Michael Gottlieb


sections from Mostly Clearing

26

a sort of trade show
of the mooted

why we seek repetition
what erudition
can never solve for

a hastily-converted
high school gym

the reason
we really get up
in the morning

to all appearances
a now-placid estuary

a kind of wire frame
a storyboard test
where those fears
may be
once and for all
summarily dismissed

“I like it here”
Robin says 




27

your next and final stop

what must needs
be attended to

don’t forget to check
the overhead bin

signals
are flashing

the belongings
you arrived with

the maintenance of way

contents
may settle
during shipping

thanks for stopping by




28

their motto
doing less
with more

in the land
of the free
association
a kind of
gestural spectatoring

a punch list
for the
punch drunk

the fancy dress
donned by
the fun-loving
occupants

you want
to say yes

your eyes
are windows
pull down
the shades

eventually
we all need become
adepts

and toggle between
perdition
and
Pernell Roberts

a pillbox
a recurring charge
a bonus room
a dunking
a sole provider

you, the
star of your own
biopic

to wit

this
pretty pass

I watch you
rise above




29

it simply
can’t be beat

I remember
your apgar

becoming
what
we hold
most dear

breathy
incorrigible
irrepressible

I embarrass you
that’s my job

I took
your picture
do you
want it
back

I hold this
in my hand
we called it
a transparency




30

the youth league

overcoming
a sorry childhood

the ragged colors
nailed to the mast

no longer
missing my
cargo cult

I walk
freely among you

witting
for once

this is just what
the trailer promised

it’s always
4:03
somewhere

the happy day
when the irregulars
reached our town




31

I remember
fun city

what takes the cake

plush toys
for the grown ups

what we tried
to bury
in the conversation pit

task lighting
for the idle

the difference
between namesake
and eponymous

this I bequeath you




32

irked by joy

misrule’s
residual
process-flow

a laugh most dulcet

only
our due

this end up

why we’ve been sent here

the orders
are under seal

it is not ours
even if
we’re the only ones
who care

an article of faith
that words can save us

in this language
we trust




33 A CLAIM-RACE

see it
name it
pocket it

everyone should have
at least
one

but then
I set you free
little word

deeply unserious
and so
all the more revered

a man
a plan
a Canaletto

as the magic marker
cast its spell
upon us




34 NOT HEEDLESS BUT REGARDLESS

we pass along
the fiery road

a kind of set list
stapled to the articles of faith

‘green shoots too?’

a salubrious uptick

a scenic overlook
an unspooling hinterland

a push-in of hopefulness

pouring us
into these casts

warming snaps

we know
if there is no deposit
maybe
there is no return

not heedless
but regardless






Earlier sections of Michael Gottlieb's Mostly Clearing appeared in Otoliths issue 51.
 
 
previous page     contents     next page