Glenn Bach


Five Poems from Atlas

The ocean and its waves the gap between 
what we know and what we build anyway


( ital. beach            why not live
further out thus the revolution of the tides 
of            th e  most elega nt  landmar ^


may open this moment on a better trajectory
breakwater this pile of gnarly rocks


the best worst party inflicted upon us


verdigris   steeply pitched will savor
the majestic     a marked feeli   of grac


thus the revolution


its contours and weathers barren and 
unequal its bouquet of edges.

 
                                             ф


an argot of sudden
longwinded
that moon that moon
of silt, shake

on a flower day
        the rock
             the light-
house
     the surrounding territory
     where nothing ever happened
     there will be fare-
wells 

& smiles, see: rocks or
     stones
            river of the south: see
to speak of
 
     places we love but no story
about them, a place 
where people go 

     to transact important matters
by the fishing boats as they wend
to the flowers that grow
                                        pine-
                                 crested

          a collective
          a composite of landmarks

                       to seaward the fog lay
                       open as on a map

of the most exotic of the exotic stones

                       into a wreath of smoke and foam
                       again into company with the sea

gesture wistful 
crumble, sod, broken
fog to sunshine

                       the light which is a powerful one
                       so steep were the sides

a faint shrug, a tiny
flower
           adorned


                                             ф


Simplicity over an array of transcendence through plants in tended 
gardens. Abstracted nature through new forms of domesticity 
for the future.


Sub/urban horizontal of the land grades on the strength extent 
of the tentacles. Brutalist simulacrum of urbanity in stark 
corrosion of this city.


Folded along the ocean corridor and spun outwards. Against the banks 
namely Victory and Santa Cruz these doomed farms. Hemmed 
by the San Gabriel these houses touch the ground lightly.


                                             ф


thick hem 
of sail into the skins 
of buildings: sheet 
iron and concrete (unbroken 
wall

aura from its stones
backs to the street
meant to be looked at

yesterday's bricks
and planks one of the greatest
spectacles by a steel-ribbed
highway

rushes and other plantings
selective nostalgia, stanchions 
and park all the greener

maritime agent of decline
white smoke from where
the skyline no longer

in cities empty of harbors 
cinders settling


                                             ф


             City down from the


light lit the sky 
                            has been
a business coma eventide
                                          & afterglow


   untapped market. The market
was tapped
             breach
                                             vice/contra
             by someone 
                         who saw the dollars


the Pacific Suns they had no
                                                all-stars / 
                                                                condor’s nest 

      people
                  of the lake people of the tide


                               if the theatre to be a success if not 
                         the garage another waste a picture
                                                                         of encouragement for folks


                  the following views are from 
                                                                   atop
                                                                             the old, to the bar 
                                                                        of justice


by all means read it bizarre to the
                                                           point 
                                                City Sanctioned BIG LEAGUE
                                                                                                     DREAMS
                                                                                      (( View Here ))


                to handle the changes 
we now see where did the green light
                                                              come from: 
                                                                                   and homes no   :


                                                         is also a snarling factor gone from
                               this exit is the easy the pre-Vineyard
                                                                                          of Wagon Wheel


                                                                five years is not temporary 
                                                                                                 who ripped
                                                                                         us off in return 
                                                     that one shouldn’t have to 
                 drive an hour to have fun with their friends.


All we really have is great weather      if worse
came to worst      many important decisions
                                                                  are being made


                            a normal person would just pull
                                                                                 the plug join hands along
                                                                   the pipeline there are many 


                                                                      risks they want you to think
                                                 this is a done deal as we count
                                                              but is there an end to all this
                                                                                                               heat


this net thrown
                          over the problem clean green
                                                                green impala nice regal another
                                                                                     nice regal


                                                          the agenda has no mention what
            would you like to see this is the 
                                                                 time not after


                                        a long time before the calm follows
                                                                                                  the storm 
                                                                        Speech parade food
                                               dancing part of Oxnard festivities ????


                            a hard think coming up! only 
                  a public well informed
                                            there is no reason to believe.

Originally from Southern California, Glenn Bach now lives in the Doan Brook watershed of Cleveland, Ohio. His major project, Atlas, is a long poem about place and our (mis)understanding of the world. Excerpts have appeared in jubilat, Plumwood Mountain, Word For/Word and others. He documents his work at glennbach.com and @AtlasCorpus.

 
 

previous page     contents     next page