If you have not yet read Sylvia Plath´s The Bell Jar (the fig tree analogy I refer to here is taken from it)… I highly recommend. She had a way of being brutally honest with her journeying through the world, a struggle of many things she forever seemed to be trying to reconcile. When I read the fig tree passage in particular… it resonated so deep in me I almost felt sick from the shake (in the most wonderful, seen and sympathetic way). Thank you for reading, and sharing your insights. I love anyone to take whatever they feel from it. For me, it is not too long, yet.. but the awareness (keenly felt) that there is a choice to make, and I am (now) able. Here is to the next fig, for us all
Hmm. Fair warning: It is actually more of her memoir as she navigates life after (and during) a stint in a mental institution. It is among my most treasured reads, but a hard one… emotional.. and definitely not poetry, but again, so very very good. And worthy.
I feel like this poem is about waiting at the threshold too long. I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.
If you have not yet read Sylvia Plath´s The Bell Jar (the fig tree analogy I refer to here is taken from it)… I highly recommend. She had a way of being brutally honest with her journeying through the world, a struggle of many things she forever seemed to be trying to reconcile. When I read the fig tree passage in particular… it resonated so deep in me I almost felt sick from the shake (in the most wonderful, seen and sympathetic way). Thank you for reading, and sharing your insights. I love anyone to take whatever they feel from it. For me, it is not too long, yet.. but the awareness (keenly felt) that there is a choice to make, and I am (now) able. Here is to the next fig, for us all
Thanks for the recommendation. I have not heard of it. I have marked it however. I will check it out. I love poetry that leans on the natural world.
Hmm. Fair warning: It is actually more of her memoir as she navigates life after (and during) a stint in a mental institution. It is among my most treasured reads, but a hard one… emotional.. and definitely not poetry, but again, so very very good. And worthy.
Thanks for the warning. I’d need to be in the right headspace to read something like that.