Weekly Poem: ‘Around’

By Rae Armantrout

Time is pleased
to draw itself
                            out,
permit itself
pendulous loops,

to allow them
meaning,

this meaning,

as it goes
                      along.

*

Chuck and I are pleased
to have found a spot
where my ashes can be scattered.
It looks like a construction site
now
but it’s adjacent
to a breathtaking, rocky coast.
Chuck sees places
where he might snorkel.
We’re being shown through
by a sort of realtor.
We’re interested but can’t get her
to fix the price.

*

“The future
is all around us.”

It’s a place,

anyplace
where we don’t exist.

 
 
Rae Armantrout is the author of 11 books of poetry and winner of numerous other awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. “Around” is taken from her book, ‘Versed’ (2010, Wesleyan University Press). She is also a professor of writing and literature at the University of California-San Diego. We profiled her on Friday’s NewsHour.