Bedtime Poems

Bedtime Poems

Plath sat upon Ted's lap

mesmerized as he read

his ethereal poems to her

she giggled in spurts

cried into his sleeve

felt his betrayal

shut out his words

ended up alone in the love seat

spitting her own verse at his pages

as I sat on the lap of her memory

mesmerized as she read

her suicide poems to me

I could only plead 

that more of her work she would read

but she had already recited into the sheet

into the roofbeam

she was gone

and I?

ended up alone in the love seat

cleaning up the spittle

trying to solve the pages

upon which lay the riddle

that was her life.

erin-cilberto

1/23/2021

Reviews

[barleygirl]

This, more than anything I've read from you about SP, conveys your palpable concern & lifelong puzzlement over her demise. It's hard not to imagine the manifestation of his poems taking precedence over hers & in your scenario, I can feel the way some women fawn over a guy's talent as she's feeling squelched about her own. I've seen this scenario play out many times & ya just want to shake her (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your deep understanding here, Margie.
j.

[Laura Kate]

Absolutely
beautiful.

This gave me shivers.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Laura,
j.

[Patricia]

This is wonderful writing. I’m not sure who’s lap I’m sitting on hers or yours. Those moments of darkness in solitude are so loud. It’s easy to be overwhelmed at times like these. This leaves me so sad. I think It will take a day to get over this one

[jacob erin-cilberto]

wow, sorry...didn't mean to make you so sad, Pat,
j.

[Sheila Kline]

Plath was set apart in some ways in that she could so expertly express her deep sorrow and pain from her spirit to written word so that the reader could get a glimpse into that which riddled her waking days and sleepless nights. She "played" with suicide and the game of death finally won, but in that game she gave others a fleeting glance at who she was, who she aspired to be though besieged with recurring grief.

Your words are mesmerizing as I can visualize how Plath dipped on and off the pillow, deeper into the bedsheets, leaving Ted, her beloved husband out in the cold so to say as the riddle played out.....
I've often wondered if she was insane, but rather one who actually felt invigorated by the game of it all.

She was an intriguing character on the stage of life, as many other poets are, and have been. Writing of one's pain is for some a process of healing and for others a yoke fashioned to carry on that pain. I wonder what her husband felt when all was finished, when her bedtime poem was complete.

Excellent writing, but yours always are!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I am of a mind that she felt invigorated by the game of it, and that she thought someone would save her again in the end...that she thought she would come back and write about another suicide.
I really appreciate your insights, Sheila...so nice to see you again...You are one of the special people here on the site. Thank you for that.
j.

[Sheila Kline]

Thank you for you kind comments! Tt is my pleasure to be among fellow writers who are set apart as special friends!!
I am not here often enough of late so I must make an extra effort to return again.

[Sheila Kline]

Yes, I do need to return more often so I don't write "Tt" for It. I need a spell check lesson or two for hitting the post comment button...lol.

[Fairy Khan]

"ended up alone in the love seat
spitting her own verse at his pages
as I sat on the lap of her memory
mesmerized as she read
her suicide poems to me"

I can't get over how beautifully penned these lines are. Amazing work here, J.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you so much Fairy...

j.

[John the Baptist]

Pain seems often to beget poetry. Suicidal people don't necessarily want to die. They just want the pain to stop.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I agree, John...wholeheartedly....just for it to stop.
And most write away from the edge....she wrote directly into it.
j.

[DIVYA]

She was an enigma. Her brilliance perhaps became her greatest foe. So sensitive too. She could never get over the great betrayal. The good ones always get hurt the worst. Perhaps the cynicism needed to survive in this world doesn't come easy to them. A great poem on Plath!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, the good ones always get hurt the worst...and Plath said..."readers want to know from those who have been there and felt the worst"
she did.
thank you for your understanding review, DIVYA,
j.

[Ted Kniffen]

A fragile soul who didn't understand the effect Hughes would have on her ... and a man who didn't know ... or care what the effect would be.
I have a book of his poetry that finishes with a poem he wrote after she passed, only included I believe after he passed.
It was really quite good ... made me think there was some regret there on his part.

A good write j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I have one book of his as well, "Birthday Letters"
all the poems are about her....too little too late and published after she was gone.
thank you, Ted---
j.

[Stella Armour]

Like Chris i have never really appreciated him either, but i know she is one of your favourites, one of those that reaches your soul. These are the poets that make the best bedtime reading, when all is quiet and we can almost hear their voice...

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, when all is quiet....thank you, Stella,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Beautiful tribute to the memory of Plath and her work. Sadly she chose the wrong man. Ted's infidelity rocked an already fragile mind. Your admiration for her shines through. I have never really appreciated Ted or his work. Her suicide cut short what could have been a wealth of more poetry.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

She was writing her best stuff when she died...the poems which really made her name...
thank you, Chris,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

What a waste of a life although she left a wonderful legacy.