Rate a Poem - Ghosts by Anne Sexton

[ddgryphon]

Ghosts



Some ghosts are women,
neither abstract nor pale,
their breasts as limp as killed fish.
Not witches, but ghosts
who come, moving their useless arms
like forsaken servants.

Not all ghosts are women,
I have seen others;
fat, white-bellied men,
wearing their genitals like old rags.
Not devils, but ghosts.
This one thumps barefoot, lurching
above my bed.

But that isn't all.
Some ghosts are children.
Not angels, but ghosts;
curling like pink tea cups
on any pillow, or kicking,
showing their innocent bottoms, wailing
for Lucifer.

[drachin8]

I thought it was a strong poem, but there were a few lines that just didn't ring solid to me. However, I think we have well established by now that I am just hyper-critical...

:)

-Michelle

[Shiraz]

Hyper, or not, I agree. This did absolutely nothing for me. In my own frame of reference, it had nothing to do with ghosts whatsoever - only visions of unearthly demonic specters or hallucinations or . . . or . . . symbolic icky stuff.

I guess that's what it is - the title. It's not appropriate for this piece. Now, if it was entitled "Phantoms of Hell" or something, I probably would have had a different take on it. And liked it.

[eldragon]

I liked Anne Sexton, but I'm not into poetry.

I read both her biography and her daughter's memoir. INTERESTING. Lets just say that Anne Sexton was a terrible mom.

[Bret]

Barbarians!

Can we remember that not only was Anne a bad mom, she was a bad neighbor, a mentally disturbed individual and that she ended her own life by going for a nice long drive in a closed garage?

She was a seriously ill person who prolonged her life by writing poetry. She was encouraged to write by her psychiatrist and we all are better off for it. I adore Anne. I'm glad she wasn't my mom but I'm happy that she wrote for as long as she could endure.

I thought of her as deeply religious and spiritual and view her as a wild eyed Christian poet who was disowned by the church. But then, I could just be wearing my genitals like old rags. ;)

[P.H.Delarran]

I have just started reading her collection, "Letters to Dr Y".. strange and compelling. I'm fascinated by the macabre and this poem is more than creepy, disturbing, leaving me feeling that she is not really talking about ghosts at all.

[poetinahat]

I think I'm going to like this one more as time passes; it seems a little artful to me right now, and I'm not in a good poetry-reading headspace (as my esteemed mentor Bret has pointed out so well)...

So, I'll say I'm going to like it a lot, but I don't yet. (It happens to me a lot.)

[Rivana]

Altough the imagery is disturbing I get what the lady is saying. And she does it well in my mind, despite everything.