Poet Thy Fear, Should Have Thee Cast Onto Page

Poet Thy Fear, Should Have Thee Cast Onto Page Poet thy fear, should have thee cast onto page Sank ink deep into paper for posterity Others have endured despair and insane rage Failure to act denotes not weak temerity Now thee has deprived this world of thy heart Acted in misery with greatest of errors Tragedy of death allows no restart Slay thy soul, ends not thy future terrors As we grieve deeply, for both our great sins That of indifference and its pain inflicted O' that we poets have been true as best friends Yielding not to our emotions conflicted Now thee has deprived this world of thy heart Tragedy of death allows no restart Robert J. Lindley, 3-12-2017 Sonnet Note: This poem was written as my reply to this great poet, now deceased and this commentary.. Specifically this sentence, ( In the title poem, Thomas says, quite simply: "I am afraid of what the world will do.") ********** https://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/articles/detail/69134 "" In a letter, Emily Dickinson wrote: Could we see all we hope, or hear the whole we fear told tranquil, like another tale, there would be madness near. Lady Jemutesonekh says, from her world 3,000 years ago, in the seventh, final septet of her soliloquy: When I come home the garden will be budding, White petals breaking open, clusters of night flowers, The far-off music of a tambourine. A boy will pace among the passionflowers, His eyes no longer two bruised surfaces. I’ll know the mouth of my young groom, I’ll touch His hands. Why do people lie to one another? In the title poem, Thomas says, quite simply: I am afraid of what the world will do."" “Introduction” by Lucie Brock-Broido copyright 2008 by Lucie Brock-Broido. Reprinted from Letters to a Stranger with the permission of Graywolf Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota. Originally Published: September 24th, 2008 Essay The Rebirth of a Suicidal Genius Thomas James died obscure at 27 in 1974, then became a cult hero. Now Graywolf republishes his lost, legendary Letters to a Stranger. By Lucie Brock-Broido Introduction Thomas James, a Roethke Prizewinning devotee of Sylvia Plath, died obscure in 1974. Now Graywolf republishes his lost, legendary Letters to a Stranger, and Lucie Brock-Broido explains her 30-year search for his poetry. Book of the dead: Thomas James as a mysterious, haunted author resurrecting Plath's Lady Lazarus as a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy.