An Atlas of the Difficult World

Rich’s cycle of poems seeks to define the American identity at a particular moment in history—specifically the 1991 US-led counterinvasion of Kuwait named Operation Desert Storm. In intertwining Rich’s intimate, personal moments and her panoramic vision of America in space (the poems move coast to coast) and in time (she investigates other key events in US history), the poem suggests the sheer breadth and depth of the ongoing drama of American identity.

Rich follows in the poetic tradition of 19th-century poets Walt Whitman and Hart Crane, both of whom Rich acknowledges as influences. Like their work, her poem gives stark and unflinching testimony to the imperfect nature of a nation committed nevertheless to moving toward its ideals. Rich affirms that the US has learned hard lessons, from one cultural moment to the next. In each era, Americans have reflected on how they treat one another, and how they too often fall short of their own ennobling ideals. Rich argues that honesty and a willingness to acknowledge flaws in the national character is the only way to grow as a collective community. 

The poem ultimately expresses Rich’s celebration of and belief in community. She argues that much of the drama of national identity stems from the absence of connection and interdependence.