rain, the sacred river

is only making a few
designated stops
scorched withered plains
will continue
dry-throated
voices raspy
the stolen lands
require return
to their rightful stewards

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 26, 2011)

wall, turtle creek & porch view

it's been a helluva summer

now
the stink bugs
are poised to come back
in early fall
when the heat & humidity
finally drains us
& we'll take a chance
on a trip to the grand canyon
of pennsylvania
for the changing of the guards
deep brown red & yellows
the river may be drying up
but our spirits
won't let the bastards win
even
in the worst of times
a rigid walking stick
can find the trail

--- e b bortz

earth note 155

the blue sky
is a misleading backdrop
to what grows in the foreground
micro particles
& amoebas
embedding lungs and brains
the weather channel talks numbers
but not substance
i watch the deer
& crows for the faintest of clues
how the algae spreads
into the backwaters
& groundhogs & river otters
stay out of the sun
a heat wave breaks a beaver's tail
a dam collapses
several plastic bottles launch
their new advertising campaign
presto fresco mountain dewy

the humidity
is on the rise again
our shoes become sticky
a riverbank turns gray

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 19, 2011)

assad-gaddafi-netanyahu

there are no offshoots
in the moral high road
if you miss the entrance
there'll be no pay dirt
to break your fall
get used to making deals
with apologists wearing death blinders
an ego bargain
might be a new kind of worship
but it won't make the desert bloom

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, August 17, 2011)

recovering notes from the deep, part 3

i know i'm stretching it
when i impose past experience
on current circumstance
wishing i could still taste 1976 jimmy carter speech
quoting dylan
"he not busy being born is busy dying"
which stuck
in every corner of the old farmhouse
in northern minnesota
as we settled in
& i laid a new electric service cable
for the neighbors
as part of the down payment on the house
we had just bought from them

and then finally getting a phone call
(on the neighbor's phone)
to interview for an electrician job
at the taconite plant
after applying at every conceivable place
across the iron range

the weather & culture shock
of coming to the great north woods
from what we saw as the dying
polluted rustscape of pittsburgh
minnesota morning wakeups
a living silence
like a pair of canada geese
poking about in the creek
out near the pole barn
swaying in the wind

a new beginning
in what i now see as
the pivotal terms
of a restless life
where the offer
is only
for the seekers
without excuses

--- e b bortz