Adrienne Rich
Artwork: “Saudade” by Juan Alberto Negroni (c) 2022
those needed to teach, advise, persuade, weigh arguments
those urgently needed for the work of perception
work of the poet, the astronomer, the historian, architect of new streets
work of the speaker who also listens
meticulous delicate work of reaching the heart of the desperate woman,
the desperate man
—never-to-be-finished, still unbegun work of repair—it cannot be done without them
and where are they now?
Adrienne Rich, An Atlas of the Difficult World: Poems 1988–1991
(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991), 11.
