earth note 246
if i wake early enough
there's always that chance
of bringing me back
(the mind has such power)
to another time
maybe that of the drifter
or the baseball coach
or just the searcher
of wonder
memory is my window rock
--- e b bortz
earth note 245
a promised rain
won't wet anyone's appetite anymore
parched that we all are
promises turn expectations round & round
making disappointment
just another business cycle
of course that's only my take on it
about the time the suits
suit up for another gala graduation
celebratory speeches from the mouth
of another three-mouth-monte
there'll be at least
a thousand more college students
in this town
kicked off the road
of so-called urban renaissance
leaving only
the borderlines of yet
another desolation highway
& the last of the survivors saying
god and growth
might just be dead
--- e b bortz
earth note 244
digging in
turning over some shovels
of top soil
upset the worms
i swear i heard expletives
as they scattered
did my best to coax them
into the new bed of phlox
but it got me thinking
if the worms could vote
now there's some power
there'd be a hell of lot less
asphalt & concrete
definitely no
soldier-worm-cannon-fodder
keep your ear to the ground
when nature
takes its rights
i'll trade my shovel for a jackhammer
tear up those parking lots
call it paradise
--- e b bortz
earth note 243
when i lived near the equator
there was always that cleansing
that poured out of your body
got passed along
between bodies
there was no such thing as
don't sweat it
the magic oils that
consumer glutting advertises
were all in the air
in the steam of the rainforests
in the poverty streets
of loose fitting saris and flip-flops
in the orange of the monks
the heat could be counted on
to blanket you
in nightfall
in silence
an invitation to pass through
and immerse
was never needed
simply absorb what's around you
in the rugged hills
detached from the cities
where water buffalo work
the valleys of ten-thousand-year soil
on a border with dusk
rubber trees coconut rambutan
floods and fires
to labor
to survive
on the other side of the world
the bankers plan
a decimation of the teak
a dam binding a wild river
a market manipulation
that buys collateral
but not
time
--- e b bortz
earth note 242
what constitutes a good day
(70s and low humidity)
is there such a thing as being aware
(knowing what's real can get you down)
where does every road and trail lead
(that's infinite...there are no maps)
when will the river find its current
(where there's movement...there's hope)
who will take the first plunge
(it was already taken long ago)
what makes a good day?
--- e b bortz
earth note 241
the new pear
and apple trees
in the backyard
are going to need
a lot of care
preemptive action
decoys
halloween year 'round
scarecrows
louder wind chimes
coyote piss
a siberian husky could help
if there's any chance of surviving
the deer browsing
wild turkeys roam
the avenues & woods
of nor'side pittsburgheese
seem to be 100% compatible
with the deer
so can't count on them as a deterrent
guess i feel i need to ask them all
periodically
jeet? (did you eat?)
--- e b bortz
earth note 240
the new condos
down on federal street
don't have any institutional
memory of the days
of the apache lounge
or the slick-hair-guys
who loafed
on the steps
next to the garden theatre
who might still be sitting there
if it weren't for the demise
of those secret phony handshakes
out of the masonic lodge
gone forever
and just a couple more doors down
there was the window cleaning company
that i managed to work at
just out of high school
and had to learn how to get past
my fear of height
which i did
in time
a few years later
carrying my electrician tools
out on the crane runways of neville island
it isn't likely
the new upward mobile urbanites
will ever hear a rowdy basketball game again
down in west park
since the downtown bureaucrats
took all the hoops down
and then left town
like thieves
but you can judge for yourself
but don't get me wrong
i like seeing a new coffeehouse
here and there
a few more poets crawling out
to find the sun
maybe getting their hands dirty
in an urban garden
planting some new trees and keeping
the chainsaw managers
(yes, the offspring of the hoop thieves)
at bay
--- e b bortz
sometimes dangerous thoughts
from rusty shadowed alleyways
speak out of turn
long after being demolished
& sold for scrap
clandestine attempts to restart
the obsolete
surplus value cycles
embarrass even commodity futures
cries of loneliness
will be shared
finding comfort
in the margins
pseudo-clever
cable-networked jingles
deaden the mind
making strange answers
totally unexpected
& real
like a prism of stained glass
clashing visions
--- e b bortz
the signs of prague 1968
were all over the buildings
still
in the spring of '69
svoboda!
among the images i still see
though
they seem to have taken
an alternate deeper dimension
than the big headlines of
the crushed socialist experiment
not unlike the streetcars swaying
swaggering
over cobblestone streets
like those in my hometown
(pittsburgh)
& the soviet tanks
of august 1968
coinciding with the chicago tanks & teargas
of the democratic party convention
(i can still taste it)
from the air
the farmland had a rich
deep brown
almost black color
land that had the look
of a thousand years
of care
even through all the wars & invasions
& death
there was that indomitable spirit
to grow and nurture
even in the coffeehouses then
there was a brew
of revolutionary libertarian communes
(this is only an oxymoron to the stilted dogmatist)
youth rebellion
the world over
looked unstoppable
and we each had our small part
in answering the call
imperial war
or principled resistance
the prague generation
our mentor
--- e b bortz
earth note 239
how abrupt
a spring cool wind
can be
it's there for a moment
to awaken
enough to send
a phony fear
past every
lazy mindset bent
on predictability
direction is not as important
as velocity
from a shaking forest
a thousand seeds
--- e b bortz
earth note 238
dawn opens on a dark sky
every avenue car expressionless
songbirds begin their chants
marking every lost moment
a wild turkey
is separated from the group
scurries around finds freedom
at the end of the fence line
sun finally visits
the complexity of the trees
an old man on a bicycle
takes notice
--- e b bortz
earth note 237
there's an impatience
in the words
like the equinox at full sun
taking off in all directions
and even as i write
i'm never sure
where it's all going
or how the meaning
will be sensed
or even if in fact
there is a meaning
the trucks move
along the avenue
as if they have
a schedule & destination
a hidden cargo
a secret like these very words
or nothing
more than clanging shopping carts
in a parking lot
of empty pockets
--- e b bortz
every border breeds conflict
integral
to every nation-state
following a river in dispute
an ever-changing labyrinth
coastline
or mountain range
where a rope meets an auction block
manufactured and sold
as a hangman's knot
--- e b bortz
earth note 236
the way the afternoon light
shifts around
translucent filters
of the canopy
past bright green buds
newborn
maple spring
arms sway open
grab the sun
each frame
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, April 29, 2013)
busk your poems
the street is your canvas
every shard of glass
a point that cuts
to the chase
let the rain
run the ink
like a closed up storefront
on the way outta town
another highway
crawls with obedience
your backpack
defiance
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, April 12, 2013)
earth note 235
the strip, pittsburgh
iron butterfly 1968 perched on
orange flowing skirt
crossing penn avenue
too young for
in-a-godda-da-vida
but just right
for a day in spring
finally
breaking wide
open wings
--- e b bortz
career day
in the empire
conflicting narratives
might be somewhat
alive
though not necessarily
above ground
barely breathing
needing a critical
real
peer review
not just by academia
and certainly not by maimstreet media
but by jane and joe
from down in the hollow
will this generation
be droned
concocted in anesthesia mix
and then formed
like paper mache happy mush
a sweet talking hallmark card
looking out for
the next big gig?
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, April 26, 2013)
there's no production schedule
out of poem bankruptcy
agony and melancholy
creative twins
feed the spirit
unconsciously
sustenance is the darkness
of the abandoned blooming mill
rust
a growth product
of many words
--- e b bortz
earth note 234
between the sudden snowmelt
collapsing pouring off
bare branches like sweat
a mad rush to the river
becomes a race
with a wedge of dark storm clouds
moving in passing through
afternoon remains a question mark
all characters still in the queue
with their own logic
a patch of blue sky
sneaks in from the north
rolls out a contiguous form
of new possibilities
--- e b bortz
let the ladder climbers rise
to the top
of their imaginary pyramids
if they end up
with their heads
in the clouds
we can always
communicate with them
by kite colors
yellow will indicate we need to talk
face to face
earth brown will show our dissatisfaction
if we get no response
orange will let everyone know
that a great vision is in the offing
blue will be our color
when the weight of the pyramid
becomes unbearable
no kite
might mean
we are pulling the bottom out
from under them
and creating circles
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, March 29, 2013)
authenticity
can't be co-opted
it's that intangible
just when you thought
the demons had
broken through again
with their proverbial whitewash
a hand or a voice
rises to the light
opening
a range of vision
uncompromisingly
self-evident
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, April 10, 2013)
most livable city
two days into spring
sitting in a cold van
across the street
from a busy goodwill store
a few blocks over from
three men and a shopping cart
positioning themselves
in the brush
along the river embankment
if you leap the riverfront park
& a couple of river crossings
you'll land beside a dozen tents
bending
braving the wind
smack up against
a cold concrete overpass
expressway indifference
leading advocate
for a casino
& a couple of stadiums
turning their backs
as the snow starts up again
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, March 23, 2013)
school of the americas watch
earth note 233
wooden wind chimes
like drumming
a clairvoyant hollowness
not to be confused
with randomness
there's a rhythm
if you choose
to listen
--- e b bortz
earth note 232
the little colorado river
in the arizona high desert
is nothing more than a dry wash
most of the year
if you walk the riverbed
long enough
you'll hear sharp canyon walls
speak truth
of empty water vessels
and sudden dust storms
of a rich blue sky
with no promises
rolling sage brush
sheared in the wind
rocks that replicate the sun
too hot for the touch
rough brown texture
supplanting green
life on the bare edge
fragile species go hiding
--- e b bortz
i know i'm a believer
in the ideal
rather than the real
love
friendship
politics
sugar coating the possible
isn't like leaving reality to the cynics
more like refusing
to be willingly bored
into submission
choosing to escape the droning
of some hard facts
doesn't make one an accomplice
to oppression
it's more like leaving materialism
to the sophist philosophers
& their neat diagrams
choosing instead
to throw poems
like bombs
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, March 13, 2013)
earth note 231
the glassy calm
on the ohio river
is a disguise
the dark green water
is a color
that avoids definition
only the tug and its armada
of heaping coal barges
are speaking
the geese squawk
but have no standing
in this court
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, March 11, 2013)
from the top of a 50-foot norway spruce
a hawk
head twitching left then right
eyes for prey
impatient
soaring off instead
piercing a city valley
blending with traffic
--- e b bortz
earth note 230
koh samui, thailand, 1989
under the strain
of being overrun
by the farang
the fishing families
and banana farmers
that still carry on
eke out subsistence living
look to the sun and moon
to their hands and tools
to the weather and a slipping landscape
survival something of a gamble
powerlessness a fait accompli
where only soil and sea have reverence
--- e b bortz
looking for direction from the rain
which way is it moving
does it chill the air or make it warm
is it strong enough to clean the body
will it last until tomorrow
does it go by another name
is it talking with the crow
is there lining in the clouds
why is the wind confused
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Feb 28, 2013)
earth note 229
between winter
and not yet spring
stand naked arms
an interlock
of the barren
your eyesight
transforms dust
into mud
leaves become the trail
they dodge but ultimately scatter
into anonymous patterns
with death
a new beginning
--- e b bortz
talkin' carbon blues
in the middle
of the west virginia mountains
not far from beckley
an old twisting road
named polemic
wraps itself around a steep hillside
and i suspect
a cluster of houses
that might answer
these eternal questions
about whether capitalism
after grabbing a lot of coal
out of its asshole
would consider a serious
redistribution of wealth
to cover the thousands of miners
broken by black lung and cancer throats
broken knees and broken hips
crying widows and children
company store and captive town
thieves
and doing this
one hundred percent redistribution
just before shutting down
once and for all
every coal portal
gouged out mountain
black dustbowl
bought and paid for politician
still telling us
there'll be pie in the sky
when we die
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Feb 21, 2013)
the pigeonhole
you've built
doesn't allow wings
--- e b bortz
cheap advice
surveillance video rolling
as we leave the mall theatre
in myrtle beach south carolina
just up the coast from old fort sumter
maybe the best place to see
the movie "lincoln"
then
just in time to catch
the last of the indian buffet
but with no reprieves
next time
get there early
before the kheer is gone
and finally and most important
if it's the slow winter season
remember you need to see the room
& look under the bedspread
before putting your money down
avoid any place advertising
"american owned" or "southern hospitality"
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Feb 16, 2013)
lost
between daytona flea market
and palm beach high-rises
are a couple of million refugees
of the great downward spiral
creaking along
on loaded up beach bikes
carrying all that's left
gone is the mystique of the artisans
or the proud hands of the industrial working class
partitioned
beyond the sponsored walls
daytona 500 incorporated
left behind
like a two buck bet
at the dog track
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Feb 10, 2013)
earth note 228
a lone pelican
on the halifax river daytona
must be a rock star
score of seagulls
jumping
bobbing over the dock
pelican gyrating
back and forth and around
little richard
striking perfect chords
--- e b bortz
earth note 227
in spite of
the automobile stealing
a special pass
disguising itself
as a deity golden calf
a fully awakened
daytona beach atlantic
surges from the belly
covering the tire tracks
flushing over
a manicured packed-down shoreline
loosening up
some hardwired impressions
managing to leave
a body of shells intact
whole
integral
children of the last high tide
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Feb 5, 2013)
earth note 226
snorkeling off the reef
looe key
rises and drops
like fingers
open hands along
an ocean bottom
a thousand fish
blue
yellow with black stripes
then a barracuda
and a couple of
hundred-pound groupers
keep your attention
rolling and rising
the waves meet crescendo
in every specie
a heartbeat
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Jan 23, 2013)
mediocrity equals death
for all the talk of
free expression
and the liberation
of the artistic soul
is it not clear
there's very little
creative fire
that really surfaces
or takes root
or inspires?
we're being droned out 24/7
by the pundits
and
unsocial media
with talking points
kept within
predictable restraints
like the straightjacket
or a starched white shirt
even the words
freedom
peace
justice
that so permeate our texts
are losing all practical applications
wars continue
prisons fill
most politicians
return their contributions
with custom legislation
for their captors
so far
the great upheaval
has passed us by
the lid stays on the soup kettle
opening occasionally
to dole out a piecemeal
of disappointment
(so let's start a new facebook page)
it's true that
the words and music and colors
that can ignite a generation
still kindle
in the darkness
every once in a while
there's a new spark
but nothing burns
every facade and border and prediction
or goes wildly
all out
way down the road
like a chuck berry song
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Jan 20, 2013)
oil-gas-dogma fundamentals
even a shot & a beer
can be a most toxic brew
when consumed through the script
of the one and only
answering to the infidelities
(yes, we all live with)
an eye for an eye
(keeps the void well hidden)
beneath our breastbones
an entryway
of stereotypes
answerable only
to the water-board
each wagging tongue
dipped in fire
will claim victory
--- e b bortz
(published in opednews.com, Jan 18, 2013)
earth note 225
marathon key, fl
hot breeze
cool water
a few people
venture into the surf
i splash my arms
& dive in
backstroke
then float
all is well
all's quiet
'cept seagulls
wind blown
yelling out
something like
yooow or cooow
the waves coming in
are a steady rhythm
like island drumming
the stones warm & healing
when sand slips through your toes
touch each grain
--- e b bortz
earth note 224
the end of the road
begins the gulf of mexico
far out to the north
more islands
enough elevation for a calm day
not nearly enough for a storm surge
rising seas are not negotiable
but today
the wind is up
palms spread their fronds
legs open
perfect bliss
--- e b bortz
(published in broad sidling thirteen, Green Panda Press, March 2013)
it cost me a margarita
to post this poem
if it falls short
maybe
i should have two
--- e b bortz
earth note 223
white street pier, key west
pelicans hold back
nothing
dive for fish
deep
all out
come up empty
mostly
seagulls
smaller and more tentative
always looking for any slight advantage
compensating for their frailty
tourists
snap pictures
peck at their phones
walk behind dogs
run along the beach
hide in the trees
shake sand off their towels
read names on the aids memorial
pelicans hold back nothing
--- e b bortz
