This is my mantra.
Generally, the poem is interpreted as a feminist call for women to rediscover their authentic selves outside the roles given them by a largely patriarchal society.

However, I put it in   more...the context of my own life, as someone who basically lives in a reflective stance, always willing to mine the past for treasures, while choosing not to live there.

While I appreciate and understand Rich's intent, I don't see the meaning as being valuable only to women.

It's for anyone who's not afraid of the darkness, and can see the book of myths for what it is.

<b>Diving Into The Wreck</b>
by Adrienne Rich

<i>First having read the book of myths,
and loaded the camera,
and checked the edge of the knife-blade,
I put on
the body-armor of black rubber
the absurd flippers
the grave and awkward mask.
I am having to do this
not like Cousteau with his
assiduous team
aboard the sun-flooded schooner
but here alone.

There is a ladder.
The ladder is always there
hanging innocently
close to the side of the schooner.
We know what it is for,
we who have used it.
Otherwise
it is a piece of maritime floss
some sundry equipment.

I go down.
Rung after rung and still
the oxygen immerses me
the blue light
the clear atoms
of our human air.
I go down.
My flippers cripple me,
I crawl like an insect down the ladder
and there is no one
to tell me when the ocean
will begin.

First the air is blue and then
it is bluer and then green and then
black I am blacking out and yet
my mask is powerful
it pumps my blood with power
the sea is another story
the sea is not a question of power
I have to learn alone
to turn my body without force
in the deep element.

And now: it is easy to forget
what I came for
among so many who have always
lived here
swaying their crenellated fans
between the reefs
and besides
you breathe differently down here.

I came to explore the wreck.
The words are purposes.
The words are maps.
I came to see the damage that was done
and the treasures that prevail.
I stroke the beam of my lamp
slowly along the flank
of something more permanent
than fish or weed

the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun
the evidence of damage
worn by salt and away into this threadbare beauty
the ribs of the disaster
curving their assertion
among the tentative haunters.

This is the place.
And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
about the wreck
we dive into the hold.
I am she: I am he

whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes
whose breasts still bear the stress
whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies
obscurely inside barrels
half-wedged and left to rot
we are the half-destroyed instruments
that once held to a course
the water-eaten log
the fouled compass

We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.</i>  less

Rio Debutants in Bikini www.brazilvideo.com

<b>Read Description for a link to part 2 </b>
Something about getting Rich ........
"The Universe and everything in it is governed
by the law of Attraction. What we want, we attract, be   more...it consciously
or subconsciously. What we don't want, we also attract. What we choose to
focus our thoughts on, we attract - positive and negative."
<a href="http://www.livevideo.com/video/ConspiracyCentral/8A7C41DFE6094AC2A39445EC480FF2A6/the-secret-pt-2-2.aspx">Click here for pt 2</a>

Enjoy  less

The rich SHEIK , Jalamela~

Something about getting Rich ........
"The Universe and everything in it is governed
by the law of Attraction. What we want, we attract, be it consciously
or subconsciously. What we don't want, we   more...also attract. What we choose to
focus our thoughts on, we attract - positive and negative."


Enjoy  less

Rio Beaches Jan 14 2001
www.brazilvideo.com

Rich videotaped over 30 white spherical objects moving independently of one another showing intelligent control. Most impressive!

Bill Moyers interviews NEW YORK TIMES investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Cay Johnston who says America's system has been rigged to benefit the super-rich. Don't forget this is from   more...a mainstream reporter...Therefore the problem is most likely 10 times greater than presented here in this brief clip. Anyway, its good info into the "How" they steal our money!  less

The 100th video. Omega's next victim is the parents of those kids you see on MTV throwing insanely extravagant parties for their kids birthdays

the most beautiful girl in the world

Paris Hilton

"a love to share" is an OPM song composed by Rico Blanco of Rivermaya. RIVERMAYA is a popular and influential band in the Philippines founded in 1993.

Anderson Silvas Rise to the Top by Genghis Con

More of my Videos:
http://genghiscon.wordpress.com/

On the road with Pink Floyd for the making of Pulse.

Rich Zubaty

Rich Zubaty

HALL AND OATES

GWEN STEFANI

funny commercial

Tutorials on using Excel to play around with "The Wealth Equation" and compound interest to predict an investment's future value

Ibiza Sunrise to Sunset

Classic Riviera-Antibes Aug 26 1992
www.brazilvideo.com

A slideshow of Paris Hilton

Code DaVinci (Francais) - www.centre-partage.com avec Allan Rich