earth note 173

half-dozen crows are bold enough
to take over the turning lane
carefully inside the yellow lines
pecking at what looks like
a heel from a rye bread loaf
.....maybe some loose caraway seeds
sensing cars coming fast
peeking from a hillside half-blind
a dozen wings flap collectively
sprint twenty yards into the trees
then return focused
persistent
dodging again
finally
a sentry calls off the raid
squawks new coordinates
to the north

the wind leads
ice into darkness

--- e b bortz

no dogma prisoners

even if every argument
has genuine logic
there comes a time
when the walls need
to be demolished
the same way
a forest fire
renews growth
floods replenish
& fertilize a field

creating & dissecting hyperbole
is a full-time job
every poet
both prisoner & jailer

--- e b bortz

(published in Embryonic Gurney, Green Panda Press, May 2012)
(published in opednews.com, Feb 23, 2012)

apologies to my ron paul, bolshevik & menshevik friends

a few weeks ago
a guy came over
from a craigs list posting
interested in buying
my old van

before we finished
he opened up
the tailgate of his even older van
& gave me several cds
and other ron paul propaganda
.....some of it close to the mark
before he drove off
with my former van
& his older van
now a small convoy
filled with political tirades
.....some of it close to the mark
bringing back images of those
old eisenstein films
with petrograd revolutionaries
flinging thousands of leaflets
from the back of their trucks
in 1905 and 1917

again
many apologies to my bolshevik friends
but i must admit that i fully defended yinz
in this whole drama
when i responded to the van buyer
who claimed obama was nothing
but a bolshevik
i retorted
no way...obama is a menshevik
all the way

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Feb 20, 2012)

earth note 172

near sunrise
the moon is a perfect thumbnail
a light mix of red & gray clouds
form an arrowhead
to the north
maybe not coincidentally
the crows fly north

songbirds fully awake next door
hide in a barren grape arbor
tune in
their music
skip the morning rush

--- e b bortz

rendezvous

bahia honda

for two days in a row
the dusk
with a red tinge
near the horizon
ocean / gulf bottom
in pale turquoise
near the disconnected foot-bridge
calm
clear and shallow
a dark throbbing trail
out from the shadows
moves
manta ray

--- e b bortz

santa fe train

pulling into
santa fe new mexico
a sunny november noon
a few snapping pictures
passengers stepping down
a banjo & fiddle
playing an unfamiliar
bluegrass tune
puffy white clouds
moving to the rhythm
sandra joyfully transposed
by the marketplace teeming chatter
recycled stalls & organic shoppers

a black dog pushes
his head to my leg
lifts his nose
as if inhaling
a new day

--- e b bortz

earth note 171

a snow drift
finally made
an effort
to form
near the perimeter
of the tree line
short on wind
somewhat haphazard
lazy flakes

who am i to complain

an arctic blast without commitment
might just be
indicative
.....(you pick the metaphor)
to change direction...maybe get lost
waiting for a storm
to break the impasse
.....then find courage

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Feb 15, 2012)

my meter

is giving me a headache
or putting me to sleep
sometimes both

i need a snow drift
to dive into
if i could find one

throw the beats
& bums out
there's a new rhythm

with an irregular stride
run past
every footnote

resisting the obvious
is not
an impromptu exercise

--- e b bortz

vent / piss off everyone

take every big party politician
& evict them for corruption

stick your tongue out
at every blogger
right and left
most are drunk with delusion
you don't need a windbag
to know which way
the wind is blowing

morally exorcise
all police and military
then reduce by 75%

outlaw money & television
& fossil energy
forget the 'debt crisis'

try not to grit your teeth
with your tongue out

--- e b bortz