dance over the barricades of your mind

before the sun whisks

beneath darkness

and you lose

that serendipity spark

a thought

jumping between last night's dream

and the abscess barriers

growing in our midst

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, March 29, 2011)  

is it even possible to have penance

for fallujah haditha gaza?
when the tyrant finally falls in libya
thank goodness
the healing will not include amnesia
for those of us
who survived
maybe sanctioned
occupation regimes
cost/benefit power politics
oil futures
apartheid walls
bulldozers that murder

but penance it must be
and for once
without preconditions

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, March 25, 2011)

earth note 147

grey sky meditation
a forum for cardinals
unpredictable crows
sparrows building nests
spring wind hesitant
and without the force of commitment
if there were lessons to absorb
maybe i missed them

the sound from the avenue
speaks louder than words
an unfortunate consequence
of the assembly line
whatever comes
when the bluejays arrive
can be regenerated
& dispersed

there's murmuring in the flats
floods on schedule
deer and groundhog
stepping quiet
light without sinking
high noon might be
a grey moon
hiding

--- e b bortz

there are the gentle ones

who speak with their eyes
hands
vibrations from their cajun instruments
words sprung from soft moist lips
of life and dance steps
that touch
every movement
of a body
crying out with a spirit of
sisterly brotherly love
passionate love
a love of the beauty
within our grasp
drinking in without hesitation
the joy and pain
of anonymity

for others
the morning brings
violence and death
a refrain as human
as tears

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Mar 7, 2011)