Issue 8: Rae Armantrout

Persistence

What if one loves

what she thinks of as

her former self

in what she takes

to be another’s

eyes?

     *

The celebration of false wealth -

or “Cold Light” -

is my favorite.

Blue glittering

fruit,

as if frost

might be our guest.

Countless small

white bulbs

behind cutout crystals.

     *

The persistence

of desire

in mind

after desire

has or hasn’t

been fulfilled:

the “other world”

Fallacies

It would be false to say

that the sea or sky

have moods;

that they are moods

is irrefutable.

     *

Here’s a pink and purple

capsule

rolling gaily

end over end

along the top

of your mailbox

as if you might want

to follow it

off screen.

     *

Beneath the Darkness.

Between Notes.

Black.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.

Don’t Go Into the Woods.

     *

If heaven

is a placeless

fizz

Habitat

Habitat themed enclosure.

Zen inflected mug.

     *

Around the block

dogs bark at absence.

Rae Armantrout's book Versed (Wesleyan, 2009) won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Her most recent book, Money Shot, was published by Wesleyan in 2011. She teaches writing and poetics at UC San Diego.

Home  |   Issue 8