Trista Mateer > Quotes

“I still remember you
as a little girl
who overwaters plants
because she doesn’t know
when to stop giving.”
― Trista Mateer

“I hope one day
somebody loves you
so much

that they see violets
in the bags under your eyes,
sunsets in the downward arch
of your lips

that they recognize you
as something green,
something fresh and still growing
even if sometimes
you are growing sideways

that they do not waste their time
trying to fix you.”
― Trista Mateer

“I Swear Somewhere This Works

In a parallel universe or another world
or a different life,

we sit across from each other

at the kitchen table

and go over
the grocery
list.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“Sometimes I think I resented you so much it felt like love.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“I am going to hurt you.
You are going to hurt me.

But we will do it with practiced fingers
and passionate mouths
and I swear to god

it will be worth something.”
― Trista Mateer

“People expect all stories of abuse
to be loud and angry
but they're not.

Sometimes they're quiet and cruel
and swept under the rug.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“In this space right here
that we have made for each other,
you can say anything
and I will not abandon you.
Unwrap the worst things you have done.
Watch me hold them up to the light
and not even flinch.”
― Trista Mateer

“I promised no more poetry and I’d rather think of this as a confession: you are still the first person I want to share new things with.”
― Trista Mateer, Honeybee

“I wrote my own story
And still said all the wrong things.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“My hands are still shaking from
nights spent not knowing
how to want you.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“I’m sorry that I am back and forth, push and pull
instead of effortless simplicity.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“Some people are born flight risks. It is no shortcoming of yours that they cannot keep their feet on the ground. It is not your fault that they cannot seem to stand in place. They are not leaving you; they are just leaving.”
― Trista Mateer, Honeybee

“I still have a lot of growing to do
and I know there is more room for it
in your absence.”
― Trista Mateer, Honeybee

“Like one moment I am whole,   but then I hear your voice on the phone   and I swear to god three blocks away from here they can smell smoke.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“love has little to do with blood relations and more to do with who you choose to bleed for”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“What brings us together will always be more powerful than what keeps us apart.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“I will greet you with a mouth full of barbed wire until you learn to stop coming after me with your hands.
”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“The thing about embracing your own chaos is that it never becomes clear when you need to stop.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“I'm trying to remember to make room in my life for the person I am now, not just the people I have been.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“For Brittanie

There will always be men
who have fishhooks for fingers.
There will always be women
with wet, sharp mouths.
It is okay to get caught up in them.

It is not okay to drown.

Don’t you ever let another human
being tear you apart.
Remember that you have claws
and teeth, too.

Remember that you are better off
whole.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“In Troy they fought over Helen like children but Achilles mourned Patroclus the way a soul mourns a body.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“Regardless of whether you desire it, love is what sits at the core of the world. It is stronger than greed and hate and jealousy and pain. What brings us together will always be more powerful than what keeps us apart.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“I’m afraid of driving and wanting to crash on purpose.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“i loved her more than i loved you and i’m sorry that you knew it.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“I’m still trying to figure out who I am alone so that I know who I am in front of other people.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“can we say goodbye again? i miss the way you rip me open.   i”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“They made a monster
of Medusa as well.
Hated how loud
her trauma was.
Couldn’t believe
she had the audacity
not to take it lying down.
they made a war-ground
of her body
so she made one
of theirs.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“I do not tell her that sometimes it feels like compromising yourself is part of growing up.”
― Trista Mateer, The Dogs I Have Kissed

“For everyone I meet with your name
I'm sorry.”
― Trista Mateer, Honeybee

“You are not required to be small.
You are not required to be pleasant.
You are not required to be conventional.
You are not required to be accommodating.
You are not required to be submissive.
You are not required to be merciful.
You are not required to be quiet.”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It