I forgot how much I love Anne Sexton
My last post of 2008. No sniffs. No sighs. I'm looking forward to a new year, a fresh start. All those blank calendar pages, blank journal pages, poetry books waiting to be read...
I had a very productive last day of the year. Sent in two submissions (in by the skin of my neck!), and collaborative ones with Carolee at that. Hooray for us!
To top it off, we were both inspired by a rare video of Anne Sexton reading (see it here), so we started a new collaborative piece, using five phrases from Sexton's Her Kind. Next, we each wrote five sentences using those phrases, then wrote a poem blending the phrases. Mine follows...
The Eskimo Word for Woman is Abnaq
Too many people think they know
what is and what is not a woman.
Lonely thing (that woman)
walking with a blanket round her head.
My grandmother (that woman) fixed the suppers
--no one helped her clean up.
Jesus fixed the suppers while the women
(that woman) washed the dishes.
Pummeled by flakes, she is not a woman
but another word for snow.
At night, dreaming, she is a cat
with no kittens, teats full and glossy.
If you still bite after all these years,
consider yourself happily married.
I sweat sometimes at night, dreaming of a new body
(that woman) to wrap my skin around.
Do you still bite your lip when you think about me (that woman)?
Labels: Anne Sexton, collaborative poetry, women
posted by jillypoet @ 7:59 PM
9 Comments:
i'm so glad we did this. i always love seeing what you came up with, how you anchor the lines we created with a theme. this one is a terrific wandering around (and into) "that woman." very nice!
i was bad and took vast vast liberties with chopping up the lines instead of using them as they were.
i can go by the rules if i really have to. really. next time, you'll have to remind me about the rules. :)
I love Anne Sexton - and the Eskimo word for woman. The perfect title. And this:
Pummeled by flakes, she is not a woman
but another word for snow.
And this:
At night, dreaming, she is a cat
with no kittens, teats full and glossy.
I've always admired Anne Sexton.
She observes, understands and
the articulates so clearly.
Amazing post! Thanks a lot.
Great post! Thanks a lot.
Good work. Thanks for this info!
Amazing post! Thanks for sharing!
I forget too, sometimes!
I believe that you will remember it for ever now!) Thanks for sharing this ideas
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