for now

i'm leaving
blank
          lines
in reserve
for a day
          when
an empty juxtaposition
needs new characters

--- e b bortz

memorial day 1966, pittsburgh

for allen leroy butler, first clarinet, 1963

across the streetcar tracks
& cobblestones
came the ill-fitted
heavy felted
orange & brown band uniforms
of the oliver high school bears
plastic brimmed hats shading a little of the sun
sweat pouring off my hands
making the clarinet keys
wet & greasy
striking up another
john sousa march
without the jingo commitment
just a few months before
band member graduate
     allen leroy butler
     died in vietnam
     his long brown
     benny goodman fingers
     forever leading the woodwind section
     from strauss to leonard bernstein
     his first chair
     my mentor
     his happy eyes
     my last image

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 187

frack fluid river
drinks the acid
like a sacrifice
a lover's potion
with the abuser

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, May 25, 2012)

earth note 186

itasca county, minnesota

it may not be easy
finding a calm enough day
on spider lake
the kind where the dragon flies
are relaxed enough
to meander
with the sunlight
in bright blue bodies
along the kayak's nose
dancing ever so gently
     a quiet song
     made of wings

--- e b bortz

earth note 185

green versus asphalt
endless growth
     subject to interpretation
     until the water runs out

--- e b bortz

there's no need to make an exact prediction

on when
the planet will stop us
in our tracks
the messages are abundant
& ignored
elites are cashing in hedge funds
they manufactured
just last night
for inflatable dinghies & patch kits
earth-tone & camouflage parachutes
     (without gps)
subterranean armored hovels
     (in endless fossil veins)
none of which have a future
in the coming
new world disorder

the rest of us
will caress our shovels
& sunlight

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, May 16, 2012)

earth note 184

maple leaf thicket
mind blowing clusters
life altering
those hips are indeed
swaying free

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 183

white birch bark
a sacred scroll
rolling up your dreams
leaving the body bare

--- e b bortz

 

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 182

when the humidity
drips off the body politic
leaving nothing
but the heat
& salty aftertaste
it'll be time again
to seek out
every wild rice cove
clear backchannel
forgotten survival skill
crooked canopy trail
lacing thru the arms
of tamarack & aspen
a thousand miles apart
outcrops pushing up
like new births
from an old womb

--- e b bortz