Once Were Wounds is my first self-published collection of poetry and prose. Touching on the delicate themes of femininity, sensuality, loneliness, and longing, it’s a collection that accentuates the anticipation of passionate awakenings and the tenderness of fading innocence. It is a potent emotional journey that is both confronting and enchanting, healing and nourishing.
Writing has always been a deep and innate passion of mine, though it was discovering a great love for the lyrical nature of poetry that profoundly changed me. Once Were Wounds emerged from this love, during an emotionally vulnerable and tender time in my life. Turning to my notebook for release and understanding, I found myself inscribing everything from singular words and rhetorical statements, to lyrical musings and fully formed poems.
Once Were Wounds travelled with me as an unfinished collection to England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Croatia. Quite unexpectedly, I unearthed a fresh and unique poetic style while living in London. Walking through the autumn speckled streets of Barons Court, the poem Brandy Apples came into consciousness whole and complete. Once I returned home to New Zealand, I knew that it was time to combine all of the pieces together and bring the collection to fruition. After a four year journey towards completion, the collection was officially released in January 2021.
Once Were Wounds is an intense and intuitive adventure filled with glorious emotion and personal awakenings. Although each piece has been written separately, Once Were Wounds is deliciously shaped to read as a whole entity from beginning to finish. An absence of poetic titles creates a sense of fluidity, a flowing interconnectedness between thought and feeling.
All of my pieces are conveyed with gentleness and understanding. Everything I express and explore through my writing is drawn from personal experience, as it’s important for me to keep my work grounded in authenticity and clear intention. Each piece is peppered with the emotional remnants of a beautiful moment or lingering memory.
Nature is a centrepiece in all of my writing and a kaleidoscopic source of inspiration. Its diversely aesthetic landscape and seasonal cycles provide a mirror into the very essence of human emotion and experience. Within moments of movement, in twilight tones and autumn undressing itself for winter, there is hope and healing. Transforming this imagery into words is a glorious, cathartic release and a pleasurable indulgence.
Once Were Wounds explores the notion that as human beings we too move intrinsically through times of change, times of grounding, times of acknowledgment and processing to reach a place of understanding and acceptance. These are significant characteristics shared by the natural world, teaching us that we must not only find a balance between the seasons but also trust in their consistent change.
I’m also wonderfully inspired by scents and textures, by the energies and memories a certain fabric or fragrance can evoke. Featured in this collection of poetry is a piece titled Belle Chérie, which was inspired by a delicate perfume I came across while travelling through Côte d’Azur in France. I associate its aroma with the European summer, with budding romance and delicious beginnings.
Once Were Wounds is now available in two beautiful editions, The Linen Edition and The Magnolia Edition. You can purchase your own gorgeous copy over in our Book Boutique.