Said the Manic to the Muse by Jeanann Verlee

Jeanann Verlee’s Said the Manic to the Muse is a fierce, unflinching collection that stares directly into the horror of manic depression.

Guided by the misunderstood figures of Medea, Jezebel, and Kali, these poems reclaim the stories of women who were called "too much" and refuse to apologize for it. Moving through love, loss, aging, and rage, Verlee writes with startling honesty and brute force. From dangerous trysts and barroom brawls to "grief-induced psychosis," Said the Manic to the Muse recounts the year Verlee lost everything, including her mind.

This is feminist poetry that cries out and bites back.

When he asks if I have real children I tell him,
You are real, and you are mine. He pouts.
Says, Mama, stop it. I know I’m only made of cotton.
All of my bones break at once.

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Jeanann Verlee is the author of prey, Said the Manic to the Muse, and award-winning Racing Hummingbirds. She has received an NEA Poetry Fellowship, the Third Coast Poetry Prize, and the Sandy Crimmins Prize. Her work appears in Academy of American Poets, Adroit, and BuzzFeed, among others.