"Nick and the Candlestick" by Sylvia Plath (Favorite Poem Project)

"Nick and the Candlestick" by Sylvia Plath, read by Seph Rodney (Photographer, Long Beach, CA), as part of the Favorite Poem Project

[@AyeZimbra]

And instantly I am in love with Seph and Plath XOXO

[@webspecific]

Seph, stunning reading. I didn't know this poem by Plath. Thank you. I agree, it's crazy but intensely moving. "They weld to me like plums." makes no sense but is perfect. Reminds me: trust the subconscious and allusions. Not that work shouldn't be revised but you got to know when to hold 'em. She knew.

[@maryannscheuer]

I love this way of connecting so many different things. The phrase of Seph's that will stick with me for a long time is the way art can create "an emotional hush". He said, "It's a place the viewer can come to and gain access to these other places." So true, of many art forms.

[@JacquiTaylor]

Such beautiful spoken words, that draw me to you x

[@nancyrose8028]

Seph, So well spoken, so well done! It is wonderful to see the passion you feel for SP. I, too, feel that passion. Have you heard her voice? She also is an artist. (It's even hard to speak of her in the past tense. I don't think of her that way.) If you haven't already done so in your education, I would encourage you to research her life, read her prose, her letters, her diaries, and view her art. She is such an amazing human being. Thank you so much for sharing this. Enjoy your journey as I have.

[@atis9061]

😭 well put. She spoke to me.

[@jarrodlacy9856]

Remarkably done, Mr. Rodney.

[@nathanfrazermusic]

Beautiful!

[@DrRonArt]

In a very exquisite, lyrical way, Sylvia Plath talks about the experience of giving birth - the cave as a raw, real yet endearing metaphor for her womb.

[@VictorHageman]

For some reason I never reacted to the first line as strange. It's first now that it was pointed out that I realized miners don't weld; I guess the factory and the cave appeared like the same place in my mind. Clearly, both places are likened to the womb, and in the beginning of the poem she identifies herself with or together with Nicholas, the male embryo, only to be differentiated forwards. The unedited poem recorded by Plath ends: "That's you. That's me."