I love---let me say: I love---let me say again, LOVE---this magnificent poem, especially part V. And I love how my words fail as I read yours, as they did decades ago when I began to discover Poets like Vergil and Wallace Stevens. The joy of discovery dwindles in old age, but your Poetry brings it right back. I really like the format of this poem.
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Bookmarking this one for several anticipated re-reads; same way I love to hear Dvorak's 9th repeatedly.
This reading of Prufrock: This reading of Prufrock feels like both a homecoming and a horizon—eloquent, compassionate, and deeply clarifying. It takes Eliot’s fragmentation and refracts it through the lived experience of neurodivergent, queer, and marginalised lives, not as theory, but as intimate truth. What unfolds is a graceful weaving of insight and selfhood, where literary interpretation becomes an act of healing. In giving voice to what often stays unspoken, this isn’t just analysis—it’s a generous act of witness. It's a spark well worth sharing.
Overwhelmed: Dear redbrick,
I admit I saw the notification when I went to bed last night. Your words honestly moved me more than I can say, in the best way. However, as you can probably appreciate, it is not without uneasiness and feeling unworthy.
I had to read your response multiple times, needing some time to absorb it and appreciate your kindness and understanding. Your reflection feels like a gentle yet powerful acknowledgment of my journey, and I am genuinely touched by the compassion and empathy you shared. It’s rare to find someone who not only understands the challenges I’ve faced but also has a deep understanding of what it has taken to move on and change the narrative.
So again I would thank you for such a heartfelt message — it made me pause, feel comforted, and gave me a renewed sense of purpose and responsibility. I genuinely appreciate your support and look forward to sharing more as I continue. I have posted a further reread of Eliot’s Love Song in case you missed it.
With gratitude
cynosure (David W)
Thanks Starward-Led, for:
Thanks Starward-Led, for laying that out and inspiring some more thought through R136a1. And I hope no more shops close up as poetry comes in alll shapes and sizes.
Thanks for that encouraging: Thanks for that encouraging thought. Pity the internet wasn7t the way it was back then as it is now. I can only hope that we can and have and continue to support those in need in our active days.
[Yes, I have changed it: I have been reading Poetry since 1973, and I have especially loved poems with astronomical imagery. But . . . but . . . I have rarely, in that time. ever found an "astronomical" poem as perfectly realized as this. Each line, each word in each line, positively radiates and resonates a Cosmic power that even R136a1 must envy and covet. This is a poem to bookmark on my laptop. If I wanted to show a novice poet the kind of enormous verbal power a poem can deploy, this would be the supremest and only example needed.
I am reminded of Ezra Pound's words when T. S, Eliot published The Waste Land in 1922: "About enough to make the rest of us close up shop."
What a moving and courageous: What a moving and courageous piece. This reads like the unfolding of a soul reclaiming its voice after being silenced, stifled, and sidelined for far too long. The narrative arc; from trauma and exclusion to triumph, purpose, and reinvention, is deeply affecting. Your journey is profoundly inspiring and a quiet triumph over trauma, misjudgment, and invisibility. The decision to return to study, not just as necessity but as a reclaiming of self-worth, is courageous. You didn’t just rebuild—you rewrote the narrative entirely. What strikes me most is your purpose: to become the guide you never had. You chose to break a cycle of exclusion by opening doors for others. That kind of empathy-led ambition is powerful. Your path through academia as a mature-aged, disabled student couldn’t have been easy. And yet, you excelled. You challenged expectations, first others’, then your own. That someone could steal your early work after all this, is devastating. But your response, to create more, share more, and still teach speaks of your character and integrity. The literary world gains something rare in your return: experience shaped by persistence, a voice sharpened by adversity, and a mission driven by compassion. I can’t wait to see the poetry and insight you share next. They won’t just inform—they’ll continue to inspire.
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