earth note 714

riverview park where you can't see the river

beginnings aren't always what they seem

like the ohio valley

purportedly beginning

in its customary thick haze

where two other rivers come together

unless of course the deep green north fork

was always the allegheny

like the ohio was never born

but only a continuation of the north fork

and where a south fork monongahela joined in

unless of course as summer peters out

leaving the insides

of a monotonous confusing screenplay series

sold to netflix

stirring up the drought

on the way downriver

everything dried up

like a cracker plant full of plastic promises

for every bent chief executive

a folded worn out dollar bill

might be okay in a monopoly game

but it sure as hell won't explain

who buried the rivers in silt

who grew the fly-ash mountains and dams

and where are the weeping willows

when you really need them

--- e b bortz

earth note 713

1

it all started at the southern tip

of digby neck in nova scotia

the whales speaking of loneliness

but with their innate knowledge

just before sun up

knowing the atlantic as deep

as the coming rain

before it doubles back as a nor'easter

painting the shoreline deep rocky gray

disregarding any difference

between night and day

2

by the time you reach

the acadia wilderness

autumn will finally take hold

all the storms pushing inland

the possibility of a few weeks

looking dry

3

from cape cod

there are drums

banjos and fiddles

before the state park

closes for the season

one more trip to provincetown

for the rainbow frame houses

4

it's a long stretch down

to ocracoke island

sometimes the headwind

as beautiful as it might be

will stop you like a wall

choose your winter coat carefully

or don't stop until you get to

5

daytona beach

in the company

of a thousand beach bikes

there's always a cajun dance

that started somewhere in nova scotia

don't care if they call us squatters

so far the sand is still free

and the roar of the highway muffled

by the rush of the halifax river

--- e b bortz

earth note 712

start writing in darkness

by dawn

all will be clear

winter is still two months away

the streets are filling

with advocacy

water wars have begun

leave the oil & gas in the ground

beyond the desert

a canyon known as wealth gap

says it all

a square dance from fancy gap western virginia

ain't no reel

a derrick in every hollow

is a poor excuse

for a schoolhouse

find a lonely fiddler without a bow

the highway is more than a blue ridge

your bumper to bumper

has forgotten the aboriginal mounds

listen to the river it will take you home

a black sky

has the capacity

for empathy

give out a shout if you see a sunrise

--- e b bortz

earth note 711

a roof and chimney throw a shadow

against the hillside

mortar and shingles go missing

boarded windows line the alley

migratory birds gather in the old churchyard

maple green holds on

goes orange without notice

the sky will sing

when it's time

blues is always an open highway

--- e b bortz

even when there's a lot to worry about

sometimes the best you can do

is to balance on one foot

maybe like making the leap

from the mountain position to the tree

holding yoga steady

your eyes focused straight ahead

claiming that defiant

pre-las vegas elvis presley smirk

as your protest if you feel up to it

a fiddler's americana might be misnamed

but the grass holds onto its last chlorophyll

long into autumn

when the mandolin or the sitar take over

and guide the dead leaves

to a final resting place

circle unbroken

hands around the world

you can say it even if your lips don't move

amen

--- e b bortz

earth note 710

itasca county minnesota

frozen swamp grass

now brown

don't trip between the clumps

the water will freeze any day

first flurries

will dance with you

like the wind

--- e b bortz

earth note 709

rolling hills and reservoirs

unraveling near the kansas-nebraska line

coming apart in blue-green algae

we pitched the tent

but stayed away from the water

the cattle & fertilizer runoff

the summer heat working

like a petri dish

growing out of its boundaries

finding a dirt road flanking north

escape to the first town in nebraska

with fresh water

coffee & eggs

--- e b bortz

earth note 708

photo by Sandra L Hazley

there's a bakery & cafe

in mancos colorado

alumni of woodstock

with dusty hills rising around

to become evergreen

once your shoes

take to walking

then you'll know

this isn't the place

of lands end

but the beginning

     this long road perpetuity

stone ground bread of the earth

janis joplin blues

like sweet then tart blueberries

strawberry fields

     yet to come

--- e b bortz