Illustration by Tim Robinson.
“I’m shrinking,” I shrieked,meaning aging,nearing deathbecause I thought that to pretendI was the witchIn The Wizard of Ozwas funnyand would thus communicatesomethingif not exactly my feelings.*Cousin Rust,with your look of bloodand sunset,I’m almost in lovewith the lace you’ve madeof metal
Rae ArmantroutRae Armantrout’s most recent book is Safe Rooms (Wesleyan, 2026). Her book Versed won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She is professor emerita at UC San Diego and currently lives in the Pacific Northwest.