a poet who sees double needs to wear an eye patch...no it's not jonny depp

true as a crooked retina

--- e b bortz 

the digits on your hand become the letters of your poem

become the words

of a sometimes long lost cause

you've never shied away

from most of that

like your father

taking the medicine

because it's pointed deep at his underbelly

where the traffic is mostly chaos

& the courtrooms start out

being rigged

there are many ways

to break through the fog

and claim enlightenment

mostly though

it's self-pity

egocentric self-delusion

(am i being redundant?)

taking the lead

convincing yourself

that there will be no one else

in the trenches

when the shells hit

--- e b bortz

earth note 862

albuquerque

there's a shepherd barking

every night

past the abyss

to the promised land

of orange sunsets

if you doubt that

for a moment

let the highway

take you through the back roads

til you reach the river

renewal just a stone's throw

the markings of the ancients

     your brother's keeper

--- e b bortz

earth note 861

from the back porch

a clear day will focus

on the greentree water tower

two o'clock in my view

escaping to the south ridge

along the ohio river

many footpaths connected

     interlaced

the world can be surprisingly

     bright

from time to time

--- e b bortz