earth note 518

   i lay in the arch
   where time curves
   piñon pine has the bird's eye view
   the wind will force you
   to notice
   the grooves in your skin
   are transitory

   --- e b bortz

earth note 517

we left the aspen
the manti-lasal national forest
in utah
a few days earlier than planned
packing it all up
is a kind of separation anxiety
finally stuffing in the tent rainfly
     symbolic
as we're not ones to ever look forward
to a long drive back
to pittsburgh
it's usually hollow and uneventful
like the shell of a bygone era
keeping the radio off keeps the drivel down
the political signs
have all come down
or have rotted off their posts

--- e b bortz

earth note 516

pittsburgh

birds shit in the water

this isn't so much
a statement of fact
just a possible verb tense
for present conditions
so either boil your water
or join the line at the buffalo
     camel?
to get your water
which i failed to know about
early this morning
thus was just sipping coffee
as the phone message
came in advising me
to boil it first
before you drink
wash dishes
brush your teeth
     let me clarify this is
     for all of us on the northside
     and areas north of northside
     if you're confused
     call pgh water authority
     or to be safe just assume
     we're all northsiders now

repeat: birds shit in the water

this undoubtedly happened
and all precautions are now in place
including a duct tape repair
to the reservoir cover
and removing the word infrastructure
from all political shit lists

--- e b bortz

earth note 515

manti-lasal national forest, utah

daylight hangs suspended

transient in the aspen
bodies of white bark blemished
contrasting with the dark
long after
the pine and mountain grass fade
the deer finally bed down
as the sky opens
lifting our burdens
unmarked and unclaimed
without judgment

--- e b bortz

earth note 514

montrose, colorado

coming off the top of the black canyon
     leaving freedom
the clouds darken every corner
of the sky on the way down
     resembling jackboot imprints
     no that's not an overstatement
quarter horses fidget in the corral
the dust of an empty
desperate empire stirs
like a storm of locusts
tacking their way in autopilot

no way of knowing
if there's a news blackout
we keep the radio off
talk over various scenarios
     listen for the mountain jay

--- e b bortz

earth note 513

black canyon of the gunnison

from the top of painted wall
the river is a small rush
pressing the base
like a sculptor's tool
as the world draws in
a serene yet endless energy

without mandate
some species
one in particular
press their objectives
without awareness

what's left of daylight
will be scrawled
on your body
on your conscience
for the ancients
yet to come

--- e b bortz

somewhere along the rio grande

he waits on the bluff
watching moonlit shadows
of every person crossing the river
til sunrise
he's waited for her shadow
for two years
for this moment

they were schoolmates
then lovers     then separated
by five hundred miles of dusty sacrifice

he went north
in search of wages
she stayed behind
caring for her mother

he eventually found work
as a carpenter
building everything from
rough forms for concrete
to fine interior cabinetry

but with every new plan they made
there were new barriers
details unexpected

     til tonight
a mad dash
thru a window opening
they will hold on
     to the moon
& dive on thru

--- e b bortz

so some teens are wearing camouflage

gathering under the flagpole

next to the man-made

one-acre pond

stocked with fish

and strict regulations

some practicing their casting

others thinking about enlistment

college maybe a dream away

the options are manufactured

and manipulated by old men

still seeking a hard on

as the country sinks

up to the waist

     in shit

and all you'll get

are rationalizations

for starting another war

the longhairs take off

on skateboards

the sun is finally breaking out

and the taste

of being free 

is about all there is

to hope for

--- e b bortz

earth note 512

woodland park / pike national forest

as the temperature drops tonight
the flies from the pit toilets
might just consider hibernation
     alright
maybe hibernation isn't 
in their genes
but hiding out might work
     for us anyway

on & off rain 
kept memorial park
kinda quiet
it's usually busy
during the day
dog walkers and 
pickup basketball games
and fully packed for
the farmers' market on fridays

from the library windows
you can see the high rockies
to the west
the smaller     rounder     older
green hills in the foreground
the buzz of dusty pickup trucks
along the two-lane going north
crazier yet on the city avenue
& in the strip malls

there's even an old inn
crying out for an open mic
where musicians and maybe
     poets
can lose themselves
in the moment
like generations before
doing the hard travelin
just after the gold rush
went bust

--- e b bortz

earth note 511

tuesday dusk, pike national forest

merging with the tall pines
the campsites blend
with neighboring
black angus cattle
scores roaming back & forth
separable by four strands
of wire fence
cow voices of many tongues
(in the early morning also)
a mama with full udders
and a calf in tow
she screams doesn't moo
the little one catches up
in a hurry

two thirds of the campers
have moved on
another round will
fill it up by friday night

there are painted rocks
to view the world
windows in fact
a crow sounds off
bringing the distance
closer

--- e b bortz

earth note 510

victor, colorado

the casino lobbyists

won out
taking over cripple creek
just down the road
from victor
     an old working gold mining town
of about four hundred and fifty people

cripple creek buses in

the senior citizen gamblers
through winding mountain roads
sometimes a herd of cattle
     milks them
     and then returns them
     to their cities

victor

     meanwhile
continues to fight off
the gambling predators
(in favor of gold one might argue)
nevertheless opening their doors
to the artists     artisans   
     bohemian rhapsodies
as the old buildings sing-out
rejoicing in the fact that they're
still standing
carrying on tradition
shouting down
the bought and paid for hucksters
before they open their mouths

--- e b bortz