music for tips

big pine key flea market
another saturday
busting out at the seams
if two guitars & a harmonica
won't move you
then go further down
past the diver stalls
wood & jewelry artists
a thousand tee-shirts
to where
original poems for tips
hangs out
gathering up
little more than a sunburn

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 315

hearing the rain
for what it really is
     a drifter tapping
     on the roof
bare feet
like a sculptor's hands
there are signs of gray clay
by the roadside
moving on
when the wind
says so

--- e b bortz

no joke

a day before
the super bowel
a cruise ship
docked in key west
full of uneaten buffets
stacked red wine glasses
and a shit-load
of hyper-ventilating sport shirts

unfortunately

not a plumber
on board

--- e b bortz

earth note 314

when the retaining wall
finally gives way
underground will become
above ground
an elaborate root system
beginning anew
finding the sun again
recovering water
equally
from the mountains
rain from
the heavens

--- e b bortz

 

ideas small enough

to fit on the sidewalk
on fleming street
in key west
with tree overhangs
and crowded porches
tossed-around bicycles
steroid tourist traps
just down on duval
but liberated also
from the mundane
of empty
cliches
money
gas guzzlers
still looking for directions

with darkness

begins a reevaluation
of the milieu
(i thank many minds for this word)
and with each step
another phase
to be absorbed
     within
     and without
a landing

--- e b bortz

 

in the here & now

let every breath
share
its own
magic

think oxygen

& blood flow
godliness
without the dogma

legislators

an extension
of their own
spreadsheets

have no place here

--- e b bortz

earth note 313

even a room full of light
a glisten on the water
makes no promises

every assumption

might rest
on self-fulfilling prophecy

what gets forgotten

are the few moments
like this

--- e b bortz

 

i'll go out on a limb today

and say that
the cold southwest winds
blowing into
the florida keys
is unusual
un-hurricane-like
yet crazy
from where they came
upsetting the gulf stream
waking up a few more
greek ex-pats to go
& vote for syriza
     today
but of course
you don't need a weatherman

--- e b bortz

 

unfairness of a utility pole dissecting the bay & cumulus horizon

it's a small view
in fact
but nonetheless
a subtle branding
not to be ignored

the clouds have

counter-attacked
moving into
a bison stance
pooling their
great historical
bodies
of fur
& nonconformity

water chops

like an arbiter
without an opinion

--- e b bortz

 

daybreak

isn't all that it's
cracked up to be

you can't meet it

halfway

you're either in

or not

be ready

for disappointment

look around

for other signs of life

who's hiding

where

the wind
is the guide

watch for

first shadows

coral dust isn't soft

it comes from crematoria

the moon glows

but only when you're not looking

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 312

fronds
are heavy today
in the denseness
of the air
slumping
suffocating in fact
like a transformation
still not defined
gone awry
every cloud
grinding to a halt

--- e b bortz

disrupting the loop

every gun
should melt back
into the blue steel
it came in

from the wood

of the nightstick
     baseball bats
     for the neighborhood kids
     who will thank you

the sky

is bitter
a rage above
the storm
like a temporary boundary

unlike the milky way

--- e b bortz

earth note 311

the year ends
with a nest
of osprey chicks
amid the noise of living
without asking
for approval

--- e b bortz

the jam

following the death of joe cocker

is running out
from harpoon harry's
     tables
on to caroline street
long after caroline
     left
without being noticed

and where

the hands
voices
rhythms
choose
so springs
every tune of the earth
     deserts & stars
     hard-knock blues
     colors of reggae
a previous life
is always close by

long before officialdom

& hollow authority
foolishly cast
their caste
of street rules

ignored with perfect pitch
every note
     a story

--- e b bortz

earth note 310

there's a depth
to the shallows
of big torch key
undefinable
with the words
that come to mind
the syllables seem
to slip past me
when i least expect it
the tops of the mangroves
at a distance
appear like a hill
or at least a knob
clustered with the horizon
like a continuous
labyrinth not quite
making it to the water

--- e b bortz

earth note 309

the canal jumped
the seawall again
prints of the key deer
left running
the open house
down the road
ended in a hurry

a cloud

of turkey vultures
swarm
for an answer

--- e b bortz

 

window/doorway outta no name key

sometimes the view
is blurred
by distraction
intentional and otherwise

antidote:

touch the water
rub it in you

--- e b bortz

earth note 308

turkey buzzards
know when to make noise
their wings shout
don't fuck with me

--- e b bortz

minimum wage job on duval street

key west

to shake a tee-shirt

off the 75% off rack
inflated by 200%
as the cruise ship horn
screams over the seascape
to return
at once
to the pier
before sunset

the fishing jobs

and artist hangouts
are in decline
like the empire itself
so all there is
is the catering
to the high-rollers
international financiers
shift changing
off of wall street

a throng of christian dior
wagging tongues
will never
bring back margaritaville
they're only a whiff
on the sidewalk

a conch highway
can't be bought

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Dec 25, 2014)
 

earth note 307

high tide is higher
this year than last
the canal crept up
last night
and left its mark
at the feet
of the houses on stilts
road has a wet gray
to its face this morning
the bay is upset
wind blasts away
then suddenly dies
     osprey goes hiding

--- e b bortz

 

a blank piece of paper

and a gust right out
of my hands
blowing into the unknown
finding itself
gone & away
below the porch
fluttering on
the bicycle spokes
     ready for
     a journey

--- e b bortz

 

i offer no excuses

or truths
we are vulnerable
     humans that is
to the glitter
& status extraordinaire
of dominant specie-ism
rationalizing dog-eat-dog
     a rabid misnomer
to career seeking
banking with a smile
payday loan-sharking
     shark misnomer

the district attorney stands

without clothes
but with his gun still cocked

so what will we do with our lives
before and after
     the great fall

we've never learned

to take care
of each other

--- e b bortz

no polemic

it's been one-half century
since the real streets
of hearts & minds
found each other

egos falling 

to the drama kings
provocateurs
coming and going

empty chants

making it
holier than thou
tuning out still an option 

a drum

even without rhythm
could become
an unexpected insight

anticipation

began at dawn
darkness
caressed unconditionally

--- e b bortz

 

if you look long enough on big torch key

there might be an escape route
back from the mundane
that will reveal itself
maybe hidden just before the water
or right behind a misplaced road sign

it won't look like much

just a few well worn hoof or foot prints
like an old newspaper
before times new roman
took over the world 

--- e b bortz

first draft: life is a sea

conclusions from first contact with key west
& surrounding navigational maps
7305 days ago

you always need a safe harbor

or at least a cluster of mangroves

when coral becomes dead rock

rock becomes a road of trepidation
don't go barefooted

osprey see

far into the future

every pelican has the poise to lead

elect some to congress

from the barracuda

comes tenacity
from the sandpiper
     community

find the patience

of a jellyfish
waiting for a rising tide

waves connect all beings

from the gulf of thailand to the mediterranean
from the source waters of kilimanjaro

a cajun band at the green parrot

was about as close as i got to mardi gras
     and then you danced like it was mardi gras

a sunset shadow
becomes a celebration
of sunrise

every storm seeks an eye

a tear is stronger than a poem

life is a sea
there is no final draft

--- e b bortz

iron ore strike update

near thanksgiving 1977
the strike ended
we went back to work
the layer of taconite dust
still in place
where we had left it in august

the machines started up

with reluctance

bodies moved across the grate

up steel steps & ladders
finding nothing mystical
in the grit
true or otherwise

sulfur exhaust

the chemistry
of the damned

concentrators

& combustion chambers
moving without emotion
firing thru the seasons

every ton

a landscape paid for
lungs without resilience
even thunder
turning away

--- e b bortz

the politics of collapse

can't be bailed out
by wall street

a dry river

leaves a bad taste
in your mouth

for every carbon artery

there are a thousand
hemorrhaging forests

the crows

will not be silenced
they gather for the darkness

corn rows

left their calling cards
the silos all are empty

the money

of the desperate
has no collateral

there are sunspots

to pull you closer
call it void if you must

--- e b bortz

 

ambivalence

isn't the best word
to begin with
it has way too many
misleading ways
but the election is over
and the roosters came home
a long time ago
when very few
were paying attention
     don't look for a way forward
     here
all anyone can do
is feel what moves inside
and then
feel it again

find a tributary and let it touch you

before it dries up
shut off the noise
     sing while you still have a voice

--- e b bortz

(published in opednews.com, Nov 8, 2014)
 

earth note 306

there's a pile of gold
leaves
across the avenue
that should be left
to decay
& feed the soil

stall the blowers

with their own exhaust

listen for the starlings

--- e b bortz

 

earth note 305

it feels like
the last warm hour
before the night chill
takes over

open hands

around a spinner
in the yard
cups the breeze just right

takes off in a burst

repetition turning
with illusions
of perpetual motion

this is what upsets

the blue jays
who know better
deep into the hillside

every stadium echo

is hollowed out
by wooden chimes
trembling rose of sharon

--- e b bortz

 

the river is my addiction

every step

unique

leads

to a new revelation

so it seems

like a shifting current

collides with the wind

never repeating itself

it's easy to miss

what's significant

my eye takes in the landscape

but once

geese head to

lean-to shelters

     weeping riverbanks

ultimately

a flock

these are not

the whitecaps

of yesterday

nor tomorrow

--- e b bortz

(published in Antennae the Antennae,
Green Panda Press, Jan 2015)

(published in Resurrection River Poems, Kent OH, 2019)

earth note 304

west park, pittsburgh

there's a method

to the shuffling 
through fallen leaves & acorns
     a hundred wild
     pecking bills & swimmers' feet
     have left lake elizabeth
     for a morning scavenge
     before the rain
     while the getting is still good

every goose lets everyone know

they are here to stay
ducks simply keep their heads down
squirrels tuck away in a frenzy
only to forget
what's in the store

the lake might freeze this winter
or maybe not

city bureaucrats

have covered all contingencies
new signs & authority misrules
     no ice skating
     no swimming
     no wading
     no pets

no eating   no drinking   no breathing

--- e b bortz

earth note 303

a cliff dweller
reaches from millennia
where hands formed
every angle with the sun
shading secrets
only a maker
knows

--- e b bortz

earth note 302

fineview pittsburgh

lone hawk soaring & dives

traverses a radio tower
signals cold hill morning

who cares if there are

a few extra beats

--- e b bortz

a river is time

as much as distance
loose intervals
portions of summer
lost friends
     before the drive-ins all closed
trails were what you made of them
car windows steamed up
easily
'cause the heat was transparent
because that's the way
you wore it

a swim was a baptism

     explanation not needed

a boxing ring

     with circles instead of squares

the chimneys coughed

wheezed every morning
like the bartender moe

and the girls rolled up

their work-camp sleeves
& held your hand
even after the music
ended

--- e b bortz

earth note 301

1.
the road mapped itself
from what i remember
out past the last hay bales
the prairies started rolling
the sun kept a round face
until dusk
even the crows seemed
to have their directions set
looking to bed down
on a distant bluff
like a call from the forest
before the dark
covered
everything

2.

the road had a unique vibration
of its own
empty & quiet for the most part
except when transitioning
between asphalt & concrete
the town lights came up suddenly
and then passed
like a silent acknowledgment

3.

farmers in coveralls
a crowded diner
stress on a dozen faces
promises broken
by bank notes
& inflated seed panaceas
all of it parched
like a river diverted
for the grease pits

4.

the road swayed

to the wind
western clouds breaking apart
wheat fields laboring
without hands
kneeling over
to touch
shadows
& loam

--- e b bortz

earth note 300

call it a day
to have an outdoor
cajun dance

wind northwest moves in

every tree in its own rhythm
beats a washboard

like any waltz

the steps seem somewhat
predictable

cept for the zydeco

coming thru
over the poplar tops

strings drown out

the sirens
greasy engines go quiet

for every distraction

there's a perfect escape
a new imagination

leaves never make a plan
to give up
untamed & no excuses

the sky a full blue

but by no means
filled

--- e b bortz
 

earth note 299

rain stripped every
carrier of soot
exploitation
a genetically modified bank statement
madmen hiding behind the wheel
at the helm
weaving in and out
of k & L gates & assorted
gated skyscrapers
extending out a hand
for three-card monte
to fool you
more than twice

if you see

the rain coming
leave the umbrella
at home

--- e b bortz