Ah, today’s prompt transported me to the world of Sylvia Plath. I spent some time reading her and loving her, amazed by the depth and the intensity of feeling evoked by her words. Truly masterful were her combinations of sounds and phrasing. Sometimes as I read them aloud the words became percussive in my ears. For this penultimate day of NaPoWriMo 2018 I chose Plath’s Poem “Elm” as the starting point for my poem.
Here are the first three tercets of Plath’s poem. I just love them.
Elm
I know the bottom, she says. I know it with my great tap root:
It is what you fear.
I do not fear it: I have been there.
Is it the sea you hear in me,
Its dissatisfactions?
Or the voice of nothing, that was your madness?
Love is a shadow.
How you lie and cry after it
Listen: these are its hooves: it has gone off, like a horse.
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And now here you go with today’s poem:
Crown
I know the bliss of realization, she says. I know it with my greatest summit.
It is what you dream of.
I do not dream it: I live there.
Is it the galaxy you taste in me,
its completeness?
Or the embodiment of forever, that was your serenity?
Love is pure light.
How you move and sing with it
Feel: these are its wings: it rests with you, like an angel.
