Dickinson writes the Apostrophe of Sylvia

 

Dickinson writes the Apostrophe of Sylvia 

 

 

slip-sliding into the crawlspace

her black box of pills raided

the contours of her mind

concave with doubts about life

but certainty about death

 

she curls up into a caricature of herself

falls asleep with one eye on God

the other nailed to the cross of her existence

hoping that Pilot won't edict to wake her

she wants that stone between 

 

what she never became and all she was expected to be

knowing full well, it was the voice in her own head

that read her the last rites

while she gasped for one final dance

with the more than willing quill.

 

 

erin-cilberto

3/26/16

Reviews

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

I'm not worthy to review this poem, but will say that the metaphor of Plath as "the apostrophe" in the mind of Dickinson, is beyond Master-Class level work. I laud you humbly.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Annette,
j.

[Sheila Kline]

Dickinson wrote of death, questioned God, religion and all that sort of thing but did not venture past the cemetery gates as did Sylvia so I like the fact that you refer to Plath as the apostrophe/that which Dickinson knew would come. Did Sylvia really plan to die, or was it but another attempt, as the ones before when she was jerked back to reality? Again, the apostrophe, the "there is more to come", or this belongs to me; this ending is mine, while the pen waited. Alas, the pen was silenced as was she in life, but in death she lives on, and on, and on. Emily knew well of how to keep one eye on God as she questioned, and knew of the crucifixion but again the doubt. The way you taken Dickinson and weaved her with Plath is brilliant!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i really appreciate your kind review, Sheila...and actually no, i don't think plath planned to die....she was writing her best stuff at the time of her death...and just like in Lady Lazarus...i think she figured to get saved, come back and write about another suicide.

[Ruth]

Breathless...simply breathless...a favourite for sure :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Poppy---

j.

[Emily B]

amazing work here! so lovely to find this here

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Emily.

j.

[DeerInHeadlights]

this is fantastic.. you capture the anguish so well.. what is incomprehensible to most with such ease in language that is pleasing without cliché.. very well done.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, DeerinHeadlights...

j.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Sylvia was so adversely affected by her father's death and suffered from depression throughout her life. With the loss of my own father, I can relate to this on so many different levels. When your hero is fallen, you can't help but crumble. It has always saddened me the most that she took her own life with her children in the very next room. To be so lost as to not put your children first really speaks to the extremes of depression that she suffered. Her ex-husband did little to alleviate the suffering that she struggled with on a daily basis just to provide for their children.

The lines, "falls asleep with one eye on God" and "the other nailed to the cross of her existence" is so poignant. I can well imagine how she felt crucified emotionally and mentally, and she just couldn't take anymore.

Very well written.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your insightful review, Linda Marie...and between Emily not standing up in church professing belief...yet speaking from the perspective of the dead so well, and Sylvia, after her father's death, saying she would never speak to God again---well...yes...that one eye on him the other looking away.

thank you again for your words,


j.

[M. Shepherd]

Oh man I just finished the Bell Jar for the first time and afterward wanted to lay in bed and hug her words til the gut wrenching melancholy dissipated. It still hasn't. I still love her like she's still alive and miss her like I knew her.
Here, I like the ideas characterizing her mind as if it were a physical space not unlike the one she attempted to end it all in, and very much like the bell jar, which had descended sometime prior to these final moments. Concavity, emptiness.
There are so many things here that I could speak to - the idea of her one eye nailed to the cross of her existence.. gorgeous stuff.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you Marcie....i really appreciate your in-depth reaction to this piece...

j.

[Alfred Kukitz]

A visit with strange beauty must be a universal. Think of that lightness, lack of consciousness, nothingness meandering all over the soul.

You are in top form here Jacob!

regards,
al

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Al.

j.

[Érenn]

A poem which might seem like latin to me since I am unaware of Plath's and Emily's works as such, but I believe this piece for me speaks about suicidal tendencies and the fact that the person(s) thought he/she knew death too well and until the end her muse was death itself and it literally became the end of her. Some very spine-chilling imagery invoked here and a very deep write about which I was unable to decipher properly, but this has intrigued me to read some of their works. Thank you for sharing ^^

[jacob erin-cilberto]

the way you deciphered is how it speaks to you...and that is what is of utmost importance...thank you for your insights...

j.

[Michael Oliver]

The tension in this poem is what makes it such a deep read.
Thedoing with the simoultaneous cry from the heart to be stopped
Thanks

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, i like that take..thank you for the read and your insights, Michael.

j.