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" Was it worth while to lay—
with infinite exertion—
a roof I can't live under?
—All those blueprints,
closings of gaps,
measurings, calculations?
A life I didn't choose
chose me: even
my tools are the wrong ones
for what I have to do.
I'm naked, ignorant,
a naked man fleeing
across the roofs
who could with a shade of difference
be sitting in the lamplight
against the cream wallpaper
reading—not with indifference—
about a naked man
fleeing across the roofs. "

Adrienne Rich , Poems: Selected and New, 1950-1974


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Adrienne Rich quote : Was it worth while to lay— <br />with infinite exertion—<br />a roof I can't live under? <br />—All those blueprints, <br />closings of gaps,<br />measurings, calculations? <br />A life I didn't choose <br />chose me: even <br />my tools are the wrong ones <br />for what I have to do. <br />I'm naked, ignorant, <br />a naked man fleeing <br />across the roofs <br />who could with a shade of difference <br />be sitting in the lamplight <br />against the cream wallpaper <br />reading—not with indifference—<br />about a naked man <br />fleeing across the roofs.