Sleeping on the Wing Challenge: Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

[normal jean]

You're a doll, but I'm really not worried about what people think of me as such. Had I been, I'd have left here a long time ago.

I do worry about two things: being misinformed/ undereducated about something, and slanting the opinions of someone who ought to be forming opinions without my biased viewpoint distracting them.

No, my opinions are my own, but I also try to stay flexible, just in case I'm wrong and would change them given better information, and I do my best to prevent them from getting in someone else's way. But it's not about pleasing anyone. I'd have been burned at the stake long ago if that's all it was.

It's funny, any time I get all dogmatic about something like Emily Dickinson or Jesus, it sets off a little warning bell that maybe I need to settle down and learn something. But please don't worry about my self-esteem, darlin'. I'm not here to seek approval. I'm here to feed hungry people and talk to sexy poets about poetry and sex. And to occasionally get a serious, attentive review when I formally submit a poem. That's it, really.

And of course to watch the funny monkeys.

I hope your day is being kind and peaceful. And I didn't want to interrupt your thread, but I really liked the two recent pieces you put up in Bug-Day Afternoon.

xo
bj

oh hell!! YOU took it the wrong way, of course, lol.

I know you need no help in the self esteem area, silly woman

and you missed my froggie poems, I removed them for personal reasons, Maria just got paranoid that the 2 bitches that plagiarized a lot of our work a while back might take my, umm, Maria's best "stuff"

and by the way, I understand flexible. I finally like cranberries, it only took 45 years, I kept trying, and finally....oh yeah, and, I like people with strong opinions who know enough to talk about a subject without sounding like an idiot, and darlin' youre pretty darned smart, from what I can tell



smoochies



NJ

 

[UnderYourSpell]

When I left he made a fire
Consigned my shoes to a funeral pyre
Divided left from needing right
The sparks flew up into the night.
Now in the ashes see them lie
An unburnt heel that seems to cry
Oh woe is me I walk no more
And join my brethren on the floor
Consumed by flames bringing death
Cobblers hear my final breath!

 

[Angeline]

Angeline, I think you found the answer. Don't try to hear the rhythm. Read E.D. like prose, see the sentences, not the rhymes. You will understand her better. You might also want to end your life.
By the way, am I the only one who sees the irony in calling her "E.D.?"
Anschul

In abbreviation lies irony I guess.

 

[Angeline]

Rain falls. Black night concedes
to white day. Blue skies
till twilight fades to gray.
Green, yellow, red--
Come home right away.

Screams and silence.
I sleep in your bed.

TV drone. Doors open
then shut. Alive then dead.
Telephone. Do I ask what
is the Borderland, where
flies are trapped between
the window and the screen?

 

[Eluard]

Believe me, I understand grief. I lost both parents within 7 months of each other, 3 months after my mom passed, my cousin hung himself and six months later, my granny died from breast cancer.


what bothers me about ED, is that is death, grief and unhappiness seems to be all she saw in life, and never seemed to have any hope. I cant get into anyone's writing who has not even the tiniest glimpse of joy or hope in his/her poetic voice. sorry, and of course, it is not a slam to anyone who gets something from her, then I would say to them, good! Everyone here, has his/her own opinion and I never said her work wouldn't or couldn't speak to others, her work just made my heart feel worse.

It is one thing to understand grief, but a horse of a different color when all someone does is wallow in that grief. I felt bad for the woman, actually.


I know that when things are bad, in the grief-stricken sense, that if anything can help someone who has lost a loved one, or a love, well, if she helped, that is wonderful. But I never got anything from her but hopelessness and despair.

my glass is always half full.... regardless how bad the circumstances...

and I wish that for anyone reading that woman.

and I am looking forward to reading the replies of those who choose to write on this one, I just know I wouldn't want t o come up with anything so desperate and sad. In other words, I have no desire to put myself in the place I would have to go to emulate her "style".

best wishes, all you wonderful poets

Yes, completely agree: she had no "upside". And in her last twenty years she was so determinedly weird: hiding behind doors and such.

 

[Tzara]

Rain falls. Black night concedes
to white day. Blue skies
till twilight fades to gray.
Green, yellow, red--
Come home right away.

Screams and silence.
I sleep in your bed.

TV drone. Doors open
then shut. Alive then dead.
Telephone. Do I ask what
is the Borderland, where
flies are trapped between
the window and the screen?

I told you this was hard. Your idea, though.



Interesting example, Ms. A. I would call this very "un-Angeline-ish" and actually rather creepy. I do hope you meant to be creepy. Uh. . .

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Interesting example, Ms. A. I would call this very "un-Angeline-ish" and actually rather creepy. I do hope you meant to be creepy. Uh. . .

Does she contradict herself? Very well then, she contradicts herself.
She is large; she contains multitudes.

bj

 

[Angeline]

I told you this was hard. Your idea, though.



Interesting example, Ms. A. I would call this very "un-Angeline-ish" and actually rather creepy. I do hope you meant to be creepy. Uh. . .

After I wrote it, I thought it was creepy too. But I rather like that I can create something that makes a reader feel creepy. I'm usually told how sweet I am, and sometimes that's kinda creepy to me. Once I got rather snotty about something and Eve asked me if my halo had fallen in the onion dip. Lol. I do adore Evie.

But yeah it wasn't easy. On the bright side after this week the dreaded ED will be gone. I'm starting to feel sorry for her with all this bashing. And I honestly think that Koch and Farrell have it right about her: she isn't trying to be depressing; she just gives equal weight to things that would seem disproportionate, yknow?

And Bij you darling I *do* contain multitudes. You don't even want to know how much Chinese take-out I ate for dinner tonight.

 

[Tzara]

Does she contradict herself? Very well then, she contradicts herself.
She is large; she contains multitudes.

bj

I thought several times about responding to this comment. All of my prospective responses were frought with misinterpretation. So I'll just say that Angie writes interesting poems. Good poems. I like them.

Which we would have agreed to off the top, probably.

Um, carry on.

 

[Angeline]

I thought several times about responding to this comment. All of my prospective responses were frought with misinterpretation. So I'll just say that Angie writes interesting poems. Good poems. I like them.

Which we would have agreed to off the top, probably.

Um, carry on.

She'll be eating those words when we hit Walt Whitman week.

 

[Tzara]

She'll be eating those words when we hit Walt Whitman week.

I'll be eating words on Walt Whitman week. Or chewing them. Frustratingly.

Whatever. I am a box. I am an island.

Or something.

 

[normal jean]

i LOVE Walt Whitman

and in a way, that kinda scares me, lol.

 

[Eluard]

Ciao ED

This woman swallowed Death
It Grew into a Sun —
She cut herself with Words
But could not get it done.

She stropped the knife
Upon the failing Sea, she
Ground it on the unlived life —
But it blunted like the

Prison love that is the
Seed of Eternity.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

She gave herself
Unto the very Death
That tolled
And doing thus was
Sinking bleak and cold
To never more
Seek sunshines
Brilliant ray
That leads us all
Into a brighter day.

 

[Angeline]

I'll be eating words on Walt Whitman week. Or chewing them. Frustratingly.

Whatever. I am a box. I am an island.

Or something.

Perfect. You found ED's theme song!

i LOVE Walt Whitman

and in a way, that kinda scares me, lol.

I have very mixed feelings about Yeats week, myself. I love his poetry so much and have read him over and over for years. I think that means I'm bound to fuck up any attempt to adapt his style to my writing.

Ciao ED

This woman swallowed Death
It Grew into a Sun —
She cut herself with Words
But could not get it done.

She stropped the knife
Upon the failing Sea, she
Ground it on the unlived life —
But it blunted like the

Prison love that is the
Seed of Eternity.

She gave herself
Unto the very Death
That tolled
And doing thus was
Sinking bleak and cold
To never more
Seek sunshines
Brilliant ray
That leads us all
Into a brighter day.

Eluard and UYS, these are both really, really good! You both seem to be channeling ED. I don't know if that's a good thing or not overall lol, but the poems are wonderful.

 

[normal jean]

hi ange

regarding UYS's poem, in my opinion, it is way better than ED, for one reason, she uses the words "us all"...as far as I can recollect, ED existed as if there were no other people in the world but her.

and UYS's poem, also has a ray of hope at the end. "a brighter day." I believe had ED been alive now, she would be on some serious meds like Haldol or thorazine. She had problems, and I know, I do too, but I can recognize mine, lol.

Seems like UYS has a good grasp on ED, but her own light can't help but shine through and it wouldnt surprise me to see her among the list of poets here who have published outside Lit.

I just LOVE watching a poet grow, it is almost like the first bloom on a rose bush in spring, the waiting, the hovering just aching for that first petal to break free and show itself to the glorious sun.

I am really enjoying this challenge too, regardless of ED...hell, who knows I might come to appreciate her just because she has inspired some really good poetry on here...every rose has it's thorn ( yes, I stole that, but cannot remember from whom I stole it..., its a song, right? lol)


Wow, it is a beautiful day!!!

 

[Angeline]

hi ange

regarding UYS's poem, in my opinion, it is way better than ED, for one reason, she uses the words "us all"...as far as I can recollect, ED existed as if there were no other people in the world but her.

and UYS's poem, also has a ray of hope at the end. "a brighter day." I believe had ED been alive now, she would be on some serious meds like Haldol or thorazine. She had problems, and I know, I do too, but I can recognize mine, lol.

Seems like UYS has a good grasp on ED, but her own light can't help but shine through and it wouldnt surprise me to see her among the list of poets here who have published outside Lit.

I just LOVE watching a poet grow, it is almost like the first bloom on a rose bush in spring, the waiting, the hovering just aching for that first petal to break free and show itself to the glorious sun.

I am really enjoying this challenge too, regardless of ED...hell, who knows I might come to appreciate her just because she has inspired some really good poetry on here...every rose has it's thorn ( yes, I stole that, but cannot remember from whom I stole it..., its a song, right? lol)


Wow, it is a beautiful day!!!

Hi sweetheart.

I envy you the spring weather. There's still big piles of snow here everywhere, but it's slowly turning warmer and the killer potholes (from frost heaves) are showing up, which is a sure sign spring is on the way. First we have to get through "mud season" (really) though. Oy.

I'm really pleased with this challenge. So far, I've been really excited about O'Hara and kind of eh on everyone else for my own poems. Sometimes when Sunday rolls around I think "Oh God, I have to do this for another five months," but it's the kind of writing practice I know I need. Left to my own devices I'll use the same tricks and write on the same themes.

And the challenge seems to have generated a certain amount of controversy in terms of who people like and don't, which is really good for writing imo. I think ED is kind of a tragic figure. I don't know if circumstances or her own neuroses caused her to retreat from the world the way she seems to have done, so that death and a fly buzzing are on a par for her. And I don't find her so much depressing as just really strange. I think the most depressing piece of literature I've ever read is The Yellow Wallpaper. And thank heavens we are not doing the author of that cheerful book in this challenge.

Do you know how much I'd love to sit down and have tea with you in a garden somewhere and just talk for about five hours? A lot.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

I think the most depressing piece of literature I've ever read is The Yellow Wallpaper. And thank heavens we are not doing the author of that cheerful book in this challenge. [\/QUOTE]

Dear god, like Emily isn't making me suicidal enough. Please no.

Do you know how much I'd love to sit down and have tea with you in a garden somewhere and just talk for about five hours? A lot.

y'know, Kansas is very centrally located. Let's get you both here, and a few others, and I'll serve the tea and listen to the beautiful poets get to know each other better. I'd love that.

I'm liking the responses in here and even though I'm pretty sure that I won't come up with anything worthwhile this week, it's been really illuminating watching everyone struggle with this one. I agree with NJ that UnderYourSpell has come up with some amazingly good work for this one.

I'm liking all the spooky entries except Tzara's because he stole my idea to write about trying to eat a bad hospital egg roll while the surgeon discussed the abcess surgery my mate had just undergone.

And did it way way way better than I ever would have managed. feh.

bj

 

[Angeline]

I think the most depressing piece of literature I've ever read is The Yellow Wallpaper. And thank heavens we are not doing the author of that cheerful book in this challenge. [\/QUOTE]

Dear god, like Emily isn't making me suicidal enough. Please no.



y'know, Kansas is very centrally located. Let's get you both here, and a few others, and I'll serve the tea and listen to the beautiful poets get to know each other better. I'd love that.

I'm liking the responses in here and even though I'm pretty sure that I won't come up with anything worthwhile this week, it's been really illuminating watching everyone struggle with this one. I agree with NJ that UnderYourSpell has come up with some amazingly good work for this one.

I'm liking all the spooky entries except Tzara's because he stole my idea to write about trying to eat a bad hospital egg roll while the surgeon discussed the abcess surgery my mate had just undergone.

And did it way way way better than I ever would have managed. feh.

bj

Have any of you read The Yellow Wallpaper? It's by Charlotte Perkins Gilmore and it's about a woman being treaded for "nervous depression" by her doctor husband. The entire story takes place in a room (with yellow wallpaper, duh) and is about this woman slowly losing her mind. I had to read it for a course on American women writers. I think the reason I find it depressing (beyond the obvious) is that unlike, say Anne Sexton or Sylvia Plath, there isn't even any underlying anger to ameliorate the depression. Just this woman losing her mind in a room. Yikes.

And yeah I'll add my vote to the wonderful work being produced by UYS. I knew she was special when I first read her poems here. Eluard, too, for that matter. It is a constant source of amazement to me, having been here all these years, that this forum constantly attacts such talented writers. Here at Lit. Who woulda thunk it?

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Gosh I don't know what to say partly to do with the consumption of too much home made wine (see Bijou's Bistro) I imagine the reason I could write the stuff was because if you remember when I first came here I was still rhyming lol incidentally I have had some stuff in print here and there not just poetry but factual stuff too about Staffies from the days when I used to breed and show .One of my dogs had Hereditary Cataracts but nobody had ever written about it and had brushed it under the carpet as it were until muggins here spoke out. From then on I stopped winning in the showring with my dogs! But apparently the articles are still read and used to this day and that was in the 1980s

 

[Angeline]

Gosh I don't know what to say partly to do with the consumption of too much home made wine (see Bijou's Bistro) I imagine the reason I could write the stuff was because if you remember when I first came here I was still rhyming lol incidentally I have had some stuff in print here and there not just poetry but factual stuff too about Staffies from the days when I used to breed and show .One of my dogs had Hereditary Cataracts but nobody had ever written about it and had brushed it under the carpet as it were until muggins here spoke out. From then on I stopped winning in the showring with my dogs! But apparently the articles are still read and used to this day and that was in the 1980s

Now that is very interesting! You bred and showed Staffordshire Terriors? I watch our Westminster Kennel Club dog show every year, and I'm always fascinated by the people who do that sort of thing. Looks like a wonderful avocation (to me, but I love love love dogs).

And I am published about ten times as much as an educator as I am as a poet. I'm working on changing that though.

 

[FifthFlower]

Making the Vows Permanent

Your name is tattooed on my neck.
That means you may not leave.
So every day, come near to check,
Though it may make you grieve.

So what? Don't look at me like that--
I think I might conceive--
Your name feels cozy where it's at.
And it, you can't retrieve.

 

[FifthFlower]

This is one of my favorite poems, written by Emily Dickinson:

My life closed twice before its close;
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me,

So huge, so hopeless to conceive,
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.

 

[Eluard]

Hmm I was trying to break up the rhythm in the last line but I think I broke it up too much. Here is an edit:

Ciao ED

This woman swallowed Death
It Grew into a Sun —
She cut herself with Words
But could not get it done.

She stropped the knife
Upon the failing Sea, she
Ground it on the unlived life —
But it blunted like the Prison Love

That is eternity's mad wife.


(Still not perfect by any means, but what the hell…)

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Now that is very interesting! You bred and showed Staffordshire Terriors? I watch our Westminster Kennel Club dog show every year, and I'm always fascinated by the people who do that sort of thing. Looks like a wonderful avocation (to me, but I love love love dogs).

And I am published about ten times as much as an educator as I am as a poet. I'm working on changing that though.

I did used to breed and show Staffordshire Bull Terriers yes (the English version the American ones are larger I believe) one thing I have found out from my articles on the subject is that you can plagiarise yourself! I go to a website that runs quizzes and all the quizzes are written by the people that go on the site if you get my drift. They have a very strong rule about plagiarism and rightly so but when I wrote some quizzes on Staffies based on my own articles (which it seems now appear on the internet although I didn't know it at the time!) some kind soul reported me for plagiarism and I was severely reprimanded and my quiz making facility removed even though I pointed out that I wrote them in the first place!!!