“The Runaround" by Rae Armantrout

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 24, 2017   The Runaround   Rae Armantrout

1   We encountered a problem   sending a command   to the program.   Did I say that aloud?   I've broken out in imps.        *   To be a blip in a circuit   and to know it, to relish   this knowledge in your private   moments as all moments   are gated and switched.         2   When I mentioned hatred I was not thinking                                                 of you,   but you'd best not break our momentum,   the thrill we get from our own self- loathing,   that guilty snigger running round the room            Copyright © 2017 Rae Armantrout. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "The first four lines of this poem popped up on my computer screen. They made me think about identity and agency. The 'blips' are electrons in a circuit, but they're people too." —Rae Armantrout   Rae Armantrout's most recent book is Partly: New and Selected Poems, 2001–2015 (Wesleyan University Press, 2016). She lives in the Seattle area. Poetry by Armantrout   Partly: New and Selected Poems, 2001–2015 (Wesleyan University Press, 2016) "Sojourns in the Parallel World" by Denise Levertov "No world is intact" by Alice Notley "What [The flower sermon]" by Ron Silliman Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. If you enjoy Poem-a-Day, please consider making a donation to help make it possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

From Our Sponsors