earth note 684

a lake is a character shouting clarity from the wetlands

it's not clear who's listening

the continental divide meanders along

and then suddenly settles all disputes

forests shape the dialogue

tamarack straight-back never giving an inch

poplar abundance

     the everyman specie

jack & norway pine the workhorses

sheltering the lakes

each lake

spider     crooked     swan     winnibigoshish

and ten thousand more

all characters

     in a play on words or the real deal

or just speaking up

like every lost soul refugee

from the blood & sweat cities

dying of thirst

looking for a pathway out

and a space within

to germinate seeds

to rise out from the grease pits

to hear like a deafening quiet

below the squealing pitch

of the tanker train

traversing the very spot

where you took your first steps

where the music begins

where a frozen pond

swallows the etchings of a poem

where the holy rolling highway

loses its way but recovers by starlight

--- e b bortz

earth note 683

rocky mountain national park, colorado

our tent site occupies a flat spot

a hundred feet up from the camping loop road

mornings are always cold

sunrise never fails to show a body covered in sky

far past the timberline

a lady looks upward

     still

as purple stone

--- e b bortz

earth note 682

an open eye is the beginning

your skin is your garment

it hides in the stone

a body endures and then moves on

--- e b bortz

tethered in a catheter

the urinary tract ain't no trail in the woods

     but a trial

plastic tube restrictions

broken up by a bureaucracy

so-called health care providers

it's easy to get lost

in the three-hand-shuffle

three-card monte

so sitting at this screen

is the closest thing to escape

where all concentration can

now be centered

     on the pain

past present and future

fill the bag

empty the bag

keep the dog at bay

don't worry i'll wash my hands

but let's skip

     the coffee

--- e b bortz

woke up this morning with my mind set on peace

even as the aircraft carriers

stir towards confrontation

and think

who might be out there

who'll stand with their bodies

in the machinery if necessary

to stop the madness

i think of senator wayne morse

from oregon who confronted

the war makers during vietnam

who is the next wayne morse

where's the next teach-in

we camped a good number of times

in the oregon woods

taking in what's left

of an ancient rain forest

cold rocky coast

a beached dead seal

in cruel sacrifice

too late for godly intervention

the roar of the nascar channel

rips through the barroom clientele

just past noon

high noon like a gary cooper movie

in real life the good guy seldom wins

there's no wayne morse in the house

the mosquitoes are tasting blood

blood from oil

blood from silence

--- e b bortz

earth note 681

ferns standing tall

sharp as the ridge

song from the river

answers the void

--- e b bortz

earth note 680

first sun thru the trees

coming up like an eye

starting to focus

the process seems deceptively simple

with only minor adjustments

but you've been fooled so many times

from the valleys and foothills

of hardwood pennsylvania

to rubber forests in thailand

cold straight tamarack

through the lake country

minnesota to the laurentides

of quebec

late risers from the san juan peaks

to the shadows of painted walls

on the gunnison

the high desert

is always lonely

just before daybreak

even the oceans

tremble in the moment

holding on

with ephemeral hand

i see in each fleeting instant

     a rising sun

--- e b bortz

earth note 679

morning traffic on the avenue

breaking up disparate bird songs

on the ridge

not sure if cacophony is the right word

     but i'll use it

blue jay-robin-cardinal-yellow finch-sparrow-chimney swift

     a lone woodpecker

     no crows this early

     keep cover     there's a hawk

the dog barks at something out-of-tune

     most everything

like a tractor-flatbed trailer

down-shift grind of steel

not quite meshing gears

rough-cut transmission out-of-warranty

hauling pipeline sections

bound & gagged

     once a route to wooded hills

     cacophony

     now clear-cut

          fracked

--- e b bortz

earth note 678

lush maple meets early may

all in the last week

too soon you might think

their shade finally

taking you under

to the root

of your own existence

you've waited on the trail

for this time

when morning cardinals

leap from shadow

becoming red rich sunlight

--- e b bortz

empire & mixed metaphors

in multiple dimensions

of tired old men in suits & uniforms

a good helping of corruption helps

young whippersnappers

empty sloganeering

cash on the barrelhead

as long as it's middle east crude

if you can show there's a

     'constituency'

for your fickle

start an exploratory committee

tweet every intonation out your butt

as if it's an original fart

     profound or visionary

     and be sure and copyright it

     before the debates begin

but an honest polemic doesn't end here

there was a different time and place

maybe there still is

     the iroquois confederation

never ran ads

or built golf courses

or sang god bless america

the land and rivers still speak a common language

humans crawl through millennia

before standing erect

learning the seasons

growing and harvesting

teaching the children

songs without borders

from every forest

to every leaf

--- e b bortz