every poet should know the company of a wild bird, at least once
i recently binged the biography:
“The Occult Sylvia Plath: The Hidden Spiritual Life of the Visionary Poet” by life-long Plath scholar Julia Gordon-Bramer
i feel fortunate this book was my introduction to Plath and her poet husband, Ted Hughes— and other significant influences in her life and poetry /
hat tip to my long-time favorite podcast: Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio — created and hosted by Miguel Conner at The Virtual Alexandria for interviewing Gordon-Bramer, because, for the first time ever, i was actually interested in Plath — and furthermore, i unexpectedly experienced a psychic “something” with Plath while listening to the audiobook; this “something” — i want to digest, explore – and possibly explain, in detail, in a future essay //
Julia Gordon-Bramer
while i imbibed this book, i was simultaneously raising an injured and orphaned starling nestling — on an intensive feeding schedule — and during this time, i learned from the book, that Sylvia and Ted also attempted to rescue an injured and sick baby bird — but after a week, and upon determining rehabilitation was futile, they jointly and sadly euthanized the bird in their gas oven (i know. wow.) ///
my own nestling was presumably left-for-dead, evicted from the nest by colonizing “English” house sparrows who murdered her three siblings and attempted to murder her — and then, by her poor, helpless, traumatized and distraught mother ( i will likely anthropomorphize even more now ) — i imagine Ted Hughes would have been quite captivated with the entire experience — and possibly, with me (i know. wow.) — so hypothetically, would i have rejected the brilliant rogue or fallen victim to his intense poetic gaze and attention? — he and i, will never know — in this timeline ////
meanwhile, my sweet starling, named Star, has now grown into an actual fledgling —
“are you my mother?” she asks me often, recalling one of my and my son’s favorite Dr. Seuss books,
my beauty, my dear Star:
i am your second mother for evermore.
to know Star.
to begin to know Sylvia.
to know, to know, to know,
is all i endeavor.
the limineen | earthling, poet & crone 