Anne Sexton gave a reading at my college in the 70's. She was a presence unlike anyone I'd encountered with her bright lipstick and her dark hair. A bold woman poet who seemed so confidant. This was the same year we lost her. This poem reflects the arc of her too short life.
Gone! I'll try again. She a deep voice and i think she smoked a cigarette. She read slowly and looked at us. She was dressed and made up beautifully, glamour in the days of hippie grunge.
This poem is so sexy and true. Short pumping lines full of tenderness and wonder. Erotically divine.
Sexton was my first poet who came into my life when I was 15 years old and went to the original Poet's House in NYC that was housed in my high school. Away from the rowdy lunchroom, I sat and read her words. I still sigh after I read her powerful and vulnerable poems.
When a man and a woman are together their souls will pass through each other than return. Leaving a small part of themselves with the person no matter how casual the encounter.
wow! there are no women writing like this today. women now are all heady complaining warrior types punching at their own interior masculine selves. this woman writes the eternal truth of life. polarity. attraction.
i read patti's substack and have read all her books. she's a wholly different sort of writer than sexton. i'm sure they're out there,but i think anne sexton and the one who put her head in the oven were doing something very outre and dangerous for their time. that fearless female scorpio talent.
I did wiki it, and saw that it refers to the natural order of the universe in a sense, and also a name for Jesus. Which leaves me still wondering what Anne was thinking.
Ah I see apologies. My interpretation of bringing the logos into the poem is to touch a deeper darker older God / universe than what we presently perceive. Back to the prime primal through the magick of sex
I looked it up, too. It was so interesting how she used Logos as if it was a Greek God, when it was not. But what I came to was the idea of the primordial nature of creation and divinity.
Yes, this fills out my experience of the poem. Thank you Brendan. Our experience as humans is a paradox of the temporal and eternal, sometimes in sync and sometimes (perhaps too often) in battle. Sex and love are true manifestations!
To me, using “Logos” obscures what she was trying to say, shrouding it in pretentious ancient mystery. Also, after suggesting the man and woman have found god through sex, there follows a grudging complaint that god disappoints by ending it. Yet love or affection can continue thereafter until the next time, like high tide and then low tide. I will try Patti Smith - thanks for the suggestion.
Anne Sexton gave a reading at my college in the 70's. She was a presence unlike anyone I'd encountered with her bright lipstick and her dark hair. A bold woman poet who seemed so confidant. This was the same year we lost her. This poem reflects the arc of her too short life.
Oh my gosh, you saw her live? Wow. I want to hear more!
Corie, i did. I wrote a longer response but it failed to post.
Shall I look for it?
Gone! I'll try again. She a deep voice and i think she smoked a cigarette. She read slowly and looked at us. She was dressed and made up beautifully, glamour in the days of hippie grunge.
She was also terrifying; she softened nothing. In a small group of students, i did not dare to speak with her.
Anne Sexton is one of a kind! Thank you for sharing this!!
Yes she is.
This poem is so sexy and true. Short pumping lines full of tenderness and wonder. Erotically divine.
Sexton was my first poet who came into my life when I was 15 years old and went to the original Poet's House in NYC that was housed in my high school. Away from the rowdy lunchroom, I sat and read her words. I still sigh after I read her powerful and vulnerable poems.
Me too!
at 15 I was given To Bedlam and Part way back in 1974 and Annie has been with me all my life long. An astonishing poet !
When a man and a woman are together their souls will pass through each other than return. Leaving a small part of themselves with the person no matter how casual the encounter.
So keen. Riveting. Thanks for this.
One of those troubling poems where one lingers only to be drawn in to the mystery that life is.
wow! there are no women writing like this today. women now are all heady complaining warrior types punching at their own interior masculine selves. this woman writes the eternal truth of life. polarity. attraction.
hiero gamos.
TRY READING THE POETRY OF PATTI SMITH, WHO IS ALIVE TODAY. ☮️❤️
i read patti's substack and have read all her books. she's a wholly different sort of writer than sexton. i'm sure they're out there,but i think anne sexton and the one who put her head in the oven were doing something very outre and dangerous for their time. that fearless female scorpio talent.
AND I LOVE ANNE SEXTON ☮️
Wondering about Logos and what the word/name/concept represents here.
It's quite a complex Greek concept. Probably best wiki it mate
I did wiki it, and saw that it refers to the natural order of the universe in a sense, and also a name for Jesus. Which leaves me still wondering what Anne was thinking.
Ah I see apologies. My interpretation of bringing the logos into the poem is to touch a deeper darker older God / universe than what we presently perceive. Back to the prime primal through the magick of sex
I looked it up, too. It was so interesting how she used Logos as if it was a Greek God, when it was not. But what I came to was the idea of the primordial nature of creation and divinity.
Yes, this fills out my experience of the poem. Thank you Brendan. Our experience as humans is a paradox of the temporal and eternal, sometimes in sync and sometimes (perhaps too often) in battle. Sex and love are true manifestations!
wow, loved it all til the end, too bummer for me, but I love Anna Sexton, and she always seemed to remain true to her spirit ❤️🙏
Congrats a nice piece. I love the simil with the sea and the sand...Just that sea and sand are not gender oriented.
hey that's naughty
To me, using “Logos” obscures what she was trying to say, shrouding it in pretentious ancient mystery. Also, after suggesting the man and woman have found god through sex, there follows a grudging complaint that god disappoints by ending it. Yet love or affection can continue thereafter until the next time, like high tide and then low tide. I will try Patti Smith - thanks for the suggestion.
That’s hawt
Blessings for Anne leaving us with a magnificent legacy.
A powerful poem. Thanks.
Wonderful