20181002

Michael Gottlieb


sections from Mostly Clearing


13


who knew
who talked
someone must

that dead man’s curve
that hairpin
where once
we spun out

perchance to persevere

to wait no longer

what its really like

thus
I refute you
house of tears

“it shall be the study of our life to make you happy”

if not who
if not when
if not here
if not us




14


newly arrived
at our shores
the king tide

at flood stage finally

that course of doubt
crashes collapsing
upon its own weight

we are free!

in our lifetime
the once stigmatized behavior

a business model
back then
contingent upon
chucking people over the gunwales

you are better than that

the unchaperoned concepts
now free to mingle

at ease

as you were

all good hosts
know
you can never
have enough
mixer

as we used to say
let your fingers

do the walking




15 AVAST MATEYS


another rower
in this galley

blithely stirring
the solution

chained to all that

a simple syrup

the indeterminate clause
the ever-thorny subject

inducing a reagent

as if
back then
we were
making deposits
at a fog bank

the once inexorable

against present value

what we keep coming back to

not forgot
never gone 




16


what did
we have
to lose

what night terrors
gave way to

a backsplash
for our tears

channeling
all those
incautious effusions

‘spray and pray’
for so long
more than enough

what we wanted
before we knew it

the vain attempt
studies itself
in the rear-view mirror

he was the spitting image
wiped from the corner
of her mouth

these were all
fighting words




17


the decent hardworking folk
who people this land
have risen up before

fresh arguments
rested but untested
ranged among the embrasures

the knock-on consequences
we tried so long
to pretend
didn’t apply to us

where we came from
how we wanted
to be remembered

how we
make ourselves decent

the unmanned
who man the guns

ready or not

the return on
that starry coupon

these plighted




18


landing nearby
another
artlessly unaffected
schematic

a surprisingly tuneful
retort

whereas

willingly he submits
to your caresses

a foundational messaging
this destiny belief
inscribed upon each brow

it all eventually
is meant
to come out
in the wash

you too
look good
in white

a kind of summons
for us all

this call and response
may be monitored

I really liked the cut of your jib




19 DISAMBIGUATION WINS BY A NOSE


“it’s better than pie”

this grinding face
this distance qualifier
this shield phrase

a formerly irresolute
affirmation

at one time
content
to vote present

there are some things
we must evidently abjure
if we want
to face you
in the end

withal and within

the faintly luminous
fold of ridge
the front of the valley

grander than

altogether

disambiguation
wins
by a nose




20


a pass / fail

who can it be
who’s never
occasionally
found wanting

taking this
as it comes

we had to bend down
to make out
the almost inaudible sigh

who use to
teach to the test

as is our due
we pace
the streets
unrecognized

it didn’t matter
that it’s a cereal

we called it
Lust for Life




21


seated at a help desk
for the helpless

keeping the line open

abiding despite
daunting odds

they still apply
all the hoary admonitions
the incommensurately obdurate
those gems of misattribution

this
we hold close

that fondly
recalled breakfast

that unswerving belief
in untimely ends

“I miss
miss
you
dearly”




22 AN EYE-WATERING OPPORTUNITY


look smart

eyes right

we always thought
the question
was properly put

convincing ourselves
how much darker
it would soon grow
was always
so heartening

it’s not your fault
it never was

everyone
doesn’t
have to take
their medicine




23 THE SEMI-PERMANENT FIRMAMENT


it was just
those g-forces again
pooling
at our ankles

I thought
I saw
something
in you

this new notational system

no longer cut
on the conformation bias

if you can believe it

those beginnings
how we went about
living our lives
pretending there was
no duty of care

how lucky
are we

still
putting one
variable foot
in front
of another




24 LACHRYMOSE-INTOLERANT


the weight of the years
may try to hold you up

an unusual aversion

handling those princely sums

“they have decided
to go
in a different direction”

it sometimes
comes to this

for decades
a mis-heard
grain of refrain
one day
for some reason
you hear aright
for the first time

it is as if
we have all
suddenly become
lachrymose-intolerant




25

not just
a petty criminal
superficial too

jostling for a better view

restless and eager

a general release
a weekend pass
getting to yes

the poets’
vise-like grip
on that market

the derring-do
the carryings-on
the swimming costume
the unrebuked

there for the picking

our means and methods
lie close to the surface

anyone so inclined
can make them theirs

what
we are obliged
always to ask

are we
fit for purpose

where
we are prompted
to say

it was good to see you

we’ll wait here

I think
you should
have that
looked at




Further selections from Michael Gottlieb's Mostly Clearing will be appearing in issue #52 of Otoliths.
 
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