Startle Reflex

By Rae Armantrout

1

Ford’s robodogs
roam the factory floor
and enjoy a good
belly-rub.

==

People are startled to discover
that their inner monologues
are ghost-written.

==

A sentence that once made sense
and now does not
appears haunted.

==

Experts are surprised to learn
sparrows across North America
have changed their tune.

==

“Let’s just make it to the end.”

2

Everyone’s riveted
by the shock

of the disaster victims,

the way they search
for words.

“Startle Reflex” from Finalists © 2022 by Rae Armantrout. Published by Wesleyan University Press. Used with permission.