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March 7th, 2022 | Issue one hundred thirty-nine

One Thing

by Rae Armantrout
Art by Ushiki Masanori
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One Thing

Rae Armantrout
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1


I had a thing
about sensation.


It was small, dedicated,
working its way in


to me.


I was reminded of a bee
burrowing 


into the smooth cone
of a flower,


how it wags its bottom
in the air—


funny.




2


I had a thing
about love.


Love was lying
nose to skin.


It was mutual agreement
to a node by node
release


of attention—


an operation
infinite in principle.
contributor
RA
contributor

Rae Armantrout has published fifteen books, including Conjure, Wobble (a finalist for the National Book Award), Partly: New and Selected Poems, 2001–2015, and Versed (winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award). She is the current judge of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. A new collection, Finalists, is forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press in March 2022. Armantrout is a professor emerita at the University of  California, San Diego. 

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