On Meeting Adrienne Rich at Westminster College, SLC 1993

We met on the borders
of our poetic landscapes
Redefined.

She,
not as I imagined.
Her frail body leaning into a lecturn
Betraying the strength of her words
Foundations of feminism I wore
Like a suffergette banner everafter.

Our meeting was brief,
For her,
meeting me was forgettable
But I remember even the cane
She defiantly set down
propped against a folding chair

And then I returned to the borders
of the room
I shared with my sisters
while Adrienne
pervaded.