Thursday, November 20, 2008

hope

we haven’t forgotten
what it takes to make
real change

come out of the mist
look for the sun
trailing off as it does
without asking permission

a lesson from the high desert:
a motionless prairie dog
bold
but just coy enough
to stay alive
standing erect & noticed
on the interstate
vanishing
like a shifty dust twister

hope is not a stupor
but its antithesis
leave the dirt on your hands
bring it with you

--- e b bortz

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

post-election rising

we may live in the belly of one
but there really are no ‘beasts’
(the word applies only to humans)

each fear has been designed & built
on a previous one

sometimes a small candle
is enough to make
bottomless dark
light

call it non-negotiable
containers forever overflowing
can’t spill into mediocrity

broken streets
filled with feet
tears
hands of candleholders
will rise

--- e b bortz