It Will All Work Out is a small book but emotionally deep poetry collection by Cornish writer Willow Martin. In this book, poetry will not make you feel like decoration, but rather feel more like conversation — quiet, honest, and carefully felt. Martin writes in this book about growing up, lost feelings, dilemmas, loving oneself, and standing between who we were and who we will become.
About the Book:
When I read this collection, it felt like sitting beside Willow on that “wooden bench at the bus stop,” calmly watching life pass by while “listening to the hum of the world that keeps on happening without me.”
In just 53 pages, she transforms simple moments — a walk in the park, a cup of coffee, the Cornish sea, or a reflection in the mirror, everything she has turned them into deeply felt emotions.
The way that her poetic language flows is gentle, almost like the swells of the ocean, and brings them as doubt, hope, and tiny light-bulb moments about growing up. You can sense that even in feelings of aloneness, there is tenderness, and where there is uncertainty, there is also a sense of learning. With the line, ‘I am shedding my skin — like a snake does in slow motion,’ one learns how hard and yet necessary it is to experience change.
What message does this book carry?
The purpose of this book is to show readers how uncertainty does not equal failure; it is simply an integral part of becoming. Healing takes time, and self-love is learned not instantaneously.
In this line, “Now that I look in the mirror, I see a girl I should have loved all along”, Willow sums up the essence of this collection: the ability to grow through compassion for oneself instead of through self-criticism.
Who Should Read This Book?
The intended audience for this book primarily consists of young adults, students, and anyone who is at a major decision-making period in their life. People who enjoy reflective poetry with strong imagery and feel lost, insecure, or emotionally fatigued will find a place to feel some sense of comfort. In addition, this book can serve as a good resource for people who prefer quiet, introspective forms of writing to bombastic or abstract poetry.
