Intact Poem by Rae Armantrout

1
From what I don't recall
I am able to infer
what didn't happen
in a given setting

while you can't or won't

so that
I might have been behind you
in the boat
or you might have been alone
or accompanied by strangers.

Alternates persist
since they aren't named as such.

On the other hand, I feel
the removal of one element
changes the event
so it must disappear

(intact)


2
If thunder clapped,

small flowers
at leaf joints

stared straight ahead
in silence.

Did rocks react?

Try to recall