Carenza Elizabeth Greed’s pamphlet-length book of ‘lyrical inserts’ and poetry, Everything Has Order, Every Action Has Its Place, is a rather downbeat piece of work, with musings on mortality, mental health, gender, religion, and loss.
Greed is a psychology student at the University of Brighton, who goes by the name of Wren. Their creative writing is inspired by their own mental health struggles and a desire to support others. Everything Has Order, Every Action Has Its Place is Wren’s second collection following Musings of the Wistful Gentleman (and Other Personalities).
Coming from a place of mental illness and grief, this book is genuinely affecting across its 40 poems, although I would not necessarily recommend reading in one sitting. Dealing with the loss of a friend, as well as a need to explore what is outside one’s own soul, means that Wren’s work is quite introspective. Having said this, I found resonance with some of my own life experience.
God, or religion, is mentioned quite a lot, clearly important to the author while adding an old-fashioned patina to the verse. Wren doesn’t use rhyme in their work, instead letting the flow of the poem offer a snapshot of a moment.
Poems like “Queen of the night” suggest a more general focus, detailing a moment of happiness through company and surroundings; in contrast with “The beast is here” which offers a deeply personal perspective on mental instability.
Not every poem lands with surety, but the collection as a whole shows a voice that has something to say, without reticence or caution. The lyrics included in the first part of the book are focused on clowns (the masks we wear to hide ourselves?) and offer contrast to the poetry that follows.
Coming from a place of low self-esteem, grief and addiction (which is detailed in one of the most poignant pieces in the collection, “Suicide”), Everything Has Order, Every Action Has Its Place achieves its objective to highlight’s Wren’s own experience and utilise it to support others.
I wanted to know more about Wren Greed than this book told me. I found supplementary information about them from this University of Brighton article.
Everything Has Order, Every Action Has Its Place is available now from Waterstones and other booksellers; it is self-published with Tellwell Talent.