When I was a child
there was an old woman in our neighborhood whom we called The Witch.
All day she peered from her second story
window
from behind the wrinkled curtains
and sometimes she would open the window
and yell: Get out of my life!
She had hair like kelp
and a voice like a boulder.
I think of her sometimes now
and wonder if I am becoming her.
My shoes turn up like a jester's.
Clumps of my hair, as I write this,
curl up individually like toes.
I am shoveling the children out,
scoop after scoop.
Only my books anoint me,
and a few friends,
those who reach into my veins.
Maybe I am becoming a hermit,
opening the door for only
a few special animals?
Maybe my skull is too crowded
and it has no opening through which
to feed it soup?
Maybe I have plugged up my sockets
to keep the gods in?
Maybe, although my heart
is a kitten of butter,
I am blowing it up like a zeppelin.
Yes. It is the witch's life,
climbing the primordial climb,
a dream within a dream,
then sitting here
holding a basket of fire.
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Comments
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She had hair like kelp
and a voice like a boulder.
Ladies and gentlemen, if this is not the very definition of brilliance, then I am at a loss to state any other example. Sexton has the uncanny ability to create incredible moods by her word choice, giving off a scent of heated splendor on the most mundane of situations. Such extraordinary skills are more than rare and far too precious to survive the longer stretches of life... -
ive heard Anne Sexton's work before, i love it. just something about the way she writes...i dont know, i just like it. her style is great. now i am being repetative...
~KK~ -
Anne Sexton, I must say I have heard her work when I was a bit younger. It still brings that feeling of a woman that understands the very manner of which my life flows. When one occupies her life with knowledge and natural pleasures why must she be considered no more than one of a queer nature. For is it not better to stray from the average grain of this world, and find our own path? Hmm, this piece is wonderful for it provokes one to think past the ordinary.
Brianna
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