hope

we haven’t forgotten
what it takes to make
real change

come out of the mist
look for the sun
trailing off as it does
without asking permission

a lesson from the high desert:
a motionless prairie dog
bold
but just coy enough
to stay alive
standing erect & noticed
on the interstate
vanishing
like a shifty dust twister

hope is not a stupor
but its antithesis
leave the dirt on your hands
bring it with you

--- e b bortz

post-election rising

we may live in the belly of one
but there really are no ‘beasts’
(the word applies only to humans)

each fear has been designed & built
on a previous one

sometimes a small candle
is enough to make
bottomless dark
light

call it non-negotiable
containers forever overflowing
can’t spill into mediocrity

broken streets
filled with feet
tears
hands of candleholders
will rise

--- e b bortz