plath.

i think the first proper book of poetry i've ever read was by plath.

either plath or dylan thomas. i still like reading plath a lot, i think i got sick of dylan t really quick. i liked plath's raw feeling. the woman has talent, but it never really got a proper chance to be refined, eh u know because of erh.. the oven thingy.

i liked her insecurities, u can feel it haunting her poems, how she would be controlling the poem until a certain point then just when it gets tight, she releases a whole stream of brilliance. (doesn't work all the time though) i think it stems from how she was jealous that hughes was rightly a better poet than she ever would be. i think that jealousy helped, it fueled her writing. it may be blasphemy, but i think if she survived, she would have faded. badly.

try reading ariel and birthday letters at the same time, it's quite the one-two, like an intense male-female tennis match, but you'll see why i said ted hughes is stronger.

i mentioned before (somewhere) that her poem "The Applicant" was my personal fav of hers. the one below isn't what i would count as a remix since even the themes are different, so i guess it's an "inspired by".

****

The Test

In the adjacent bathroom;
Another unsuccessful applicant.
I believe she's crying,
washing her hands off me,
right now.
Any minute now,
she would slam that door.

Pity.
I fancied her. That talcum feel,
her fragile Chinese cut and
skin so smooth I lost my grip
slipping these hands around
her schoolgirl waist.
I remembered laughing
as we fell.

I was fooling myself with her hair.
Purposely shortened,
freed from the burden of bonds,
like yours.
That perfume,
I would have bought the same one for you.
The taste of her lips
biting my tongue,
I think I called out your name
post impact.

I know I asked for it.
Somewhere in the flight
of stairs leading up to all this,
I have already guessed that
she would excel
in the mimicry of you.

****