the abyss

is not at the edge
or further down the road
but among us
when we look
where the fire escape last stood
(sold for scrap years ago)
or a fast car
or a fix
or a stickup gun & ski mask
running across the high desert
billboard landscape
a broken down caustic runway
poisons my boots

it wasn't always that way
even from the bleak
war table debates between
round and square
there were words inside
to send on
to the next
an ear of plenty
even in a wasteland

when the minds were blown
sometimes there came
revelations
only to be exposed later
as idol worship
or bottomless dreamscapes
'course nothing mattered then

but now the blown minds
are by design
just enough manipulation
to be convincing
your shoes can be cleaned
you need not remember your past
and you can view the morning after
from a better vantage point
.....embracing the abyss

--- e b bortz

earth note 141

cicada trees
answering each other
along the ridge
each in unison
as if to tell us
sing it out if you mean it

one cicada stands alone at the backdoor
leaves a message

--- e b bortz