Joyce Carol Oates has "taken a sabbatical" from Princeton
University to undergo "rehabilitation" at an undisclosed
Mental Health Facility in the Northwest.
According to "Dr. Smothers," a psychiatric intern at the same facility
Joyce Carol Oates now believes herself to be the Poet
Emily Dickinson.
She dresses up in eighteenth century clothing and demands that
she be allowed to bake bread and take care of her
household duties her father, Edward Dickinson has assigned to her.
More disturbing is her tendacy to write bad twentieth century poetry
and assign it numbers like Emily Dickinson did.
We were able to get ahold of 754 by Joyce Carol Oates
which
is the famous loaded gun poem by Emily Dickinson.
Excerpts:
At the practice track, when we owened a standard-bred pacer
How happy we were, new young owners of a standard-bred pacer
How happy to "own" an animal, and a standard-bred pacer!
How dazed by the pounding hooves, the black bulbs of eyes
swinging past, shivering and whinnying like the dream horse
is fuseli's "The Nightmare."
"As you can see, it isn't Emily Dickinson," said Dr. Smothers.
"It isn't very good by todays standards
as well. And we have tried
to pull her through this by telling her she writes short stories,
but that has come to no fruition. 'Emily Dickinson doesn't write
short stories is her reply.'"
Dr. Smothers last ancedote was the most disturbing, "She has a Rose
she has named Holderin after the famous German Poet.
She talks to Holderin and recites her poetry to the rose.
It is quite a metaphorical but disturbing thing.
And later at night, she uses "Holderin." In the morning,
we get her another rose."
Joyce Carol Oates is scheduled to be released as soon as
she returns to her short story form.
