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A review by katiemonty
Aphrodite Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer
Not fully sure how I felt about this but here are some quotes I liked!
“I wrote my own story and still said all the wrong things.”
“I don’t know enough about healing / I had to step back for a while to get to know myself again but now I don’t know how to step forward / I worry it’s safer to sleep alone”
“Love knows only love. We waste so much time trying to explain ourselves.”
“love is more than the lessons it teaches”
“I have this dream where I only write you love poems and none of them have to say, “I’m so glad we’re alive.”
“You have to let something go. You carry too much in your heart. There’s no room for anything else.”
“…but Achilles mourned Patroclus the way a soul mourns a body.”
THE POET SINGS OF WAR
“Once, someone asked me why I write so much about airports and I said: it’s not about airports.
It’s about having something tangible to miss.
I don’t know what to call homesickness when I’m home.”
“Fuck another poem that means I have to stand in front of strangers and make a bouquet of my trauma.”
GENDER: “I used to think girl meant wilting like a rose in the palm of a man’s hand / but sometimes it just means thorn / and sometimes it just means wilting into my own hands”
“Accepting this body did not mean convincing myself that it was beautiful; it meant giving myself permission to exist regardless.”
“give yourself permission to explore every aspect of your being: the parts they call feminine and the parts they don’t / the parts that would make your mother gasp / the parts that are deemed unacceptable and undesirable / the parts that are hungry / the parts that are angry / the parts that are hurting / the parts that make you feel good / the parts that make you feel guilty / the parts you’re not proud of / all of it / every bloody, ugly bit”
“I wrote my own story and still said all the wrong things.”
“I don’t know enough about healing / I had to step back for a while to get to know myself again but now I don’t know how to step forward / I worry it’s safer to sleep alone”
“Love knows only love. We waste so much time trying to explain ourselves.”
“love is more than the lessons it teaches”
“I have this dream where I only write you love poems and none of them have to say, “I’m so glad we’re alive.”
“You have to let something go. You carry too much in your heart. There’s no room for anything else.”
“…but Achilles mourned Patroclus the way a soul mourns a body.”
THE POET SINGS OF WAR
“Once, someone asked me why I write so much about airports and I said: it’s not about airports.
It’s about having something tangible to miss.
I don’t know what to call homesickness when I’m home.”
“Fuck another poem that means I have to stand in front of strangers and make a bouquet of my trauma.”
GENDER: “I used to think girl meant wilting like a rose in the palm of a man’s hand / but sometimes it just means thorn / and sometimes it just means wilting into my own hands”
“Accepting this body did not mean convincing myself that it was beautiful; it meant giving myself permission to exist regardless.”
“give yourself permission to explore every aspect of your being: the parts they call feminine and the parts they don’t / the parts that would make your mother gasp / the parts that are deemed unacceptable and undesirable / the parts that are hungry / the parts that are angry / the parts that are hurting / the parts that make you feel good / the parts that make you feel guilty / the parts you’re not proud of / all of it / every bloody, ugly bit”