earth note 167

koh samui, thailand, 1989

the undertow was almost secretive
giving you instant revelation
that it was best to dive in quickly
get beyond it
past the green surf
churning up sand
right before the crash
on high ground
.....a lesson
.....in respect
.....from a stern mother

the fishing boats
came buzzing in for dinner
the beach deserted
the sun screaming for a finish
like there might be some doubt
about tomorrow

even the coconut palms
were picked clean
& when i thought
about their emptiness
i realized that the last ferry was full
& had already left for the mainland

still
tides do melt away
what is left
is the substance
of time
every thought
buried within
.....not fleeting

--- e b bortz

multitudes waiting for facebook's class war

consider this your market research
things are so in the toilet
there'll be hell
fire
& brimstone
awash this election year
all within the safe confines
of your subterranean cyber closet

act now
apps are standing by
that traffic snarl
is not a mirage

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Jan 16, 2012)

first arrest

summer 1964

when i was sixteen
reggie & i crashed
a party over on
howe street
the bohemian part of pittsburgh
then

the four tops
weren't there
but their music was
& a special spirit
you could call it

the police gave no warning
before they barged in
arrested a bunch of us
asking everybody
why
blacks & whites were at
the same party

the paddy wagon ride
stopped at juvenile hall
(was on forbes avenue then in oakland)
and after i was processed in
they pointed to a narrow wooden bench
for me to sleep on until morning
when they'd call my father
i didn't sleep
just laid there wondering
where they took reggie
who was a year older
but still juvenile
& later found out
they jailed him downtown
til morning

after all
we were caught
black
white
& at a 'disorderly' house

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Jan 17, 2012)

earth note 166

on the bus the other day
i heard a hunched over
man
in a very heavy coat
say
he wasn't sure what the future
looked like
today
wasn't what he thought
it would be
yesterday
or a few years ago
he never believed in
an arrival
or deliverance
though the bus driver
did nod
as the front door
lowered
for him to exit

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Jan 11, 2012)

bread crumbs

that haven't yet
fallen to the floor
are well hidden
or scattered
over the table
to the point
of dispersing
the mass
to starvation

on another table
in the outer-burbs
the feast never ends
or even pays
its own freight
bread crumbs
trickle upward
like a steady
bleed

some believe
this is novel

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Jan 8, 2012)

earth note 165

among the scattering
of dead leaves
there are islands of green
even on new year's eve

& even in the clump
of maples
every branch
a fine etched drawing

stands against grey
skies ambiguous
& overcast
not hopeful & not hopeless

it makes no sense
to mull all the possibilities
like a solitary exercise
sophistry ain't necessarily enlightenment

yet
to follow the sun
when it actually rises
might be a beginning

--- e b bortz

(published in Jawbone Open Book, May 4, 2012)
(published in opednews.com, Jan 1, 2012)

earth note 164

khao sok national park, thailand, 1989

heat and downpour
swelter an original rainforest
sweet mist growing
you can taste it
swallowing each peak
one by one
the ultimate inside-out cleanse
keeping perspective
simple
everything rides
on bicycle tires
rough limestone
.....a cloud touching ground

--- e b bortz

earth note 163

a stand of bare black branches
eke out a living
perching crows
shuffle thru frozen pizza
cold rain turns white

--- e b bortz

when oliver high school closes

at the end of the school year
how will the streets & avenues go
that used to be
the skeletal frame
of the whole

charles street
marshall avenue
california & termon & davis avenues
woods run
brighton & columbia places

self-fulfilling politician prophets
have long predicted & facilitated
depopulating & dying
of the component neighborhoods
after all
no one loafs on the stoops anymore
music imposters have invaded & replaced
the marcels and the chantels
yet the continuum
and great grandchildren
of the last great industrial migration
cling on desperate fringes
warhola scrapes along
sorting out
a turquoise front fender of a '55 ford
that used to park during school hours
on island avenue
near the corner store
now closed
near the oily oliver football field
now grass

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 21, 2011)

as the troops come home

we ask ourselves
how will the bodies
be renewed
to refuse another deployment
care for the children
live by the magic
telling each life story
grow the natural within the maze
deconstruct/replace authority constructs
find loving courage
that rests within
.....the meek who touch
.....sand and sea
.....with open hands

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 18, 2011)

on the bus down

to downtown
the forty degree temperature
a good omen
for occupy pittsburgh winterization
in progress
and a robust sun
glaring thru
a child's hand-printed bus window
it was the downer
of knowing that
this sunday morning
had the news of
two more shootings
in my neighborhood
one near the circle k
we stopped at
just saturday morning
dropping blood
as rich & deep & painful
as the deepest
of issues
from the big picture
as vast and as small
as any derivative trader

where every victim needs a name
a chant
a song

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 13, 2011)

earth note 162

deer and canine
hoof & foot prints
frozen forms
a little jagged
into grassy mud

city
life
.....boundaries fall

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 8, 2011)

fossil

death models hide
in the ashes
of mouthpieces
fossilized by their own closed loops
with talk bouncing around
rubber rooms
sliding down sanitized marble halls
from the comfort of one-way doorways
cushioned boardrooms
cocksure no doubt
that the reckoning
can be managed
from the insulated shelters
orbiting every hour
on the hour
it doesn't really matter
who else knows
the scheme
the silos
are all armed
in the shadows
danger is relative
the profit-line
purportedly
guaranteed

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 6, 2011)

earth note 161

as the spirit
becomes gray
like a veneer of coal dust
and the tired broken hills
attempt to regenerate
green
& a lapse of warmth
there are moves beneath
not to be ignored

in each dark day
a most bitter winter

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 28, 2011)

earth note 160

soggy leaves
are a welcome mat
with bare feet

--- e b bortz

navel gaze gets a bad rap...or maybe not

after all
it's the root
of everyone's sorry ass
ask your mom
listen to what
that navel says
it speaks you know
without a script
and if you really want
to be bold
start talking back
to it
you can even speak in tongues
it'll understand
any language
inner communication
is a two-way navel

second thought
maybe it is
the ultimate ego
bad-trip
self-absorption
that buries you
inside embryo mode
like an unwelcome
dependency
you can starve-out
the life juices
making the body & mind
a blob
a reactive pale

so if you slip
into the crater
navel disconnect
moist darkness
dry delusion
remember
there's always the primordial scream

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 20, 2011)

your worth is infinite

and not negotiable
in your hand or breath
a bond
of another
with another
a transcendent link
abstract beyond the frame

let the hypotheses
collapse
in their own prison

a great rumble
from the ocean bed
is your heartbeat

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 17, 2011)

earth note 159

the rain runoff
cuts through the hills
exhumes the history
we've been ignoring

juiced-up broken bottles
disconnected car parts
lonely condoms
a desperate syringe or two

quiet river creeps
swallows without notice

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 14, 2011)

earth note 158

the yellow ones
mix with the yellow lines
on the avenue
but of course
nothing is further from the truth
they have nothing in common

the brown ones
make a covering
that becomes the ground

the red ones shout

a few green ones
and the pines
look upward

a blue sky makes no promises

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 7, 2011)

one

planet/personal/culture
art/political/social
find the lovers
all walking the same earth
ignore the bankers & their borders
they own fear
we own
the now

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 2, 2011)

louie & ida 1936 cleveland winter

they had just come back
from the unemployed march on city hall
an endless depression
outraged
their hungry east 105th street neighborhood
putting their bodies against the evictions
poverty
police violence
with their solidarity fists waving
free from the lame excuses
used to pacify and confuse

louie kissed ida that night
and told her he was going to spain
to fight fascism
wait for me
& we'll build our lives together
but first the world needs
to get rid of franco

and so it happened that way
ida waited
their libido steaming
through the cold

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 27, 2011)

let the rainbow leaves of autumn

become the bed
of a new society
voices to carry on
sanctuary to be found
let's rake the piles
into acoustic barricades
we can hear ourselves think
treat the wounds
nurture the earth
the continuum
is the journey
is the message
is the vision

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 26, 2011)

now that we're all awake

occupy your neighborhood

it's time to
not breathe easier
but deeper
we can open every window
prop them all up
human arms become
the counterweight
sharing the weight
by all means
dream/build a new world
neighborhood by neighborhood
sweat & stress
a protective ring
around the most vulnerable
tune out the noise
.....& phony leaders
after the banks go bust
there's still a planet to save

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 17, 2011)

Crossroads Generation

by e b bortz


Nothing really changed during the 1960s and 70s until the ruling elite finally realized that the system was on the verge of "losing" the allegiance of an entire generation. Who would fight the wars in the future? What kind of new mainstream would emerge for the bloated commodity exchanges...where were the new fat, dumb, and happy consumers? If there was in fact an "American Dream," how could it be packaged and sold, and more importantly, who would buy it?

Of course there were millions in the streets demanding civil rights and voting rights, bringing the troops home from Vietnam, alleviating poverty, and winning a certain level of economic democracy. But as much as the ruling elite rejected and stonewalled these specific demands, their real fear was more fundamental.  How could they co-opt a generation that had seen the facade for what it was, and had now emerged way beyond the dominant culture?  The counterculture wasn't a demand or slogan, but a deeply democratic, revolutionary and expansive new way of life...or so we had hoped.

What was energizing the 60s movements? It wasn't just a list of issues...but a common reality from a conscious new generation...a new view of the planet and the interconnection and interdependence of all living things. This rattled the elites to the point of relinquishing significant reforms in exchange for civil authority and some level of civil cohesion.

Today, we find ourselves searching and organizing not unlike those early years...confronting enormous institutional obstacles and entrenched regressive political machines. Where is the countercultural yarn weaving through the countryside, connecting and spreading the good news of a new day coming? The "liberating" technology of social media is only a tool...a movement that accomplishes great deeds, needs the power of a generation that leads by example, liberating passionately held ideas whose time has come.

Of course wishing for a countercultural revolution doesn't make one happen.  It grows naturally like wild rice, from the objective social morass commonly called mainstream society...artistic, economic, political, interpersonal. In fact, one could argue that the counterculture has always been alive and that it's a historical continuum. Maybe those narrowly and pragmatically focused on the issues of the day fail to see the revolution in our midst?


No one has a recipe or schedule for social change. But if in fact the arc does bend ultimately toward justice and survival, it will only do so if we see the whole planet, in its multitude of species, and in its multicultural and countercultural revolutionary dimensions. Millions are alive in Tahrir, Puerta del Sol, Liberty Plaza and thousands more squares and common spaces around the world...the music has not been charted...it may even be muted at times...but make no mistake, it will spring from within us all.

(published in opednews.com, Sept 29, 2011)

where's the poem

for troy anthony davis

that got left behind
lost before it was noticed
pulsating below the noise level
unflinching before the unfeeling
the abyss is among us
next time
listen closely
and then respond

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 24, 2011)

earth note 157

small waves
smacking rhythmic like triplets
kayak becomes bach organ

--- e b bortz

earth note 156

a cold dew early this morning
doused september
and september eleventh
covering feet
of human & canine
with an awakening chill
with the idea of moving on
breaking the summer heat
breaking the overload
news noise filled
with mouths detached

the canine finds
a new trail of wild turkeys
we've seen them running
conscious of the avenue traffic
sometimes huddling in the quiet
they tune out
all that's irrelevant
we learn from them

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 12, 2011)

earth note 111, preface

it was a hot roundabout ride
from haifa to tiberias to the hostel
above lake kinneret
every crank motion
a retro adolescent heartbeat
a few more feet beyond the ache
to the quasi serene
full couple days
past
a series of gruff rolling hills
becoming alone
again
still covered in your smile

i tried imagining
how life in quebec
might mesh
with the previous few years:
southern thailand
northern minnesota
madrid
seoul
israel
a certain excitement
in being rootless
at some point
trying to write some of it out

but there were too many
loose ends
that i found some comfort in
maybe just excuses
for staying hidden
near the tree line

i take
my wheels
to the next hill
the dust still restless

--- e b bortz

retreating to pen & paper

rain, the sacred river

is only making a few
designated stops
scorched withered plains
will continue
dry-throated
voices raspy
the stolen lands
require return
to their rightful stewards

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 26, 2011)

wall, turtle creek & porch view

it's been a helluva summer

now
the stink bugs
are poised to come back
in early fall
when the heat & humidity
finally drains us
& we'll take a chance
on a trip to the grand canyon
of pennsylvania
for the changing of the guards
deep brown red & yellows
the river may be drying up
but our spirits
won't let the bastards win
even
in the worst of times
a rigid walking stick
can find the trail

--- e b bortz

earth note 155

the blue sky
is a misleading backdrop
to what grows in the foreground
micro particles
& amoebas
embedding lungs and brains
the weather channel talks numbers
but not substance
i watch the deer
& crows for the faintest of clues
how the algae spreads
into the backwaters
& groundhogs & river otters
stay out of the sun
a heat wave breaks a beaver's tail
a dam collapses
several plastic bottles launch
their new advertising campaign
presto fresco mountain dewy

the humidity
is on the rise again
our shoes become sticky
a riverbank turns gray

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 19, 2011)

assad-gaddafi-netanyahu

there are no offshoots
in the moral high road
if you miss the entrance
there'll be no pay dirt
to break your fall
get used to making deals
with apologists wearing death blinders
an ego bargain
might be a new kind of worship
but it won't make the desert bloom

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, August 17, 2011)

recovering notes from the deep, part 3

i know i'm stretching it
when i impose past experience
on current circumstance
wishing i could still taste 1976 jimmy carter speech
quoting dylan
"he not busy being born is busy dying"
which stuck
in every corner of the old farmhouse
in northern minnesota
as we settled in
& i laid a new electric service cable
for the neighbors
as part of the down payment on the house
we had just bought from them

and then finally getting a phone call
(on the neighbor's phone)
to interview for an electrician job
at the taconite plant
after applying at every conceivable place
across the iron range

the weather & culture shock
of coming to the great north woods
from what we saw as the dying
polluted rustscape of pittsburgh
minnesota morning wakeups
a living silence
like a pair of canada geese
poking about in the creek
out near the pole barn
swaying in the wind

a new beginning
in what i now see as
the pivotal terms
of a restless life
where the offer
is only
for the seekers
without excuses

--- e b bortz

living in the moment

a few minutes before light
equator sun comes out of hiding
flickering below steamy hills
of southern thailand

a perfect quiet
on sri's face
as she makes tea in the urn
we whisper each others' names
so as not to wake
sister and toddler

the street of chongkasem surat thani
is a dozen
rolled down steel door storefronts
a row of light colored stone
and concrete houses
gutters running close
to the front door
a few bicycle pull carts
parked on the sidewalk
the hum of early traffic in the distance
a taste of curry from last night's meal

my memory is the flow
of the river
deep brown green
.....free

--- e b bortz

earth note 154

a robin sitting
on a steel railing
of a fire escape
looking side to side
like as if someone
was coming
to pick him up
too late for work
maybe they were going
to the racetrack
or city hall
confer with the pigeons
(not the stools)
about what the hell can be done
about this heat wave
and the assholes
looking for a sand pile
to stick their heads in

--- e b bortz

earth note 153

there's no running
from the drought
dust storms
wildfires
that eat through
torso & limbs
clearly
the continental shelf
is teetering

appian way models
embody all the pavements
yet to come
severing hands & organs
once connected
in common space
a dark new aura
of ego static & feel-good prophesy
the new gold standard

while the anasazi
built reservoirs
dug out caves cool
in the mountains
designed calendars
from the sun
paths from ancestors
respect
we have yet to learn
  
--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, July 14, 2011)

it may have meant something

to wake this morning
with sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
playing in my head
(don't often have that kind of clarity)
but there it was

"...streetcar visions which you place
on the grass..."
and every recovery
becomes a lesson
a renewal to sing

there were many broken times
when the blood
left its path
when the drug-fired veins
lost all direction

until the inner voice
declared a refusal
to bow
to drown in the pity
of authority

thrift store clothing
lets the colors blend
their soft texture
shouts
survival

--- e b bortz

vile jokes of voyeurs

tell me
that murdoch's implosion
is just beginning
to bore the underbelly
thought to be invincible armor
forged with favors
in high places
and every wall street dollar
that once had
the old & new veneer
is now
just plain junk
hand-jobs replacing what
they used to sell
as ecstasy

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, July 14, 2011)

just before the rocket's red glare

a cloudburst thundered in
& washed out
the sunshine patriots
playing soldier
wooden rifle shadow dance
m80s and roman candles stashed
between shiny reenactment buttons
& the blah blah blah
of a drum major's recruiting pitch

the rain moved on
as quick as it came
the new normal resumed
stage props retooled
for the unexpected

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, July 5, 2011)

metaphors mixed before sunset

off-highway gutters
have become proxies
for capital accumulation
to be written off
just below spent emotions
half-cooked dreams
rustbelt sewer runoff
shakes a menu
of macjob fairs
stolen song riffs
.....a plagiarized phony two-step
.....won't fool yah

watch the on-highway traffic
looks to be moving
smooth and in control
with next year's shiny models
purportedly against each other
we pick up each other's backpacks
unleash the mustangs
to keep our bearings true
in time
get a whiff
of dusty empire
.....last go round

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, June 16, 2011)

we don't always need words

to raise awareness
it was a steep climb
down to the montreal river
northern wisconsin
in water above the knees it was easy
to feel how the river mouth merged
with lake superior
enough to wake up
a young unrehearsed spirit
though i wouldn't have called it that
then

it was too late for the smelt run
i'm happy to have missed it
somehow nets are incompatible
with what i understand
now

sky over herons
spoke
without words
gray and blue
rhythms
iron tinged rocks
the clash of tide & river outflow
a twinkle in the old man's eye
pointing to the upturned leaves
their sign
of rain coming
my sign
.....uncharted

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, June 9, 2011)

puerta del sol

doorway to the sun
more powerful
than truckloads of campaign dollars
imf bribes
neoliberal neofascist oligarchs
spreading poverty landscapes
anesthesia
tongues without collateral
bankrupt excuses
mass graves still hidden

your shoulder to mine
we touch our heartbeats
or as my father / quince brigada
would sing
.....no pasaran

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, June 2, 2011)

when was the last time

you looked away
ignoring the pain
sometimes
a flood
is more than a rush of tears
streets spatter
even at midnight
& the constant hum
of grotesque machinery
chews what's left inside
burrowing deep
at the core principles
some regard
as sacred

--- e b bortz

offering

sri scooped up
a handful of rice
into a red bowl
then up to the altar
a golden glow

--- e b bortz

earth note 152

surat thani province, thailand

when the sun rises
near the equator
heat wakes the bodies
limitless imaginations
with a delicate song
as if to say
you have arrived
in this place by chance
will continue by chance
every being
flora and fauna alike
soil and water
surviving only
by equilibrium
an interdependency
of no excuses
no space
for negotiations

listen for the forest call
land and river
will answer

--- e b bortz

don't seek consensus

with your oppressor/abuser
evil or lesser evil sideshow illusion
acid reflux disappointment
in the morning

authentic flowers
bloom
without directions
& chemical stimulants

it has nothing to do
with feeling good or bad
moaning an idyllic history
that never existed
or finding the buried gem
or magic of 'correct framing'

sweep out the clutter
stop waiting for the perfect moment
you are real
& beautiful
in your original
being

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, May 11, 2011)

earth note 151

water on the roof
collects a mirror image
green maples
shimmer along the avenue

--- e b bortz

earth note 150

weathered leathery face unravelling
rich brown lines
of age and of wisdom
of the land and of yesterday
when men and horses ran free
across the painted deserts
up over the snow capped peaks
voices of
hopi
apache
navajo
hualapai
havasupai
yavapai
spring from the belly of the canyon
do we hear them?
do we love the land enough
to listen?

rocky buttes stand straight up
bold and open mouths
as wind and sand
beat them down
carving signatures
harsh and jagged
across their torsos
are we as brave?

scruffy patches of piñon pine
hug the hillside
make their claim of water rights
elegant ponderosa spacing themselves
in the coolness of the mountain pass

only the cottonwoods
hog the wetland washes
squeezing bullying surviving
are we cottonwoods?

an orange sun burns on the edge of a dust storm
without fear or malice
tempting us to follow its course
and learn

--- e b bortz

(previously published as "wisdom" in Voices of a Wanderer, 1993)

earth note 149

wild ferns lunge over & up
spread the canopy floor
buds shift across an opening
woodpecker alone hides
green silence falls
to rapid staccato
hollow echo

--- e b bortz

an end to angst

the most elusive
promise to myself
will join forsythia
breaking out
freeing all prisoners

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, April 24, 2011)