Adrienne Rich

I learned this week that Adrienne Rich died this past week. In college in the late 70's she was my favorite poet. I dug out her books to go over the poems I remembered. "Diving into a Wreck" and "Orion" were the two I remembered the most.

I have a different world view now than I had in the 70's. Even though I don't especially agree with her world view, I am still so terribly impressed with the preciseness of the language she chose. Such power! I wonder if I will ever have such a command of language?

Back in 1979 when I was doing my senior project, writing poetry with Dr. Dan Daniels as my advisor, he had me write in the style of several poets. It was a great exercise in understanding meter, imagery, and metaphor. So in honor of Adrienne Rich I have started my own "Diving into the Wreck" but to fit my theme this year it is "Diving into the Wrack". (Wrack being seaweed and other vegetation cast upon the shore)