Deeply Morbid

Deeply Morbid

Deeply morbid deeply morbid was the girl who typed the letters
Always out of office hours running with her social betters
But when daylight and the darkness of the office closed about her
Not for this ah not for this her office colleagues came to doubt her
It was that look within her eye
Why did it always seem to say goodbye?

Joan her name was and at lunchtime
Solitary solitary
She would go and watch the pictures In the National Gallery
All alone all alone
This time with no friend beside her
She would go and watch the pictures
All alone.

Will she leave her office colleagues
Will she leave her evening pleasures
Toil within a friendly bureau
Running later in her leisure?
All alone all alone
Before the pictures she seemed turned to stone.

Close upon the Turner pictures
Closer than a thought may go
Hangs her eye and all the colours
Leap into a special glow
All for her, all alone
All for her, all for Joan.

First the canvas where the ocean
Like a mighty animal
With a wicked motion
Leaps for sailors’ funeral

Holds her painting. Oh the creature
Oh the wicked virile thing
With its skin of fleck and shadow
Stretching tightening over him.
Wild yet caputured wild yet caputured
By the painter, Joan is quite enraptured.

Now she edges from the canvas
To another loved more dearly
Where the awful light of purest
Sunshine falls across the spray,
There the burning coasts of fancy
Open to her pleasure lay.
All alone all alone
Come away come away
All alone.

Lady Mary, Lady Kitty
The Honourable Featherstonehaugh
Polly Tommy from the office
Which of these shall hold her now?
Come away come away
All alone.

The spray reached out and sucked her in
It was hardly a noticed thing
That Joan was there and is not now
(Oh go and tell young Featherstonehaugh)
Gone away, gone away
All alone.

She stood up straight
The sun fell down
There was no more of London Town
She went upon the painted shore
And there she walks for ever more
Happy quite
Beaming bright
In a happy happy light
All alone.

They say she was a morbid girl, no doubt of it
And what befell her clearly grew out of it
But I say she’s a lucky one
To walk for ever in that sun
And as I bless sweet Turner’s name
I wish that I could do the same.

Stevie Smith

Author: Stevie Smith
Online Poetry at PoetryFeast.com

I have become a fan of Stevie Smith during this course. I think I might have to look at more of her work!

Stevie was raised by her aunt Madge who was a feminist with no patience for men. With her father abandoning the family to go off to see and her mother being ill, she grew up without male role models. After her bouts with tuberculosis, she became fascinated with death and says that the preoccupation with it started when she was seven. This preoccupation is seen throughout her poetry and her artwork.

I wish I was more cheerful, it is more pleasant,
Also it is a duty, we should smile as well as submitting

D H Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence is best known as a novelist but his first-published works were poems. His poetry had a significant influence on many poets on both sides of the Atlantic. He created poetry that was stark, immediate and true to the mysterious inner force which motivated it. Filled with his views that were radical for his time, his poems contained bitter satire and sexuality that expressed his outrage at the puritanism and hypocrisy of the Anglo-Saxon society. He regarded sex and nature as cures to what he considered the evils of modern industrialized society. His work was seen as controversial and he was often involved in censorship cases. The most widely publicized of which was his novel "Lady Chatterly's Lover (1928).

 

 Due to his problems with censorship, Lawrence self-published "Lady Chatterley's Lover" with the help of Florentine bookseller Giuseppe Orioli. With more than 1000 copies selling for 2 guineas each, the book was a success. Since it had not been copyrighted, pirates soon began to cut into the profits with black market copies. It has been said that "Lady Chatterley's Lover" won the half century fight for sexual liberation in English writing.  His wife, Frieda, wrote that he tried to raise sex from a mere animal function to a truly human all-embracing activity.

 

 Facing troubles with censorship and the supposed pro-German sympathies of his wife, Frieda Von Richthofen a cousin of the infamous Red Baron Von Richthofen, during World War 1, Lawrence traveled the world looking for a place to call home. His travels took him to Italy, Germany, Ceylon, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, the French Riviera, Mexico and the United States. His time in Taos, New Mexico is where he became the center of a group of female admirers who considered themselves his disciples and their quarrels for his attention became literary legend.

 

As a writer of some of literatures most sensual stories and poems, Lawrence did not support pornography.

"But even I would censor genuine pornography, rigorously... you can recognize it by the insult it offers, invariably, to sex, and to the human spirit." According to Lawrence, the common man degrades sex and has "as great a hate and contempt of sex as the greyest Puritan... they have the grey disease of sex-hatred, coupled with the yellow disease of dirt-lust."

Ode to Poetry

This weeks Modern Poetry class gave me a few different poems to contemplate in the realm of War and in Sexuality. We read Wilfred Owens "Dulce Et Decorum Est" which I have to say I enjoyed more than TS Eliot's "Wasteland". For some reason, it's mood and narration hit me more than Eliots.

We also read Edith Sitwell's "Aubade", Thomas Hardy's "Hap", Siegfried Sassoon's "Repression of War Experience", WB Yeat's "Leda and the Swan" and my favorite DH Lawrence's "Love on the Farm".

With "Love on the Farm" it was interesting to read everyones interpretation. Several saw it as a violent poem that had the woman narrator in conflict with her lover. I have to disagree because I see this poem as nothing more than a woman that is in tune with her sexuality and is enjoying the build up to the "final act".

I'd write more, but I have a webpage to work on and an art history paper that needs some attention.

Time, Time, Time...

I know it has been a while since I posted anything but I promise that I will be posting again soon.  I hope to go out and about and get some pictures for my future posts.  Hang in there!! =)

The Masonic Boys Home

The Masonic Children's home was built in 1923 and occupied until 1978.  It was closed due to changes in the Oklahoma foster care law.  From 1978 to 2000 it was a prime location for people wanting a scary adventure.  People that visited this place when it was abandoned say that it is filled with negative energy.  Perhaps it is from the traumatic experiences the children had from being taken away from family or perhaps it is from the ghastly tales of things that might have happened.

It is said that there was a nurse there that had anger issues and who's sanity was more than a little questionable.  One night she went over the edge and hung herself in the bell tower.  It is said that you can see a dark figure of her haunting the bell tower to this day.

Another unstable individual was said to have been a cruel headmistress who had a habit of beating the boys beyond any acceptable range of discipline and locking them in the basement. There are stories told of a 6 year old boy that she had punished who mysteriously disappeared from the grounds.  She stated that he had run away, but the fear was that he had been murdered. Months went by with out incident and then within 3 years, 4 more young boys went missing. It is said that the 5 boys that found death by her hand were buried in the basement of one of the buildings.  The headmistress is said to have guarded the basement anytime maintenance was done on the home and when a leak required service in the basement, she was said to have been found digging them back up. She was caught in the act and committed suicide before the sheriff arrived.  People have reported hearing the cries of the young boys still, even though there is no one there.

There were also graves in the backyard, but being such a large establishment, it is probable that some of the children died from natural causes or accidents.

Some of the apparitions people have reported seeing are a little girl asking for help, a woman walking the main hallways and unexplained footsteps following you even though no one is behind you.

In 2000 the Masonic Boys Home was purchased and is now known as the Dominion House.  It is a private residence and a Wedding Chapel and Reception Hall.  With it's beautiful landscaping and wonderfully restored interior, it is a stunning place to visit if you have the chance to attend an event there.  One can hope that all the great memories being made there can somehow help balance the negative energy people have felt there in the past.

For a glimpse of the interior and a video tour visit here.

Visit the website for Dominion House for more information about events and more images.

Scary Carey

In the Gatewood Historic District off of NW 23rd in Oklahoma City lies an unusual stretch of road known as Carey's Place.  The most unique homes in Oklahoma City were built here between 1931 and 1938 when the plans for a trolley car route from NW 23rd to NW 16th were scrapped.

In the early 1990's a lovely little tale was told of a young girl that attend the school the next street over.  Legend has it that a janitor from Gatewood Elementary murdered her, took her back to Carey's place and the various traits of the houses of Carey's place fueled the rumors.  Stories say the porches were painted red to cover the blood stains, the Hatchett House might have been where he left her body, but was it on one of the driveways?  Then, there are the stories about groaning playground swings that moved by themselves in the moonlight, children laughing in the darkness and cars acting a bit odd and sputtering their way over the street.  

My favorite house in this little neighborhood is actually the Hatchett House with its interesting green shutters with hatchet cutouts.  If you have a chance, drive through this short stretch of road and see how different it is from the rest of the neighborhoods in Oklahoma.  The architecture alone is worth the trip.

As for the young girl that was murdered, no evidence of any such crime has been found on record.  Since the neighborhood has only been around since the 1920's it would be easy to trace had it actually happened.  But, the thrill of taking someone new down the rickety little street with its unique homes while recounting the tale of Scary Carey is still amusing.  

Local Ghost Gets Worldwide Notice

She's been called Pucketts Ghost, The Salvage Yard Ghost and The Impound Ghost but her real name is Tracie Martin and people around the world have been drawn to her story and the video images of her searching Pucketts Salvage Yard.  Her story and images have popped up all over the internet and she has been the subject of numerous television shows regarding the paranormal.  The story even made its way to Japan.  Numerous paranormal groups, not just our local GHOULI's, have researched the video, the site and spoken to family members.

Tracie Martin was in a horrible car accident at 1:03 am in June 2002.  After a month of life support, she passed away.  On July 18th at 1:03 am her image was seen on 1 of the 4 security cameras set up at the salvage yard in the place where her vehicle had originally been.  The ghostly image was wearing clothing identical to that of the night of the accident and a policeman that had been on the scene of the accident identified it as Tracie Martin.  One paranormal investigator stated that she thought Tracie was searching for a photo that was precious to her.  It has been stated that Tracie's husband has shown the video the twins she left behind to give them comfort that she is okay.

For more on GHOULI's visit

www.ghouli.org

The music on the video is a little loud but this is the same footage shown on the news casts. 

Did someone call for maid service?

The Skirvin is located at 1 Park Avenue in the heart of Oklahoma City.  It is the home of one Oklahoma's scandalous ghost stories.  It seems that back in the 1930's a young maid was locked up in one of the top rooms because she was pregnant.  Rumor has it that Mr. W. B. Skirvin was still enjoying the fruits of his wealth and, at while in his 70's, was still a little active with the ladies.  The maid is said to have banged on the doors and screamed but no-one would let her out.  Slowly losing her mind, the only way to escape with her child was through the window.  

To this day, people claim to have encounters with Maid Effie and her infant.  Some women hear a baby crying, men are whispered to in the shower and they claim to hear her pushing her cart down the empty hallways.

One thing that intrigues me more than the story is the little bits of architecture that fail to get noticed.  There is more watching you at the Skirvin than just Effie and her infant.

The Devilish Pan figure below is all over the place, looking down on you with his wicked smile.

To take your chances and see if perhaps you too can claim to have an encounter with Effie or just to take a look at the wonderful architecture and great views, plan a night at the Skirvin.  

(405) 272-3040

For a history of the hotel visit:

The Skirvin 

Werewolves in Oklahoma?

Just outside Konawa, in Seminole County, Oklahoma is a little cemetery with a very unusual tombstone.  It is for Katherine Cross who was born March 13, 1899 and murdered on October 10, 1917.

 If you look at the inscription, you would assume that she was attacked and killed by werewolves.  However, it wasn't something mystical and other-worldly that murdered her it was a "criminal operation" performed by Dr. A H Yates.  Dr Yates didn't work alone for a local schoolteacher, Fredrick O'Neal was charged alongside him for the murder of another young girl, Elise Stone.  

Little is known about the "criminal operation" and some assume that it was an abortion gone wrong.  Others speculate that, as a school teacher who had the trust of his students. Frederick ONeal lured these young women into unsavory activities with other members of a secret club and that the only outcome for Katherine and Elise would be death.

Without adequate documents or records being located, we may never know what happened but the tombstone will be a constant reminder that something interesting happened in Konawa.

Ice, Ice Everywhere

Personal, not so spooky blog unless you think about the state of the roads tonight.  They are covered in ice and an enemy to brakes, just waiting for you to tempt fate.  All I can think about is how amazing it would be to go out and get pictures of statues, tombstones, crypts and gargoyles covered in icicles and looking stunning.  One of these days...

Spooky is pretty...

I am going to be taking a course that involves including a blog and since I love the scary and dark side of things and finding what is pretty within the spooky, I have decided to focus on hauntings and the absurd in my own backyard.  Oklahoma has an abundance of intriguing ghost stories and haunted places.  I hope to bring some of those to light here.