in the daybreak

there is the excuse
for a moment
of honesty
not pretty
like the palms
coming to light
but it is moist
sweating
and alive

--- e b bortz

by gosh

it seems a lot of us humans
get so philosophical
and sentimental
near the end
of each roman calendar year

those romans knew how

to prick you
didn't they

and of course

we've left another
year of devastation
& turmoil
behind us

so being reflective

isn't so bad
an idea

but still

if there's a way
to escape tomorrow's humdrum
surely someone
will package that
for the next
big box store

i'm trying

not to make light
of these deep deep
considerations
after all we really
go around
but once
don't we

so when the new calendar starts

i'll try & get things rounded out
in my own head
     no guarantees of course

--- e b bortz

earth note 382

a cloud covered sun
in its own magic
is often overlooked

at the roadside pull-off

last night near dusk
we musta looked like
local experts in our
beach chairs
at least one tourist
wanted our advice
on a good viewing spot
we didn't have any authoritative answers
so they drove off frantically
missing the cormorant's sunset catch

this morning

for a moment
sun & rain converged
dwelling together
letting the ibis
pick their turf
between the puddles
     'til the turkey buzzards
     showed up

prediction:

the sun will eventually
win the day
     try again tonight

---e b bortz
 

gale cometh minus the video

scaring the birds away
the gulf raising its whitecaps
leaving the gray sky
to shift for itself
in the wake of a bending tree
     there comes a time
to just sit
and listen

--- e b bortz

even this machine can be dismantled

begin at the beginning
the steam turbine is obsolete
to raise coal from the ground
to something like an altar
is sacrilegious
feed water systems
are poison to our purity
     sacrificial bodies line the flyash pond
a million coughing refrains
is not hard to understand
     in any language
there comes a time
for a shakeup
doggerel & all
but a plan is nothing without tools
those darkened fingernails
only scratch the surface

--- e b bortz

earth note 381

sun and wind
finally crossing over
the rubicon
the clothesline at little torch key
drying out
pools of mosquitoes
can still fool yah
hiding in the shadows
haven't seen much
of the puffy white clouds
the season of tourists
decked out again
in their weekend best
a bathing suit in marathon
becomes a conversation
a few kayaks and fishers
jostle for an open space
the chinese buffet batters on
air conditioning contractors
still get a preferred table

--- e b bortz

 

walking highway one

some roadside stores
change each season
the constant struggle
of the mangroves
with the almighty dollar
even a new church
with an obscure name
advertises that it's
     'coming soon'

patches of thicket along the highway

homeless made to hide
     shade from the sun
     a torn sheet of visqueen for rain
     a place to pee

at little duck key

the water is especially warm
jellyfish flutter close to shore
     a tourist gets stung
great egret
     steps
     like into a ballet dance
     feet mingle long enough
     to make an impression
     then moves on

little duck key epilogue

     a sudden hawk attack on the sandpipers
     seagulls screaming sound the alarm
          everyone gets out alive

--- e b bortz

earth note 380

little torch key, florida

they rose up since last year

migrating from the next key over
you'd have thought
that the prehistoric calendar
had gone awry
and what was clearly extinction
had rolled right into evolution
my biology admittedly more shallow
than the nearest mangrove root
but every one of those green or brown tails
scurrying across the road
for the first sun in a week
had my bicycle wheels swerving
out of the lump in my throat
& looking up from the wild
where our gazes met
     iguana finds refuge

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 379

the road that leads
to highway one
is paved now
light droppings
from soaring turkey buzzards
do their best
to leave their marks

in the distance

there's a sound
of a helicopter
on a training mission
or surveillance

but the wind is strong

fronds brush and hiss    
     fear fades

--- e b bortz

 

ask any writer

about writer's block
and it might just bring you
a twisted face
or no response
like an embarrassing
round of constipation

and when it comes to poets

it really goes downhill
where the deepest doldrums
are reserved
for the immortal
     like poe
     sylvia plath
and too many more to mention
     the last century is manic
     in its darkness

open the windows and try

to gather up those anemic
bands of sunlight
take it in and
it'll all pass
in this life
or at least
in the next

--- e b bortz
 

earth note 378

high tide 4:44 am

you can only shit & eat
in the same place for so long
once the fracking chemicals
start showing up in your veins
you'll know the canaries & pelicans
were right

the one thing the president

failed to mention when he saw
fish swimming in the streets of miami
was that you shouldn't
be eating the fish

the fools in tallahassee have actually said

they want to frack the everglades
yeah      the wetland of all wetlands
regulation is just a code word
for corporate capitulation
     just ban it damn it

of course what use to be lowlands

might be an underwater key tomorrow
when it feels like rain clouds colliding
with high tide
you might want
to sleep in your life jacket
& hazmat suit

the folks who should know better

seem distracted by a hundred other things
even a slogan like
there is no planet B
is too weak too late

looking to the gators to save us

--- e b bortz

earth note 377

a flock of ibis
white plus one brown one
graceful curved beaks
busy on a front yard
going about their day's
work      is not the objective
     nor should it be

the chickens are drinking

in the parking lot
of the liquor store
you might be thinking
it's the rain
     but you might be wrong

--- e b bortz

earth note 376

pacet channel, florida keys

sun direct & steady

even as the breeze went limp
& a few rain clouds moved in
     dropping a quarter inch
     just west of the seven mile bridge

ocean      gulf      little money key

mostly clear & quiet
a fishing rod shakes with impatience
looking to cast anew

every pelican seems to be hiding

--- e b bortz

earth note 375

morning high tide
was ambitious
     the sand pile
     across the road
     doesn't reach the moon

--- e b bortz