Vale Adrienne Rich

'Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.
Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.
When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.'

I first read this poem apart of a group of 6 teenage women
in a the library conference room
of the local high school I went to-
the 6 women were the english literature class
Our teacher, a kind american man who changed all of our lives in those afternoon lessons.

Vale Adrienne Rich
you were the kernel without me even knowing it.