out thru the upper midwest & then further northwest

from the abundance
of lakes and forests
into the vast expanse
     where the common ground
     becomes a drought cracked earth
spreading past abandoned
     dry washes
falling down farm houses
cattle and buffalo shuffling
in search of shade
and then abruptly
thru western north dakota
the pillage of fracking
     chemical pestilence
carving out the soul
of lost prairies
     broken treaties

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 12, 2012)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)