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

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

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 

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

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 

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

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