Adrienne Rich was the first explicitly feminist poet whose work I loved, going back to elementary school days. And this poem was perhaps the first feminist poem I understood instantly. I’ve never forgotten it, and though it’s an oft-anthologized classic, some of my readers will see it here for the first time.
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
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 finger 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.
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