Plath Impressions

Plath Impressions

 

 

gaslight shelter

a picture of serenity forever moving

a brooch of faith

misplaced

like the trust

in her poetry man

 

engaged to his writing

even after divorced from his arrogance

 

"Yeats lived here"

a sign she polishes daily

with pride

 

her own words

she critiques 

proclaiming that she is writing her best stuff ever

her name will be made

 

her children dash about 

a light in their eye

but a flash

of regret in hers

 

dust covered bills stacked in an attic of neglect

cold house

cold bed

cold dread

fingers burnt from ash

the smoker's cough aligning 

with the unsteady pen

writing letters to a mother who's deaf to the extinguishing light

 

Sylvia's Mother says...Sylvia's crying

but all her hankies are too soaked to lend

Sylvia's reading Ted as she lights the stove

 

the blankets a roadblock to the traffic's scent

pressed to service under the door to the playroom

 

they never hear her die

she no longer hears them cry

 

her babies wake to her gone-ness

read some of her poetry years later

 

exhale

a son follows

a daughter mourns them both

 

and Ted still gets rave reviews

and they all bow to his greatness

while flowers wilt and blow away

once pressed against a headstone

 

and a new sign now says

"Yeats lived here, and so did Sylvia"

 

 

erin-cilberto

11/10/19

Reviews

[Sami Khalil]

It saddens me sir Jacob to read about what she went through in her life and marriage. Did not care for him but I like some of her works. Highly talented and intelligent. I hated what happened to her son too. Your poem shines a light on talent and tragedy.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your understanding words, Sami,
j.

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome sir...

[Lorry]

Ted was a bad un... And his estate are just as bad.
A few years back i was invited to a retreat in the lake district dy a publisher, to take part in a modern reinterpretation of both their work. We had three weeks of pretty much pleasing ourselves for the most part, but were to immerse ourselves in their work and write six pieces on each, which was to be part of a celebration pack to be published. Before it hit the shelves, his estates lawyers pulled it, despite being the publishers lawyers too.
Never got an explanation, but did get paid and got a free holiday.
Everyone agreed that she inspired, where all he inspired was a lot of animosity.
Still, a wonderful experience.
You certainly capture her misplaced trust so eloquently Jacob. If there was ever a tragedy written, it was surely penned by the blood in her veins.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for sharing this Lorry...."a lot of animosity"
yes, No Doubt...
appreciate your words here...a little bit of conflict of interests i would say...with the Lawyers.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Sylvia without doubt was troubled, but you know there was something about Ted. Not a fan of either his poetry or him. I mean, to lose one partner to death through suicide is unfortunate, but to lose a second in exactly the same horrific circumstances is down right careless. Makes you wonder what the hell was going on there. She shines. I like that she lived where Yeats did. Most appropriate that two great poets lived in the same house, albeit at different times.

Sylvia's mother says - I remember that song, but can't remember who sang it.

I remember Ted Hughes. He was married to that great poet Sylvia Plath.

Chris

[Lorry]

Forgive the intrusion folks. I remember that song from my sisters bedroom wall, it was Drhook. 😀

[Lorry]

Dr hook even.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Chris...yes, something about Ted...my students just gasp when i tell them about Sylvia's suicide and then Ted's second mate...
doing the same and having their daughter with her.
thank you for your sentiments...and yes, Lorry...Dr. Hook's first hit..."Sylvia's Mother"---
j.

[kentuck14]

Sylvia is truly a tragic figure. You've captured this well . . . as she left behind a dark testimony in her poems . . . in her children's lives. No doubt Ted's unfaithfulness and arrogance played a part in her decent . . . yet I feel the darkness was always a part of her life. Maybe this is why I never liked her work; it reminds me too much of a dark period in my own life. Wonder phrasing in this piece J.
T

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your understanding review, T.
She always said..."readers want to know from someone who has been there and knows the worst"
j.