Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Rae Armantrout

Lounge Area

Lounge Area

Lounge Area

Stiff stilts of   herself.

Silver bag of   herself
with turquoise gilt
midriff.

(Shake it but
no more will fit.)

Red lipstick line
between the folds –

precise –

opposite baby’s soft
gurgling.

Have you lost your
passes?

Greeks pictured the afterlife
as an insipid version
of  the world they knew.

But they couldn’t
see this.

Two women,
with red mesh crests
atop white hair,

enter the lounge area;

one laughs, “I feel
like we should
say something.”
Close

Lounge Area

Stiff stilts of   herself.

Silver bag of   herself
with turquoise gilt
midriff.

(Shake it but
no more will fit.)

Red lipstick line
between the folds –

precise –

opposite baby’s soft
gurgling.

Have you lost your
passes?

Greeks pictured the afterlife
as an insipid version
of  the world they knew.

But they couldn’t
see this.

Two women,
with red mesh crests
atop white hair,

enter the lounge area;

one laughs, “I feel
like we should
say something.”

Lounge Area

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère