in detroit

mustang sally waits
under the marquee

at the fox theatre

     inside leonard cohen

     kneels once more

     for her

     from an ornate stage

     projecting and lifting

     a deep sexual voice

     for all the outstretched

     idled hands

     lovers' hearts

     gone cold

 --- e b bortz

blue moon narrative

i remember seeing the marcels bass man
in the bluebell diner on brighton place
just after getting off my pinsetter shift
at the bowling alley down the street

as i think back now
he looked kinda lost
from the breakup of the group
     that was about 1962

everything around was being uprooted
so-called urban renewal was coming on
     no regard to where anyone would end up
you just drifted until you hit something to stop you

northside pittsburgh was a new neighborhood for me
my dad & i landed on buena vista street
as the mills were still smoking
& streetcars rolled up & down mountains easily

the neighborhood was beginning to mix
like a jumble of stew
black & white folks learning to pull together
     most everyone pissed
     by the so-called pittsburgh renaissance

the presbyterian church on brighton road was in for
a real awakening as reverend bob went door-to-door
welcoming in black people
     putting together a softball team
     & friday night flicks as he called it

jfk rolled thru in '62 sitting on the back
     of a convertible
we all lined brighton road like a swarm of bees
getting a glimpse on his fixed smile
wrinkles on his forehead beginning to show
     maybe even eye contact
     or maybe i'm reading too much into it

nearby columbia place was more than an alley
     more like a village
maybe twenty houses strung together
     hours on the stoops
     made learning the words
     or making up new ones
          the only harmony that mattered

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

it never comes easy

death that is
or at least it shouldn't
where tunnels & bomb shelters
open their
parched empty doors
to a universe of
holding cells
reportedly steeped
in the magna carta
     and every fearful sigh
leaving your body
     becomes
     just another step
     negating the last one

it never comes easy
love that is

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 19, 2012)

death & taxes

the president awakens early
to initial u.s.a.
     on the turrets of the israeli tanks
     amassed on the gaza border
     the big guns blasting into gaza
     from ships in the mediterranean
     the drones taking off
     jets dropping bombs
     communications equipment
          screaming thru the night
the newscasts from the felted echo chambers
the oil tankers refueling the death machines
     ignoring the bankruptcy receipts
     phony credit instruments

all the soil
is poisoned
defoliated
in dollars

--- e b bortz

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

out thru the upper midwest & then further northwest

from the abundance
of lakes and forests
into the vast expanse
     where the common ground
     becomes a drought cracked earth
spreading past abandoned
     dry washes
falling down farm houses
cattle and buffalo shuffling
in search of shade
and then abruptly
thru western north dakota
the pillage of fracking
     chemical pestilence
carving out the soul
of lost prairies
     broken treaties

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 12, 2012)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

now that it's over...billions later...this rant's free

& the president is reelected
     forgive my preachy
a few simple questions
for my friends & former friends
who felt compelled
to awaken/browbeat me
     (unsuccessfully...jill stein still got my vote)
with lesser evil (nonetheless evil)
calculations      rationalizations dreamed up
in a night sweat
(someone's been watching too much television)
anyway
to the questions:

can you be counted on now
to insist on
accountability
from here on
from this president

do fracking ponds scare you
enough to act
like your last well
of unpolluted water
is being hijacked
at the pennsylvania/ohio border
 
is that street theatre
or just another superbowl party
     to go with
     more war
     more drones
     more fear mongering

is the climate emergency
immediate enough
now
for yah

is a president who only promises
to tweak
at college tuition INCREASES
just after slightly reducing
medicare premium INCREASES
really on the side of "the middle class"

are you swallowing
the "grand bargain"
with congress
     have you bought
     the poison pill
     and called it a discount

are happy days here again

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 7, 2012)

we interrupt this regular program

'police of the world'
at all u.s. military installations worldwide
for this important announcement and action:
please revise daily schedules
& edit all operational manuals
replacing all references to
iran
afghanistan
iraq
pakistan
yemen
europe
okinawa
(further identification & clarification in the coming days)

with the words
climate
emergency

pack all personal and operational
gear & equipment
     including shovels
for the
long
trip
home

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 31, 2012)

earth note 213

dog leads me out back
with his lump ridden body
a cold gale-like rain
from the east
reaches out
dragging each of us
     our marrow
     our memories deeply frozen
other than tonight
     these last days
          have been warm
          like the freedom
          of a fallen leaf
         
the vet has described the inevitable

we turn into the wind
and it beats us again
     this night
     leaves no message
          but dreams

--- e b bortz

quality over quantity

the burning bush
in the backyard
makes up for its
lack of mass
with its intensity
of red

--- e b bortz

four years

to make the president accountable
     and that failed
(you'll have another chance)
maybe too many hiding beneath
nonprofit grants
     more like tombs
or refusal to make way in the personal
     ego-driven organizational turf
          being on the outs of the ivory tower
          is a worth in itself
     the well connected are usually only talkers
          believe it or not
the end product
     nothing more than
          $ubmission

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 20, 2012)

tonight's the night

they'll be 'debating'
foreign policy
and that scares the hell out of me

who will strike first
faux pas blood lust
cannon fodder locked & loaded

enemies grow ripe
on the vine
they'll raise their glasses
     merlot on the house

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 16, 2012)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 212

itasca county, minnesota

when swamp grass
and a wetland begin to freeze
the small brown mounds
poking upward
will keep you aloft

if you're careful where you step
     like walking on clouds
     surely as close as you'll get
staying dry     inhaling the coming winter
a refuge found in northern lights

--- e b bortz

earth note 211

arizona 1979

the snow from
the white mountains
drew us outward
beyond the roads
& noisy sliding hill
pulling across
a vast plateau
i broke new trail
ski tracks formed firmly
with apache land and sky
gray blue clouds jockeying
toward the east
our seven-year-old
gliding close by
doggedly planting
his new poles
     to his own rhythm

--- e b bortz

earth note 210

a cardinal
waves the red orange rust
in the foreground
on a wire
blending with
the changing leaves
across the avenue
     a perfect anonymity

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

they ran for the exits...found the doors wouldn't open

what a nightmare
this lackluster debate performance
brought about
     none too few
     hearing the drivel
went looking for something else
     like
when will the real world
find its way into presidential politics

but they couldn't leave
the system had jammed
the door latch
in such a way
that frustration
became the common denominator
     99% of the people
being overwhelmed
     by 99% media noise

guess you could say
the two empty suits did us a favor
     next time we'll carry our tools

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 6, 2012)

accountability, part two

the ever changing
kill list applications data
is embedded in the
auto-pilot controls
of a stealth drone
sanitized with a minimum
of human contact
at least until
missiles touch down
in a remote middle east village
in a square
where the celebration or wedding
is taking place
after the remote controllers
give it that final satellite view
and go ahead and green light
as casual as a slow motion replay
unleashing death
without so much
as a whimper

let your children know

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Oct 2, 2012)

earth note 209

if the early morning fog
had lasted a few more hours
maybe the confused
would have looked
more seriously at the distance
between their preconceived notions
and what's really on the ground
the most modern of machine prints
     nothing more than tracks
          to our forearms

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 29, 2012)

earth note 208

in the valleys and plains
below the tetons
the early morning has a special chill
even in july

at first light
the old dog
gets me up
like a puppy

ready to find
the universe
his black paw lifts
towards elk     sometimes bison

jumping out of the tent
as the zipper opens
his head eyes nose
become one with the land

our only constant
are the smooth stones
scattering in the ever changing
gros ventre riverbed

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 207

there's a young maple
out back
that may not survive
another year
though it's had
a good/bad
bumpy few years
already

see
the deer have browsed
nipping off some
of the sweetest new branches
and more recently
scraped their antlers
repeatedly up and down
a small mostly vertical trunk
naked now
maybe bleeding
even at such a young age

but the maple has plodded along
and reached eight feet
tall enough to dress
a good cluster of perfect leaves
and the actual beginnings
of a color burst
not to be ignored

clapping my hands
at the deer
scares them away for now
serves as an applause for the maple
     vents me as powerless

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 26, 2012)

siphon this

after years of misinformation
among so-called
strategic voters
     so-called liberals & progressives who believe
     that staying in the coveted loop of pseudo influence
     somehow creates change
     or rectifies the historical record
          even while arguing for manifest destiny
          of all things
          an exceptional ism part
          of 'historical development'
          and seeing exploitation as
               so twentieth century
          or the raping of the earth
          as balanced accommodation
          to the corporate state

the ojibwe still bleed from the bounty hunters

i find myself uneasy but still resolute
     reaching out
     with my one inalienable vote
     not obliging
     power brokers
          and empty suits

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 23, 2012)  

september is renewal

not an oxymoron
the rivers come to life again
leaving the dog days of august
an empty heat-sink

new color drips into the hillsides
biasing my eyes
     for new directions
     are inevitable

winter stores
are being rebuilt
from the carelessness
of summer

there is motion
in my feet
     i know not
     from / to
     where

--- e b bortz

earth note 206

autumn rhythm
arrived today
on the back of white cloud clusters
background in committed blue
     solemn
cold air filling
     every formation / movement
     everybody transient
          northwest to southeast

--- e b bortz

earth note 205

those three wild turkeys
out behind the house
sitting on a low hanging tree branch
overlooking the ridge
their heads darting
left and right
     where are the rest
     having seen a group of six before
consider them the sentry
tuned in to gun shots
in the neighborhood
     (it happens often)
wondering where & when they'll get
turkey t-shirts
     don't shoot.....nonviolent
     love a vegan.....love my wings

--- e b bortz

earth note 204

i never felt the summer heat
of montreal
only the quiet snow banks
     a peace to itself
shoulders of frozen rivers
stoic evergreens
     i am
     numb

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

i know i've sacrificed subtlety

at times
mixing the metaphors
lazy and/or impatient      no doubt
& i don't make excuses
'cept to say
frustration is as much a verb
as a noun
     there
now you see it
relying on the dictionary again
     to fill the empty lines

--- e b bortz

recovering notes from the deep, part 4

the anxiety
of riding into late evening
with the next installment of my column
     bicycling notes
tucked under my windbreaker
     and nothing but
the forecast of another twenty-five dollar check
from a struggling rural newspaper
after detailing the facts of the
last county commissioners meeting
and the citizens who might speak up
     for transparency
     the most radical of ideas
          then
from the great north woods of minnesota

and yet
the anxiety of not writing at all
     was greater
than any other scenario
making the early blast
     of spring
an arousing wakeup
leaving no doubt
that a new road was consciously
being taken
and wherever it would lead
would by necessity
     not be
where i was
right then

my hands had bore
many thousands of days
     of grit
     never to be hidden
     a part of any reality to come
          a confessional of sorts
          as uncomfortable as the word might be
and there wasn't an illusion being fed
     that i       would admit to
     since the way those spring clouds converged
     was clear evidence
that the returning canada geese
     came just in time

--- e b bortz

earth note 203

what hangs in the balance
can't be measured
by gurus or pundits
     a cold rain dulls the green
     leaving the tree tops waving goodbye
     just before the crash and downpour
     so unexpected the results can be
and i know you've thrown in your lot
with the visible
forgetting what drives
the cosmos
but that's
     o.k.

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 10, 2012)

no winners

1.

i'd be happy
to let go
     my straw men
     self-described
     all high minded
     pillars of the community
when & if something new
shows
the perpetual road
isn't just a continuation
of old clichés
empty atm machines
     living under a bridge
world war 3 survivalists
     likely only cockroaches

force fed progress
     grand finale fireworks
          raised to spectacle

2.

even a short time before my father died
it was apparent that he would never accept
a world of broken dreams
never
a be all end all
for a revolutionary
envisioning the possibilities
regardless of the immediate conditions

and i knew all this from the last twinkles
in his last good eye
me trying to sing goody goody
in the same spirit as he sang it
in the pain of his immediacy
     his soul
     still on the battlefields
     of the spanish people
     1937 and 38

　
3.

there's not much point
in drawing conclusions
facing what is here
is enough
if there's an inner candle
sing with it
while it's still hot

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 4, 2012)

hurricane isaac wins republican & democratic presidential nominations by default

so finally the fossil hogs
have lost one
at least in the surreal sense
     fixating instead on an antidote for trichinosis
a desperate lot of characters
aimless convention minions
lining up legions
comatose or apologizing for
     and via surveillance incorporated
coal mountain-top removal pillagers
gas fracking water poisoning land men
on & offshore oil barons baronesses & bankers
all feigning competition with
     the uncontainable
     metastasized nuclear hucksters
and of course
you already know
about climate-change-denying
locked & loaded
fog-of-war storm troopers
coming home to roost
hiding temporarily underground
dodging drought starved wildfires
     offering spit
     looking to buy the next election
          or coup de tat
          on lay-a-way

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 31, 2012)

earth note 202

are we still curious enough
to be looking
for a unified field theory
for life on this fragile planet
that connects every being
plant and animal
with one another
regardless of station
influence
language or no language
conscious or unconscious
     an unbreakable bond
that's not negotiable
     doesn't require believing
          either
nonetheless
     is omnipresent
          and as simple or complex
as one cell
     in the sea?

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Sept 8, 2012)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

a note to the republican convention

there's a swelter
moving in today
that will pull
the curtain down
leaving a room full
of the disbelieving
looking at an empty stage
waiting for the stars to arrive
     or maybe align
but the result will be the same
they'll all break out
in a collective sweat
     and like from sartre
          no exit

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 24, 2012)

earth note 201

the ohio river had a buzz yesterday
as i rode the riverfront trail
it looked like a traffic jam
down at the casino
many gray hairs getting off
     a riverboat full
     being shuffled in for lunch
     and gambling losses

--- e b bortz

earth note 200

i find it easy
to revert
to the dream again

what exists this
very minute
leaves the muse abandoned

misty hills
in southern thailand
make no promises

but the illusion
is just too real
to let go

a thousand years
may separate us
from enlightenment

so let the magic
guide
you

--- e b bortz

we all breathe within this morality play

no hiding off-stage
     & it has nothing in common
with how society
interrupts it
& then kisses its own ass

or how religion
self-inflates
through words & symbols
instead of deeds
     hiding the poverty
          of the sophists

no one gives anyone
any rights
which are
inherent
inalienable
     not for an authority
     to grant

there are no answers here
     either
make your own covenant
     alive
          beneath your breast

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 19, 2012)

earth note 199

i don't know why
one of the white pines
in the backyard
has brown needles
at the very top
even with a full green apron
surrounding them
     too high for the deer to reach
     maybe blight or drought
left its dead mark
but i won't clip the appendage
     the contrast has a purpose
          life and death
          need to coexist

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)
 

an honest dialogue

with an aluminum can
blowing     clanging
     down the avenue
that's what this political season
has come to

a bit of truth
spills out here & there
thanks to the greens
     certainly not the apologists
for the big money six-packs

they all want to find 'common ground'
for austerity
for 'take backs'
for 'pulling your ass up by your own bootstraps'

keep listening
     where there's a loose aluminum can
there just might be
     hope

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 15, 2012)

earth note 198

so for now
even with the journey
     over
the light refuses
to be categorized
in some predefined
magazine format
there's a mist
that pierces the skin
     never leaves it
          becomes your body
round pebbles
     smoothed by millennia
a fractured butte
     still standing straight
a thousand mysteries
     of the rivers' wombs

--- e b bortz

earth note 197

somewhere between chinook & glasgow montana
along highway 2
two 60ish cross-country bicycle riders
heading east
stopped in this little town
(the name escapes me)
to clean & repair their machines
wheel skewers and bearings disassembled
a neighbor's water hose made available
to cleanup the mud
from a previous day's travel & campsite
and yet they talked
most calmly about the route they were doing
by way of the adventure cycling maps from missoula
which made me remember
one of my first published stories
about bicycle touring in southern thailand
     published in the adventure cycling magazine
     twenty years ago but who's counting
     which made this whole episode
     somewhat familiar
          with strangers
               no more

--- e b bortz

drums

at gros ventre
near the spine of the tetons
i fell asleep
to the courage
of shoshone drumbeats and songs
a message for all to hear

our own thanksgiving of sorts
taken by force
the machinery of so-called
'new world' empire

what makes the shoshone
reunion here now?
how have we become witnesses?

between dances
the shoshone elder
says
this was our hunting land
our sacred ground
our spirits
have lived within these mountains
with the origin of time

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 196

so
the new tires
(not the retreads we nearly collided with)
kept us
& the van from becoming
a foggy mountain breakdown
     like in the old days
unless you're considering
everything else you witnessed
including the crazy-ass drivers
with too much texting
under their
     too fat thumbs
     called goal or success
     oriented tools
even as the roadside grew
into a hangman's knot
     there will always be enough rope
     to wrap every present
     in time for christmas

and the big & small rigs
& roadways
hell bent
are nothing
if not the doorway
of the empire
keeping every eye & nose
tied like a ring
for the unfathomable energy shortage
tomorrow
or the next day
     & all the armies (not of god but of profit)
     standing ready
     to pounce any inkling
     suggesting
          another way

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 10, 2012)

earth note 195

large brown feathers
     white specs underneath
cross i80 eastbound
touching down in the median
     for a moment
then darting back
in time for me to notice
that it looked like a hawk
     leaving empty-handed
back to nebraska tree-line
     masking dried-up corn fields
          front man for drying up planet
masking entrenched denials
     masking what goes for political discourse
          right now

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Aug 6, 2012)