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Summer is soon to turn into autumn in this part of the world, light is taking on its golden fall attire… August days are getting us there step by step… transforming, becoming.

I could think of no better moment to share my Review of a book I recently purchased and read, and in only what sitting… oh, but what a read and reread it has been!

This book is “Pieces of Me” by Maggie Watson, published in October 2024 and available on Amazon.com at https://a.co/d/a1ogK1U both in Kindle and paperback.

“Pieces of me.
Blowing in the wind,
like the petals from a flower or the leaves from a tree.
Look around, and you will find.
Pieces of me.”
– Maggie Watson, Pieces of Me

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maggie Watson is an Indie Author and Poet from Scotland. She began writing in 2020 and self-published her first collection of poetry in 2021.
Her work has also been published by Gypsophila Zine, Glass Gates Publishing, Spill Words and Edge of Humanity. And, also included in three anthologies.
Maggie volunteers for Barnardos UK. She enjoys walks in nature and solo travel.
She can be found on FB and YouTube at Ephemeral Encounters, on Goodreads, and at her blog, www.poetrybymaggiewatson.uk
And of course at Amazon Author Central.

MY REVIEW 

Pieces of Me is a raw and courageous collection, giving voice to the silent wounds of domestic abuse and the quiet, painstaking journey of survival and recovery. As the very titles of the three parts of the collection show, Red Light Spells Danger, Eggshells and I Am (Becoming), Maggie’s poems do not shy away from the darkness and the heaviness — they speak of broken trust, of fear, of the weight of being diminished — but within all that honesty lies their strength. Each verse becomes both a fragment of pain and a new step toward reclaiming wholeness piece by piece… by piece!

What makes this collection so powerful is its extraordinary balance of vulnerability and resilience. Maggie leads the reader through deeply heavy moments, yet also shows how the pieces left behind by her experience can eventually catch the light — like glass scattered across the floor, beautifully refracting new colors of self-discovery. I was fascinated by the miraculous way the pages unfold, like in a gentle but steady process of learning and  becoming, as a renewed portrait emerges of a woman learning to breathe freely again, to make her own voice heard, and to piece herself back together with care, patience, and dignity.

To me, Pieces of Me is not only a testimony of survival but also a celebration of renewal. It is a reminder that even despite our deepest wounds, poetry can truly become a vessel of overcoming and healing, and that in the very act of naming pain, strength and hope are slowly reborn.

Starting gently but so clearly in Taboo Subjects,
“All we need is to be heard and seen.”

and bravely in the Rain,
“I release my fears and let them mingle with my tears.
Rain.”

in spite of the painfully Broken Wings…
“Broken wings.
No strings.
No ties.
Left to die, she cries.
Angel appears.
No more tears.
Now she soars and flies”

…the terribly winding road goes from Fragments of you,
“No longer walking on eggshells, I can look in the mirror and like what I see.
The passing of time has brought relief, though I admit my wounds still bleed.
I am busy creating a better version of myself.
No longer the person you destroyed.
So, thank you for showing me how strong I am.”

…towards Pieces of me (Part 2).
“But I will not seek love or attention.
To find myself again, I must look inside.
Only I am responsible for my resurrection.
There is no other way.
My demons I must slay.
And so I will travel back to a place that holds much pain.
Until I find the courage to do that, pieces of me lying in the sand will remain”

The  redefining flow is so beautifully described in Rebuild,
“Take each piece of yourself, then shine a light on your wounds.
Allow the darkness to be consumed.
You are now healing.
Watch as the shadows fade.”

and last but not least in Echoes of Memories,
“In the shadows, echoes of memories flicker and spark, a reminder of when my days were dark.
The pillars that stood once so fragile, falling at the cut of his blade as tears cascaded down my face.
Now, they serve to remind me of my strength.
I know how far I have come.
There is no need to retrace my steps, in the shadows, I do not belong,
so I step outside and turn my face to the sun.”

And besides and beyond all of the above-quoted lines chosen from Maggie’s unique collection, there are two poems that will always stay with me, namely Letter to My Inner Child and You Only Know Her Name. You can read the latter below:

You Only Know Her Name

“A book of horrors lives in her head.
Its contents are the remains of her past.
The place she has no wish to revisit.
You only know her name, not her story.
Never ask her to tell you what haunts her still if you are not willing to hold her hand.
Her mind is a battlefield.
A no-mans land but if you are brave enough to walk with her through the trenches and wade knee-deep in the mire.
You will find a fire.
The flames of her love will then set you ablaze, only if you dare to look beyond her book cover and her name.”

AMAZON BOOK OVERVIEW

For more than a decade, I lived in a toxic/abusive environment.
I survived by learning when to keep my mouth shut.
Now, I have a voice by writing about my experience through poetry.
This is my story, no longer silenced.
I hope it gives you the courage to do the same!

“From the ashes, I rise.
Emerging from the dust and ruins
of the carnage you left behind,
wiping away the dirt from the words that
once left me unable to breathe.
As I lay gasping for air, you did not care.
You could have been my downfall, but I refused to die.
Now watch as I climb to the summit of my life,
no longer caught in your riptide.”

I am personally looking forward to ordering and reading Maggie’s other collections:

Ephemeral Encounters (Her Book of Words)
In the Shadow of My Pen (A Collection of Poetry and Prose)
A Jar of Stars
Once Upon a Time (A Collection of Poetry)
Me and My Shadow

YOU CAN PURCHASE “Pieces of Me” HERE:

Paperback:

eBook: