions of romantic experience: the beauty and the devastation, the closeness and the distance, the dreams and the discouragements. As the title suggests, each poem acts as a star, bright, burning, and part of a larger constellation that tells a story of love’s brilliance and its shadows.

The book unfolds as a chronicle of emotional turbulence, often reading like unsent letters or journal entries, often signed “Sweetheart.” Each poem stands on its own while contributing to an overarching narrative of unrequited love, betrayal, infatuation, and personal reckoning.

Love is compared to addictive substances, whiskey, cigarettes, and heroin, emphasizing its intoxicating and self-destructive nature. The beloved becomes a vice: impossible to resist, yet damaging to mental and emotional health.

Stars and constellations appear frequently, symbolizing fate, distance, and beauty. Fireflies, snow, waves, and forests also populate the poems, serving as metaphors for fleeting joy, isolation, and longing. The recurring motif of stars underscores a hope that love might be written in the cosmos, even if the relationship feels doomed on earth.

Toward the latter half of the collection, the speaker grows more assertive, expressing fury, bitterness, and a desire for revenge. Yet this rage is often tempered by lingering love and sorrow. These poems hint at the beginning of healing, even if closure remains elusive.

“Constellations: The Poems of the Stars” is available at Archway Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.