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Review – An Invisible Flower by Yoko Ono

Denise Enck

An Invisible Flower by Yoko Ono / Chronicle Books / 52 pages / 978-1452109114

Yoko Ono - An Invisible FlowerAn Invisible Flower was written and illustrated by nineteeen-year-old Yoko Ono, years before she met John Lennon, or became a public figure.

It is the tale of a girl who sees a flower that no one else can see. Finally, she meets a man, “Smelty John,” who can see the flower, too. It carries with it a message of hope, and

Her delightful, minimalistic drawings capture the essence of the story while still allowing the reader to form their own impressions.

Yoko tucked theses pages away, and there they stayed for many years, until her son, Sean Lennon discovered and published them. His foreword and Yoko’s afterword fill in some context for this work.

Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with Yoko’s later work – or at least some of her music. An Invisible Flower gives us a look at her creative beginnings, the fruits of a very turmoil-filled young life, and find them imbued with hope and wisdom.

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Denise Enck

Denise is Empty Mirror's founder and editor. She's edited several other literary magazines and small-press publications since the 1990s. When not at Empty Mirror, you can probably find her reading or writing -- or out exploring the back roads and beaches of Washington State.

Author: Denise Enck Tags: fiction reviews, John Lennon, Yoko Ono Category: Visual Art and Visual Poetry June 5, 2013

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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