Arch by Rae Armantrout

Arch

 

1

 

Like an arched eyebrow

travelling alone, you drift,

 

sea-horse,

 

a forgotten, persistent

question.

 

Despite your skeptical

attitude, it’s true

 

that your numbers are crashing.

 

Still, you are rumored

to consume

 

up to 3,000 baby

shrimp per day!

 

2

 

Who doesn’t want

to be a revenant,

 

to go back to basics

in a big way

 

on the small screen

which, somehow, still

 

survives? “Terrific”

and “terrible”

 

are cousins after all.

Am I warm or cold?

 

I’m half-

rhyming, aiming right

 

between quick and dead

like we could

 

thread that needle

and keep going.