Broken Flowers Spoiler Free Book Review

Title: Broken Flowers
Author: Robert M. Drake
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis from Amazon (Goodreads doesn’t have one):

“And you will go on / searching for the best of you / and you will never find it, / but that is the point.” This stunning collection of poems asks readers to keep on seeking – the journey is the destination.

In this fifth installment from Robert M. Drake, the poet meditates on the subtle beauty of brokenness.

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Another beautiful poetry collection by R.M. Drake. This is my second collection that I have read by him. The first being Black Butterfly, I have a non-spoiler review for that one here. I really despise rating poetry because well as a writer of poetry, I know it’s written from the soul and sometimes even dark places. However I felt underwhelmed with a few of the poems while reading this collection. It felt a little repetitive.

R.M. Drake writes about a lot of loss and brokenness. Loss and brokenness within yourself, others, relationships. About wanting the people who hurt you, back. There were times he is talking to lover in one poem and in another poem he is talking to his brother. He also talks about healing and how it’s okay to feel hurt no matter how much time has passed.

The last few poems mention police brutality, social media, and what is going on in the world today. Which I feel are so important.

The connection is there though, between his poems and humans. You can feel the connection. I still resonated with many of these poems.

His writing in this one is completely different from Black Butterfly. Broken Flowers is full of spaces and even a bit like story telling where as Black Butterfly is not.

I always keep these poetry reviews short because I feel like they’re biased. It all depends on the reader and their life experience to connect with the poetry being read. What Person A might understand from a poem, Person B can see something completely different.

Some of my favorite poems:

Be gentle and kind.

Be fragile and soft.

I know the world tells you otherwise,

but deep down inside

you are not what they want you to be.

You are all the things that change. . .

all leaves that fall,

all rain that meets the ground,

and all the petals that the flower

can no longer hold.

So if you are meant to shatter,

then go ahead, break beautifully,

for the more you fall,

the more you rise and the more you do both,

the easier it will be to

find yourself again.

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What She Said to Me One Night:

I have too much universe in me.

I deserve more than the sky

and a few stars.

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Dear Mother,

If I die,

do not let me become a hashtag.

I know there is more to people than sharing

terrible news and talking about how cops have

murdered innocent African-Americans.

I know there is a light in every one of us

and I know we all want change but do not know how

to touch change.

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let’s chat in the comments, what do you think?

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Goodreads: Gretchen (ChicNerdReads)