when the rain ends the road will still lie ahead

iron mountain to iron river to ironwood

the frame of a moose comes in to view

will clear your head like a rare spring morning

even through the fog

keep your hip boots close by

like a good smelt fisher in the upper peninsula

the forest speaks like sacred pine

and over a hundred miles to go

--- e b bortz

earth note 849

wind blown colorado

the river and the land

poke through the sun like daybreak

grit off the mountain

sand unsettled

hoof     beats     for a message

mule deer run

--- e b bortz

earth note 848

march snow sunday

covers the daffodils

before they even get started

morning light is a sudden gray turn

from the northeast

     no promises to keep

--- e b bortz

you playboys & playgirls ain't gonna run my world

but of course

we're too late

for that song

the tanks are already rolling

rationales & cognacs of oligarchs

& their gold

& their yachts

floating in blood

mariupol bleeds

like what you'd expect

from a child's hand

or a mass grave of trenches

carved out by a putin death smirk

fear alone 

by another diseased mind

the road to babi yar

     again

--- e b bortz

earth note 847

twelve thousand miles

from the ohio river

to chaweng beach

& mae nam bay

it seems like

more than one lifetime

or the great north woods

at the headwaters

of the mississippi

anishinaabe and ojibwe land

where blue heron keeps watch

against all odds

the bananas peddled

as the boats land

at na thon harbor

the farang get antsy

the tuk tuks

speed away loaded

there are still wobblies

in leadville

a freedom train

is not easily derailed

you can still cut your teeth

like rocky mountain granite

this time of year

the leaves drink

at ground level

before feeding the earth

the alleghenies holler

and head for cover

--- e b bortz 

earth note 846

there's a line of sight

from the observatory

to the hillsides

of the charles street valley

where the sun struggles

to burn off the haze

a way to cleanse the vision

if that's at all possible

who's to say

we've taken care

of the obvious

no pat on the back

will change what may

come as a surprise

even to the most perceptive

eyes can fool you in a wink

--- e b bortz 

the dog is barking at phantoms

maybe the snow is too bright

shadows can often fool yah

daylight savings is a fraud

you made your bed

now sleep in it

get the full measure

when a paw is raised

don't second guess

the direction

you've had more chances

than one

to make your point

the traffic is paying no attention

could care less

when lent comes but once a year

(everybody knows)

there's atonement

in your future

--- e b bortz 

earth note 845

the ground woke up hard

ice gathering

hanging

like mountain tears

frozen in place

the children will remember this year

cold steel

mouths crying out for water

trudging back roads

overweight backpacks

no one knows how the trail goes

it finds its way on sunken shoulders

bodies scattering up the ridge

to the high points

carrying the dead onward

--- e b bortz 

earth note 844

rarely as i remember

march comes in as a lamb

but limping as a three-legged fox

     yes

     one actually passed along the ridge

coming out of months hibernation

finally spinning the bicycle wheels

where the allegheny & ohio rivers speak in one voice

yet all i can really hear and think about

are the explosions of the russia war

bombarding the people of ukraine

armored columns against

apartment houses & hospitals

civilians throwing bodies

against the tanks

sewer lines become shelters

borscht the manna of the resistance

refugees by the millions

look for winter coats

the pale chalk-white

facade of a human

white upon white imperial dream

go back to russia

there's no hiding

in a locked & loaded nuclear ready

blood is a river

--- e b bortz