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Letters From Medea
A collection of poems that reincarnates one of the most wicked women in classical literature into the modern day. It is a collection that celebrates and understands girlhood, loss, and love. These are Medea's letters to the modern girl.
60 pages, Paperback
First published December 26, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
July 24, 2016
the center of every poem is this: i have loved you. i have had to deal with that.
I freaking loved this. I swear I have half the book highlighted
I freaking loved this. I swear I have half the book highlighted
March 10, 2017
Oh, I loved this one. It's intense. Fierce. Hurting.
October 1, 2021
Anyone with a physical or digital copy of the book, please message me. It’s out of print with no indications it will become available again and I would like to make a digital version so people can read her work.
EDIT SEPT 30 2021: Ms. Deera has allowed me to share a digital copy of this since it has long been out of print and is unlikely to return to print. I don't believe I can post the link in this review but please feel free to DM me for a copy.
EDIT SEPT 30 2021: Ms. Deera has allowed me to share a digital copy of this since it has long been out of print and is unlikely to return to print. I don't believe I can post the link in this review but please feel free to DM me for a copy.
November 18, 2022
"the night is young and this world is old
and i have felt every age in your mouth."
nothing spectacular, but it was good.
and i have felt every age in your mouth."
nothing spectacular, but it was good.
April 15, 2023
female rage y poemas de desamor desgarradores??? sign me up.
December 24, 2017
"the leaves eve used to cover her modesty are the / same leaves artemis burned"
"in your dream, achilles comes for you / with the rage of every fury in tartarus / because you sent your love to war / and he came back unharmed"
"we all want our own tragedy"
"we want the teeth, the screaming, the survival"
"i did not suffer from love / i suffered with it"
"woman is this-enduring"
"but there is no god listening to them / because they broke the windows / and god is focusing on the repairs"
"i am writing to you from a place that burns"
"'take back your rib.' eve cries. / 'i didn't want it. i never did. it is weighing me down'"
"in astronomy class, the muse urania angrily watches a panel of / men talk about the wonders of the stars as thought they created / them"
"for a moment, leave the poetry behind"
"i don't mind bruises if it's your / mouth that makes them"
"you forget that loving someone isn't the same / as knowing that they dog-ear pages in books. / (it's okay. i'm sorry nobody explained this to you)"
"what kind of soldier invades themselves? / a girl does"
"a monster is a thing that loves everything too much. / a monster is what happens when a person is starved / and then fed the world"
"(i want to kill my sadness too, kafka, i want to drown it)"
"he tries to cough out his loneliness / he will be coughing on loneliness for the rest of his life"
"i want to destroy myself. / i want to be a secret that nobody but i can ruin-"
"the centre of every poem is this: / i have loved you. i have to deal with that"
"have you seen what happens to the organs / of a person in love? / it would make god surrender"
"they will only see the blood on your hands. / nobody will know how lovely you were. / nobody will know you have been beautiful"
"love is what happens when you are full of war"
"no poet has every thought love was soft"
"but tell me, who was it that made you dangerous? / it was no one. / it was me. / it was everyone"
"in your dream, achilles comes for you / with the rage of every fury in tartarus / because you sent your love to war / and he came back unharmed"
"we all want our own tragedy"
"we want the teeth, the screaming, the survival"
"i did not suffer from love / i suffered with it"
"woman is this-enduring"
"but there is no god listening to them / because they broke the windows / and god is focusing on the repairs"
"i am writing to you from a place that burns"
"'take back your rib.' eve cries. / 'i didn't want it. i never did. it is weighing me down'"
"in astronomy class, the muse urania angrily watches a panel of / men talk about the wonders of the stars as thought they created / them"
"for a moment, leave the poetry behind"
"i don't mind bruises if it's your / mouth that makes them"
"you forget that loving someone isn't the same / as knowing that they dog-ear pages in books. / (it's okay. i'm sorry nobody explained this to you)"
"what kind of soldier invades themselves? / a girl does"
"a monster is a thing that loves everything too much. / a monster is what happens when a person is starved / and then fed the world"
"(i want to kill my sadness too, kafka, i want to drown it)"
"he tries to cough out his loneliness / he will be coughing on loneliness for the rest of his life"
"i want to destroy myself. / i want to be a secret that nobody but i can ruin-"
"the centre of every poem is this: / i have loved you. i have to deal with that"
"have you seen what happens to the organs / of a person in love? / it would make god surrender"
"they will only see the blood on your hands. / nobody will know how lovely you were. / nobody will know you have been beautiful"
"love is what happens when you are full of war"
"no poet has every thought love was soft"
"but tell me, who was it that made you dangerous? / it was no one. / it was me. / it was everyone"
February 26, 2017
Es bastante raro !
Hubo algunas partes que me confundieron demasiado, pero cabe destacar que tiene muchas citas que me agradaron
Aquí les dejo algunas:
-"Because you’ve never known misery. you’ve never wanted to rip the heart right out of you–or tear the skin off your back and swallow it down. in your dream, you are jealous of tragedies. and the truth is, we all want our own tragedy, because life is pale without it. we want the teeth, the screaming, the survival that comes with it."
-I am writing to you from a place that burns, with a body that has loved you too much.
-You will realise nobody actually wants a savage girl. ferocious girl.
“devils may enter.” because they are the only ones who will love this feral side of you.
-You smell like copper. a pretend poem. the penny left at the back of the bus. golden red. blood bitten tongue.
-You are a faulty alarm going off every three minutes screaming “i love someone”.
-‘Tell me some facts about yourself,’ he asks. ‘sure,’ she says. she knows he doesn’t really want to know about her. not mentally, anyway.
-I love a boy who kisses me so solid i can’t stand up after. i’m not going to wait. i’m going to descend into him the first chance i get.
-Darling, i don’t want you to love me. i want you to be terrified.
-‘Do you love me?’ you whisper. ‘how dare you ask me that?’ i reply.
-We both know i’ve been yours for the longest time. it isn’t right that humans can cause this hell.
-Nobody wants a girl who wears death like perfume or has blood on her breath. run from those who claim they do. danger has never been splendor.
Hubo algunas partes que me confundieron demasiado, pero cabe destacar que tiene muchas citas que me agradaron
Aquí les dejo algunas:
-"Because you’ve never known misery. you’ve never wanted to rip the heart right out of you–or tear the skin off your back and swallow it down. in your dream, you are jealous of tragedies. and the truth is, we all want our own tragedy, because life is pale without it. we want the teeth, the screaming, the survival that comes with it."
-I am writing to you from a place that burns, with a body that has loved you too much.
-You will realise nobody actually wants a savage girl. ferocious girl.
“devils may enter.” because they are the only ones who will love this feral side of you.
-You smell like copper. a pretend poem. the penny left at the back of the bus. golden red. blood bitten tongue.
-You are a faulty alarm going off every three minutes screaming “i love someone”.
-‘Tell me some facts about yourself,’ he asks. ‘sure,’ she says. she knows he doesn’t really want to know about her. not mentally, anyway.
-I love a boy who kisses me so solid i can’t stand up after. i’m not going to wait. i’m going to descend into him the first chance i get.
-Darling, i don’t want you to love me. i want you to be terrified.
-‘Do you love me?’ you whisper. ‘how dare you ask me that?’ i reply.
-We both know i’ve been yours for the longest time. it isn’t right that humans can cause this hell.
-Nobody wants a girl who wears death like perfume or has blood on her breath. run from those who claim they do. danger has never been splendor.
August 29, 2020
This book had some great poems, some average ones and some that I didn't get - yet. However, THE WHOLE BOOK WAS WRITTEN LIKE THIS and that was a bit too much for me. I'm too accustomed to capital letters as a form of shouting, and hence it was difficult for me to read the poems without constant noise underneath. I'll need to give this another try, though.
February 1, 2016
"listen girl, you will survive this-you will.
but what fool said you had to do it silently?
here is a tip=scream"
but what fool said you had to do it silently?
here is a tip=scream"
March 11, 2017
nobody wants a girl who wears death like perfume or has blood on her breath.
run from those who claim they do.
danger has never been splendor.
run from those who claim they do.
danger has never been splendor.
Read
September 18, 2024i don't know why i thought this would shake me. i liked letters to kafka though.
March 4, 2022
if you’re a woman, i’m begging you, read this
October 26, 2015
Salma Deera's Letters to Medea bravely confronts centuries of patriarchy by reincarnating "one of the most wicked women in classical literature." She calls many of the women from Greek mythology and Biblical literature to her side, giving modern-day advice to girls on self-love, endurance, and heartache. Salma's words ready you for war. They flirt with the border between sin and prayer, lust and love, body and soul. Her book is ultimately an ode to love—old love, new love, forgotten love, and brave love. "The centre of every poem is this: / I have loved you. I have had to deal with that."
December 13, 2021
“I have loved you. I have had to deal with that.”
Meh, I stumbled with this collection of poems across Tumblr and decided to check it out. I found most poems to be extremely basic and 'tumblr-ish', but there were some nice quotes from now and then. I actually gave it two stars instead of one due to 1 specific poem which hurt me like a bit*h for personal reasons and I was not expecting it.
“that’s the problem with being the one that breaks a heart.
they will only see the blood on your hands.”
Meh, I stumbled with this collection of poems across Tumblr and decided to check it out. I found most poems to be extremely basic and 'tumblr-ish', but there were some nice quotes from now and then. I actually gave it two stars instead of one due to 1 specific poem which hurt me like a bit*h for personal reasons and I was not expecting it.
“that’s the problem with being the one that breaks a heart.
they will only see the blood on your hands.”
September 28, 2022
I’ve seen people say that this is interesting but I found it awful … you can tell it was written in 2015, fake deep, saying things for the sake of it. I think the concept is interesting but other than that just :/ I think that verse poetry really isn’t for me
October 29, 2015
Fantastically confident poems. You have a really wonderful way of connecting with the classics through your poetry. Can't wait to see what you get up to next, Salma!
April 19, 2025
female rage.
April 7, 2022
this book came to me in the most perfect time it could've come. i will remember some of these poems forever, and return to them from time to time. incredible writing, it made me feel more in two sentences than entire books have made me feel in months. thank you.
May 8, 2020
i found this on tumblr. some of the quotes. ironically they're not from this book but they lead me here. see, this is good poetry. no poetry is essentially bad but this is unquestionably good.
December 2, 2021
nao eh mt minha praia nao e varias coisas envolvendo mitologia ficaram meio pau mole mas uns trechos quebraram minhas pernas 🌟💙💫✨
June 7, 2024
so poignant ! a must read if you like sexton and carson
July 30, 2023
*4.5 || love love love the relations to mythology and religion
September 21, 2023
Sweet God Salma Deera, what have you done to me? I am not okay.
October 6, 2022
‘a monster is what happens when a person is starved and then fed the world’
Had a few brill gems in it (see the above) but didn’t leave a lasting mark on me - generally, a work of style over substance.
Had a few brill gems in it (see the above) but didn’t leave a lasting mark on me - generally, a work of style over substance.
December 22, 2021
I'm only six pages in and it keeps getting better and I can't breathe.
December 6, 2015
Taking from classic greek myths and biblical women Salma has written a poetry collection that I did not put down until I had read through it twice.
"My darling girls, forget your fathers.
you have no time to repent for their sins.
You have your own to pay for."
From mythical and biblical women to the modern girl, this is about finding your own heart in all the stories. How Helen of Troy has them all on their knees, how Eve was betrayed, and the modern woman is full of love and war.
Mostly this book which I am having such a difficult time writing about feels like a fierce love poem to everyone who has felt the hum of history in them when reading classical literature, and how even after finish reading they can see themselves as Helen of troy;
It's about power, perceived and realised.
I loved this poetry book a lot.
"My darling girls, forget your fathers.
you have no time to repent for their sins.
You have your own to pay for."
From mythical and biblical women to the modern girl, this is about finding your own heart in all the stories. How Helen of Troy has them all on their knees, how Eve was betrayed, and the modern woman is full of love and war.
Mostly this book which I am having such a difficult time writing about feels like a fierce love poem to everyone who has felt the hum of history in them when reading classical literature, and how even after finish reading they can see themselves as Helen of troy;
It's about power, perceived and realised.
I loved this poetry book a lot.
January 18, 2022
some of my fave lines in the book!
“i want to tell you that i think you have the only hands
that i’d like to hold in the cold
because you’re the only person who knows
that i can’t say words like ‘i love you.’
but for some reason, you look at me, you talk to me,
like i might have invented the phrase.
you’re a song whose lyrics i’ve forgotten
but whose melody is the soundtrack to my life.”
“tonight, i am not a girl.
i am a wishbone.”
“but we have this. this secret love that
i’ll publish in the small printing press of my lungs,
that you will keep hidden in the bookshelf of your mouth.”
“it is past midnight and the coffee
is cold but your eyes are warm”
“and you laugh.
loudly–
head tipping back.
and while your eyes
are on the ceiling,
i am mouthing
something too heavy even
for this steady night to shoulder.
'this is not a joke.’ i mouth.
‘love me. love me.”
really nice book! 🤍🤍
“i want to tell you that i think you have the only hands
that i’d like to hold in the cold
because you’re the only person who knows
that i can’t say words like ‘i love you.’
but for some reason, you look at me, you talk to me,
like i might have invented the phrase.
you’re a song whose lyrics i’ve forgotten
but whose melody is the soundtrack to my life.”
“tonight, i am not a girl.
i am a wishbone.”
“but we have this. this secret love that
i’ll publish in the small printing press of my lungs,
that you will keep hidden in the bookshelf of your mouth.”
“it is past midnight and the coffee
is cold but your eyes are warm”
“and you laugh.
loudly–
head tipping back.
and while your eyes
are on the ceiling,
i am mouthing
something too heavy even
for this steady night to shoulder.
'this is not a joke.’ i mouth.
‘love me. love me.”
really nice book! 🤍🤍
January 22, 2021
"i have loved you. i have had to deal with that."
Boyle kitaplar bana hep siir hakkinda dusunduklerimi sorgulatiyor. Evet, okudugumu sevdim, okurken cogunlukla zevk aldim, altini da cizdim. Ama neden siir kitabi okumus gibi hissetmiyorum? Kisa oldugu icin mi? Kafiyesiz oldugundan mi? Hayir, koskoca bir postmodernizmi cope atamam. Sanirim sadece, postmodernizm bana gercekci gelmiyor. Richard Siken'den, Sylvia Plath'ten, confessional sairlerden oteye gidemiyorum.
Belki de kendimi cok hafife aliyorum, belki postmodern bir siir gorup onu yabancilamiyorum ve belki de yalnizca bana bir seyleri yeterince guclu hissettirmeyen siirler tesadufen postmodernistlerin siirleri oluyor. Bilmem, olabilir. Okuduguma, altini cizdigime memnunum ama. Bol bol alinti yapacagim galiba.
Boyle kitaplar bana hep siir hakkinda dusunduklerimi sorgulatiyor. Evet, okudugumu sevdim, okurken cogunlukla zevk aldim, altini da cizdim. Ama neden siir kitabi okumus gibi hissetmiyorum? Kisa oldugu icin mi? Kafiyesiz oldugundan mi? Hayir, koskoca bir postmodernizmi cope atamam. Sanirim sadece, postmodernizm bana gercekci gelmiyor. Richard Siken'den, Sylvia Plath'ten, confessional sairlerden oteye gidemiyorum.
Belki de kendimi cok hafife aliyorum, belki postmodern bir siir gorup onu yabancilamiyorum ve belki de yalnizca bana bir seyleri yeterince guclu hissettirmeyen siirler tesadufen postmodernistlerin siirleri oluyor. Bilmem, olabilir. Okuduguma, altini cizdigime memnunum ama. Bol bol alinti yapacagim galiba.
May 15, 2022
this book spilt me in half. i think it was made for me. this is mine now. i’ve never felt so 😰🥰😫😭🤧🥸🥺. the fact that i can’t find it for sale anywhere is a crime against humanity. 4.7
some of my favorite entires:
“when will you stop letting everything play inside of you? do you remember the last time you stopped feeling like a playground?”
“you are ares’ lost twin sister.
goddess of sedated battles and lost girls.
always full of other people and never yourself.”
“when someone asks me if i’ve spoken
to you today, i get excited.
it means they think you’re a part of my routine.”
“take back your rib.’ eve cries.
'i didn’t want it. i never did. it is weighing me down.”
some of my favorite entires:
“when will you stop letting everything play inside of you? do you remember the last time you stopped feeling like a playground?”
“you are ares’ lost twin sister.
goddess of sedated battles and lost girls.
always full of other people and never yourself.”
“when someone asks me if i’ve spoken
to you today, i get excited.
it means they think you’re a part of my routine.”
“take back your rib.’ eve cries.
'i didn’t want it. i never did. it is weighing me down.”
January 20, 2025
salma deera is very much of the tumblr poetry microblog community circa the mid 2010s..... the greek myth references alone
not so much a denigration but i think that type of writing has so over saturated modern poetry, especially the whole "girl = monster = unlovable = reclaim womanhood" through-line you see a lot of in, like, Amanda Lovelace's oeuvre (what a good word btw)
i think deera is at her best when relating deeply personal experiences, high emotion of the small intimate moments variety- might be bias on my part though since that's the stuff** like to read the most overall: quite good, a fast read, derivative but enjoyable
not so much a denigration but i think that type of writing has so over saturated modern poetry, especially the whole "girl = monster = unlovable = reclaim womanhood" through-line you see a lot of in, like, Amanda Lovelace's oeuvre (what a good word btw)
i think deera is at her best when relating deeply personal experiences, high emotion of the small intimate moments variety- might be bias on my part though since that's the stuff** like to read the most overall: quite good, a fast read, derivative but enjoyable
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews