earth note 84

mist lifted sunrise culture
dissected by a yellow springs ohio bike path
and all those lost veterans
sitting squatting the main street
small cafes used bookstores
the sustenance of living in many worlds
a mixed bag of bluegrass reggae blues
quite a few flags also
but without the chest-pounding
revenge-seeking
small town impotence

when the freedom riders and organizers
of the sixties
needed solace
yellow springs was there
like african slaves running north
a hundred years earlier
draft resisters third world refugees
conscientious objectors
still today
when we look closely
there are distant smoke rings
ever present signals hiding in the canopies
but never fading

a recast of soldiered monuments
gray & lifeless
reinforced concrete/rebar at the base
will be ignored
with a cover of weeds
rain to cleanse us all

--- e b bortz

(published in Mac’s Turns a New Trick, Green Panda Press, 2003)