Sylvia Plath tells us that
'when she shuts her eyes
all the world drops dead,
only to be born again
when she reopens them'.
Rather like switching off the T.V.
I suppose,
when watching a favourite program.
But, for me, closing my eyes
enables me to watch
the pictures flashed,
by the video projector
of my memory bank
onto the screen
of my closed eyelids.
Lots of re-runs
awaken more memories
of the various stages
in my long life;
things I have done
and still regret,
things I have done
and delighted in doing
with people I've met,
and things I've seen,
in places I've visited
all around the world.
My Muse, also,
sometimes appears,
encouraging me to draw
on those re-runs as prompts
for new writing.
Rather like this one, I suppose!
A contest entry
- What does this quote mean to you? by mravinsky08.
400 points, ended October 18, 3 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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good grief, can't believe that comment below...I'm biting my tongue! You really set yourself up for a lot of criticism with these contests, don't you?
I really haven't read much of Plath but I like your poem. I don't think there is anything that you've ever written that I didn't like, though. ((smiles))
Nice write, Shenton. Now that I've remembered my log in and password here, I can catch up on your newest works. I'm sorry I'm so scatterbrained! I see that you've visited my blog, and I'm always flattered to see that you've been reading and also viewing my photography.
(hugs)
Deb -
What a very cynical approach to life. The tone is very caustic in the first stanza. The second stanza is a bit cliched with the screen of one's eyelids. Still, I believe that cliches are named so for a reason...people continually use them--why? Because they're effective. I think you have a reference here to Sylvia's Disquieting Muses poem which is wonderful in itself. However, the poem was a bit too concrete for my tastes. The depth seemed to be lacking and the academic attention to poetic detail was slightly deficient. However, I enjoyed reading your poem and want to thank you for entering the contest. I hope that you've grown an interesting into Plath and will follow up with her works. Bravo.
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i like it
great job
i especially like the part that goes
"Sylvia Plath tells us that
'when she shuts her eyes
all the world drops dead,
only to be born again
when she reopens them'.
Rather like switching off the T.V.
I suppose,
when watching a favourite program"
-rose -
I can relate to this.
I watched a documentary on television recently about Sylvia Plath. So much of my own writing (especially my sea poetry) comes from my life, particularly the 4 years I spent in the U.S. Navy. At such a young age, I got to experience so much of Europe, and, to this day, I regret not spending more time in the Navy. In many ways, I took it for granted. I cherish that time in my life, even though I lost both of my parents in that four year stretch to heart disease and a brain aneurysm. I hope that I can show my wife and two kids Europe one day.
Don
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Hello sir, I see by your profile picture that your are an older person. I don't know what you describe here, to be abnormal, but I can close my eyes and the images roll on my lids as well. I haven't seen the world but fantasys, rich in color flow. I can't remember when it all started but it can hurt.
Very nice writing and very pleasing.
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