talkin' carbon blues

in the middle
of the west virginia mountains
not far from beckley
an old twisting road
named polemic
wraps itself around a steep hillside
and i suspect
a cluster of houses
that might answer
these eternal questions
about whether capitalism
after grabbing a lot of coal
     out of its asshole
would consider a serious
redistribution of wealth
to cover the thousands of miners
broken by black lung and cancer throats
broken knees and broken hips
crying widows and children
company store and captive town
     thieves
and doing this
one hundred percent redistribution
just before shutting down
once and for all
     every coal portal
          gouged out mountain
     black dustbowl
          bought and paid for politician
          still telling us
          there'll be pie in the sky
          when we die

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Feb 21, 2013)

the pigeonhole

you've built
doesn't allow wings

--- e b bortz

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

cheap advice

surveillance video rolling
as we leave the mall theatre
in myrtle beach south carolina
just up the coast from old fort sumter
     maybe the best place to see
     the movie "lincoln"

then
just in time to catch
the last of the indian buffet
     but with no reprieves
next time
get there early
before the kheer is gone

and finally and most important
if it's the slow winter season
remember you need to see the room
     & look under the bedspread
before putting your money down
     avoid any place advertising
     "american owned" or "southern hospitality"

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Feb 16, 2013)

lost

between daytona flea market
and palm beach high-rises
are a couple of million refugees
of the great downward spiral
     creaking along
on loaded up beach bikes
carrying all that's left
     gone is the mystique of the artisans
     or the proud hands of the industrial working class
partitioned
beyond the sponsored walls
     daytona 500 incorporated
left behind
     like a two buck bet
          at the dog track

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Feb 10, 2013)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 228

a lone pelican
on the halifax river daytona
must be a rock star
score of seagulls
     jumping
     bobbing over the dock
          pelican gyrating
back and forth and around
          little richard
          striking perfect chords

--- e b bortz

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

earth note 227

in spite of
the automobile stealing
a special pass
disguising itself
     as a deity        golden calf
a fully awakened
daytona beach atlantic
surges from the belly
covering the tire tracks
flushing over
a manicured packed-down shoreline
loosening up
some hardwired impressions
managing to leave
a body of shells intact
     whole
     integral
     children of the last high tide

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Feb 5, 2013)

earth note 226

snorkeling off the reef
looe key
rises and drops
like fingers
open hands along
an ocean bottom
a thousand fish
swarm blue with the sun
yellow with black stripes
then a barracuda
and a couple of
hundred-pound groupers
keep your attention

rolling and rising
the waves meet crescendo
in every specie
     a heartbeat

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Jan 23, 2013)

mediocrity equals death

for all the talk of
free expression
and the liberation
of the artistic soul
is it not clear
there's very little
creative fire
that really surfaces
or takes root
or inspires?

we're being droned out 24/7
by the pundits
and
unsocial media
with talking points
kept within
predictable restraints
     like the straightjacket
     or a starched white shirt

even the words
freedom
peace
justice
that so permeate our texts
are losing all practical applications
wars continue
prisons fill
most politicians
return their contributions
with custom legislation
for their captors

so far
the great upheaval
has passed us by
the lid stays on the soup kettle
opening occasionally
to dole out a piecemeal
of disappointment
(so let's start a new facebook page)

it's true that
the words and music and colors
that can ignite a generation
still kindle
in the darkness
     every once in a while
          there's a new spark
but nothing burns
every facade and border and prediction
or goes wildly
     all out
     way down the road
          like a chuck berry song

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Jan 20, 2013)

oil-gas-dogma fundamentals

even a shot & a beer
can be a most toxic brew
when consumed through the script
of the one and only
     answering to the infidelities
     (yes, we all live with)
an eye for an eye
     (keeps the void well hidden)
beneath our breastbones
     an entryway
     of stereotypes
     answerable only
     to the water-board
     each wagging tongue
          dipped in fire
          will claim victory

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Jan 18, 2013)

earth note 225

marathon, florida

hot breeze
cool water
a few people
venture into the surf
     i splash my arms
     & dive in
     backstroke
     then float
     all is well

all's quiet
'cept seagulls
wind blown
yelling out
something like
yooow or cooow
     the waves coming in
     are a steady rhythm
     like island drumming
     the stones warm & healing

when sand slips through your toes
     touch each grain

--- e b bortz

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

earth note 224

the end of the road
begins the gulf of mexico
far out to the north
     more islands
enough elevation for a calm day
not nearly enough for a storm surge
     rising seas are not negotiable

but today
the wind is up
palms spread their fronds
     legs open
     perfect bliss

--- e b bortz

(published in broad sidling thirteen, Green Panda Press, March 2013)

it cost me a margarita

to post this poem
if it falls short
maybe
i should have two

--- e b bortz

earth note 223

white street pier, key west

pelicans hold back
     nothing
     dive for fish
     deep
     all out
     come up empty
     mostly
seagulls
     smaller and more tentative
     always looking for any slight advantage
     compensating for their frailty
tourists
     snap pictures
     peck at their phones
     walk behind dogs
     run along the beach
     hide in the trees
     shake sand off their towels
     read names on the aids memorial

pelicans hold back nothing

--- e b bortz

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

earth note 222

even a no-see-um bite
can lead to revelation
a nip of blood becomes more than an itch
if juxtaposed on a sea grass beach
an abundance of bare asses
still makes blush coloring
on foreign sand
castles that refuse to melt
in a tide
driven by memory

--- e b bortz

earth note 221

as quick as the heat came
it left
twenty-five mile gusts
from the east
sail off the gulf
as if the whitecaps
could whip up a storm
all on their own
my wheels spinning true
     growing legs of their own
a constant tailwind surges to my lower back
guessing i'm peaking near thirty miles an hour
flat out
head down
     leaving the dogs
     no time to bark

this sixty degree wakeup
     this morning
     this clarity
     this misplaced midwest autumn morning
          this reprieve
          from the tropics

--- e b bortz

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

earth note 220

it felt odd
a dog day afternoon
coming up on a florida keys
     new year
the osprey seems content
high in the nest
     not moving
one pelican
     with not much ambition
     skimming across the water

small puddles near the canal
     like as if they formed overnight
     motionless in the heat

i share a moist sweet mangrove
     organic decay
     thicket of silence

--- e b bortz

glasses of beer

warm
spilling on the sidewalk
running over the sticky stuff
near sloppy joe's
key west if you want it
     there's your metaphor
every blind spot
     comes out of the closet eventually
     messy nonetheless
as sunset celebration misses again
     mountains of empty clothing
piling up at big pine flea market
     thrift stores under their bulges
call it excess
like yachts gathering moss
     in a wall street kind of funk
everybody (knows)        then squirms
inside their earphones
duval street is a makeover
     not
     just sayin
     it might be
     last go-a-round
    
--- e b bortz

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

earth note 219

the darkness of the canal
sobering if nothing else
not the waterway
     of glossy colorful brochures
not exactly the best neighbor
     either
though functional
     as our kayaks are functional
as artificial
     it is

on occasion
     an oil slick fouls it
between judgmental stares
     and outboard motors
it's clear
     we're only passing through

--- e b bortz

earth note 218

sunlight flickers through palm leaves
with a strong wind
it seems like
flashing eyelids
     a lover's dream

--- e b bortz

(published by Green Panda Press, January 2013)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

from the cruise ship

spills a thousand pieces of silver
     gold tarnished by a broken sunset
every earth-toned song from shore by mustafa
bounces off white
     sanitized
     sanitarium walls of the ship
     a distorted high-energy intruder
     surveys the landscape
     shadowing the manicure
     of perfectly placed palms
     stark crisp uniforms
     shifting around the deck

another attempt to drown
every creation of original dirt
     sweating armpits
     artist hands homeless
     whitewashed dreams
     stalking mallory square key west
          failing ultimately
          by next high tide

--- e b bortz

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

Occupy Nonviolence

The massacre in Newtown, Connecticut has exposed the essential political failure of the so-called political leadership in our country.

Democrats and Republicans alike have failed miserably in leading our society toward a more nonviolent future. In times of crisis, such as now, the political class nibbles around the corners of the problem, but lacks the vision and capacity to really tackle the culture of violence at its roots. After all, there's an entire military-industrial-financial-media-educational-prison complex that relies on establishment conventional 'wisdom' for so-called solutions.

Independent of this abyss, stands one political party practicing a fundamentally different kind of politics founded on nonviolence, grassroots democracy, ecology, social and economic justice. This is the Green Party.

The fact that the Democrats and Republicans will ultimately wither on the vine, a kind of obsolescence based on a natural historical process, is no comfort for communities and families in the painful here and now. Only a new grassroots political engagement that boldly builds a culture of nonviolence throughout society, can offer any meaningful solace to the grieving.

--- e b bortz

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

earth note 217

the road to
no name key
has power lines now
     slicing the wind across the water
     still choppy
     boldly unpredictable
half a dozen key deer
grazing in reach of a woman
tending her small cottage front yard
     sheltering near shadowy mangroves
     filling in like a forest
     when left alone

off-road
the thicket
covers my bicycle
stopping
at the endangered key deer posting
     without authorization
     i guess i'm supposed to piss myself
          i break the rules and join the other
     animal intruders
     long live those anarchist
     pelicans      ospreys      turkey buzzards

meeting up later
with highway one
     the mad and only highway to key west
what's left for the hair on my legs
just about
gets a shave
     crazy-driven (textin?) camaro
          keeping that pearl color body
               sculpted
               like a true party animal

--- e b bortz 

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

morning news

the newspaper listed him
     solely
as a "52-year-old transient"
who died on the north side
near the railroad tracks
     near the place the openings
     in the railroad trestle
     got cemented up      closed up recently
     to keep "transients" out
          pittsburgh city fathers
          following their political noses
          right thru election day
          throwing their weight around
          detached in their warm homes
          glutting unabashedly
          holding hands
          around the holiday table

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 14, 2012)

earth note 216

yesterday i heard a fisher say
this december was more like summer
the heat and humidity unusual
puddles that don't evaporate easily
overnight condensation leaving
beads of sweat on the kayaks
     clear
     like droplets gathering
     then running down
just before the sun
finds and pokes a hole
thru the clouds

a lizard blends in
under the kitchen table
     confused perhaps

--- e b bortz

photo by sandy hazley

earth note 215

fragile as the key deer
the slight body of land
looks southwest with disbelief
that the present circumstances
will protect the endangered
animals     coral     mangroves
air and water
there's always another cruise ship
with its target
on key west
duval street prepares for another onslaught
     how many silly tee shirts does it take
     to screw in the christmas lights

still wandering and nostalgic
past the old houses
with roosters and caribbean music
now upstaged by pastels
nonetheless stale
     a housing complex thrown together
     without a sunset

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 7, 2012)
(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)

earth note 214

dark water shimmers
with the canal
foam near the mouth
washes ashore
hit hard
by what's blowing off the gulf
whitecaps distract my eyes
launch bottom murky
small fish scramble
     kayak venture
     waits another day

--- e b bortz

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)