earth note 663

on this non-leap-year last day in february

disregarding grammatical appearance

there's construction across the avenue

in backup horns and backhoe horns

and at least one police suv

speeding down toward the river

like everyone seems to be

behind in schedule

like it was suppose to be

some kind of milestone

by the end of the month

but confusion must have reigned

and someone forgot to check the calendar

this non-leap-year

there's still a lot of plastic visqueen

flapping 'round the steel frame

cold electricians and pipe fitters

crawling all over iron workers

and heavy equipment operators

a typical management coordination

     fuckup

the extra day wouldn't have helped

--- e b bortz

earth note 662

bicycle trail overcast

on a damp winter day

new castle pennsylvania

to struthers ohio

the weeds are dormant

but nonetheless encroaching

from the last warm days

of the last autumn

bituminous coal mines of eastern ohio

western pennsylvania

from the armpit of the ohio river valley

leaving its mark

even if no one

is carrying coal to new castle

anymore

the bike trail shows itself

being a little ragged

on the edges

awaiting spring & summer

cattails and thistle

still to make their claims

many years

since first rolling past

the pavilion at lowellville

--- e b bortz

earth note 661

the roads back to pennsylvania

from the florida keys

might be called the long letdown

they forget the sun and just

roll up mile after mile

from disappointment highway

finally

a cold wind will just grab you

and not let go

if there's a shortcut

to spring

it must be lost like bare appalachian hills

morning freeze

has the ground turning up

contorted in awkward positions

only the sheep understand

through their deep wool

huddling together

--- e b bortz

earth note 660

1

from pine key bight

it's about equidistant

to the bridge at no name key

on the northeastern end of doctors arm

or the highway one bridge crossing

a little south at spanish harbor

but on a windy day in a kayak

when the whitecaps start to show

and you get your no-compass bearings turned sideways

it's easy to be fooled into thinking

you might be at a mouth

of a great ocean

when in fact you might only be disoriented

on the blind side

of big mangrove key

or refuge key

so keep those bridges in sight

2

with the last hurricane

the water rose all the way

into the no name bar

and up the walls

covering half the dollar bills

tacked up by regulars & travelers

     after everything dried out

the money remembered

where it had left off

     depreciated of course for insurance purposes

while the beer bottles had cleared out

before the power went

3

just before the storm

some key deer migrated

to the highest mangroves

scrambling for cover

avoiding the traffic jam panic north

resourceful swimmers all

--- e b bortz

earth note 659

a heavy snow

is like the weight of the world

yevtushenko might have

pointed this out

from his vantage

at the bratsk hydroelectric station

or in the clumps piling up

on the evergreens

it's a cumulative process

this weight gathering

bearing

treading forward

--- e b bortz

earth note 658

something about a sunday morning

when the ground is frozen

the leaves and twigs stall

in their last movement

unlike an extended family of deer

leaping     running across the ridge

half a dozen looking for cover

bareness is a cold brown winter

maples look into the valley

downriver

for a thaw

--- e b bortz

earth note 657

the thaw might be imaginary

uneven the way the fog covers it

there are dead leaves frozen in time

still unaccounted for

the canine doesn't miss anything

when the hillside is slipping

new directions will be chosen

where there's brush     there are hopeful roots

beneath the topsoil

lies the sound of past hooves

colored in the mud

of past migrations

origins are yet to be recognized

footprints are more

than first impressions

when the fog lifts     rivers break free

--- e b bortz

he looks like a scruffy but we named him pax

always hoping for peace

even when losing it

looks more likely

a few long nights or long days into nights

yes we have another canine

occupying the spaces

with all the confidence

of a black wolf hound mix or something

he's pretty tall when he takes command

and gets up

on his hind legs

and he doesn't like crates

but loves riding in the car

hoping for a good camping season

--- e b bortz

cold borscht

was the way my father ate it

like the workers and peasants

beaten down in the black earth fields

and coal mines and steel mills

where the red beets were your life blood

and you learned what suffering was for

no mccarthy or america first committee

could sugar-coat or betray

that kind of suffering

once committed

to the taste

all that was left

was to raise

your fist

--- e b bortz