
The Magellanic Clouds from S.M.S. No. 5
1968 · Offset lithograph
sheet (folded): 6 7/8 × 7" (17.5 × 17.8 cm)
Museum of Modern Art

Diane Wakoski is an American poet whose long-form narrative verse weaves autobiographical material, Western landscape, and archetypal imagery into explorations of desire, betrayal, and solitude. Working from postwar lyric traditions, her confessional intensity is tempered by mythic registers that elevate personal narrative into something approaching the legendary or ceremonial. Her voice emerged in the 1960s and has remained distinctly her own, refusing the tighter formal constraints of her contemporaries.
Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 1mo ago