\u2014to JB
\nThe ancestors once rode atop floating barrels
\npainted like horses.
\nAcross the Atlantic!
\nTruly, they were straight-backed sportsmen then!
\nWatching gypsy women
\nclad in bloomers<\/p>\n
and blue-pink paisley scarves wrestle, clawing
\nhands clutching chestnut hair\u2014skin
\nparade\u2014fighting for the right
\nto marry the same man\u2014his hand
\nmore than just their prize.
\nA box, papered and bowed,<\/p>\n
a mouse glued to the floor inside,
\nheart beating so hard, goddamn
\nskin popping of its bones.
\nMercy Lord.
\nWho were those men?
\nTo call for a sword<\/p>\n
to pass through the country
\nand cut loose shopping carts
\nbicycle rickshaws tattoo artists collectors of stamps\u2014
\nevery blade pleading, \u2018More Sport!\u2019
\n\u2018Blood bloom from a brother\u2019s throat!\u2019
\nUpside down, dangling in slaughterhouse sheds<\/p>\n
full of moonshine stills and cobwebbed tack,
\nwalls still quivering from stomping feet
\nimaginary hooves and headless cyclists.
\nStop at all the cross walks\u2014simple
\npainted lines connecting courthouse steps to
\nswinging doors of Boy-o\u2019s Salloon\u2014<\/p>\n
you want them to hate to see you love\u2014<\/p>\n
to go to see you leave.<\/p>\n
And the ancestors will shift anxious foot to foot,
\nbecome the mighty painted Holsteins
\nchewing cud by the edge of a hay field:<\/p>\n
lithe long-legged women with tousled auburn locks.<\/p>\n
Predestination is a trick of the trap \u2014to JB The ancestors once rode atop floating barrels painted like horses. Across the Atlantic! Truly, they were straight-backed sportsmen then! Watching gypsy women clad in bloomers and blue-pink paisley scarves wrestle, clawing hands clutching chestnut hair\u2014skin parade\u2014fighting for the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9926],"tags":[22084],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1981,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions\/1981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/requited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nthat can never be out-witted.
\nWe all become the cud.
\n
\n
\nMark Gosztyla <\/strong>graduated from the University of New Hampshire’s MFA program in May of 2009. He’s had poetry and non-fiction recently published in The Helix, Scarab, Competitor Magazine,<\/em> and Foster’s Daily Democrat<\/em>. Mark now lives in Somerville, MA and teaches poetry writing at Tufts University. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"