The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Mon 1/2/06)

[RetroLounge]

The Applicant

First, are you our sort of a person?
Do you wear
A glass eye, false teeth or a crutch,
A brace or a hook,
Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch,

Stitches to show something's missing? No, no? Then
How can we give you a thing?
Stop crying.
Open your hand.
Empty? Empty. Here is a hand

To fill it and willing
To bring teacups and roll away headaches
And do whatever you tell it.
Will you marry it?
It is guaranteed

To thumb shut your eyes at the end
And dissolve of sorrow.
We make new stock from the salt.
I notice you are stark naked.
How about this suit----

Black and stiff, but not a bad fit.
Will you marry it?
It is waterproof, shatterproof, proof
Against fire and bombs through the roof.
Believe me, they'll bury you in it.

Now your head, excuse me, is empty.
I have the ticket for that.
Come here, sweetie, out of the closet.
Well, what do you think of that ?
Naked as paper to start

But in twenty-five years she'll be silver,
In fifty, gold.
A living doll, everywhere you look.
It can sew, it can cook,
It can talk, talk , talk.

It works, there is nothing wrong with it.
You have a hole, it's a poultice.
You have an eye, it's an image.
My boy, it's your last resort.
Will you marry it, marry it, marry it.

Sylvia Plath

******************************

RL

[LaraMN]

1. Love that one.

Such a dark, bitterly sarcastic take she had on life.

Having had children and been fascinated with the process, I have always loved this one:

Metaphors

I'm a riddle in nine syllables.
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.

[RetroLounge]

7. dark, bitterly sarcastic

yes, I guess that's why I like her...

:hi:

RL

[threehensandacow]

2. sylvia plath

on a monday morning. it's monday, right?

[RetroLounge]

3. Good Morning

Yes, it is Monday...

RL

[threehensandacow]

4. doesn't feel

as if it's much of anything. good morning.

[RetroLounge]

5. A little added bonus

Look for this poem put to music by a band called The Blue Aeroplanes...

:hi:

RL

[threehensandacow]

6. added bonus

do those exist?

[RetroLounge]

21. Maybe.

They're just harder to find sometimes...

RL

[RevCheesehead]

8. And a Good Soggy Morning to you!

We're getting thunderstorms here, and all the snow is slowly melting. I'm taking that as some kind of non-Apocalyptic sign.

:hug:

[RetroLounge]

9. Good Morning!

Snow is all gone, raining and nasty outside here.

Think it a good day to stay inside and catch up on housework, cleaning, etc.

of course, me doing housework might be a sign of the apocalypse :rofl:

RL

[RevCheesehead]

11. Can I kidnap you and take you home with me tomorrow?

My home is a mess.
Oh, wait a minute - my cat-sitter was going to take a stab at cleaning while I am gone.

Can I take you home anyways? :hug:

[RetroLounge]

12. Sorry, I'll be back at work tomorrow...

:shrug:

and I had a hot little french maid outfit I was gonna wear...

RL

[RevCheesehead]

15. Won't your coworkers laugh at you?

:evilgrin:

[RetroLounge]

16. Wouldn't be the first time...

Won't be the last.

:rofl:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Odd, quirky little poem....

Dark, yes.....sarcastic as well......

Perfect for a rainy Monday morning.....

It's raining on the Rose Parade today......

too bad

Thank you, RetroLounge.....


:P

[RetroLounge]

13. Yes, it is dark and rainy here too...

Here's some literary commentary on this poem, if you are interested...

http://www.sylviaplath.de/plath/annas.html

"The Applicant" is explicitly a portrait of marriage in contemporary Western culture. However, the "courtship" and "wedding" in the poem represent not only male/female relations but human relations in general. That job seeking is the central metaphor in "The Applicant" suggests a close connection between the capitalist economic system, the patriarchal family structure, and the general depersonalization of human relations. Somehow all interaction between people, and especially that between men and women, given the history of the use of women as items of barter, seems here to be conditioned by the ideology of a bureaucratized market place. However this system got started, both men and women are implicated in its perpetuation. As in many of Plath's poems, one feels in reading "The Applicant" that Plath sees herself and her imaged personae as not merely caught in--victims of--this situation, but in some sense culpable as well. In "The Applicant," the poet is speaking directly to the reader, addressed as "you" throughout. We too are implicated, for we too are potential "applicants."

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. I am always interested in what you have to say to me, my dear RL!

This is a most interesting and illuminating commentary....

Thanks!

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

19. Yeah, I read it too and it is pretty nice commentary

:hi:

RL

[GOPisEvil]

17. Hmmmm...I don't do well at job interviews either...

Maybe there's a reason I'm not married. :rofl:

God, I love Sylvia Plath sometimes. :D

[RetroLounge]

18. Maybe it's the cover letter?

:rofl:

:hi:

RL

[RetroLounge]

20. evening kick

:hi:

:kick:

:D

RL