Adrienne Rich - From Morning-Glory to Petersburg lyrics

"Organized knowledge in story and picture"
Confronts through dusty glass
An eye grown dubious
I can recall when knowledge was pure
Not contradictory, pleasurable
As cutting out a paper doll
You opened up a book and there it was:
Everything just as promised, from
Kurdistan to Mormons, Gum
Arabic to Kumquat, neither more nor less
Facts could be kept separate
By a convention that was what
Made childhood possible now knowledge
Finds me out in all it's risible untidiness
It traces me to each address
Dragging in things I never thought about
I don't invite what facts can be
Held at arm's length a family
Of jeering irresponsibles always
Comes along gypsy-style
And there you have them all
Forever on your hands it never pays
If I could still extrapolate
The morning-glory on the gate
From Petersburg in history -but it's too late