English Literature

It ALL means something

to the writer

to the reader

to the student forced

to dissect it into tiny pieces

and to the writer who reads

another’s words seeking inspiration

My English 101 professor

had a hard-on for Freud,

declared that all creative

writing is about sex

That succubus Ligeia haunted

Poe, and he came all

over the page in frightening prose

Hawthorne’s Beatrice, the

victim of fatherly love, as

phallic as seven gables thrusting

skyward, or a pointed red letter

better fit for a philandering

pastor than the poor love-stricken

girl forced to wear it

emblazoned over her

broken heart

It’s all about sex…

Me — I’m more of a

Jungian;

I think it’s all about

the myth and

the archetype

and the loss of gods

in a hurried, wanton world

I believe in angels

and demons and

the odd and playful

trickster, poking

sticks at wond’rous things

just

to

see

what. might. happen.

Give me Gaiman and Pratchett

Hoffman and Bradley over

Lawrence and Jong any day

Don’t get me wrong

Of course, sex

is good…

It’s not the mechanics

that matter, but

the connection to all

that is and was

and has ever been

Give me the mystery

The darkness

of the human heart

the illumination

of the human mind

and the visitation

of angels

unaware

© 11 May 2011 (Updated 11.26.22)