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Flowers Grow on Broken Walls by Farena Bajwa

Source: Author Marketing Experts
Paperback, 244 pgs.
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Flowers Grow on Broken Walls by Farena Bajwa is of the Instapoetry variety that are easily read in a short period of time and provide an emotional reaction to broken relationships and the recovery that follows. The collection also includes a series of sketches.

 .... (pg. 11)
As time passed, you started staring more into the space,
our stars were once glowing and before I knew it,
had all died out.
.... (pg.18)
Don't play around when it comes to love.
There is just too much that breaks.
 (pg. 49)
I can't believe you chose a bottle over me.

With the sketches and the verses in these beginning sections, you can see the social media-likeability of these poems from Bajwa’s words. Emotional poems do well online, connecting readers and poets, especially when they have dealt with breakups and other issues. What I loved about this collection was the sketches. I wanted to see more of those and I wanted them to be a graphic novel in verse, rather than sparse verse that kind of tells a story.

One of my favorites in the collection is accompanied by a sketch of the evil queen and mirrors her “speech” to the Mirror on the Wall. Here, Bajwa’s lines take it to another level in which the Evil Queen is asking the Internet for affirmation, and in many ways, isn’t that what many people do with their posts on Instagram and Facebok, etc.

Flowers Grow on Broken Walls by Farena Bajwa explores identity in the aftermath of a breakup and abuse, but it also takes a look at identity in our self-obsessed, social media-focused world. For me, the images won me over because they were paired well with Bajwa’s words. For those who want accessible poems and some imagery, this collection is for you.

RATING: Tercet

About the Poet:

Farena Bajwa is a talented poet, storyteller, actor, filmmaker, and voice-over artist. Even though she studied Marketing Management, her creativity comes from her heart. Whether it’s filmmaking, voice-over, or acting, she owes it to her life philosophy: ‘’learning by doing’’. ‘’Flowers Grow on Broken Walls’’ is Farena’s first written collection of poetry that speaks about the journey to self-healing after experiencing the loss of someone, but mostly, the loss of yourself. She wants to inspire her readers using her power of words to make them feel less alone and to let them know that no matter what they go through, healing is just around the corner, already cheering for you.

Mailbox Monday #668

Mailbox Monday has become a tradition in the blogging world, and many of us thank Marcia of The Printed Page for creating it.

It now has its own blog where book bloggers can link up their own mailbox posts and share which books they bought or which they received for review from publishers, authors, and more.

Velvet, Martha, and I also will share our picks from everyone’s links in the new feature Books that Caught Our Eye. We hope you’ll join us.

This is what we received:

National Geographic Readers: Stacey Abrams (Level 2) by Melissa H. Mwai from Media Masters Publicity for review.

Learn about the voting rights advocate and politician Stacey Abrams and her groundbreaking achievements in this appealing Level 2 reader. Young readers will find out about Abram’s childhood and her early career as a city attorney and as minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives. The reader also explores her run in Georgia as the first Black woman to be nominated by a major party for governor, and how losing that race inspired her to devote her life to making elections and the voting process more equitable for everyone.

The level 2 text provides accessible, yet wide-ranging information for independent readers. Explore Abrams’s life, achievements, and the challenges she faced along the way to leading the fight against voter suppression and becoming a champion for change.

National Geographic Readers: Kamala Harris (Level 2) by Tonya Grant from Media Masters Publicity for review.

Explore one of the most powerful and highest-ranking female figures in American history with this biography of Vice President Kamala Harris in this Level 2 reader.

On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris made history. That day, she became the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be elected as Vice President of the United States. Young readers will learn about Harris’s childhood, her early career, and her journey that led to winning the vice presidency. This early reader also explores how Harris devoted her life to helping others, from serving as the Attorney General of California, to being elected as a U.S. Senator, to working alongside President Joe Biden on the campaign trail and in the White House.

Speak Up, Speak Out!: The Extraordinary Life of Fighting Shirley Chisholm by Tonya Bolden from Media Masters Publicity for review.

Before there was Barack Obama, before there was Kamala Harris, there was Fighting Shirley Chisholm. A daughter of Barbadian immigrants, Chisholm developed her political chops in Brooklyn in the 1950s and went on to become the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. This “pepper pot,” as she was known, was not afraid to speak up for what she thought was right. While fighting for a better life for her constituents in New York’s 12th Congressional District, Chisholm routinely fought against sexism and racism in her own life and defied the norms of the time. As the first Black woman in the House and the first Black woman to seek the presidential nomination from a major political party, Shirley Chisholm laid the groundwork for those who would come after her.

Extensively researched and reviewed by experts, this inspiring biography traces Chisholm’s journey from her childhood in a small flat in Brooklyn where she read books with her sisters to Brooklyn College where she got her first taste of politics. Readers will cheer Chisholm on to victory from the campaign trail to the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol, where she fought for fair wages, equal rights, and an end to the Vietnam War. And while the presidential campaign trail in 1972 did not end in victory, Shirley Chisholm shows us how you can change a country when you speak up and speak out.

Flowers Grow on Broken Walls by Farena Bajwa for review from Author Marketing Experts.

Flowers Grow on Broken Walls is a unique collection of poems and prose that talks about healing and finding yourself in a world that constantly tells you that’s who you shouldn’t be.

The poems/story goes over our everyday human emotions; from being heart broken and questioning our self-worth in a world of judgment and scrutinizing social media, to finding ourselves and appreciating those really important in our lives – especially our inner, true selves. It is story that is everyone’s story at one point or the other.

The collection displays a raw and honest portrayal of an artist who cannot help but create something beautiful in the midst of the ugliness she has been put through, and who continues to hope against all odds, as she lets go of what she has been told is important and finds herself in one truly is.

The story that starts with heart ache ends with healing, it starts with rejection from someone but ends with self-acceptance, which is the only way for true healing.

What did you receive?