Not One of These Poems Is About You

by Teva Harrison

From Teva Harrison, the award-winning author and illustrator of In-Between Days , comes a powerful work of poetry and art in which she continues to explore what it means to live with metastatic breast cancer. In this remarkable, frank, and gut-wrenching mix of words and images, Teva continues on her journey, grappling with what it means to live with metastatic breast cancer. She plunges deep into her inner world, shadowing the progression of the disease. Reality takes on sharp the swell of cancer and its retreat with chemo. Her inner corporeal reality versus her outer manifestation of health, vitality, and femininity. Holding fast to the great love of her life, while preparing to leave him behind. Contemplating who she was before cancer, and who she is now. Starkly honest and wholly profound, Not One of These Poems Is About You distills life to its essence. Teva Harrison continues to gift the world with her clear-eyed insight and her open heart.

Genres: Poetry, Canada, Nonfiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 7, 2020

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart is heavy after reading this. And yet I am so appreciative and enamored by her grace and honesty in these poems.

Diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at age 37 she goes deep, opening up her heart for all to see. Sharing her innermost thoughts and fears. Her journey through her diagnosis and treatments and the way cancer has changed who she is.

A devastatingly beautiful, heartbreaking read. I feel like no words I write will do this book justice. Her bravery and honesty is profound and complex. Thank You Teva for gifting this book to the world. A comfort for thoes who walk in your shoes and an insightful look inside this terrifying diagnosis for the rest of us.

Sadly Teva Harrison passed away in April of this year. Her words and work will live on and continue to inspire.

This collection is out in January. Highly reccomend checking it out.
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Thank You to @houseofanansi for sending me this book opinions are my own.
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[Christine Beevis Trickett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bawled through this entire collection, because it at once showed us the fears and anxieties Teva may not have shown to many of us, and it brought home so many of the things I knew she was experiencing at the time. It is a gift to those of us who knew her, as well as those who never had the opportunity.

It is at once a reflection on love, loss, and what it means to be alive. Just as I’m In-Between Days, Teva explores what it means to live along the fragile edges of existence as her body begins to fail her.

A truly generous and brave collection of poems. I am grateful to Teva to have shared it with us.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, raw, and heartbreaking poems.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the author: Rest In Peace (1976-2019), thank you for this poetry.

[Catherine Miller Mort · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it in a day. It was beautiful and fitting and I am so appreciative of Teva Harrison for writing it.

[Ashley Epp · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is very scared of sickness and death this was so moving. Amazing poetry and amazing illustrations.

[Shelley G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodness gracious. This is a really powerful collection. It's beautiful and raw and a real gut punch.

[Elda Pappadà · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend recommended this book to me and I am glad she did. This is a well written, honest, honourable, smart, deep book. Teva deserved all the wonderful acclaim she received. We join Teva on her battle with cancer, but I didn't find it at all sad. It made me realize what I have and what it means to live and hold on to who and what is around you. We are presented with everything that makes poetry great: imagery and words that evoke emotion on pages we constantly want to go back to again and again. I am sorry to know that we shall never receive new material from her.

[Chels Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the start I wasn’t aware of what this book of poetry was about. Once I learnt (via the internet) it was poems about her dying about cancer, it was fascinating and moving.

I say this because she has a poem at the start that reads like her Significant other will leave her for another woman, a better more beautiful women. I first read it like, come on why are you sabotaging your relationship? Why so needed!

But once knowing she’s dying, I realized it’s about after she’s dead. And the want for him to be happy but also the jealous of it all.

It’s a powerful book, a fine balance of how to go on, how not to go on, and who you are. Not who you were or want to be, but really what you’re forced to be.

The insomniac poem, of mixing drugs, trying to sleep but your body betraying with “animal” needs is so very relatable to almost anyone who has been on the same meds, or has been sick. I have in the passed fallen asleep in the toilet. But to continue like that for more than a few days, and to go on with your life of coffee and pain au chocolate. Brings so much contemplative thought to her work.

It’s fascinating and moving all the more so because it’s so truthful and unabashedly ugly.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might be a horrible person for rating this so low but I was taken aback by how little personality I felt in these poems. A lot of them read more like extended tweets or instagram captions than poetry. I, like many people, have had my own experience with breast cancer and was looking to find something to connect with in this collection. Instead I finished the book feeling like I hadn’t gained anything personally or artistically, and didn’t feel connected to the poems or the author.

The strongest poems are at the beginning of the collection - I particularly was taken with the exploration of how inner pain and illness isn’t given the importance in society that is given to outward showings of illness (which usually just means that you stop being hyper aware of your presentation, especially for women). Unfortunately, the collection as a whole didn’t maintain that same deep exploration throughout and, coupled with the very basic diction and imagery, it made very little impact.

But poetry, even more than most arts, is subjective. I do see I’m in the minority in my opinion and I’m glad so many people found so much to connect with in these poems. Always fascinating to see evidence of how art is subjective and so very human and close to our hearts.

[Patricia]

I read this poetry collection in one evening and was captivated by Teva Harrison's words and drawings. It was such a beautiful little book that, for me, hit very close to home.

These poems relate the author's experiences while battling breast cancer at a young age (sadly, she loses her battle which is extremely heartbreaking). A Pocketful of Stones and The Things I Do to Keep Cancer on the Down-Low were my favorite texts in this collection and will stay with me for a very long time.

Taking into consideration that this is Teva Harrison's last piece of litterature that could also be considered as her last words before her passing, I will not rate this book. If these words, that were extremely touching, were good for her, they are also good for me and it was an honor to read them.

Mrs. Harrison...thank you so much for this beautiful collection. All my condolences to your friends and family. I wish you a peaceful rest.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short collection was a great place to start my National Poetry Month challenge, as most of the poems were really accessible. The language was powerful, yet simple and the memoir genre meant that you knew the narrator. So while this makes the collection easy to get into, the subject matter of most of the poems was difficult. Harrison, an illustrator and author, wrote these poems as she was dealing with her terminal cancer diagnoses. The poems are visual, intimate and surprisingly hopeful with the theme of nature and spring woven in. I really loved ‘When I Became You’, a funny, raw, and flinty goodbye letter to her partner.

Even though some of the individual poems felt a little repetitive, I enjoyed this collection overall and it would be easy to recommend to a wide range of readers.

[John Everard Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry invites me in to explore life in vibrant and surprising ways. Not all poetry does this for me, but this book was a surprise and a delight. The title was the invitation because I believe a novel or poetry is always leading me to see more of myself, express life in ways that evoke insights and feelings.
Teva does this for me as she writes about her journey with cancer that reveals her love, her love of life, and her experience of leaving. It is difficult to describe in words what the author is saying because the "knowing" is the experience of reading her poems and the meaning emerges in my heart. So well written, her experience so well expressed. A short volume, easily read in a day. But only digested after many second helpings and meetings with her words over time.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really lovely reading experience. It's short and easily can be read in one sitting, with time to think about the poems. The drawings force you to pause and consider the book.

Having said that, it's not really to my taste. It's a little...literal? Some of the imagery is really captivating and some of the thoughts profound, but I never found myself really taken with it. I did like the variety of styles in the collection and the callbacks between the poems. It's a brave collection and at points raw. It feels unfinished, but that's part of writing a collection with the knowledge of your own death.

Overall not for me, but I can see how it might work for someone processing similar feelings.

[Donna Wellard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absorbed these poems about life, love and loss in a day- on the one year anniversary of Teva’s passing. So grateful to have this collection of poems that are so full of love in my hands. I found myself running my fingers over the little flowers and stars as well as the words on the paper. Like Shelagh Rogers mentions in her quote, reading them will always allow me to hear Teva’s voice now and always and to be thankful for everyday. Thank you Teva ❤️

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry is so dependent on personal taste. I feel bad about only giving this three stars (actually I'm rounding up) because I could tell that the author's emotions were so raw. But I have to admit that, although I tried hard and I was a sympathetic audience, most of these poems didn't evoke any sort of feelings for me. This book was highly recommended to me by others who have breast cancer, but it didn't do anything for me.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a heartbreaking collection of poems which I devoured after reading her book "In-Between Days".

It's an extension of the book, with snippets of love letters for her partner, and periods where she enjoys being alive. There are also odes to medications, their side effects, and the moments I don't think about - being so drugged up but having an urge to go to the bathroom - the moments I don't think about.

[HeatherD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first poetry book I've ever read from start to finish. My heart broke (again) reading Teva's poems. They are sad, romantic, realistic. The linking drawings are lovely - reminding us of her other artistic talents. What strength she had to write as her health failed. What an expression of love she has left as a legacy.

[Christy MacCallum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not One of These Poems is About You is heartbreaking and heavy. Teva Harrison wrote these poems after being diagnosed with metastic breast cancer and the book holds weight as she grapples with the life she knows she will be leaving soon. We often look up to those who approach death with open arms but Teva gives room for the anger and fear and chaos of living with a disease you know will kill toy.

[Lisa Pijuan-nomura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teva’s words are beautiful, honest and heartbreaking. I will treasure this book for a long long time. She has a way of giving me hope even in the face of dealing with cancer and death. Hope makes Life.

[Robin]

I've been spending more time lately mulling over what it means to be alive, to grieve, to acknowledge fear, to be ok with not being ok. Harrison's poetry about metastatic breast cancer considers all these things, and perhaps resonates more while sheltering in place. Accessible, candid and brief.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really beautiful, open and honest collection of poems about love, life and dying from cancer. These were beautiful and painful to read. The poems were accompanied by some of Teva's drawings.


A collection that encompassed who the author was.

Rest in peace, Teva.

[Riley (runtobooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! this was a beautiful collection

[Ruther Nathan Skoveuszky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Would recommend it to my friends.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic poetry collection made even more heart wrenching by the fact that it was published posthumously.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Teva.

[Wendelle]

poems of vulnerability and honesty from a woman confronting breast cancer.

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Powerful. Heartbreaking. Honest. Eye-opening.

[Connor Spearman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just wasn't for me.