Here we are . . . the last Thursday in April, which makes this the last week of our celebration of National Poetry Month. Thanks for coming along and enjoying poetry with us these past weeks.
Each year, as we put together a schedule to coordinate our poetry posts, we choose one poet to feature in a kind of . . . deep dive fashion. Today, Bonny, Kat, Sarah, Vera, and I are sharing poems from the poet Adrienne Rich.
I first “discovered” Adrienne Rich and her poetry in a feminist literature workshop I attended back in the late 1990s when I worked in women’s philanthropy. I’ve been intrigued by her work – and her poetry – ever since. Recently, there was an interesting article in the New York Times about one of her early poems (this is an old gift link, and it may be expired by now, but you can give it a try if you’re interested), which piqued my interest in her work again — and led me to suggest her to the group as our “featured” poet. (Just going to say that the article is a bit . . . ahem . . . academic, with a more high-brow analysis than I really need, but it was interesting all the same.) Anyway. Adrienne Rich was a fascinating woman, and I’ve enjoyed learning more about her and reading her poetry this month.
Today, I’m pleased to share this poem from Adrienne Rich with you.
Delta
Adrienne RichIf you have taken this rubble for my past
raking through it for fragments you could sell
know that I long ago moved on
deeper into the heart of the matterIf you think you can grasp me, think again:
my story flows in more than one direction
a delta springing from the riverbed
with its five fingers spread
Today’s poem was written in 1987 and first appeared in Adrienne Rich’s 1989 collection, Time’s Power. I found it in my copy of The Fact of a Doorframe: Selected Poems 1950-2001 by Adrienne Rich, published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2002. Click here for more information about the poet, or to read a few more of her poems.
====
Thanks again for celebrating National Poetry Month with us throughout April. Bonny will be hosting a link-up on her blog, so please check out more poetry from Adrienne Rich this week.
This is such a beautiful and powerful poem Kym! I want to thank you for introducing me to Adrienne Rich, It has been such a pleasure to discover her poetry this month!
I was surprised that I didn’t know Adrienne Rich but I’m glad you suggested her and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her poetry this month. She was really quite adept at language, especially in this poem where she says quite a bit in just two stanzas. “My story flows in more than one direction.” (And I love Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers, too!)
I always feel like such a failure when it comes to poetry. I’m sure it’s a character flaw, LOL! But I still thank you all for putting it out there and challenging me to TRY it even when I often don’t GET it.
The power in so few words is astonishing! I love this one — I feel so empowered reading it. Thank you for sharing this and all the poetry this month and, of course, for being our fearless leader in the joy of poetry for another April!
“a delta springing from the riverbed with its five fingers spread” what a beautiful image that brings! Thank you for introducing me to Adrienne Rich. I have so enjoyed my “dive” into her deep well of poetry this month!