{"id":1015,"date":"2016-07-26T02:42:30","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T02:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtls.wpcenter.io\/staging\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2026-10-14T16:02:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T16:02:31","slug":"obari-gomba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/obari-gomba\/","title":{"rendered":"Obari Gomba"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">On Bull-Headed Art<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(Twelve Random Shots)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nothing<br>\nSurpasses the length of art.<br>\nNothing, not even<br>\nEarthwide stretch of dust.<br>\nIf fear is the ware you<br>\nBring to town,<br>\nGo sell it to the marines<br>\nAnd to terrorists.<br>\nThey are the ones<br>\nWho tramp around<br>\nThe earth to headbutt<br>\nUFOs or strut<br>\nAround homes,<br>\nThrowing bombs<br>\nLike confetti.<br>\nPoets know fear too<br>\nIntimately to buy it.<br>\nFear is nothing. Art is<br>\nWild beyond the ken<br>\nOf left-handed gods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The long fingers of magic<br>\nStoke the sun.<br>\nWe have grown<br>\nColoured ears<br>\nAnd eyes in search<br>\nOf&nbsp; grand and new ways.<br>\nWe are bull-headed. Who<br>\nWill dare once more<br>\nTo inflict an old urinary<br>\nOn a Poetry Expo?<br>\nO dare: we shall<br>\nMake sure of&nbsp; the piping<br>\nRight there and we shall<br>\nTake aim and pee.<br>\nJust to test the function.<br>\nO dare: we have grown<br>\nDeep ears and eyes.<br>\nWe have sown \u2018We\u2019<br>\nIn every \u2018I\u2019. O dare and see.<br>\nNothing beats the Muses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last time a poet<br>\nMade poetry<br>\nOn wastelands<br>\nAnd cranky old men,<br>\nWe went there<br>\nTo feed our eyes.<br>\nCloser home,<br>\nA fisher-poet laments<br>\nThe apotheosis of<br>\nA glowering rat. There<br>\nIs no limit to the twists<br>\nThat occur in poetry.<br>\nA rat bars a city<br>\nFrom recovery?<br>\nIn other news,<br>\nA Nobel hero chants<br>\nAbout Night.<br>\nToo much crabbiness.<br>\nBut it does not drag<br>\nSpirits into morbidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the room over there,<br>\nA sad poet, inspired by<br>\nThe earth\u2019s ordeal<br>\nAt the hands of<br>\nIts heedless children,<br>\nRecreates the Mother<br>\nOf God, praying<br>\nFor us. A low tune<br>\nOn iPod, Pussy Riot<br>\nOf all bands, steadies<br>\nThe sad poet\u2019s spirit<br>\nAs it fires through<br>\nThe rainy night.<br>\nCome to think of it.<br>\nHow did those girls<br>\nCome by such a name,<br>\nPussy Riot, of all names<br>\nIn a finicky world?<br>\nBull-headed through<br>\nAnd through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>\n5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the seventh time I have<br>\nSworn never to write poetry.<br>\nThat is my own count. My love<br>\nThinks I have sworn<br>\nOver a million times.<br>\nThat shows how stuck I am.<br>\nPinioned to habits. A triple<br>\nMess she would say \u2013<br>\nWrite poetry, read poetry,<br>\nAnd watch poets<br>\nOn end on YouTube<br>\nInto wee hours when I should be<br>\nMaking love. I watch Sexton.<br>\nShe flaunts her velvet body.<br>\nI think I love her lips<br>\nAnd the soft texture of her voice.<br>\nDo not ask me if I would love<br>\nTo crop her fair boobs.<br>\nI must stop before the night<br>\nRuns into overdrive or explodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">6<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When a poet loves a woman,<br>\nHe speaks of his love<br>\nFor her in this life<br>\nAnd in the hereafter<br>\nAnd he pitches her<br>\nAgainst the envy of the Muses.<br>\nThe Muses run a closed<br>\nCult of the Jealous.<br>\nWherever they enter,<br>\nThey shut the door<br>\nAgainst other women.<br>\nThey hardly know how<br>\nTo share a man. You have<br>\nBeen their victim<br>\nSince I ran off<br>\nWith the Svelte Ones.<br>\nThese days you only see me<br>\nIn flight to Mimesis.<br>\nThese days I measure<br>\nThe world with a long tape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>On Bull-Headed Art<\/strong><br \/>\n(<i>Twelve Random Shots<\/i>) Nothing<br \/>\nSurpasses the length of art.<br \/>\nNothing, not even<br \/>\nEarthwide stretch of dust.<br \/>\nIf fear is the ware you<br \/>\nBring to town,<br \/>\nGo sell it to the marines<br \/>\nAnd to terrorists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2253,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions\/2253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}