Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Rae Armantrout

MISSING PERSONS

MISSING PERSONS

MISSING PERSONS

God and Mother
went the same way.

     *      *      *

What’s a person to us
but a contortion
of pressure ridges
palpable
long after she is gone?

     *      *      *

A thin old man in blue jeans,
back arched, grimaces
at the freezer compartment.

     *      *      *

Lying in the tub,
I\'m telling them—

the missing persons—

that a discrepancy
is a pea

and I am a Princess.
Close

MISSING PERSONS

God and Mother
went the same way.

     *      *      *

What’s a person to us
but a contortion
of pressure ridges
palpable
long after she is gone?

     *      *      *

A thin old man in blue jeans,
back arched, grimaces
at the freezer compartment.

     *      *      *

Lying in the tub,
I\'m telling them—

the missing persons—

that a discrepancy
is a pea

and I am a Princess.

MISSING PERSONS

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