They couldn’t (or rather, wouldn’t) accept that she could be both “bloody and beautiful” and I feel as though every single person who identifies as a woman is Aphrodite in this sense. Trista discusses how men couldn’t understand the multifaceted nature of Aphrodite’s being.
She wasn’t just the goddess of love and beauty, though, she was also a goddess of war. Over the centuries, Aphrodite has been reduced to nothing more than a symbol of love and beauty. I also love how Trista has given Aphrodite a voice with this collection. It brings people together and makes them feel less alone in their experiences. They’ll read a poem and think, Someone gets it, and this is one of the things that made me fall in love with poetry in the first place. Every single reader will be able to relate to at least one poem on a soul-deep level. It’s a very intimate collection, if that makes any sense at all. As a person who’s gone through some of the things that Trista discusses in her poetry, I found this collection to be balm to my soul.
Trista Mateer’s writing is lyrical and evocative and covers a wide range of themes, from love to abuse, from healing to body image. So when I read Aphrodite Made Me Do It, it was like a breath fresh air. Again, as I said before, there is nothing wrong with minimalist poetry, but whenever I went into a bookstore BC (Before Covid), I felt as though it was all I was seeing on the shelves. However, for me personally, I feel as though minimalist poetry has become the ‘in’ thing and many poets are mimicking one another’s styles as opposed to discovering their own. A lack of punctuation or capitalisation doesn’t detract from a powerful message. I myself have dabbled with minimalist poetry and for me, poetry isn’t about how your poem is written it’s about the thoughts, ideas and emotions embedded within your words. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with minimalist poetry. I think part of the reason is down to the fact that I find a lot of contemporary poets rather ‘samey’, ie. I love poetry, but I haven’t actually read much in the past year or so. Given how much I enjoyed it, though, I may well end up buying myself a physical copy too. I tend to prefer physical books over e-books, but I was so impatient to read it that I purchased it on Kindle. I heard about Aphrodite Made Me Do It through Kristin over at Kristin Kraves Books and I just knew the moment I laid eyes on its gorgeous front cover that I had to read it. This time 24 hours ago, I hadn’t heard of Trista Mateer, let alone read any of her work.
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