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Content/Trigger Warnings: Mentions of self-harm and suicide
“Life is unpredictable, and I’d rather play every card as honestly as I can than have a deck full of regrets and what-ifs.”
Friends, I say this all the time especially when it comes to poetry (and even more so when it comes to pets). I truly believe all of these things come into our lives when we need them the most or in certain times of our life where we didn’t know we needed them. Would I read this poetry collection a year ago? Three years? Five? Probably not. However, this poetry coming into my life right now while the world is on fire and I’m home, missing my family more than ever… Yes, this poetry collection hit home with really hard blows.
“May your weapon be kindness. Your shield compassion. May flowers grow again , to sprout love from all this sadness.”
I’ll be honest, I don’t think many readers will enjoy this poetry collection. It’s classified as modern day poetry, but I think many readers (myself included) will feel at times, this book feels more like a motivational book or book of inspiration. I also want to say that this book is divided into sections and I love when a poetry collection divides itself into sections.
And can I take a moment to talk about the illustrations? Not going to lie, those jellyfish illustrations were not only beautiful, but also really calming and soothing. I read this poetry collection after some really terrible things happened and the amount of stress, anxiety, and panic I had eased a bit while reading this book and a lot of that is contributed to the fact of the illustrations. Jellyfish exhibits are some of my favorite sections go to at an aquarium and just some of my favorite videos to watch. So I really loved how the jellyfish were included.
“You stole so much of me, more than I had ever planned. But it is a new day and I feel like coming home. Back to all the parts of me I’d forgotten, the part that I don’t feel so alone.”
Overall, I really connected with a lot of this poetry collection and it came into my life at a moment where I was feeling very broken, very twisted up inside, and shrinking into myself. Since reading this poetry collection, things don’t feel as terrible and I’m slowly finding my way back to myself. As I have said, I never would have read this a few years ago, but it came into my life when I needed a little beacon of light to help guide me back to feeling semi-okay and that makes all the difference.
“You’re still here, you know; under all the messy things, under the stress, the anxiety, the sadness, you’re still you.”
Special thank you to the anonymous gifter who sent me this book!
Chapter Malliumpkin 