earth note 326

an old wooden fence
at what was
west view amusement park
barely stands
in the hollow
of another strip mall
where the buses make
their turnarounds
akin to doing
what the streetcars
use to do
like half a century ago
in what was
the great escape
from a river of ingots & soot
& within a few miles
of where the ohio river begins
its reclamation journey
picking up what's left
of valley void & plunder
silica lungs moved out
by fast food grease barrels 
& sullen eyes
looking away
concluding again
that it's not fate
but illusion
that claims us

--- e b bortz

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