Reviews

What an incredible debut by Maneo Mohale. Beautiful, poignant and powerful. Everything is a Deathly Flower is a bold reckoning with the experience of sexual assault and the journey of rebuilding and healing after the fact.

Poetry isn’t one of my strongest points but there is something about this black poet’s writing that makes you understand, and it could be because it deals with sexual assault something that almost feels like an extension of our reality, especially in South Africa. It’s heavy, filled with triggers, while simultaneously imagining new ways of love and healing. This collection of poetry flawlessly encapsulates the idea that “healing isn’t linear”.

This is definitely a collection that I’ll be revisiting often. This is a collection that you should definitely get your hands on. This is a collection that will stay with me for a really long time.

I’d like to end this with the poem titled “False Buchu” - a defiant ending to the book.

i
d̶o̶n̶’̶t̶ c̶a̶r̶e̶
i̶f̶ y̶o̶u̶
believe me

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