scraps of anne and sylvia

Inspired by softlyfall

scraps of anne and sylvia

a thesis

in scattered pieces

the logic of a dream

a scheme of life

annotated

inundated

with hapless research

lives of poets

footnotes

cliff notes

the frame of 50 pages or so

two lives rendered in type

yellow pages in a box in an attic

in the mind of a reckless scholar

the finish line what mattered most

a diploma, two poets helped to garner

but the missing pages/

the disorganization

perhaps attuned to the scattered dispositions

the suicides contained therein

a masters from two master poets

who poured out their souls

only to be cited

in a thesis

in scattered pieces

the logic of a dream

and then to make them proud

perhaps

their lives opened doors

classrooms filled with hope

the hope they lost somewhere

in the breech of a mirror's reflection

in some vault of a mind

of a heart

a thankful nod

a dedication

an understanding that lives are more than

words on pages

meant to be filled with red ink

edits

revisions

if only they could have revised their lives

perhaps the scattered pieces

could be whole again.

erin-cilberto

10/16/22

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Dear J, this is a story of three poets. Sylvia, Anne and you. It speaks to me of three not two who have dedicated their whole lives to poetry, be they longer or shorter years. I imagine the painstaking efforts and research for your thesis. Both these women I feel sure would adore you for the interest and love you have shown them. You help to keep them alive dear J. Wonderful poetry. We are so fortunate to have you with us on WC.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

They were so worth looking into, Chris. I admire their work greatly.
And thank you for your kind words,
j.

[softlyfall]

What an insightful comment, Chris. I agree with you.

[Lorry]

They did their best work in inspiring others to do theirs, as well as proved that even the great are fallible in the sacred art of being human.
But hey, we're still talking about them today. Reading and studying them, so they must have got some of it right.
If people are still talking about me after I'm long gone, I'm sure it will be in a "How not to do it" kind of way. 😊

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"How not to do it"? No way, Lorry.
You write poetry that is quite accessible and interesting...I was teaching Plath's "Mirror" the other day...interesting perspectives from my students.
I like that.
j.

[softlyfall]

Your thesis with a parallax eye, then and now. Both demonstrate so much compassion and understanding. Are their lives reduced to written words or are they immortalized by them? Both, I suspect, since almost everything is faceted and deserving of dialectical study. Then off goes my head on the whole meaning of life conundrum. The further away you go from what you are questioning, the clearer it becomes that if any one thing matters, then every single thing matters just as much.
Sylvia and Anne made a choice that is hard to understand, mostly because it is really hard to allow yourself to consider such desolation. It creates empathy and it hurts.
But in that pain, how many poems were born? How many POETS were born? I know both of these ladies were a huge influence on my decision/need/ desire to write.
That is quite a legacy, to be such muses.
Thank you for sharing your thesis thoughts. I enjoyed reading and considering this very much.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I think some of both....people interested in them because of the suicides...wanting to read them to find hints that they were on their way to that type of demise. I really don't think Sylvia thought she would die at the end...I feel she was writing her best stuff....and only wanted another "suicide" to write about. When Sexton and Plath met at a bar in Boston with a guy named George and drank martinis...they would talk about their "suicides" not their "suicide attempts," as if they had actually committed suicide and come back several times.
They both had quite an influence on me as well, Amy. I had periods like they did....but like most poets I wrote away from suicide rather than towards it. Although others never could either...like Berryman and Jarrell...sometimes life just gets to be too much....they left us with a plethora of great poetry....and they live on.
Thank you for your insightful thoughts on this piece that you inspired when you asked about my thesis...Not that it was much, but I would hope it paid some homage to both of them.
j.

[softlyfall]

I saw a Yale University lecture yesterday on youtube about John Milton ( I am a fan and his 6th great grandaughter). I loved it and it made me feel like I knew him somehow better. I loved that it was painful for him to justify the part God played in the fall of mankind, fascinating really. Anyway, I was inspired to seek it because I got to thinking about how much I would like to read your thesis. I'm really grateful for that. I love your work, admire and respect it

[jacob erin-cilberto]

6th great grandaughter...that is something to cherish...I wonder if he ever found Paradise...Maybe in passing if not in life.
j.

[softlyfall]

He was blind. He brought it on himself in the most headstrong way, very Sophoclean. I cannot personally imagine being so inhibited by duty that I subjugate my own welfare, but then I am a born brat. I do admire him. I love him is some remote way, the way i feel connected but...not.
I do love his complicated sentence structure, though.