Adrienne Rich - Upper Broadway lyrics

The leafbud struggles forth
Toward the light of the
Airshaft this is faith
This pale extension of a day
When looking up you know
Something is changing
Winter has turned though the wind is colder
Three streets away a roof
Collapses onto people
Who thought they still had time
Time out of mind

I have written so many words
Wanting to live inside you
To be of use to you

Now I must write for myself for this blind
Woman scratching the pavement with
Her wand of thought
This slippered crone inching on icy streets
Reaching into wire trashbaskets pulling out
What was thrown away and infinitely precious

I look at my hands and
See they are still unfinished
I look at the vine and see the leafbud
Inching towards life

I look at my face in the glass and see
A halfborn woman