My Story Flows In More Than One Direction 3

DELTA
By Adrienne Rich

If you have taken this rubble for my past
raking though it for fragments you could sell
know that I long ago moved on
deeper into the heart of the matter

If you think you can grasp me, think again:
my story flows in more than one direction
a delta springing from the riverbed
with its five fingers spread

I was Senior (Year 12) in high school. We had to do a poetry anthology on a poet. A deep submersion in their work, their life, their journey.

Really to unearth the image(s) that they projected out through their words.

I remember seeing this poem and loving it. It’s something that I have held onto for almost 20 years.

When I think about ‘our image’ I think about the journey that we can choose to go on if we want to, to fall deeply into who we are. The be present in the whispers of our heart, the things which bring us joy and being diligent in making space to live.

That the ‘rubble from my past’ is all part of the making of who we are. When we acknowledge that, we can find the freedom in that we are.

We start to see ourselves and love who we are.

Mish xo