Kukathas is a freelance editor and writer. In this essay, Kukathas considers whether "Rusted Legacy" fails as a political poem because of its use of private rather than public language, images, and ideas.

Like most of Rich's poetry, "Rusted Legacy" is a pointedly political work. Also, as is the case with a great deal of Rich's work, it is impossible to present in the form of a coherent analysis or statement exactly what the poem "means." The language the poet uses is difficult, her images are unusual and sometimes perplexing, and the ideas explored in the poem are hard to decipher. Indeed, paradoxically, that this undoubtedly political poem is political is not immediately obvious because the piece offers no overt message or ideological position of any distinct sort. Rather, actions, images, and ideas are presented and explored that have political overtones. The political nature of the poem...