Wednesday, December 30, 2020

camus came out of the forest

a cigarette dangling on his lips
his eyes open but squinting
documents in a rucksack
over his left shoulder
poems stuffed in his back pocket
the mountains to his back
gleaming an afternoon light
a long way from the dark back alleys
of his boyhood home in algeria
he of all people was a guide
     pacifist TB lungs and all
for the international anti-fascist volunteers
crossing over from france to spain
     this was 1936-37
and the battle for madrid was before them

there were writers & poets
and steelworkers
and cadre of the great san francisco general strike
but camus kept his eyes on the trail
     a third eye some might argue
that bourgeois boasters were incapable
     of seeing from their inflated perches and journals

camus learned the song lyrics the first time
in more than one language
long before hemingway drank
from the magic well of
one big resistance

so many years and polemics
have passed mostly without purpose
there's no need to explain or separate
allegory from historical record
let the spanish soil speak for itself
camus still stands
on the outer edge of puerta del sol
a third eye
a vision

--- e b bortz

Monday, December 28, 2020

earth note 775


there's a wild dark wind
& a couple of alberta spruce
joined at the hip
davening to an ancient rhythm
just before sunrise

the line of sight
meets a clearing
puddles and slush
snow melt taking off
down the avenue

dark grit
& manic strings of traffic
get left behind
confused
trying to find their own way

--- e b bortz

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

earth note 774


this is all from memory
so blame me if you missed it
     red-black-yellow-orange
streaks across the sky
like a sunrise storm
barren trees standing out
to proclaim
a new day
is not so new

the camera lost
or still in hiding
but eventually
we will all taste
the peach & pear trees
after this misery year
after the ridge thaws
and decides
it's time to bear fruit

--- e b bortz

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

earth note 773


gray clouds churning up
more snow
the dog looks out the window
barks at the squirrels
day comes with borrowed light
winter solstice comes and goes
looking for deep celestial bodies
to align

--- e b bortz 

Friday, December 18, 2020

anishinaabe


snow squalls across turtle island
from the ice shoulders
of the mississippi
the lakes and forests speak in many voices
thru the warm hearts of the elders & youth
water protectors all
     standing
with the free flow of the river
     the original people

--- e b bortz

Thursday, December 17, 2020

earth note 772


dark hills fade to white
snow pile slips off neighbor's roof
river & sky rise

--- e b bortz

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

nurka's corner minnesota itasca county route 8

cloverdale park circa 1976 and beyond


an outdoor ice rink 
flooded & frozen by late november
within sight of jack pine     tamarack
white birch bark
like a holy scroll
the snow can get crusty
against the sky
sharp deepest blue
mitten weather not gloves
the sound of puck and stick
a statement
not an echo

--- e b bortz

Friday, December 11, 2020

leon's house hazelwood pittsburgh

circa 1960

city steps endless climb and descend
coal dust on new fallen snow
from beginning and ending
of every horizon
gray shadows in the clusters
of frame houses
rising and falling
in history
rivers
& hot metal exhaust

jeans & boots

dry on the top
of the hot air heating duct

--- e b bortz 

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

the dogma of the dollar bill


it carries the smell
of sweat     ink and hands
the knees and lower back
know the feeling
sometimes the hands
go numb thinking that
there might be an equal
distribution down the road
skyscrapers are tilting like pisa
with their accumulation
the people sitting on the curb
gather up the loose change
of what some call surplus value
i'm not convinced that there is
any value surplus or otherwise
worth litigating
fighting or dying for

the dollars are counted and recounted
before every election
after all
return on investment
is the name of the game

wash your hands vigorously
after touching it
keep it away from private parts
and wear a mask

--- e b bortz

Monday, December 07, 2020

earth note 771

humans stood on this hilltop
in the middle of winter
with their brows frozen
but hands warm
back straight
knowing each and every dead leaf
by name
     having moved on

--- e b bortz

Tuesday, December 01, 2020

earth note 770



















photos by Sandra L Hazley

wind snow
white pine stand out
shout a perfect balance

a creamy gray sky
is satisfied
enough

light reigns in
to capture and save
the day

--- e b bortz

Monday, November 30, 2020

tears cross borders

without papers
the rainforest gives cover
without charge

a frozen lake
can hold the weight
of the world

there is no end
for the footsteps
no guide no map

your hold on the future
is only as good
as your grip today

--- e b bortz 

Saturday, November 28, 2020

earth note 769

where the gunnison
flows into the colorado
where the summer heat
evaporates the life
out of grassy river beds
where cattails sprout
reeds bend to find water
these can be mighty rivers
at this junction
though sometimes
losing their way

a lost horizon
may lead to shangri-la
namaste nepal
and the dry season
shall pass

--- e b bortz

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

earth note 768

last of the yellow leaves
sharp against gray overcast
clouds moving west to east
pushing beyond
beaten down hills
hurry past melancholy
round tops duck for cover
looking for an early winter

--- e b bortz 

Sunday, November 22, 2020

earth note 767

it started out as an early morning squawk
from a single crow
     not the usual here

gray chill covers the ridge
more crows coming
looking to find their bearings

the trees have been stripped
a bare branch becomes a brush
fallen leaves fill in the color

having lost their voices in the rain

--- e b bortz

Thursday, November 19, 2020

earth note 766


albuquerque

until the sun
broke over the eastern mountains
the valley remained quiet
a misty dark
adobe houses cold as clay
a couple of bicycles panting
up the hill to the university
the neighborhood dogs
throwing out a bark
here & there
the empty lots & spaces
dry grainy brown
     indigenous
rail yards pointing west
& empty

--- e b bortz

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

earth note 765

inflection point
on the arc of the moon
the darkness seeping in
you are the root
just before the turning away
there's an angle for every moment
before the fade
back to original thoughts
where time is just a cloud cover
a promise of first snow

--- e b bortz

Saturday, November 14, 2020

earth note 764





















standing alone in the kansas wind
you don't need change in your pocket
roll with the wheat & sunflowers
the stark plains open
like a holy sea

--- e b bortz

Thursday, November 12, 2020

ohio river ridge post election blue

particulates leave a bad taste in the dog park

the dogs know it even if you can't see it
the chemistry doesn't lie

downstream upwind they're hauling ass

to get the cracker plant going
no one listens to the barking

--- e b bortz

Monday, November 09, 2020

the shadow picks our campsite














oregon 2012

we went inland
from florence oregon
dog
tent
bicycles
kayaks
crammed in & over the van
the weather hot & dry
for the end of july
forest meeting rocky shore
mosquito season
pretty much petered out
we took the dirt road as far as
the mountains would let us
the dark about to set in quick
as the tent pops up
against a still pale moon
a wild wind dance
begins to speak

--- e b bortz

Sunday, November 01, 2020

we made it to the dark side of the blue moon

just in time
for election day
the craters
were filled with piles
of unopened ballots
the main principals standing
with their arms folded
looking away
their smiles fixed in moon rock
moon currency bulging
from their zoot suits
moon howls
mistaken
for the wind

--- e b bortz 

Saturday, October 31, 2020

earth note 763

since when did
rolling green summer
& golden autumn hills
become a photo backdrop
for political hypocrisy
you could have been honest
put the fracking rigs in the picture
towering above all
methane flaring valves
poisoned water wells
deep rutting off-road vehicles
go ahead
throw in drake's well
for your propaganda frame
tv harangue
i know you've said it a thousand times already
but these are your compromises
stand & deliver
your donors
who have paid in full
who know you can't wipe the grease
off an oak leaf cluster
or hide behind a plastic white hardhat
for posterity
or prosperity
an illusion
just over the hill

--- e b bortz

Monday, October 26, 2020

snow rescue granby colorado


dousing the mountain fires
and underground aquifers
cooling the burn
a china buffet once thrived down the road
sulfur hot springs waiting for summer
with the original people
crafting silver from the earth
a crossroads gas station gallery
a reservoir of tears

--- e b bortz

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

recovering notes from the deep, part 25


repairing washing machines
dryers and refrigerators
my dad always seemed to have an old panel truck
as the family vehicle
until at least the early 60s when
something in the air or on the
burgeoning interstate highway system
brought us to a '55 ford v8 with a 39 dollar
earl scheib turquoise paint job
the rust got covered and the floorboards undercoated
from pittsburgh winter sleet & slush
and at 16 & a driver's license
unleashing everything else
from drive-in to drive-thru
everything seemed to fall in place
when i saw her standing there
waiting for me on her porch
to just drive up
and make a rescue
from her lily white boilermaker dad
brentwood to skibo hall at carnegie tech
felt like a million miles
for two 16-year-olds
melting ice
inside a steamy '55 ford
     turquoise

--- e b bortz 

Monday, October 19, 2020

enlightened self-interest is an oxymoron


a rouge of self-deception
in other words stop haranguing my vegetables
they'll grow and die in their own time
start listening to something other than
a closing bell on the stock market
it's a death knell
i know the smell
of my own compost
it was never
manna from heaven
but simply vegetables
for what they are
before they rot
before the elections
before the gardens
broke their promise
to be eden

--- e b bortz

Sunday, October 18, 2020

november 4, 2020

of course there will be

wednesday morning quarterbacks & pundits
still incessantly chattering in the streets
& months before the old president
finds his way to a cold steel cell
or he finds a way of fleeing with his entourage
for another tax escape haven
but i'm pretty sure most people
will take a deep breath
     hopefully with their masks still on
looking for a way to carry on from here

maybe we're four years on the doomsday clock
or four minutes
unless something new really takes hold

glacial melts & forest fires
make for an apocalyptic soup
     too much salt or allspice on both sides of the equator

sorry i have but one tongue
for two cheeks
my pair of deuces are little more than a bluff

if you want to scream
maybe do it in the woods
before the trees go bare

if you don't like an echo
leave your phone behind

--- e b bortz 

Friday, October 16, 2020

earth note 762

cold rain and dead leaves
interrupted by a final rush
of gold and yellow
missing the rockies another year
aspen switchback down the mountain
looking for what's left
of the great colorado
     the original stories hidden safely
     beneath the riverbed
tributaries where the songs begin
though the peaks
have lost their voice

--- e b bortz

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

earth note 761

three red eyes

on the maple
the third one will lead you
out-of-body
maybe even clairvoyance
get a job as a pundit
take the kids to the seashore
     (next year)
under the boardwalk
asbury park new jersey
ought to be a safe state
practice practice those six strings
until you bleed
don't get stuck with a pennsylvania hollow
there's a mosh pit in your future
     don't believe me
check that maple again

--- e b bortz

Monday, September 28, 2020

recovering notes from the deep, part 24

november 22, 1963

it was all uphill on brighton road

coming out of my buena vista basement door
and columbia place alleyway
running to beat the homeroom bell

long strides until i hit
the stone monument showroom
and then a final sprint
past the graveyard
and in thru the steel doors
of not a mausoleum
but close to it
     oliver high school

there were always a couple of stragglers
still smoking in the 'tunnel'
but i kept my distance
unless it suddenly became
smoke rings of the mind
or a tambourine
     (in time)

from homeroom to social studies
and world history i could coast
coming of age in the way that i did

finally on to band class
my clarinet always needing a new reed
i listened closely to the sax and trombone
and baritone and trumpet soloing
before class began
     these guys were from manchester
     & really knew how to jam it

near the end of the class
the music teacher brought
all of us into a circle
and announced that the president
had been shot dead in dallas
and that our tribute to him
might be the instrument in our hands
     & music we create

--- e b bortz

Friday, September 25, 2020

recovering notes from the deep, part 23

and a transistor radio
from a third floor pittsburgh walk-up
the first sound of
     like a rolling stone
     in the summer of 1965
and then someone like a growling young-old carpenter
blurting out it's nothing but petty-bourgeois bullshit
which i strongly and loudly disagreed with
and by the smile in your eyes
evidently you disagreed with too

when your father said you left your heart
in san francisco but your belongings in pittsburgh
it seemed to fit well in the conversation
as we both chuckled
and the harmonica wailed

--- e b bortz

Thursday, September 24, 2020

earth note 760

subtlety doesn't come in fall colors
you're lucky if you remember the transition

from streetcar stone shelters 
along perrysville avenue to hybrid buses

the dogs still walk like there's no history
what's important to them & us is the now

if the now becomes the no more
all we have left is the bark

--- e b bortz

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

earth note 759

brown-green-brown  
a rhythm between the leaves
a cluster finds sunrise
then hides in the shadows

when i get back out
to the trail 
i will look for acorns
the season is bountiful 

a hawk 
or i should say
the hawk 
circles again

the last of the warm air
wings aloft
a valley of rivers
may still move mountains

--- e b bortz

Monday, September 14, 2020

echo park winter 1966-67

i caught a drive-a-way car
from pittsburgh to los angeles
just after my temp job ended
and a bulletin board 
led me to share a drive/ride
out of the cold sleet
escaping 'cross the country
landing in almost endless sunshine
on the door step of a friend
i felt somewhat imposing on
but hey when you're young
you have no inhibitions 

m had an old mg with the top off
almost all the time and it
brought us to griffith park
many days like a grand prix circuit
the observatory day or night
seemed like one of those great wonders
you heard about 
but never experienced coming from
darkness-at-the-break-of-noon

a car full one morning took us to delano 
to volunteer some hours 
with the farm workers union
we were warmly greeted by dolores huerta
and piles of flyers & envelopes for a mailing
back in l.a. there were picket lines to join 
at the safeway stores
for the grape boycott 
(or was it the gallo wine boycott at that time?)

if judy collins had ever knocked
on the door in echo park
she probably would have been greeted
by thirsty boots and other songs
from her fifth album

the mosaics of watts towers
took us to the beyond 
a place before the land 
was sacrificed

i think many of us 
still look to the beyond

let us all be whole
     once again     
with the land     forests     oceans
     our bodies
i thank all from whom i have learned
     we have but one language

--- e b bortz