Abandoned Flowers by Ewan Lawrie - Available now!

I'm very pleased to announce that Ewan's second Poetry collection is out now and available to order from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CGG6GMJ7

 

"Abandoned Flowers" is Ewan Lawrie's second collection of poems. His first, Last Night I Met John Adcock was shortlisted for The Poetry Book Awards 2020. This second collection is an anthology - from the Greek meaning "Gathered Flowers" - of highly personal poetry. It's not about flowers.

 

Here's a review by onemorething:

Ewan Lawrie’s second collection of poetry is a book about life, his life, but also our lives. Abandoned Flowers is a fantastic collection – it is beautifully written, cleverly written, wisely written. It is divided into six sections of different aspects of flowers, from exotic blooms to roadside flowers, though as Lawrie, himself, has pointed out, these poems are not about flowers. Well, mostly, because the first section, Fading Flowers, begins with a dandelion and I am immediately drawn to its symbolism here of time and endurance. And indeed, this opening section is highly reflective and conjures personal comparisons between what was then and what is now. Many striking and wonderful lines, my favourite being ‘And…’ which ends with hints of Prufrock:

“The waves are rushing in 

to sweep my footprints away.” 

I enjoyed a wry humour too that speaks to the reader – the final words of this section: 

“I believe 

we’ve talked quite

enough 

about me.” 

Then we leave for Spain with Exotic Blooms. And here, Lawrie shows us his Spain in all its senses; from Sahara Sand to cafés, almond blossom to ‘mist and ghosts’. Two of my favourite poems are in this section too: Beach and Moonlight Over Seville. 

From Moonlight Over Seville: 

“Under the half-smiling moon, 

before it waxes gibbous, 

shadows hint at silver and 

secrets can be kept.” 

Next, Flowers at The Bedside takes us to a place where endurance is perhaps needed most and Lawrie gives us a highly personal and deeply moving insight into the experience of being beside a loved one when they are diagnosed with and treated for cancer; and the fear and helplessness and anger that accompanies this. 

From Consulting The Runes: 

“We are hunched, afraid, 

waiting for the shaman 

with his celluloid pictures 

that show the insides, 

but nobody’s soul.” 

Later in Roadside Flowers, there are other kinds of wars, with their own profundity and universality. From Corner Poet: 

“I wonder where 

he lost the half 

that used to 

make him whole.” 

Flowers in Wreaths is about what you might expect it to be, but also so much more than that; it is about memory and connection to the past, to who we are and the impact of the loss of these. 

From The Visitable Past: 

“I must go, 

while there is yet

still a visitable past, 

before she moves 

to another country 

I cannot reach by phone.” 

Finally, if there are whispers of T S Eliot throughout Lawrie’s collection, Blooming Lilacs tells us how Lawrie sees his world with influences of Eliot. It’s so beautiful and clever that, I confess, it did make me wring my hands a little with envy. 

From Madame Blandini: 

“A corvid figure, crouched in her chair, 

her pitch-black scarf covers her hair, 

she chooses her words with consummate care, 

with the aid of a pin and La Dictionnaire.”

These are all poems I will return to and, truly, there isn’t one that isn’t a great poem in its own right. Together, they make an exceptional collection. I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t also (as Lawrie’s first collection was) a potential prize winner. It’s brilliant.