Like a wildflower growing freely in the wilderness, on a barren mountain range, or the edge of a forgotten wasteland, we can bloom in unexpected and broken places too.
Through eighty confessional poems and stunning art pieces, Wildflower explores our broken places – the memories and people that haunt us and hinder us – and inspires readers to free themselves from their ghosts and bloom, just as wildflowers do.
Sharp, honest and hopeful, this is a journey through mental health struggles, sexuality, love and infatuation, rebirth and inner strength. With an emphasis on reframing your past and defining who you want to be, Wildflower is a moving, poignant collection that will resonate with anyone who wants to feel empowered by their resilience and emboldened by their pain.
My Review:
Rating: 4/5 stars
Firstly, I'd like to thank Sam Payne for gifting me the eARC of his upcoming poetry collection that releases 1st of August, Wildflower.
I've now read all three of Sam's poetry collections and this is my favourite of the three. I loved that this collection was full of long form poetry, whereas the previous two were mainly short form poems. I have always appreciated long form poetry in published collections and it felt like we got more of an insight into Sam's writing style by giving us more to read. The interior is so beautiful and vibrant just like the front cover. The layout of the interior reminded me of House Of Stars And Flowers On Mars by Sakshi Narula, which is similarly formatted and also self published! Sam was able to use his own images and words to create beautiful works of art all contained in one book.
This collection depicts an intimate reflection of Sam's life by using his own memories but he goes a step further by expanding, reworking and reimagining his memories in this collection which feels like the next step in a writers progression, in my opinion. Something I have used in my own writing recently. The amount of effort Sam has put into this collection is evident on each and every page. He really has done the self publishing community proud! I love that Sam has started to title every poem in this collection as it is just something I always appreciate in poetry collections. I enjoyed reading some of the poetry out loud when I had the chance which just enhanced the meaning.