crisscrossing colorado wildfires

still looking for a cool dark crevasse

grit brown high desert

respite from the smoke

rolling over purple mountain breasts

sagebrush breaking loose

taking on cumulative new forms

     a banksy near granby

enough to think about

driving east

     again

hot springs tainted sulfur footprints

a friendly rowdy crowd to share the springs with

there's a landscape hidden

inside silver & turquoise

changing hands

trading stories

--- e b bortz

earth note 853

spring

forest finally lights up

off the far reaches of the sun

the only true awakening

filling the hills like a heart strung

     mandolin

harmony and dissonance escape

but not the rhythm

of the river

--- e b bortz

earth note 852

i can't fathom

what a scorched earth

might look like

maybe not much different

from what exists

right now

the forests cough

like a constant covid

the riverbed becomes

a fire corridor

that's not water on the road

but only a mirage

there's a pile of twisted steel

for every broken body

on the field of battle

the trenches of mariupol

leave thousands

wandering before dying

some say there's a price to pay

before you leave this world

i'm not so sure you ever leave

maybe what becomes

your memory

is your penance

the ocean steams

like it's on its last horizon

we offer up our hands

before the great wave

what passes through

is what passes through

--- e b bortz 

is there such a thing as alienation

or is it still

just an extension

of that loss

of surplus value some would say

i'm not sure about any of this

camus walks out of the desert

with his books

just before the bombs go off

first and foremost

he's still a teacher

there are lessons too brutal

to learn

but once

every mother will pack a lunch

with leftovers

our sustenance depends on it

the mothers of the world

the one and only lifelines

still visible

in a dust storm

of the epoch

throwing out all proportions

the road divides up ahead

choose

before it chooses

for you

--- e b bortz 

the road to phuket

came out of a rainforest

the sky heavy in monsoon

the rubber trees bending

like old bodies often do

there's a cart full of precious stones

where value is an illusion

that will find themselves

at the marketplace

in time for morning barter

every farang thinks the beach is calm

the tides know better

the equator does not negotiate

it will burn deep

below your breastbone

--- e b bortz 

peach tree rosea

halfway into spring

ukraine bleeds on and on

--- e b bortz

earth note 851

a steady rain washes

covid mad river blues

into the storm sewers

ohio valley filling

to the brim

like a whiskey drinkin

bad habit

there's no reliable forecast

for when the storm might move on

open the windows

flush out the bad air once in awhile

your bronchial tubes need a rest

the hillsides are trying

to go green

but there's new cautionary yellow lines

painted on the avenue

no sidewalks or crosswalks

that go the distance

--- e b bortz 

darkness leaves a blind row

of forsythia

awaiting yellow sunrise

in your pocket

don't lose it

--- e b bortz 

earth note 850

we need to go back

to redwood national park

where the roots connect

the garden

the ocean drifts in

and leaves a message

a rocky coast of seals

with strong barking voices

where there's now a generation

of new tents

and songs

--- e b bortz

woke up to the rain this morning

which got me thinking

about taking the next train

westbound

changing over to a bus going north

and then west again

past the sunflower fields

waiting for the hope of new seed

the land of the lakota

revered beyond any greasy thumb

of colonials

when the many stories are told

it will be clear

what the original protectors

had in mind

no one can deny which side

of a free river you belong on

the high grass knows how

to stand upright

leave enough for the generations

to come

learn how to walk before running

mingle with the elk & bison & mustangs

like an ancient herder

for all passed & living souls

the rain may stop

before tonight's resting place

when it comes down to finding shelter

look to the mountains

carry what you have learned

to the altar

--- e b bortz 

we got stopped in southern texas

near del rio and the mexico border

our shiny black dog growled

as the uniforms approached & spoke

     where you headed folks

     oh just camping near big bend

so now the flashlights start going through

the back seat and the kayaks on the roof

maybe looking for

inconsistencies

maybe more people

the dog continues to growl

how about some i.d.

we take out drivers licenses

and pass them over to the uniforms

eyeballing our pictures for resemblance

the dog growls for being left out

more cars backing up

more uniforms gathering

don't pickup any hitchhikers

the uniform says

we make no comment

we look towards dusk

and the open prairie

--- e b bortz