earth note 70

itasca county, minnesota

cold white dust rolls across the highway
through chewed down alfalfa stubble
gathering 'round dry-rot fence posts
leaving nothing but ragged imprints
another season gone sour

an a-frame on the hill rattles a snake dance
the frozen creek unable to answer
early december
geese gone a month now

you left the window open in the sauna
to purge out our last hot touch
our smell
of summer

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)