Wednesday, March 30, 2022

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


Monday, March 28, 2022

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


Sunday, March 27, 2022

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

Friday, March 25, 2022

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

Saturday, March 19, 2022

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 

Friday, March 18, 2022

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 

Sunday, March 13, 2022

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 

Thursday, March 10, 2022

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 

Wednesday, March 02, 2022

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