earth note 65

neo conservative liberal ruling classism
you don't need to listen
this won't be another didactic rag
the buffalo know your intentions
as do the salmon
columbia river salmon plutonium
roll on columbia woody guthrie
we should lighten the blows
after all they've given us
their best and brightest
the drumbeats of missile silos fade
under darkness
as the submarines are being re-armed
the payload shifted
sweaty hands of eighteen-year-olds
sift through landmines
let's give a wink to the banker boys
buying up asia with a smile
forget our cities
chaos begins
at the tollgate
concrete blinders wrapped around
eighty-mile-an-hour autobahns
coast to coast
suicide bunkers
we bury ourselves

neo liberal cultural icon
i'm sorry my poem sounds
like jargon
you've shown the light on the higher road
you own the higher road
though it's covered with empty tree bark
aboriginal images long ago robber baroned
and just esoteric enough to shield us
from our deepest thoughts
not that you asked me
but my fire is not for sale

--- e b bortz

(published in Jawbone 2000)