The Anchoress @theanchoress - Tumblr Blog

i’m very self aware. which unfortunately hasn’t solved anything

the horrors persist but so do books, art, hot chocolate, winter nights, the moon, the sea, the stars, sunsets, literature, libraries, cats, flowers, stories, love and the wistful feeling you get when you finally return home

headlightsforever

Roethke was an extraordinarily rigorous critic, and if you couldn’t take it, you didn’t learn much. For example, he said the real test was that every line of a poem should be a poem. That’s about as tough as you can get. I apply that to my own work and sometimes just throw up my hands. But I find it’s extremely useful in getting rid of connectives, passive constructions, surplus adjectives, and words that don’t have any particular energy in them.

Carolyn Kizer

how write book?

like that but more

oh noooooo

My Mother

by Frieda Hughes

They are killing her again. She said she did it One year in every ten, But they do it annually, or weekly, Some even do it daily, Carrying her death around in their heads And practising it. She saves them The trouble of their own; They can die through her Without ever making The decision. My buried mother Is up-dug for repeat performances.

Now they want to make a film For anyone lacking the ability To imagine the body, head in oven, Orphaning children. Then It can be rewound So they can watch her die Right from the beginning again.

The peanut eaters, entertained At my mother’s death, will go home, Each carrying their memory of her, Lifeless – a souvenir. Maybe they’ll buy the video.

Watching someone on TV Means all they have to do Is press ‘pause’ If they want to boil a kettle, While my mother holds her breath on screen To finish dying after tea. The filmmakers have collected The body parts, They want me to see. They require dressings to cover the joins And disguise the prosthetics In their remake of my mother. They want to use her poetry As stitching and sutures To give it credibility. They think I should love it – Having her back again, they think I should give them my mother’s words To fill the mouth of their monster, Their Sylvia Suicide Doll, Who will walk and talk And die at will, And die, and die And forever be dying.

metamorphesque

musings on June

1. anne sexton (“the truth the dead know”), 2. anne sexton (“suicide note poem”), 3. mary oliver (“august”), 4. l.m. montgomery (“anne of the island”), 5. morgan parker (“the black saint & the sinner lady & the dead & the truth”), 6. found poems: sylvia plath / peter k. steinberg (“percy key among the narcissi”) artwork by hugo grenville

decomposedmaw

Pixel post dividers for everyone! It's not much, but feel free to use them if you'd like. I don't know the ideal size for these, so let me know if they're too tall. I can make them a bit shorter next time.

thewritershelpers

Is the writing community still here?

What’s the 4-1-1? What have yall been up to?

… do you think we should make a comeback?

If we were to start posting and answering questions again, what would you like to see?

Would you want to move platforms, stay here, a combination?

I’ve missed you guys.

-H

louisegluckpdf

they won't tell you this in therapy but sometimes the best way to stop catastrophizing/anxiety is to interrupt your spiraling with "girl what the hell are you talking about"

ytpreviews

It's not a cure but you have no idea how many times this image has helped me with my OCD

notgreatthanks

This tag has been more effective than any meds I’ve ever taken

witchboxco

2026 Witches' Calendar

January 3 ● Full Moon in Cancer (Wolf Moon) January 18 ● New Moon in Capricorn February 1 ● Imbolc February 1 ● Full Moon in Leo (Snow Moon) February 17 ● New Moon in Aquarius February 26 - March 20 ● Mercury Retrograde March 3 ● Full Moon in Virgo (Worm Moon) March 19 ● New Moon in Pisces March 20 ● Ostara April 2 ● Full Moon in Libra (Pink Moon) April 17 ● New Moon in Aries May 1 ● Beltane May 1 ● Full Moon in Scorpio (Flower Moon) May 16 ● New Moon in Taurus May 31 ● Full Moon in Sagittarius (Blue Moon) June 20-21 ● Litha June 15 ● New Moon in Gemini June 29 ● Full Moon in Capricorn (Strawberry Moon) June 29 - July 23 ● Mercury Retrograde July 14 ● New Moon in Cancer July 29 ● Full Moon in Aquarius (Buck Moon) August 1 ● Lammas August 12 ● New Moon in Leo August 28 ● Full Moon (Sturgeon Moon) September 11 ● New Moon in Virgo September 23 ● Mabon September 26 ● Full Moon in Aries(Harvest Moon) October 10 ● New Moon in Libra October 24 - November 13 ● Mercury in Retrograde October 26 ● Full Moon in Taurus (Hunter's Moon) October 31 ● Samhain November 9 ● New Moon in Scorpio November 24 ● Full Moon in Gemini (Beaver Moon) December 9 ● New Moon in Sagittarius December 21 ● Yule December 24 ● Full Moon in Cancer (Cold Moon)