As her sons have seen her: the mother in patriarchy: controlling, erot…

Adrienne Rich
118 citations
As her sons have seen her: the mother in patriarchy: controlling, erotic, castrating, heart-suffering, guilt-ridden, and guilt-provoking; a marble brow, a huge breast, an avid cave; between her legs snakes, swamp-grass, or teeth; on her lap a helpless infant or a martyred son. She exists for one purpose: to bear and nourish the son.
Love
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If you think you can grasp me, think again: my story flows in more than one direction, a delta springing from the river bed with its five fingers spread. ✨ Adrienne Rich (2002). Poemas, 1963-2000, p. … ▶
A revolutionary poem will not tell you who or when to kill, what and when to burn, or even how to theorize. It reminds you... where and when and how you are living and might live, it is a wick of des … ▶
What kind of beast would turn its life into words? ✨ Adrienne Rich (2013). The Dream of a Common Language: Poems 1974-1977, p.27, W. W. Norton & Company
Experience is always larger than language. ✨ 1991 Interview in theAmerican Poetry Review, Jan-Feb.
Life on the planet is born of woman. ✨ Adrienne Rich (1995). Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, p.26, W. W. Norton & Company

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