Friday, January 25, 2008

when all else fails

phuket 1989

close your eyes and go forward
crawling out of darkness
or into a beginning sunset

a prison falls
on orange & red
indian ocean andaman sea
(before the tsunami)
broke the ruler’s rules
started a wave
and without so much as embarrassment
placed the
farang
upon his alter ego
sifting thru the trinkets
of silver & rubies (smuggled from burma)
the mist off the sea
heated
did not cool
the broken expats
with their cocks in their hand
lumbering thru curry back alleys

and every brown eye
in the marketplace
sized & dismissed
those intentional motives
looking only at the magic
from the water

--- e b bortz

Thursday, January 17, 2008

earth note 110

never looked at tea leaves
looking for answers
or the future
but those strawberry plants
we put
inside the acid rain belt
new york southern tier
seven miles
into northern appalachia
just above the susquehanna watershed
sprouted manna
or maybe just luck

but the hundred pine seedlings
in a june minnesota bog
dried out
waiting in the sauna
died of shock therapy
needed a more tender hand
or better timing

life can’t wait
for the learning curve

--- e b bortz