Week 5: Money Shot by Rae Armantrout

I think this is the last of my Rae stack and either I am getting more in tune with her writing or this one just happens to make a lot more sense to me. For instance, this collection showed me her pattern in turning the ends of her poems. Many of her poems have a last two lines that twist the entire piece. That was very apparent to me in this collection.

And speaking to Teri’s question about chronology, I actually think I did things in a semi-reasonable order without even realizing it, though I am going to go back now and re-evaluate my session with Rae Armantrout.

This blurb I found sums up Money Shot well: The poems in Money Shot are forensic. Just as the money shot in porn is proof of the male orgasm, these poems explore questions of revelation and concealment. What is seen, what is hidden, and how do we know?

The next poet I am shifting towards with a stack of their books is Nikki Giovanni — after that double encounter last week, I am inspired!