alienation, inc

the straw man cometh
getting on the last car
of the last train of the day
he should     but takes no responsibility
for anything after that
rolling past the vacant lots
empty crane runways
a corrugated steel world
whose destiny was hand written
on phony ledgers
by bamboozling
get-rich-quick schemers

but it's not the straw man

     to blame
he just wants to get home
     incognito
eat a quiet dinner
with his wife and one point seven
     children
and then ruminate with a bottle of whiskey
over the life he never had

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 482

it's being sold as a free society
where a liberal modernist
can rail forever
buy up all the tv time
wall street & political favors
for their fracking
concept of enlightenment
carbon gas     poisoned water     scarred forests
as if this is the way forward
past the broken coal bodies
and dank coal hollows
that will 'bridge' us
like a medieval body stretcher
to the next panacea

i'm shutting you out to let

the sun     wind     & imagination
     in

--- e b bortz

the overriding narrative

has always been a cliché
promises built by hedge funders
their miserable small mouths
propagating big lies

the elites speak their hour

and then pickup their check
cloak themselves 
like the genteel of old

if there are commitments

there are also betrayals
only those in the trenches
see the water rising

the best of the offerings

are stale cotton candy
when you melt it down
the colors are indistinguishable

it makes no difference

whether you were a true blue believer
in the charade
or simply a go-along get-along

--- e b bortz

earth note 481

the deluge stopped
but then the drought continued

there were holes in the roof

but light never made its way in

even before the next rain

there needs to be some answers

we can't count on the bamboo

to cover the sins and injustice

looking for fruit in the shadows

might be noble or a waste of emotion

every morning we hear the buzz

but never see the energy

a mountain pose is more than a yoga position

--- e b bortz

 

eyes shut mind flees

a few lines of poetry
running out the back door
before anyone notices
it won't be missed

maybe it'll hookup

on its own terms
sometime in the future
somewhere down the line

no one knows the train schedule

'cept to say it'll come
as often
as the poets ask for it

it might sound a whistle

like a daniel thompson poem
so wake up & take notice
even if you can't explain why

as always

this is a time for words

--- e b bortz

itasca county road 8 meditation

end of may minnesota
early sun draws shadows
like new clover
starting to green
bicycle wheels become singing bowls
it's all in the spin

[2nd coffee...3rd revision]

prevailing cool westerlies

move fast
coaxing you to breathe in deep
clear out the winter blues
put your back
back in parallel
with the universe

--- e b bortz

earth note 480

conventional indoctrination
paraphrases
every conventional dogma
&
modern society assumptions (carefully calculated confusion)
that this
     life-trip
          opening up from a pop-up tent
will leave you hungry
disappointed for more
that the whole cosmos
might be monetized
converted for a quick dollar
even with a twist of
on the road

don't believe it

believe

     the high desert
     aspen mountains
     weathered rock faces
     beings before the plunder
     green valleys of rain
     and maize
     a squash blooming in loving hands
     sun sages
     timeless wisdom

--- e b bortz

earth note 479

animas river, colorado

aspen forest speaks every language

songs of the original people
if you cup your ears
you may hear voices

preempting college student hikers

sun worshippers along the banks
train crew & passengers
     passing through
transitioning leaves to yellow
     not fool's gold
by september

original trails

find the ridges
a black bear
goes into hiding

--- e b bortz

the sidewalk has been broken for fifty years

when the sun comes up
there's always a blue tinge to it
coming off the mural
making a stronger statement
than the nonprofit
down the street

if basquiat walked these alleys

he might say
the fractures will become
too great to bear
sweat and tears will make
their own path

---e b bortz

earth note 478

sculls      kayaks      coal barges
squeeze between concrete shoulders
there's an empty blue houseboat
     upriver
          for a homeless sailor
buildings coming down
to make parking spaces
a few tulips weave like yarn
in and out through a stone courtyard
     trying not to blush

--- e b bortz

earth note 477

butler county, pennsylvania

far down a jagged stretch

of human made lake
the carp have mutinied
schooling together
like it was their last stand
with the lily pads
and green algae
a blue heron takes up nesting in disguise
away from every possible fishing boat

calm water is a wednesday morning

just before school lets out
for the summer
all the news of the day
     goes unnoticed
the sun here
     is small
cloaked in faded cloud
     the only drama

--- e b bortz

earth note 476

sherman alexie and camus
appeared together
as brothers
on the used book table
of the friendship flower & folk festival

a cool morning might have been the spark

as they sent out
a subliminal message
reaching through the dampness
of several generations
some noticing and some not

even retired elegant greyhounds

& great danes
were listening for the magic
in the maples
now green
now finally full body

--- e b bortz

third clarinet in the all-city band, 1966

or maybe it was all-city orchestra
i'd have to check my yearbook
     lost
to be sure
a way of wrapping themes of west side story
around the bus stop i got off at
for taylor allderdice high school
where the best acoustics
and passion blossomed
in the short blond hair
of the piccolo player
a far cry from my northside walk-up
& urging high school music teacher

somewhere

--- e b bortz

the beatles brought her

pittsburgh 1964

just as she landed on the northside

at a church work camp
an aqua paint brush
over rough plaster
just down the hall
if you followed the music
and the spirit surreal
of the slow dance
that brought me to
a sweat

on her arrival from across the river

i wondered how
things might go
if we ever had a chance
to go
beyond the reach
of her boilermaker father
and his penchant
for racist rants

escape at sixteen

wasn't an easy option
so we learned the trails
of schenley park
and steamed up the windows
at skibo hall parking lot

--- e b bortz

earth note 475

two miles downstream
the ohio river coughs again
with its chronic hoarseness
even though the morning is clear
leaving nothing but blue sky

it's all an illusion

remnant shadows of a penitentiary

still focusing
like a workhouse
where money and authority
is exchanged for blood

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 474

mesa verde national park

morning visit from the mule deer

rubbing the side of the tent
shadows of ears pointing up
twitching slightly like a light breeze
as the rain let up
we hear the hooves leaving
peeking out from the rainfly
where eyes meet
dancing brown

--- e b bortz

there's organic soup

in poems
it may jump out
from a tongue
but eventually
if it's going anywhere
it moves
without notice
into body and soul
until words
intrude
no ownership implied

--- e b bortz

earth note 473

everything went from dark to gray
at sunrise
coming across the horizon
the beginning of light
translucent shift is the new paradigm
the clouds just a filter
overcast in subtle comfort
a convergence of the silent

the grass will stay wet today

throw a few words to feed the roots

--- e b bortz

earth note 472

high winds out of the west
don't seem to bother
late afternoon flight
of the crows
north to south
they're completely at ease
in their lack of form
voices free
know where to fly

--- e b bortz