Rae Armantrout

 

 

Music

Still the run-up
to the primaries.

Hot searches:

tiger attack,
polar bears.

Nothing.

Or a hint
of bitters
at the scoured edge.

Three piccolo notes
from the bushes.

A snatch
of music. Call it
that.

 

 

 

 

Fade      

The new reality
is a pastiche
of monologues.

Fighter pilots
in the Gulf

worry out loud
about their performance.

But how do we
come into it?

"Zombie Strippers!"

living pay-off
to pay-off,

numbed out,

avaricious

 

    *

So much happiness
is caged
in language,

ready
to burst out
anytime

and fade

 

 

 

 

Only

Only the twins.

Positive and negative
"charges,"

push or pull
depending
on who's asking.

Who is asking?

 

     *

"Should" says.

Now flowers lift
four-petal skirts,

obedient.