What do you think?
Rate this book
The Dogs I Have Kissed
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2015)Known for her eponymous blog and her confessional style of writing, this is Trista Mateer's second collection of poetry.
90 pages, Paperback
First published May 25, 2015
319 people are currently reading
23005 people want to read
About the author
Trista Mateer
17 books1,392 followersTrista Mateer is the bestselling author of multiple poetry collections, including Aphrodite Made Me Do It and Honeybee. She is a passionate mental health advocate, currently writing in South Carolina. Connect with her on Instagram and Tiktok @tristamateer or at tristamateer.com.
Her newest collection, Artemis Made Me Do It, is available for preorder now and releases in September 2022!
Her newest collection, Artemis Made Me Do It, is available for preorder now and releases in September 2022!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 560 reviews
November 6, 2015
I saw the poetry section in the goodreads choice awards 2015 and decided I'll read all the books.
This collection of poems started very powerfully, then became a bit tiresome with saltiness, knees, mouth, wetness and similar recurring motives. In every poem, I knew what's going to be mentioned or written about.
That is my only objection and cast aside, a pretty good book that I enjoyed. I'll copy some of my favourite parts below:
12% [...] I learned the word fuck from my mother's tongue,
as in fucker, he fucking left me,
he fucking left.
I learned the word no from myself.
From somewhere deep int he pit of me,
it rose like some ancient thing
and slunk its way out of my throat,
heavy-handed.
Will I ever let this guard down long enough
to learn anything new?
Fuck no.
20% 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.
This collection of poems started very powerfully, then became a bit tiresome with saltiness, knees, mouth, wetness and similar recurring motives. In every poem, I knew what's going to be mentioned or written about.
That is my only objection and cast aside, a pretty good book that I enjoyed. I'll copy some of my favourite parts below:
12% [...] I learned the word fuck from my mother's tongue,
as in fucker, he fucking left me,
he fucking left.
I learned the word no from myself.
From somewhere deep int he pit of me,
it rose like some ancient thing
and slunk its way out of my throat,
heavy-handed.
Will I ever let this guard down long enough
to learn anything new?
Fuck no.
20% 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.
December 7, 2015
12 poems referencing teeth.
"There were flowers blooming between my teeth..."
"Strangers all stuck up in my teeth because I'm heart-hungry."
"Roll over in the bed and bare your neck to teeth"
"Tired of fighting but still fighters, we took to your sheets armed with skin and teeth."
"And you with your lungfuls of hope, teeth like slick wet promises every time you opened your mouth."
"It is easier to make myself the monster, to snap and bite and run and hide. It is easy to bare my teeth."...
And umpteen references to wetness (wet promises, wet mouths...), mouths (bloody mouths, stubborn mouths, noises of mouths) and tasting!
Oral fetish aside, the poems were whingy and amateurish. There were some self-reflective poems, where she was candid and shared some vulnerable moments. But, at best, she sounded glib.
"There were flowers blooming between my teeth..."
"Strangers all stuck up in my teeth because I'm heart-hungry."
"Roll over in the bed and bare your neck to teeth"
"Tired of fighting but still fighters, we took to your sheets armed with skin and teeth."
"And you with your lungfuls of hope, teeth like slick wet promises every time you opened your mouth."
"It is easier to make myself the monster, to snap and bite and run and hide. It is easy to bare my teeth."...
And umpteen references to wetness (wet promises, wet mouths...), mouths (bloody mouths, stubborn mouths, noises of mouths) and tasting!
Oral fetish aside, the poems were whingy and amateurish. There were some self-reflective poems, where she was candid and shared some vulnerable moments. But, at best, she sounded glib.
November 27, 2017
One of the better collections I've read in a while! The imagery in this was so impactful and really put me in her situation, and the emotion came through in this without being overly cheesy or sentimental. Sometimes there was a little too much repetition of a certain detail or metaphor, but otherwise, I thought this was lovely.
(spoiler alert: "dogs" is a metaphor for boys. i was upset. i kinda wanted a poetry book about dogs. *sigh*)
(spoiler alert: "dogs" is a metaphor for boys. i was upset. i kinda wanted a poetry book about dogs. *sigh*)
July 27, 2017
It started off nicely but became quite repetitive.
June 29, 2017
“The poet can’t stand the quiet. She can’t stand the buzzing in her head. The murmur of memory.
The poet picks up a book of poetry. It is not her writing but it reads the same way. It is not her story but the ending is similar enough to pass.
The poet tries to read a verse out loud and only tastes blood in her mouth.”
The poet picks up a book of poetry. It is not her writing but it reads the same way. It is not her story but the ending is similar enough to pass.
The poet tries to read a verse out loud and only tastes blood in her mouth.”
January 3, 2017
"Don’t you ever let another human being tear you apart. Remember that you have claws and teeth, too."
Do you have those distant acquaintances, who will unexpectedly pour their hearts out to you whenever you randomly bump into each other on the street and then just won’t know when to stop? It makes me feel awkward and unfortunately this is exactly what reading The Dogs I Have Kissed was like.
I picked this up because it won the Goodreads Choice Award for Poetry in 2015 and I am still looking for contemporary poetry that actually goes beyond that Tumblr level of poesy. This wasn’t for me at all. The collection of personal poetry from Trista Mateer is technically divided into three sections (Bite, Growl, Roll Over), which names are nice allusions to the book’s title, however, they all felt very much the same. There’s a lot of latent self-blaming and drowing-in-your-poor-feelings, which got a bit dragging and depressing after a good handful of poems. The regular mentions of fruits, coffee cup mouths (what even is that?) and teeth made me feel like I was reading the same break-up and heartbreak poem over and over again. (Which is an actual quote now that I’m thinking about it! It’s actually from one of the nicer ones, so here you go:)
"The poet tries to read a verse out loud and only tastes blood in her mouth. The poet worries she is writing the same poem over and over."
There were some nice lines, nonetheless, but they were just too sparse for me personally to really keep me engaged or emotionally attached.
"It’s just that I thought it was one thing to want to die and another thing to pick up kitchen knives."
I can totally see that writing these poems were somehow therapeutic and I don’t want to slam something that felt very personal as well, but they just didn’t give me much as a reader.
Do you have those distant acquaintances, who will unexpectedly pour their hearts out to you whenever you randomly bump into each other on the street and then just won’t know when to stop? It makes me feel awkward and unfortunately this is exactly what reading The Dogs I Have Kissed was like.
I picked this up because it won the Goodreads Choice Award for Poetry in 2015 and I am still looking for contemporary poetry that actually goes beyond that Tumblr level of poesy. This wasn’t for me at all. The collection of personal poetry from Trista Mateer is technically divided into three sections (Bite, Growl, Roll Over), which names are nice allusions to the book’s title, however, they all felt very much the same. There’s a lot of latent self-blaming and drowing-in-your-poor-feelings, which got a bit dragging and depressing after a good handful of poems. The regular mentions of fruits, coffee cup mouths (what even is that?) and teeth made me feel like I was reading the same break-up and heartbreak poem over and over again. (Which is an actual quote now that I’m thinking about it! It’s actually from one of the nicer ones, so here you go:)
"The poet tries to read a verse out loud and only tastes blood in her mouth. The poet worries she is writing the same poem over and over."
There were some nice lines, nonetheless, but they were just too sparse for me personally to really keep me engaged or emotionally attached.
"It’s just that I thought it was one thing to want to die and another thing to pick up kitchen knives."
I can totally see that writing these poems were somehow therapeutic and I don’t want to slam something that felt very personal as well, but they just didn’t give me much as a reader.
October 18, 2016
I saw this Poetry book when it was awarded as a Best Poetry Book of 2015;
SO, obviously i was going to read it, duh!!
The Dogs I Have Kissed is a collection of poetry's,
Some very heart touching and heart warming,
and some will take your breath away by the sheer amount of honesty, &
the way it just touched where it hurts more.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, i loved 90% of the poetry in this book. I read this book in literally in half an hour. I was that transfixed by it. <3
I would like to recommend it to everyone, especially to the Girls.! :P
"You Will Teach Her to Spit Out My Name"
When you fall in the arms of someone new,
I will just be the mess of a woman,
who left your love notes on the floor
and ran off.
When you bring up the past,
I will be the monster you could never outrun.
I will be the fear in the back of your throat
and nothing more.
I will be the unfortunate thing to overcome,
not a person with handful fuck-ups
and a mouthful of apologies.
SO, obviously i was going to read it, duh!!
The Dogs I Have Kissed is a collection of poetry's,
Some very heart touching and heart warming,
and some will take your breath away by the sheer amount of honesty, &
the way it just touched where it hurts more.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, i loved 90% of the poetry in this book. I read this book in literally in half an hour. I was that transfixed by it. <3
I would like to recommend it to everyone, especially to the Girls.! :P
"You Will Teach Her to Spit Out My Name"
When you fall in the arms of someone new,
I will just be the mess of a woman,
who left your love notes on the floor
and ran off.
When you bring up the past,
I will be the monster you could never outrun.
I will be the fear in the back of your throat
and nothing more.
I will be the unfortunate thing to overcome,
not a person with handful fuck-ups
and a mouthful of apologies.
"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.”
February 7, 2017
Review originally posted at The Nerdy side of a Queen
The Dogs I Have Kissed by Trista Mateer was a collection of short poems about love, hopeless romance and so many realizations in one. One day, I just found myself that I need to read some kind of poems like you were craving for a food that you really want to eat. I’ve been searching and searching until I found the last year’s winner of Goodreads choice for best poetry. Oh, and the binge reading starts.
So, this is what I had concluded; at the first few pages I am easily captivated to the words that Trista Mateer used. I am easily indulged in to the phrases and feelings that brought in this poetry that you can easily finish it in one sitting without blinking your eyes (I’m just kiddin’ to the part of not blinking your eyes).
There were lines that I am easily gulped myself in:
“…Don’t you ever let another human being tear you a-part. Remember that you have claws and teeth, too.”
And my favorite:
“…The poet wants to stop writing about love and predators but when she puts down the pen, she always finds the poems anyway.”
BUT—as the pages were through the middle until the end, it became such like a competition of repetitions, and its sparks slowly fades away. I am not an expert about reviewing for poetry genre; but well I am still a reader, and when you felt that the excitement easily diminished, that’s it. You’re not enjoying it.
Well, I still liked it but I expected so high about this because it was last year’s winner for this category. All in all, it was still an astonishing ride while reading this, at least.
June 18, 2017
As a warning for this book of poetry, I would not recommend it to anyone who shies away from sexual descriptions as this book focuses quite largely on sexual encounters.
The word mouth is used 43 times, the word teeth 14 and the word wet 7.
Why do I mention that? Well, I was enjoying this collection of poems until I noticed the fact they are incredibly repetitive. I haven't read a lot of poetry but I do enjoy this modern style, they usually hit hard for me. Some of the poems in this bind up did hit hard for me, made me remember my first and only relationship (and just how terrible it actually was). Others resonated with me as an individual.
But, there were so many sexual poems it got a bit tiresome, for me at least. Maybe it'd be different if I wasn't reading it in one sitting.
I did enjoy this bind up of poetry though, I felt it was well written and a bit different from the poetry that I personally have read - which is always good.
The word mouth is used 43 times, the word teeth 14 and the word wet 7.
Why do I mention that? Well, I was enjoying this collection of poems until I noticed the fact they are incredibly repetitive. I haven't read a lot of poetry but I do enjoy this modern style, they usually hit hard for me. Some of the poems in this bind up did hit hard for me, made me remember my first and only relationship (and just how terrible it actually was). Others resonated with me as an individual.
But, there were so many sexual poems it got a bit tiresome, for me at least. Maybe it'd be different if I wasn't reading it in one sitting.
I did enjoy this bind up of poetry though, I felt it was well written and a bit different from the poetry that I personally have read - which is always good.
December 2, 2015
I'm giving the book 4.5 stars, like the last one, but the weight of the 4.5 stars is different -- it comes from different places, still shows growth and maturity as a writer and person. These poems showcase heartbreak and heartache, love and pain, life experiences laid out in book format. The contents of the book seem to be carefully strung together rather than poems put together rapidly out of rage or loss or what have you (which wouldn't be a bad thing, just an altogether different experience). And it's all done brilliantly.
One of my favorite parts of her writing and the reason I got into her as a poet, was the ability it had to strip you to your core. I would come across her pieces on my Tumblr dashboard and be absolutely enraptured by the way she could spin words and make them belong to you. It's easy to see she puts so much of herself into her poetry which creates such raw, evocative pieces, which I appreciate as a writer, as a human, as anyone really.
I promised I'd keep this short and I'm known to ramble so I'm going to stop myself before I go on and on although I know I could but I'm just going to say this book was beautifully constructed and an excellent demonstration of how masterful one can be with words. The writing was powerful, memorable, and relatable -- I'm sure most of the people reading found themselves feeling that the book was written for them, found themselves taken back in time, even if the type of pain they experienced wasn't quite the same as what was being written about. This was a book I devoured in one sitting and I know anyone reading will do the same.
Check out the interview I had a chance to do with Trista Mateer in july about this book here: http://weliveandbreathebooks.blogspot...
For more reviews, check out my blog @ weliveandbreathebooks.blogspot.com
One of my favorite parts of her writing and the reason I got into her as a poet, was the ability it had to strip you to your core. I would come across her pieces on my Tumblr dashboard and be absolutely enraptured by the way she could spin words and make them belong to you. It's easy to see she puts so much of herself into her poetry which creates such raw, evocative pieces, which I appreciate as a writer, as a human, as anyone really.
I promised I'd keep this short and I'm known to ramble so I'm going to stop myself before I go on and on although I know I could but I'm just going to say this book was beautifully constructed and an excellent demonstration of how masterful one can be with words. The writing was powerful, memorable, and relatable -- I'm sure most of the people reading found themselves feeling that the book was written for them, found themselves taken back in time, even if the type of pain they experienced wasn't quite the same as what was being written about. This was a book I devoured in one sitting and I know anyone reading will do the same.
Check out the interview I had a chance to do with Trista Mateer in july about this book here: http://weliveandbreathebooks.blogspot...
For more reviews, check out my blog @ weliveandbreathebooks.blogspot.com
July 27, 2015
"The Dogs I Have Kissed" is yet another perfect example of what a poetry book should be. You sit down to do a little reading before bed and some time later you find yourself arriving at the last pages overwhelmingly sad, with a wet face and a sudden need to eat a gallon of ice cream. Trista breaks your heart and won't say sorry. But to be honest it's your own fault because you're the one that keeps going back and rereading each and every word that she has put down on paper. "The Dogs I have Kissed" is for everyone and don't let anyone convince you of otherwise, its sad, its relatable, it rips your heart from your chest and stomps on it (have a box of tissues close by on your first read), it is simply perfection.
April 19, 2018
3 “ It was good” Stars
So this review is gonna be very brief and I will just say this.
The writing was good, the poems were nice but it was too many things my single ass couldn’t relate too. Not even from past experiences.
I just couldn’t connect, and although I enjoyed, I didn’t love it.
Also a there is a lot of poems about sex but I didn’t found them explicit, but just know that.
I learned the word fuck from my mother’s tongue,
as in fucker, he fucking left me,
he fucking left.
I learned the word no from myself.
From somewhere deep in the pit of me,
it rose like some ancient thing and slunk its way out of my throat,
heavy-handed.
Will I ever let this guard down long enough to learn anything new?
Fuck no.
So this review is gonna be very brief and I will just say this.
The writing was good, the poems were nice but it was too many things my single ass couldn’t relate too. Not even from past experiences.
I just couldn’t connect, and although I enjoyed, I didn’t love it.
Also a there is a lot of poems about sex but I didn’t found them explicit, but just know that.
November 23, 2017
Some quotable lines that hit me home from my favorite piece from this book:
“I Forgive You for Not Meeting Me on the Bridge”
I keep thinking of when we met. Long-distance
phone calls. Those nights you used to lay on
your bedroom floor in the dark and I would muffle
my voice with pillows and blankets, hunkered down
in my own bed. We would talk until the sun was up here,
but three thousand miles away, you were still
a little behind me.
I guess it’s still like that. You are far enough behind
to love me but not be able to say it. And I have been
far enough ahead to see the end of this.>
“I Forgive You for Not Meeting Me on the Bridge”
I keep thinking of when we met. Long-distance
phone calls. Those nights you used to lay on
your bedroom floor in the dark and I would muffle
my voice with pillows and blankets, hunkered down
in my own bed. We would talk until the sun was up here,
but three thousand miles away, you were still
a little behind me.
I guess it’s still like that. You are far enough behind
to love me but not be able to say it. And I have been
far enough ahead to see the end of this.>
January 14, 2020
I have to admit that the title first freaked me out a little, then pulled me into borrowing this to read on KU. A quick and at times, a heartfelt read. The repetitiveness of some of the topics repeated throughout the collection did spoil my enjoyment for some of the writing. It is a quick read and does open up about relationship struggles well.
April 21, 2020
dnf @60%
December 10, 2015
I had just gotten out of my organic chemistry class and I sat on the bench that I always sit on to read. I thought, "I'll read a couple poems and then head back to my apartment." I couldn't stop reading it. I was lost in the pages. I missed my bus and I read the entire thing in one sitting. This book is full of heartbreak and bitterness all intricately laced together by a fury of informality and raw beauty. Pure human emotions that we all can relate to. Trista made me feel that weakness isn't anything to be ashamed of. In fact, it made me feel all that much more human to feel an emotion so humanizing in its own right. This book is beautifully and intricately written.
August 9, 2018
"The Dogs I Have Kissed" wasn't for me. I enjoyed a couple of the poems, but ultimately found it repetitive without rhythm, and reminiscent of middle school diary entries. It isn't a long book, but I found myself thinking, "If I have to hear about this person's coffee cup mouth one more time..." I have heard good things about the author's newer collection, "Honeybee," which I am interested in reading to see how her style evolves.
Also, total disclosure, I was half hoping these would be cute poems about interactions with actual dogs.
Also, total disclosure, I was half hoping these would be cute poems about interactions with actual dogs.
May 31, 2016
I needed a poetry fix, this worked out nicely. KU. Solid... 4.25.
March 31, 2017
This book of poetry spoke to me! While reading it I got goosebumps.
August 29, 2025
Wow, this is some extremely amateurish poetry. Redundant, generic teenage-angst stuff with a very limited vocabulary as well as little to no euphony and poor imagery.
This receiving a Goodreads Choice Award in 2015 is just plain unbelievable. Voting surely must have been rigged big time.
This receiving a Goodreads Choice Award in 2015 is just plain unbelievable. Voting surely must have been rigged big time.
April 25, 2020
There are a lot of poems in this book I can relate to, some of them feel like I wrote it myself and it just made me recognize thoughts I didn't want to admit I had. I loved Trista' style and I'll be reading more of her work soon.
August 8, 2022
this book is not about dogs.
August 7, 2018
“Don’t you ever let another human being tear you apart. Remember that you have claws and teeth, too.”
I maybe liked ten poems in this whole collection, if that. My favourite is “For Brittanie” not only did it use imaginative metaphors but had such a strong empowering message behind it. I wanted the rest of the collection to be like that but it started getting really repetitive for example the words “teeth” and “wet” were used a lot, it was okay the first two times but I’d have preferred other descriptions.
The other problem with this collection for me is that it started straying away from actual poetry into more storytelling which is fine if it’s used right, with poetic techniques but sometimes it was like okay that’s a nice story but was it poetic at all? No and I probably won’t even remember half of the things I read in this book because I didn’t connect to it. When I compare it to my other favourite poetry works this doesn’t reach that level.
But like I said there where a few great poems tucked in there, with imaginative phrases. I also appreciate how raw and honest it was. It just wasn’t quite at the level I’d expect for a goodreads 2015 winner.
I maybe liked ten poems in this whole collection, if that. My favourite is “For Brittanie” not only did it use imaginative metaphors but had such a strong empowering message behind it. I wanted the rest of the collection to be like that but it started getting really repetitive for example the words “teeth” and “wet” were used a lot, it was okay the first two times but I’d have preferred other descriptions.
The other problem with this collection for me is that it started straying away from actual poetry into more storytelling which is fine if it’s used right, with poetic techniques but sometimes it was like okay that’s a nice story but was it poetic at all? No and I probably won’t even remember half of the things I read in this book because I didn’t connect to it. When I compare it to my other favourite poetry works this doesn’t reach that level.
But like I said there where a few great poems tucked in there, with imaginative phrases. I also appreciate how raw and honest it was. It just wasn’t quite at the level I’d expect for a goodreads 2015 winner.
June 8, 2017
I finally got around to reading this, and I am glad I did. I've connected with Trista on Twitter and I really like her - she's got talent.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is enjoying the modern poetry genre as we know it today. Her writing is feisty and her wordplay is impressive. A lot of these poems gave me a spoken word vibe, which I liked! She also does not write in the style of Rupi or Weed which is a breath of fresh air as many poets have taken to
writing
like this
--ya know?
I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because it did get repetitive at times and because a few times I found myself saying, "this sounds a lot like Clementine Von Raddicks (sp?). I later found out when reading the copyright page that she was her editor.
Enjoyable and raw!
I would recommend this book to anyone who is enjoying the modern poetry genre as we know it today. Her writing is feisty and her wordplay is impressive. A lot of these poems gave me a spoken word vibe, which I liked! She also does not write in the style of Rupi or Weed which is a breath of fresh air as many poets have taken to
writing
like this
--ya know?
I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because it did get repetitive at times and because a few times I found myself saying, "this sounds a lot like Clementine Von Raddicks (sp?). I later found out when reading the copyright page that she was her editor.
Enjoyable and raw!
January 17, 2020
Some where okay.. the ex one i really enjoyed...
Others were just eh to me
Others were just eh to me
March 10, 2020
I didn't expect to like this as much as I did, but I really enjoyed this book and will look into more by Trista Mateer.
March 16, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
Quite a few funny and relatable poems on past and even current relationships. Got quite a few laughs and “yep, I can relate!” moments out of it.
Quite a few funny and relatable poems on past and even current relationships. Got quite a few laughs and “yep, I can relate!” moments out of it.
March 16, 2019
i enjoy Trista’s poetry a lot!! And I thought this was better than Honeybee :)
August 6, 2015
Trista Mateer's previous book, her debut collection of poetry entitled Honeybee, was a breakout example of heartfelt poetry and the talent of baring the soul. I said that Honeybee 'demands things' and it did: It demanded your time, your heart, your soul, your emotions through a roller-coaster of meaningful yet painful poetry.
In her second collection, The Dogs I Have Kissed, the nature of the beast shifts a little, but only enough to bring out the best. Where Honeybee was a book about getting over someone and the effects of love, Dogs reminded me more of the thoughtful feelings that occur much after one's heart is broken. Things are repairing, faults are being fixed. And the result, at least for Trista, is a book of gorgeous, profound, flowing poetry.
The book's penultimate poem is, without a doubt, the final one: I Forgive You For Not Meeting Me On the Bridge. There is a line in that poem that pains me to even read, but that is the unparalleled charm in Trista's writing---it hurts you, and you let it hurt you, again and again and again. Because a hurt that beautiful demands both attention and feeling. The final poem might be the best, but is only so because of the journey to it. Pages and pages of unique, trembling, powerful poetry from a well-cultivated voice.
I have had the pleasure watching Trista's style evolve, unfold, and grow over the last few years, and both her poetry and the writings on her eponymous blog showcase the sort of raw, unbridled talent you can only find in the heartfelt reaches of the indie scene.
In her second collection, The Dogs I Have Kissed, the nature of the beast shifts a little, but only enough to bring out the best. Where Honeybee was a book about getting over someone and the effects of love, Dogs reminded me more of the thoughtful feelings that occur much after one's heart is broken. Things are repairing, faults are being fixed. And the result, at least for Trista, is a book of gorgeous, profound, flowing poetry.
The book's penultimate poem is, without a doubt, the final one: I Forgive You For Not Meeting Me On the Bridge. There is a line in that poem that pains me to even read, but that is the unparalleled charm in Trista's writing---it hurts you, and you let it hurt you, again and again and again. Because a hurt that beautiful demands both attention and feeling. The final poem might be the best, but is only so because of the journey to it. Pages and pages of unique, trembling, powerful poetry from a well-cultivated voice.
I have had the pleasure watching Trista's style evolve, unfold, and grow over the last few years, and both her poetry and the writings on her eponymous blog showcase the sort of raw, unbridled talent you can only find in the heartfelt reaches of the indie scene.
May 8, 2015
The Dogs I Have Kissed is the kind of book you could read in one sitting and the kind of book you want to tuck underneath your pillow for a month. It's gripping and powerful and disturbingly honest. There are poems that are incredibly comforting and others that are so painful. Trista has the rare talent of writing poems that are both good and true. In terms of literary art, this chapbook is brilliant. Trista weaves together religious overtones with raw sensuality and heartache. She's so purposeful with the imagery, connecting and breaking motifs from each section of the book: how peaches become cherries, how salt is everywhere, the shape of same-different mouths. There is this lovely irony in these poems, how sometimes the speaker of these poems is the one who is described like a dog: sloppy, rabid, hungry, whining. Maybe that's not an irony at all. The Dogs I Have Kissed is for anyone who has felt the tough underside of love, anyone who has been angry and hurt and still strangely hopeful. One of the most striking lines in the entire book is something I keep thinking about: "Is this okay, is this okay, is this okay, or does it make me weak?" Do yourself, your heart, and your current/ex/next lover a favor: buy this book. Devour it immediately.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 560 reviews