Monterey Memories - A Sonnet, Sylvia Plath Snippet Challenge Options

[Larry]

Monterey Memories

A glitter of seashells once lined the beach
like swimmers, who were riding the rip tide
onto the sand. The waters could not reach
a wave of flick’ring grass that grew beside

the fragile dunes of sand; for each wedge wears
a crown, frail as the halo ‘round the moon.
Like a botanical drawing that shares
an artist’s mind. The light burns like it’s noon

while I was contemplating a world view
of flowers and bluebirds. Still, ocean’s laid
their tongues upon the coast; an endless queue.
Yet, in a dawn of cornflowers I stayed.

Your nakedness shadows our safety’s shore
under the eyes of stars we can’t ignore.



Snippets used in order of appearance: a glitter of seas, riding the rip-tide, a wave of flickering grass, each wedge wears, frail as a halo, a botanical drawing, the light burns, contemplating a world, flowers and bluebirds, a dawn of cornflowers, your nakedness shadows our safety, under the eye of the stars

[Psyche]

Larry, I popped over to Herme's for a minute. I love this sonnet...well, I haven't seen a sonnet from you that I've disliked!

Great use of the snippets. Not an easy task, but you deftly include them in R&R...wow.

We're short of staff at the moment, but everything will fall into place soon...I hope.

Lori got a bug, Liz is unwell and Eisa's beloved dog Max had to be put down.

Still, I see that there's enough movement in this forum!

Will be back,
Syl***

[Psyche]

Hi again,

I forgot to mention that I like Sylvia Plath's poetry. Not the whole lot, but most of it is fascinating.

I don't believe she wrote any sonnets, so it's kudos to you for using the snippets in this form. And you probably consider her poems are prose!


There's a stake in your fat black heart And the villagers never liked you.... (to her Daddy, but much longer).

BTW, I noticed that you change the tense here:

The light burns like it’s noon

while I was contemplating a world view
of flowers and bluebirds.

Is that intentional? I suppose there's a reason, but I don't understand it.

Bedtime again, my days fly! I got out Ariel and The Colossus, as well as a biography. Read them so long ago, no harm in re-reading.

Bye for now,
Syl

[Larry]

Hi Syl,

Wow, two visits and I haven't even had time to thank you for the first one.

You are correct in your assessment of my feelings toward Ms. Plath's "prose"! Always been a sore subject of mine that any unmetered, unrhymed mental meanderings, however beautifully insightful should not be construed to be "poetry"! It can still be a poem so I don't want to step on anyone's toes but IMO, that is how I was taught in high school and college so it's sort of ingrained.

To address your noted "change in tense"; let me explain my reasoning. The poem is set in 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival. Five months back from Viet Nam with gruesome images rattling around in my brain, I wanted something to "bring me back" to some semblance of normal, whatever that was back then. Sitting on a quiet beach, contemplating the ocean's waves and my surroundings. That constitutes the first part of the sonnet. My segue to the light or one might say the realization of what man can do to others burns like it's noon. (I see the light!) is sort of an "aside" to the reader.

Being raised in an extremely sheltered environment, I didn't know the horrors of the "real" world until I was thrust into it.

Of course, the festival was all about love and peace, flowers and bluebirds with rows of cornflowers braided in the hippie girl's hair; some of whom walked around au natural. The nakedness was in reference to both them and the US as far as vulnerability was concerned and wanting to give the last line of the couplet the same duality of meaning, made reference to the stars on the stage for the concert and the stars in the sky; neither of which one could ignore.

As an after note: The concert helped for a bit but the images are still with me to this day.

Thanks for dropping in and I hope my explanation clarifies things a bit.

Larry

[Psyche]

Hi Larry,

I too must apologize for the delay in answering you.

Now it's a lot clearer. I'm afraid I didn't relate this vibrant sonnet to the Vietnam war. You certainly must have needed a totally different scene...at least an attempt to block those terrible images from your mind.

But such traumatic images remain. Some never recover from the horrors of war. And precious little help was offered soldiers who returned and couldn't slip back into family life or society, as if nothing had happened.

Yet wars continue. Violence must be ingrained in human nature, in some mysterious fashion, since love, peace and flower children left their mark at the time, but in the long run nothing has changed. Probably gotten worse...I like the duality of meaning, the nakedness, the stars onstage and in the sky, both impossible to ignore.

It's terrible to be thrust involuntarily into war, being brought up in a sheltered atmosphere.
I can go back in my family's history to the Great War, during which thousands of youngsters died and their bodies never returned, including several on my father's side. Just a gilt-edged card and some medals with ribbons...with a "thanks for services rendered to King and country". Those medals & ribbons remain tucked away in some box to this day, along with other mementoes.

I feel enormous admiration for the way you've woven all these real events into a sonnet threaded together with snippets from Sylvia Plath's poems. Yet looking at the snippets, I can understand how you must have been reminded of those far-gone days, as well as the hippie movement against war...and even, perhaps, John Lennon.

Thanks again,
Syl