Step Into My Flow: Poems on Healing, Self-Discovery, and Transformation

by Michelle Heighway, Zoë Howe (Editor), Lynn Hatzius (Illustrator)

Step Into My Flow is a deeply personal collection that explores themes of self-discovery, healing, and the beauty of everyday moments. Through intimate, unfiltered language, Michelle Heighway reflects on the divine feminine, creativity, and the interplay between the self and the universe. With a minimalist, unpunctuated style, this collection embraces vulnerability and imperfection — inviting readers to pause, reflect, and embrace their true selves. It celebrates transformation and the quiet energy that shapes our inner landscapes.


“Experimental modernist.” — Toria Garbutt, critically acclaimed poet

“A poetry machine with a full engine.” — Damo Suzuki, frontman of German experimental band Can

“A lovely collection with a sparkling tone throughout; much to relate to and to be inspired by.” — Zoë Howe, writer, broadcaster, artist

“A deeply introspective collection.” — Richard C. Bower, award-winning poet

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 24, 2025

About the author

MICHELLE HEIGHWAY is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer based in West Yorkshire, known for her critically acclaimed documentaries Mr. Somebody? and Energy: A Documentary about Damo Suzuki.

In 2024 Michelle Heighway was awarded funding from the Arts Council to develop her poetry practice. Through this support she created her debut book Step Into My Flow.

Reviews

[Fin O'Suilleabhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having admired both of Michelle Heighway’s documentary films I thought I’d give her verse a go. This collection of nearly 100 shortish poems is described on the cover as “deeply personal”, a promise the contents keep. Most of the poems, like the title itself, have a first-person perspective on the world, whether the author is contemplating cats, toothpaste or the wider universe itself. A compact, handsomely produced volume in its hard-copy form, the collection comprises four roughly equal sections: ‘Beginnings and Reflections’, ‘Nature and Healing’, ‘Loss and Longing’ and ‘Celebration, Connection and Transformation’. The language can be deceptively spare (blank verse indeed – you won’t need a dictionary), though on a re-reading, much of it struck me as more concrete, while still leaving plenty of space for the imagination – this is poetry, after all. In this respect it can be a bit like ambient music, maybe, and could have some of the same therapeutic potential (and not only in the ‘Nature and Healing’ section). This doesn’t always make it a comfortable ride, let alone a cosy one. There’s mystery and unease, as in my favourite example (‘Observation’), beginning “There is a man / At the bottom of of my drive”. Most of the poems keep to a single page but one (‘Forever Friend’) is quite a bit longer, as befits what seems to stand out as the most obviously personal of all. I hardly felt I’d got to the bottom of the whole thing even on re-reading, which is of course as it should be. If I had to sum it up I’d say it’s wounded but (while hardly pain-free) hopeful. If I were you I’d consider giving it a go too.