Possibly poetic lies about a motherless man (5)
I believe the answer is:
lines
'possibly poetic' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'lies about a motherless man' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'a motherless man' becomes 'n' (knight, a man in chess. I am not sure about the 'motherless' bit.).
'lies' placed around 'n' is 'LINES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lines that I've seen before include "imposition" , "Actor's text" , "Wrinkles; rail tracks" , "Items" , "Long thin strokes" .)