earth note 780

the gunnison

the river asks nothing

but the freedom to flow

it's written on the walls

pinyon growing

out of rock

takes courage

if you listen to the darkness

the rapids speak

in tongues

--- e b bortz

earth note 779

green

peace

opens with the sun

and calls it

photosynthesis

--- e b bortz 

earth note 778

old seven-mile bridge, marathon florida

interdependence is no cliché

like thousands of interlocked moments

there's a vanishing point in everyone's eye

a school of manta ray

darken the water

hide near the pilings

pelicans fish 'til dark

then leave

before the tourists show

sometimes sunset will leave you empty

the red-yellow-orange

can be missed in the gray

--- e b bortz

earth note 777

snake river, wyoming

summer rapids

rushing on through

pines breaking it down

to a whisper

--- e b bortz 

loose change

the cash on the barrel head

paid the ultimate price

desperate for recognition

it set out to buy a new congress

with puts & calls

before liquidity

went under water

before the river turned to sludge

or caught fire

     again

before the alchemists

picked thru their bitcoins betting on the future

tossing them against the wall

transforming themselves

into drug store cowboys

or soda jerk bow ties

then telling you to hurry up & choose a side

do you remember then

when wall street opened its mouth

& all your change

got swallowed

like a jukebox or pinball machine

but you never lost confidence

that every song & dance

would end by midnight

and sometimes

you got lucky

catching the last streetcar

     home

--- e b bortz

earth note 776

the ground is cold

frozen into an image

of promises deferred

hardwood still in its infancy

breathing sunlight

where it finds it

morning salutations

from the thicket

leaving one wondering

where the trail shifts

     becomes a switchback

for the living

for the dead

--- e b bortz

lost cause secessionists and the cult of the individual

january 6, 2021

capitol mob storm trooper practice

lily-white caucasian sheets for the emperor

twitter feed borne out of

529 years of blood and plunder

     and counting

the cross you bear 

made from child labor

walls cast in your image

     a mirror 

of self-deception

--- e b bortz 

ida's birthday

sandy made kugel today

ida smiled-in the new year

her recipe etched in stone

--- e b bortz