earth note 23

notes dancing off steel rails
singing out early morning blackness
wheels of an eastbound slowing down to a crawl
a gentle curve
an iron bridge twists and rolls
a restless allegheny
then silence

dawn still a dream away
waiting listening for another song
there are none
only eyes in a cold steel corridor

from an inner distance a vision of waterfalls
small cool pools
tropical wood
a sweet haze of rainforest rich droplets
grab my skin
hiking toward the falls
rushing water rendezvous
the pools gather in intervals
splashing bronze arms
hand prisms of sunlight
through coconut leaves
finding deep brown eyes
a living connection

a dream of desert wind and sandstone
piercing bayonet dust squalls
against the asphalt
a road parched but not lifeless
bedouin canyons and water holes
ragged goats gnarled-hair camels
a misplaced land rover
a sun with vengeance

burning clean my remains of pretense

--- e b bortz