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adrienne rich 1929-2012

March 28, 2012 by L.S. Johnson

There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors.

She, too, is in me, and thus in this work.  I have not thought of her in too long.

 

If I could let you know—
two women together is a work
nothing in civilization has made simple,
two people together is a work
heroic in its ordinariness

She was not young, it should have been no suprise, but it felt a blow nonetheless.

I am she: I am he

whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes
whose breasts still bear the stress
whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies
obscurely inside barrels
half-wedged and left to rot
we are the half-destroyed instruments
that once held to a course
the water-eaten log
the fouled compass

We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which our names do not appear.

Filed Under: Reading Tagged With: Adrienne Rich

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