earth note 354

grand mesa national forest, colorado

sunset lake is small enough

to be missed
in the tall pine & aspen
capturing it
cold to the touch
& it has a way
of drawing you
to every corner
so you have to consciously
keep a distance
avoid the lure of the spillway
there can be danger
in a daydream

the wind is confused today

blowing hard from the west
then lackadaisically
from the north
there are no adequate descriptions
for the flight
of a blue dragon fly
or the squawking
of a mountain jay

--- e b bortz

earth note 353

rifle gap state park, colorado

 

photo by Sandra L Hazley

a patch of blue

still poking above
the crown
of a piñon pine covered mountain
an hour left
before the sun dips behind
a long dusk
     storm clouds circling

--- e b bortz

earth note 352

downtown denver

there is no imaginary

neal cassady & his dad
on these streets anymore

their story was one of a kind

spelled out at life's
first third marker
& even throwing in
another fifth for good measure
won't bring you anything new
today

the marijuana generation

has made it legal now
for folks like neal & his dad
to jam themselves
into a dusty church attic
to get a few winks of sleep
before heading out
into the streets again
or on over to the still under funded
elementary school
or down to the old union pacific
tracks & box cars heading west

not saying it's better or worse

than it was then
just different
all the promises were bullshit
it's just taken so many decades
for that simple acknowledgment

clothing for the homeless

is now all about corporate symbols
issued with an accompanying
pat on the back
& a mention on npr

--- e b bortz

earth note 351

the dog days of august
are a month early
as a forest of limping green
squeezes in co2
& releases o2
from the far fetches
of a shallow valley

where the trees breathe

we all answer
in deep breaths
     a lifeline

--- e b bortz

 

sauna

circa 1976

from that first minnesota winter

cutting ten cords of wood
to keep the furnace going
in the house
as well as
the demands
from the outside sauna
     a log building that
     served as
     the only means for bathing
it became clear
that learning
survival skills
was always
in season

it took almost an hour

from below zero
for a blazing wood stove
& makeshift water heater
to really get things going

clothes hooks
in the 'changing room'
were still cold
as we peeled off everything
& darted into the 'heat room'
& the steam of splashing water
on stones & stove

hot & cold water were mixed
with buckets to get
the temp just right
& then on to a quick
soaping & rinsing
while the heat flashed & soaked
through your body
like a purging
bringing you through
a first real sweat
     & renewal

--- e b bortz

gulf of thailand 1989

by sundown
an orange mist
hangs just above
the water
letting the day's heat
release back through
a restless tide
anxious
to get on
with one's karma
from this moment
there will be no duplicates

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 350

cloud cover
is a welcoming reprieve
shutting off the shadows
near high noon
leaving only the fading outline
of a wrought iron fence
tangling with bamboo

--- e b bortz

the air is heavy

& not without direction
laying out the trail
around the knob
past the gray cloud overhangs
disappearing with the hemlock

you follow without

qualifying the morning
it has come
& you've made your peace
another day

--- e b bortz