Poems Inspired by Anne Sexton
#AnneSexton
Poems inspired by the American poet Anne Sexton, who was known for her confessional writing style. Here you'll find poetry using the style, themes or characters found in poems by Anne Sexton. Along with poems about Sexton herself, including praise, criticism and memorials.
buddhakitty
Poem Published
9th Mar 2024 5:34pm
9th Mar 2024 5:34pm
unsane
searching for what
was never lost
but can not
be found
was never lost
but can not
be found
#AnneSexton
181 reads
11 Comments
Casted_Runes
Mr Karswell
Mr Karswell
Poem Published
10th Jan 2023 3:14pm
10th Jan 2023 3:14pm
Sexton
Always in black-and-white, she sits,
smoking a cigarette, one leg protruding
as if a sculptor caught motion, and fits
a chisel to a thigh. Both grave-digging
and bell-ringing make up the sexton’s life.
But wrongly called both succubus and wife.
She would have lit up Salem like a knife
revealed by moonlight in the house.
Misogynistic fantasies crowd on
the Massachusetts tomb; a mouse
dries out upon its palindrome, the sun
revolving ‘round the name RAT’S STAR.
Where need is never quite belief, come far
but...
smoking a cigarette, one leg protruding
as if a sculptor caught motion, and fits
a chisel to a thigh. Both grave-digging
and bell-ringing make up the sexton’s life.
But wrongly called both succubus and wife.
She would have lit up Salem like a knife
revealed by moonlight in the house.
Misogynistic fantasies crowd on
the Massachusetts tomb; a mouse
dries out upon its palindrome, the sun
revolving ‘round the name RAT’S STAR.
Where need is never quite belief, come far
but...
#depression
#MentalHealth
#WritingPoetry #AnneSexton
#WritingPoetry #AnneSexton
290 reads
2 Comments
LilDragonFly
Poem Published
29th Sep 2022 5:40pm
29th Sep 2022 5:40pm
Sexton
Sexton ~ "one who takes care of a church and performs
minor related duties" from Merriam-Webster Dictionary
About Anne Sexton (1928 - 1974)
You are the keeper of my church
the ringer of the confessional bell
with deep wounds to sell
for the price of a book
Cutting your self wide open
up until the end hoping
that this would balm
would heal all these scars
But I do know your pain
with each cold November rain
that makes me retrace
all of these unpoetic lines
Whether blade or quill ...
minor related duties" from Merriam-Webster Dictionary
About Anne Sexton (1928 - 1974)
You are the keeper of my church
the ringer of the confessional bell
with deep wounds to sell
for the price of a book
Cutting your self wide open
up until the end hoping
that this would balm
would heal all these scars
But I do know your pain
with each cold November rain
that makes me retrace
all of these unpoetic lines
Whether blade or quill ...
#bipolar
#confessional
#MentalHealth
#WritingPoetry
#AnneSexton
19 reads
3 Comments
LilDragonFly
Poem Published
8th Apr 2022 6:05pm
8th Apr 2022 6:05pm
The Poet Path
In the steps of Sexton and Plath
I follow this poet path
one of broken glass
one of strewn thorns
As each step still warns
that which lies ahead
will finally tell its truth
secrets kept since youth
Rays of golden sun
battles fought then won
with only myself
leave a mortal scar
A bridge still too far
with this river to cross
this river of deep loss
flows only with what it knows
So, I remain upon the shore
yearning for something...
I follow this poet path
one of broken glass
one of strewn thorns
As each step still warns
that which lies ahead
will finally tell its truth
secrets kept since youth
Rays of golden sun
battles fought then won
with only myself
leave a mortal scar
A bridge still too far
with this river to cross
this river of deep loss
flows only with what it knows
So, I remain upon the shore
yearning for something...
#confessional
#SylviaPlath
#LifeAsAWriter
#SelfDiscovery
#AnneSexton
9 reads
1 Comment
LilDragonFly
Poem Published
10th Jan 2022 8:17am
10th Jan 2022 8:17am
Opposites
Suicide is, after all, the opposite
of the poem" ~ Anne Sexton
Suicide opposes poetry
so tragic, yet prosaic
this self-spilt mosaic
Fresh blood congealing
on the peeling linoleum floor
so unlike the steady flow of ink
Bringing me to the brink
of artistic ecstasy
of such literary bliss
Like that epic first kiss
when the drippy pen then
christened my virgin page
of the poem" ~ Anne Sexton
Suicide opposes poetry
so tragic, yet prosaic
this self-spilt mosaic
Fresh blood congealing
on the peeling linoleum floor
so unlike the steady flow of ink
Bringing me to the brink
of artistic ecstasy
of such literary bliss
Like that epic first kiss
when the drippy pen then
christened my virgin page
#suicide
#confessional
#LifeAsAWriter
#WritingPoetry
#AnneSexton
20 reads
5 Comments
LilDragonFly
Poem Published
20th Nov 2021 10:12am
20th Nov 2021 10:12am
Sexton
I come to see you everyday
as you rule your life the same way
Juggling doubt
smuggling all respect
from the deep canyon of self
as you tend to your church
Your temple of confessions
with all its impressions
molded into the walls
into the cold stone floor
While you again seek more
than all that you left behind
as you rule your life the same way
Juggling doubt
smuggling all respect
from the deep canyon of self
as you tend to your church
Your temple of confessions
with all its impressions
molded into the walls
into the cold stone floor
While you again seek more
than all that you left behind
#LifeStruggles
#bipolar
#confessional
#MentalHealth
#AnneSexton
16 reads
4 Comments
LilDragonFly
Poem Published
5th Sep 2021 1:36pm
5th Sep 2021 1:36pm
Naturistic
I have been this way
since the earliest day
a wanderer of the wood
a disciple of the trees
Listening to the breeze
her whispers
her secret
have not one regret
Following in the path
of Sexton and Plath
making my confession
in this generational procession
Laying myself open bare
being so fully aware
of each moment
of each single breath
From birth until death
this endless flow
the eternal glow
of all that is truly naturistic
since the earliest day
a wanderer of the wood
a disciple of the trees
Listening to the breeze
her whispers
her secret
have not one regret
Following in the path
of Sexton and Plath
making my confession
in this generational procession
Laying myself open bare
being so fully aware
of each moment
of each single breath
From birth until death
this endless flow
the eternal glow
of all that is truly naturistic
#nature
#confessional
#SylviaPlath
#WritingPoetry
#AnneSexton
17 reads
9 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
1st Nov 2019 1:28am
1st Nov 2019 1:28am
The Double Image (Portraits)
I made you to find me'
'It doesn't matter if there are wars,
the business of life continues
unless you're the one that gets it'
-Anne Sexton
I went around in circles writing the empty vernacular,
writing it out in reams until it stood for something.
The dead heart followed along, musing me.
Why are the words so empty?
They echo, those words, rat-tat-tat and ka-ching
as the hills of my mother's bounty became flattened.
Each faint pulse of her heart, a wind of the ribbon ink,
and sentences...
'It doesn't matter if there are wars,
the business of life continues
unless you're the one that gets it'
-Anne Sexton
I went around in circles writing the empty vernacular,
writing it out in reams until it stood for something.
The dead heart followed along, musing me.
Why are the words so empty?
They echo, those words, rat-tat-tat and ka-ching
as the hills of my mother's bounty became flattened.
Each faint pulse of her heart, a wind of the ribbon ink,
and sentences...
#mother
#death
#suicide
#cancer
#AnneSexton
682 reads
8 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
20th Oct 2019 2:58am
20th Oct 2019 2:58am
Just Once (Living River Of Hell)
The trouble with being a woman, Skeezix,
is being a little girl in the first place'
'If this is Hell, then Hell could not be much,
neither as special or as ugly as I was told.'
-Anne Sexton
I am diagnosed dragging on a Camel,
staring at the river, full of all the selves
of detachmemt from my actual one.
They used to be me as one self when I was
fused into the wall of my mother,
before I came here to this bridge.
I am deranging like the splitting haloes
of car headlights...
is being a little girl in the first place'
'If this is Hell, then Hell could not be much,
neither as special or as ugly as I was told.'
-Anne Sexton
I am diagnosed dragging on a Camel,
staring at the river, full of all the selves
of detachmemt from my actual one.
They used to be me as one self when I was
fused into the wall of my mother,
before I came here to this bridge.
I am deranging like the splitting haloes
of car headlights...
#dark
#death
#river
#memories
#AnneSexton
878 reads
19 Comments
goldenmyst
Bumped 4th Sep 2019 5:20pm
4th Oct 2015 5:37pm
4th Oct 2015 5:37pm
Strangers in the Night
Strangers in the Night
I love the smell of books. I think that, even more than my love of literature, may be the reason I work in a used book store. That and because it is so quiet. I love quiet places where I find I can think more clearly. I know people who crave noise and feel lonely in places like this book store.
However, I feel right at home among the books of Pablo Neruda and Anne Sexton two of my favorite authors among the many represented in the stacks of this antiquarian book store. The books are like companions to me. I feel as though I am in the company of the...
I love the smell of books. I think that, even more than my love of literature, may be the reason I work in a used book store. That and because it is so quiet. I love quiet places where I find I can think more clearly. I know people who crave noise and feel lonely in places like this book store.
However, I feel right at home among the books of Pablo Neruda and Anne Sexton two of my favorite authors among the many represented in the stacks of this antiquarian book store. The books are like companions to me. I feel as though I am in the company of the...
#AnneSexton
1223 reads
4 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
29th Aug 2019 1:39am
29th Aug 2019 1:39am
The Awful Rowing (Toward God)
Perhaps God is only a deep voice
heard by the deaf,
I do not know'
-Anne Sexton
Where is God, what sun, what moon
towed the misogyny
to leave me here in his blood?
The far off island of blinking starlight
winks and carries me off:
I am floating, I am rowing.
Seeking, I am always seeking;
such tedious labor to play this game.
He is receding as I push on to his
island in the sun
inhaling its fishy, sour sobriety.
My skin is removed of its endurance,
I am raw, blistered in the...
heard by the deaf,
I do not know'
-Anne Sexton
Where is God, what sun, what moon
towed the misogyny
to leave me here in his blood?
The far off island of blinking starlight
winks and carries me off:
I am floating, I am rowing.
Seeking, I am always seeking;
such tedious labor to play this game.
He is receding as I push on to his
island in the sun
inhaling its fishy, sour sobriety.
My skin is removed of its endurance,
I am raw, blistered in the...
#death
#God
#confessional #AnneSexton
#confessional #AnneSexton
1669 reads
10 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
13th Aug 2019 3:40am
13th Aug 2019 3:40am
Menstruation At Forty (Spider's Curse)
Stung to death,
an ill begotten fate,
sisters in tangled limb,
sisters in wombs' blood
rendered of yesterdays
remains still hunted.
Weaving angels
hover over the early death
trapped, entangled,
consumed in poison,
wrists bound together
praying for new life.
Son, beseeching
all I have acquired of you,
You, whom the dusky late hours have made,
You, whom I lusted for and listened for
rattling as bells toll,
clocks revealing our closeness in hour,
our embrace before ...
an ill begotten fate,
sisters in tangled limb,
sisters in wombs' blood
rendered of yesterdays
remains still hunted.
Weaving angels
hover over the early death
trapped, entangled,
consumed in poison,
wrists bound together
praying for new life.
Son, beseeching
all I have acquired of you,
You, whom the dusky late hours have made,
You, whom I lusted for and listened for
rattling as bells toll,
clocks revealing our closeness in hour,
our embrace before ...
#women
#death
#AnneSexton
956 reads
6 Comments
DU Poetry : Poems Inspired by Anne Sexton
#AnneSexton is curated by Ahavati (Tams).
