Rae Armantrout

Were you surprised to learnthat you could swapan ‘i’ for an eye,and ‘a’ for an apple?

That’s the lure.

Later, you maywant to pray.

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You may be leftto think your wayfrom moment to moment

without being toldwhat a moment is,

if it’s something solid.

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The mad hear languagespeak itselfand are humble before it.

They receive instruction.

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The child in her...

The way orchid splits the difference

with hot pink, say,

in the hanging plastic crystal –

how an increased level of saturation

can come across as reticence

or even as retraction.

There, where it changes tack –

the as in the ‘come across as’ –

put your tongue on that.

Sign in car window:

It’s not about us,...

To convey great effort and mild reluctance, one groans briefly when sitting up in bed.

This is sometimes known as prayer.

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Ignore the wind chimes. They’re a bad example.

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To stand beneath or walk behind –

to comprehend!...

I’m not lonely because I have secrets;

I’m lonely because words can’t bring the past into the present

(which amounts to the same thing).

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Jack Rabbit and the Lonely Present

is the title of a book I almost wrote

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I’m lonely because you’re...

1. On ‘Buried Alive’, possessions can’t be lost

or found. They can’t be exchanged.

They’re negotiated

as one negotiates a landfill.

2. In the militarised evening, Boeing

touts its service to ‘our troops’. We’re shown

soldiers pinned down. One is strapped

to a pallet – ready for take-off?

3. In the currency market, I’m the...