earth note 419

so the rock
jack pine
aspen
and oak
markings above the san juan river
forks east and west
ultimately meeting
beneath the rugged faces
of stone
pitched by the sun
always with the sound
     of renewal

--- e b bortz

earth note 418

touch the skin of a cactus
or the needles of a yucca
just once
     the power of a defensive barrier
     like the one we've been waiting for
barricades grow natural
of this earth
may our spirits
pierce the fog
with truth

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 417

great sand dunes colorado

they were here before humans

from the summits
of the great sand dunes
to a foot of rushing water
in a creek now called medano
the calm of morning
can sometimes
make the world come to peace
in spite of itself
without asking for permission
or checking morning stock prices
centuries of hurt
real and never ignored
but without standing
in the sunrise shadows
of the mule deer
this other planet

--- e b bortz

earth note 416

the wheat lands hotel
became the new sunflower inn
sometime before
the great deluge
yes the rainstorm
that flooded the rippled streets
of garden city kansas today
right after the chinese buffet
went from lunch to dinner
and everyone huddled around
the exit doors like they were
waiting for the skies to close
before a replenishment
of hot & sour soup
and the storm sewers
overflowing their capacities
within a famous kansas fifteen minutes
and then of course there was
the tornado in greensburg kansas
in 2007 that everyone remembered
& the ten lives that were cut short
& the plaque that was built
with the names & ages of the deceased
as we read their names just a hundred miles before
straddled by a line of new wind turbines
watching the clash
westerly
by southerly by northern winds
busting loose from the confines
of main street
nonexceptional america
into rolling sheets of water
and brimstone

--- e b bortz

blue green algae july 4th

flowing toward the abyss
up over the fuselages
of the blue angels
braggadocio warp speed
is just a modern day storyline
repeating john philip sousa
brass sections
     marching double-time
     to higher ground

--- e b bortz