The Deities of Her, by Sheva Anne Richter

Poetry, chapbook, 24 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

The Deities of Her is my own story told through poems about my later teen years, and my twenties thus far. I compiled these poems while faced with a new diagnosis of a chronic illness; I hid away in my room and pounded out my feelings on my laptop’s keyboard. Out of that period of isolation came a willingness to write about things I had shied away from talking about, experiences like religious trauma, sexual assault, eating disorders, closeted queerness, failed relationships and more.

Writing this showed me I was finally capable of shedding not only a decade of impostor syndrome, but also a crushing fear of what it would mean for me if I finally told the world that yes, I am supremely flawed, I am hurt, I am adept at loving deeply. I kept my fair share of secret joys and pains and I am ready to hold them up to the light, I am ready to show everyone what it means to be your own imperfect deity, full of mistakes, but worthy of sacrifice and worship.

Sheva Anne Richter is a poet, a hopeful romantic, a proud Jewish woman, a bookworm and an avid watcher of documentaries. She grew up in Southeastern Ohio and continues to live there with her two (spoiled) cats and a bunny. When she isn’t writing poetry, she can be found drinking matcha lattes, napping, talking to her friends and family, and crying over things that make her happy.