1
The best part
is when we're tired
of it all
in the same degree,

a fatigue we imagine
to be temporary,
and we lie near each other,
toes touching.

What's done is done,
we don't say,
to begin our transaction,

each letting go of something
without really
bringing it to mind

until we're lighter,
sicker,
older

and a current
runs between us
where our toes touch.

It feels unconditional.


2

Remember this, we don't say:

The Little Mermaid
was able to absorb
her tail,

refashion it
to form legs.

This meant that
everything's negotiable

and that everything is played out
in advance

in secret.



About this poem
"Like all my poems, 'Negotiations' has several sources. It deals with aging lovers and the often silent deals they make. Thinking about bargains made me think of 'The Little Mermaid' and that made me remember something I had just read about the incredibly complex process by which tadpoles (actual little mermaids) are somehow able to reabsorb their tails and fashion their future frog legs."
-Rae Armantrout

About Rae Armantrout
Rae Armantrout is the author of "Itself" (Wesleyan University Press, 2015). She recently retired from the University of California, San Diego and is freelance teaching while still living primarily in San Diego.

***
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.



(c) 2015 Rae Armantrout. Originally published by the Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate