Custer's Last Stand Book

Let's face it. . . the only thing Edgar Allan Poe ever did that was scary was marry his 14-year-old cousin.

But, beyond that, Mr. Poe wasn't scary. . .

He was sad.

And, yes, he was an "I see dead people" person, but not because he was obsessed with the occult. He kept seeing actual dead people around him because everyone around him kept dropping dead.

Not surprisingly, his poetry is filled with a near obsession with death and talking to the dead, but, again, everyone around him. . . was dead.

But, but, but. . . even though it's Halloween night and you might think I'd like to get all sinister here, and discuss these dark matters. . .

This re-read, thirty years after my original exposure to this collection, could not have been less about death. It was about love. The unlikely celebration of love here and the DIVINE FEMININE ENERGY that Mr. Poe promotes on every page.

And, oh, baby, did Mr. Poe like the ladies!

Some examples of what's feminine in Poe's poems:

Beauty
the Moon
all celestial bodies
the Evening Star
cities
Night

Some examples of what's masculine in Poe's poems:

Ambition
Love (this explains so much!)
Death

In addition, his poetry pays homage to:

Mary
Psyche
Helen
Diana
Athena

And dryads, and nymphs, and naiads, oh my!

But, the best poems for me were the ones written in dedication to his wife and his mother-in-law. Yes, they were also known as his "cousin" and "aunt," but after reading two poems in particular, "Annabel Lee" and "To My Mother," you can't help but find yourself in awe of his capacity to love.

And, for any of us who have ever made a misstep in love, and suffered regret, I leave you with two of the best lines in this collection:

years of love have been forgot
In the hatred of a minute-

What an unexpected celebration of love I found here.

Love. . . amidst the cobwebs, the candy bar wrappers and the corpses.