if this isn't the winter of discontent...what is?

the president can now take claim
for the continuum
hoovervillebushvilleobamaville
you don't need to tread water
just take the skids
having been newly greased
afghanistan lies at the end of the chute

the ill health of the nation
sold
sold like an auction
to the highest derivative trader
insurance profits institutionalized
slush fund maneuvers
expose the intent
but not the principals

a great mother
stops her sentence
unfinished

--- e b bortz

earth note 132

sudden gale
woke the dawn
as i grabbed
the rain fly
flapping mad
above the tent
.....angry flag

storm anomaly
south shore lake superior
black flies swarm
vengeance bites
a rolling wave
awakens great blue heron
.....red sun rises

--- e b bortz

hypothetical speech from the nobel peace prize winner

somewhere today
in the here and now
in the world as it is
a young soldier
lays down arms
in exchange for court martial
disobeying orders to take
another human’s
life
hesitant yet confident yet omnipresent
turning eyes
into the fire
of a president
government
commanding officers
media carnivores

refusing to succumb
in the hypocrisy
of conventional wisdom

--- e b bortz