all the brooding flowers by B.G. Craig In Review

Guess who's back with a brand new review. Me, silly. I am delighted to share with you my thoughts on what is not just a truly sublime collection of poetry, but a work of art too. The poetry collection is "all the brooding flowers" by B.G. Craig (Who goes by Bri Craig on this platform).

This is more than a thematic collection of deeply personal, insightful and just beautiful poetry, it's an illustrated book with visuals that help immerse you in the author's pristine words. I was not, going into this reading, too familiar with Bri. I know of her work on Vocal, both her poetry and her advice pieces. I also know of her through Stephen A. Roddewig. Yes, he managed to get a mention in this review too. Sorry and not sorry, Bri! However, what I had read of her work was always interesting and entertaining and gave me plenty of food for thought.

Now, for the review.

The Actual Review

I have spoken about my lack of bias or at least apparent lack of bias with the reviews of Vocal creators I've published so far, "Wasted Love" by Poppy, "Glass Dolls" by L.C. Schäfer and "A Bloody Business" by he-who-has-always-already-been-mentioned. With this review, given my lack of real connection to Bri, I feel I can be more unbiased in my approach.

I read her piece about the process involved in her book and was suckered in, to be honest. Poetry is still a new love for me, so unless I'm already a fan, there has to be a reason for me putting my digital digits into my digital wallet.

To accompany her words, Bri chose to create hand-made paper collages from a wide range of sources, including old notebooks, receipts and bright, vibrant-coloured pieces of paper.

The book opens with a chapter dedicated to the process behind the book’s creations, with some BTS images that add to the whole experience.

As intrigued as I was, I had my reservations about how the actual finished book would look and feel. Often when there are gimmicks, not always, but often, they are there to distract from something missing. My reservations were that perhaps Bri's words would not be nearly as impactful on their own without the paper collages. On the other hand, I was concerned that the paper collages on each page would not really add anything to the poems.

I can safely and enthusiastically say, I was wrong to be worried about any of that.

Both work well together - her words, conversational at times, though always deeply moving and thought-provoking and the spectacular visuals she created by hand with the help of her husband.

Some are very direct and literal—for the piece “Yarnball”, there is a paper collage of a blue-hued ball of yarn. For the piece "Peace is a place where no one flinches" there is a dramatic and creative body of water and wave beneath her exceptional words that tie in with words and themes of the poem.

Two of my favourites, though, are:

"Ode to this ever-beating heart", which has a patchwork heart. I am not saying it's fully accurate, but it looks more accurate than I would have expected.

"Breath of Everest", which features a collage of Mount Everest.

Just wonderful.

This review would be much longer if I had to highlight all the collages I really loved.

As this is a poetry collection, it feels important to focus on Bri's words. As I said, both parts of this immersive experience elevate it.

However, on their own, her words are powerful enough that if you didn't have the visuals, I am sure you'd enjoy them just as much. As a tester, I read a few without looking at the visuals, and they didn't lose value.

Like I said, she smashed any reservations I had out of the water.

There are too many beautiful pieces that, at times, left me too sombre for words, near tears, scratching my chin, thinking about her thoughts, and just smiling with joy.

However, to really sell this book, I wanted to highlight a few of my favourites:

"Proposed Amendments of the Stages of Grief"

The title alone drew me in, and her insightful, clever, and empathic words really gave me something to think about with how we approach grief.

"Between Bargaining and Depression: Realization"

"Between Depression and Acceptance: Laughter"

"After Acceptance: Remembrance"

Those are the proposed amendments, and her eloquent words really make an argument for those amendments to be put into effect.

"I promised I would write a happy poem"

This is a beautiful poem, written from her POV as a 27-year-old to her 17-year-old self. It's full of just brilliance. Advice, anecdotes, sadness, happiness, humour and wisdom. It closes out the book, which I think is a masterful move on Bri's part. Completes the journey of the collection wonderfully.

From the opening lines that made me smile warmly:

"We have two cats now,

and this feels like an important place to start."

To humorous and warm insights into her future life, like:

"We're married to a man who laughs too loud in movies and collects Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I know this sounds bad, but he's like walking sunshine. I promise you'll start to laugh too loudly with him. I promise he will make you realize you've always wanted to be someone who laughs too loud."

To the way she closes it:

"And I promised you I would write a happy poem, but I needed to tell you all of these things first.

Because you need to know that you will be alright.

We both will."

Is full of warmth, resilience, hope and positivity.

"Mole"

(Which comes with a delightful and cute paper collage of a mole)

"If I could turn

ignorance into an animal,

it would be a mole.

So that we could

reach out,

touch,

feel,

even when we cannot

see."

So much wisdom is shown in so few words. Remarkable.

My Final Verdict

What can I say to sum up my thoughts and feelings about "all the brooding flowers"? It's an experience that left me feeling a lot of different emotions, thinking about a lot of different things, but mostly, smiling with joy. The joy that comes from reading poetry by someone who understands life, being human and everything that comes with it.

The paper collages add a freshly unique and personal touch to Bri's already very intimate words, and it is a book I can imagine reading again and again and finding more to love.

There are 28 poems to appreciate, a chapter looking at the process behind the book’s creation and publication and poem notes and acknowledgements that make this feel like a complete package. A lot of thought, time and effort, as well as creativity and love, clearly went into this collection, and it was worth it.

It is easy to read and hard not to put down once you start.

Enjoy!

Here is another link to the Amazon page listing for the book followed by a link to her Vocal profile, where you can learn more about her and read more of her work.

If you do buy it – you should review it, as the reviews make a lot of difference. Not just for the author but also for Amazon and other online retailers, and it may make all the difference between someone deciding to click Buy Now and not. It doesn't need to be much, but even a small review can have a big impact.

I will be reading "Life, Love & Ludicrosity: A Poetry Collection" by one Dana Crandell next. Look out for that review in the coming weeks.

If you're interested, here are links to my other reviews of Vocal creators' books and a link to my own book.