About the collection

Poetry E.motion: Collateral Beauty Collection sits inside The Collateral Beauty Series (CBS), which explores Libby’s story – a young Black woman from Luton growing up in a post‑war, post‑industrial, working‑class town. The series follows her as she tries to become all she wants to be, while holding onto a clear sense of who she is, where she has come from and where she wants to go.

This collection weaves poems, short prose pieces and guided reflections to help the reader notice what they feel, listen to intuition alongside intellect, re‑name old labels and step closer to their own “collateral beauty”. It echoes the spirit of Naz’s earlier collection Butterfly Drinks Crocodile Tears, and is rooted in her multidimensional poetry therapy practice model.

Why this book?

Part of the Collateral Beauty Series, Poetry E.motion: Collateral Beauty Collection is for people who want to sit with their feelings, not run from them.

It is called Poetry E.motion because the “E” stands for the energy in emotion – the pulse beneath the story. The collection explores the importance of holding both intuition and intellect, and invites readers to ask what they think, what they feel and what they choose to believe. It is an invitation to Own Your Own Mind.

We are beauty because we are compassion, joy, love, empathy, understanding, patience and tolerance. Our beauty belongs to us; it’s the damage that is collateral.

There is a saying: “Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.” It is not just how we look at ourselves but also how we view the events and circumstances we move through.

At the centre of suffering, pain and loss, this work searches for what Naz calls collateral beauty.