I recently discovered the icon that is Orion Carloto, and I’ve been a loyal fan ever since. Carloto describes herself as a “21 year old literature loving, art admiring, poetry writing, cat mom of 2”. With her extremely aesthetic instagram feed and fascinating visual diaries, she creates visual dreams for lovers, dreamers and brokenhearted. Her debut poetry book, Flux, is also no exception. Inspired by personal adventures, she expresses her inner battles and losses as she reflects on topics like mental health, growing up, love and heartache.
What I love the most about this poetry collection is the vulnerability and strength that it demonstrates as Orion digs deep and exposes her demons. The power that you attain once you fight your demons is unparalleled, yet Flux creates a world where the reader can live vicariously through her and experience this first hand. Flux is not your typical poetry book. What makes the book extremely personal is the series of poems, prose, illustrations, quotes, and handwritten entries her stories are told through.
My favorite poem is the very first one:
Sometimes things must break
in order for the wishes
we’ve longed for the most,
to come true.
Every single page tells a different story that appeals to a different side of you. When I read it for the first time, her rawness didn’t only make me understand what she was going through, but almost instantly made me reflect on how each poem fit perfectly into my life. Throughout the book she reveals what everything in her life and every feeling she yearns for could mean. Flux is an ode to change and the ever-present ghost of nostalgia. It is an unmistakable sign of liberation for her, therefore if there is one thing you should take from this collection is that everything is worth feeling because maybe sometimes things must break in order for the wishes we’ve longed for the most to come true.
