1
Tongue on your words to taste you there Couldn’t   read what youhad never written there Played your message overfeeling bad Played your message over it was all I had To tell me what and whereforethis is what it said: I’m tired of you asking me why I’m tired of words like the chatter of birds Give me a pass, let me just get byAdrienne Rich
2
The I you know isn’t me, you said, truthtelling liar My roots are not my chains And I to you:   Whose hands have grownthrough mine?   Owl-voiced I cried then:   Who? But yours was the one, the only eye assumed Did we turn each other into liars?holding hands with each others’ chains?Adrienne Rich
3
The dead” we say   as if speakingof “the people” whogave up on making historysimply to get through Something dense and null   groanwithout echo   undergroundand owl-voiced I cry Whoare these dead people theselovers who if ever didlisten no longer answer: We :Adrienne Rich
4
Victories turned inside out But no surrender Cemeteries of remorse The beaten champion sobbing Ghosts move in to shield his tearsAdrienne Rich