{"id":897,"date":"2018-12-11T00:49:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T06:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thespectaclstg.wpengine.com\/?p=897"},"modified":"2019-06-05T18:45:22","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T23:45:22","slug":"poetry-by-montreux-rotholtz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/?p=897","title":{"rendered":"Poetry by Montreux Rotholtz"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

CAVE OF RUBIES<\/h4>\n
\n
\nnot yet you are
\nyou tell me I am
\nsupplicating
\nits claws in ice<\/p>\n

not yet in time
\nnow rests there
\nthis cave of rubies<\/p>\n

forgets whose hands
\nwhole bladed<\/p>\n

you tell me I am
\nof the cave lining<\/p>\n

I missed it missed
\nblessed with two<\/p>\n

with lines of women
\nthe sun\u2019s red and<\/p>\n

in the stories
\nfear so grooved
\nthe mouth of the cave<\/p>\n

lining up my eyes
\nthe sun approaches
\nwith open palms<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nthe white bear
\nwatching the lines
\nof women
\nits claws in ice<\/p>\n

tried to save my soul
\nrests in my age
\nwhile my eye<\/p>\n

these are who
\nsails not yet<\/p>\n

bent at the mouth
\nup my eyes<\/p>\n

this corner this cave
\nof childbirths the ruby<\/p>\n

supplicating
\nwhole bladed<\/p>\n

a ruby fire
\nas this one
\nand yet I missed it<\/p>\n

this corner this white
\nspilling fine salt
\nwith a belly<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nno fear so grooved
\nas this one yet
\nI missed it missed
\nits claws in ice<\/p>\n

blessed with two
\nchildbirths the ruby
\nsun through<\/p>\n

the sun’s red and
\nred stalactites filter<\/p>\n

with a belly
\nsupplicating<\/p>\n

in the stories a ruby fire
\nthe sun through which<\/p>\n

their claws in ice
\nred stalactites filter<\/p>\n

greased the earth
\nthe cave lining
\nmissed how at night<\/p>\n

sun’s echoing sheet
\nwhole bladed
\nan underdark<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nnot yet in this time
\nof women
\nthe ruby sun
\nits claws in ice<\/p>\n

with open palms
\nI am of the cave
\nthe cave lining<\/p>\n

I forget whose
\ngreased earth<\/p>\n

you tell me I am
\neach fear so<\/p>\n

greased the earth
\nblessed<\/p>\n

now rests there rests
\nin my age<\/p>\n

whole bladed
\nthe mouth of the cave
\nred stalactites humming<\/p>\n

in the sun’s red
\nsails cracking in wind
\nit did not mean to offer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

HOMEWARD<\/h4>\n
\n
\n              my mother rising               from the basin \n              bathed in dust her chimes \nwe are all                                                                        wild fallen \nfrightened for you                                                        prey \n              to exquisiteness to lined cotton linen shadows drawn over \n              a lap a woman crested in             red string the parallel \n              fallen  into prayer \n\n              what light her think is here \nshe\u2019s twisten \nburied into untoward forget \n              blurn bodies half-built                               my mother rising \n              from dust we are all                                    my motherblur \nrightened                        these crested doors \nfalling open                    on a woman \n              leaning from a window             bathing in red strings her think \n              a tufted port                                her think discourses\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n
STATIC<\/h4>\n\n\n\n\nYour body \/ the body of the people.                       The women ran away \nwhile you talked elections. The crowded square \/ blue and golden screaming. Reset. \n\nFour sheep \/ seven horses                       from the pain made of sheep and horses take your lips \nyour hair and eyes \/ open to the air \/ slicing wires. I can cut your lips your hair or hunger. \nYour stomach ticking                       feet as zero like a leg \n\nbobbing in a river. Sea legs \/ bobbing like a tick in a bomb like a bulb in the sea. \nAs the misery to come.                       All I can sustain is sheaves of kelp \nis damage. I think pretty \/ in safety. The more I killed \n\nthe more I protected \/ a wonder.                       Like pain and those it chews on. \nWhen your hand reaches for the sheep the sea sings \/ for your hand I will give you \ndeath I will give you                       death for your handful of wires \n\nunload death into you \/ envelope you in the swell and ebb of death \/ the ports \nof death staring at you                       a port to answer and gradually \/ you envelope \nyou \/ staring at death \/ leave you to soak in death\u2019s salted flowers.\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
 <\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\n
\n
Montreux Rotholtz is the author of Unmark<\/em> (Burnside Review Press, 2017), which was selected by Mary Szybist as the winner of the Burnside Review Press Book Award. Her poems appear in Black Warrior Review, Boston Review, Prelude, jubilat, Lana Turner,<\/em> and elsewhere. She lives in Seattle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CAVE OF RUBIES | HOMEWARD | STATIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}