I'm not a big fan of long poems, but I do have a few I enjoy reading and re-reading. This one is a favorite.
It seems especially suitable in a grim yet oh-so-lovely way after Fearless Felix's successful jump from the stratosphere this week.
The poem is by James Dickey (of Deliverance fame), and was based on this true incident.
A 29-year-old stewardess fell ... to her
death tonight when she was swept
through an emergency door that sud-
denly sprang open ... The body ...
was found ... three hours after the
accident.
—New York Times
death tonight when she was swept
through an emergency door that sud-
denly sprang open ... The body ...
was found ... three hours after the
accident.
—New York Times
Since it cannot be accurately formatted here, I'm including a link to the full version at Poetry Foundation.
Irene is hosting over at Live Your Poem (great way to live btw!).Thanks, Irene!
2 comments:
Great connection between this week's news and the poem. It's a powerful imagining. I was wondering whether Dickey tried to match the length of the poem to the time of the fall -- he gives the stewardess a tragically large amount of time to think.
wow that is a poem. I agree, it seems she had way too much time to fall and think and shed clothes on the way down. I was just watching the stratosphere jump on YouTube and was amazed trying to imagine it. great text to life connection!
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