since i don't believe in manifestos

i folded up a blank piece of paper
into eighths and then forgot
where i left it

when i was a kid we concocted our own

invisible ink using milk

this is similar

less the milk

every secret diatribe

should be embedded on
a blank piece of paper

that way

you can start over anytime

--- e b bortz

earth note 621

there's a blue dipper in the clouds moving east
looks like it's filled to the brim
in cold clear seawater
'course that's all an illusion
nothing is clear anymore

the last time we sat on the beach

in daytona
there was a beach full of blankets
beach bikes filled
with daytona winter clothing

the halifax river is rushing its banks

a police car making the rounds
stops and asks the caretaker
if he has seen any bank robbers

this may seem like an odd place

to find camus
but he's there with a poem in his pocket
misread as a bank robber's note

beer cans have overthrown

the recycle bins
on their way to the speedway
frat boys scream in congress
crying in their bier
is now considered martyrdom

 

--- e b bortz

earth note 620

the road from floodwood to silica minnesota 1976

was a land of cattails
wetlands
from memory the sky
stayed gray for weeks
if you got stranded
on the shortcut to duluth
in the winter deep freeze
or summer mosquitos
this being before cellphones
you'd better not pass up a chance
to get help
every house a sanctuary
the snow could go over two feet
before the plows came

by summer

tamarack stood straight and narrow
etching out a dark green line
holding up the horizon
as the land would speak
for all the lonely
played out
going to seed

--- e b bortz

earth note 619

so we think we know

the way to salvation

maybe we're just the wild grass

looking to find new roots

there's magic

in the intuitive

 
a blossom

begins a myth

grows a miracle

--- e b bortz

earth note 618

new jersey 1999

there was and probably still is

a group of feral cats
in the alley near paterson falls
cousins in a lineage
maybe connected by time
to williams
ginsberg
hurricane carter
no this is not a name drop
if you approached any of these cats
they would run
even hiss
orange and tiger-striped
screaming independent
cutting a trail past
overflowing rubbish cans
broken concrete magicians
the mist from the falls
the spirit lives

--- e b bortz

earth note 617

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rock shards
hard rock candy mountain

sharp as a tinge of iron
in a woody guthrie moan

when the mountainside

gives you the slip
let your boot strings
run like a 12-string

--- e b bortz

earth note 616



isn't every day

a day of atonement
isn't every day
earth day

the mouth of the hillside

is missing teeth
leaves nothing
but loose tongues

know-it-alls garble

the forest colors
rule from the shadows
the bond is broken

pistols running wild

paint and lead
provoking car alarms
smashing an hourglass
before its time

someone just panicked

failed the hairpin curve
two wheels too few

--- e b bortz

toledo stock car death, 1957

the neighbor told the story

like it was one of his kids

kenny nemire leading the pack

died in his ford convertible
on a hot july night

how does a nine-year-old

put away that memory
     his first recognition of death

the night was steaming

walking with mom
down to the soda fountain
for a milkshake

the neighbor came off his porch

greeted us on the sidewalk
with the sad news

only a couple weeks before

he had taken us
to the toledo raceway
where kenny had won
the checkered flag

the neighbor knew kenny
like a son
said he looked like
one of the everly brothers
singing bye-bye love

--- e b bortz

earth note 615

the chrome on the thai bicycle fenders

was starting to pit
heavy moisture & road heat
for the past eight months
     i asked srimorn if she could
keep everything until
who knows when

the crowded street

in surat thani
was always alive
scooters filled with families
down toward the marketplace
defensive bicycling
     survival

in hatyai

we laid on a mat
on your uncle's
cold concrete floor
a wild mix of coolness & heat
our bodies
the equilibrium

--- e b bortz

earth note 614

from dry wash

to rushing river
there were footsteps
     observed
and then followed
what might be called
     original questions
to be answered
falling to ground
hopeless to be heard

--- e b bortz

earth note 613

water rises in a surge
from a route 40 mountaintop
hovering over uniontown
like a hydroplane
waiting to lift you off the pavement

the rain came disguised

then revealed
as cousin of a hurricane
squelching out the summer heat
for maybe its last gasp of the year

the creeks & rivers will flood

like prophecy
the date might change
but keep your hands
steady to the wheel

--- e b bortz

earth note 612

ocean city, maryland

beach volleyball court

cash on the barrelhead
reserved for the seagulls
dishing out september 90 degree burns
just before the approaching hurricane
     always prone to changing direction
though not enough wind yet
to change anybody's opinion
     in congress

there'll be enough motorcycles soon

to take over the streets
settling all scores and disputes
with the roar of an engine

split wood makes a boardwalk weep

after taking a beating
keep your shoes on
the head of a nail
pushes up like a white hot dagger

--- e b bortz

earth note 611

dolores river, slick rock colorado

a barren land is bountiful

giving dry throats
a song to sing
     tuned into the wind
pulling your head
from side to side
like you've seen
a wild canyon
before the settlers
bought the sunrise

--- e b bortz

billy clubs michigan avenue chicago police/national guard riot 1968

had that weathered look
like a hard oak or mahogany
marks like notches
wielding sweeping wild
circular motions
floodlights and shimmering bayonets
armored legion columns
like orders being followed
clubs ramming ribs
all the way through to the insides
we finally ripped away our shrouds
and kissed desperate
in a cloud of tear gas
like lovers before the gallows

we tried walking

not running
hands clasping tightly
left only with dignity
eyes wide open
a tactical retreat
deep into the dark of grant park

the police streamed through

grabbing stray bodies
like lost deer from a herd
wrapping up and dragging their bounty
into trucks and busses

convention delegates

looked on from the other side
of michigan avenue
hiding in their hotel
some cried
all were witnesses

the nights rolled into days

we lost & found each other
many times
our lips stayed true
as our new skin

--- e b bortz

earth note 610

it takes a deluge

near the equator
to cleanse the body

no one can hide

in a pinhole
out on the open water

my reflection

in the wake
brings up grit & blemishes

before every sunrise

the piper demands payment
there's a price for ambivalence

--- e b bortz

earth note 609

the river rises

and leaves behind
driftwood
stripped
of all protection
knotty elbows & kneecaps
like a tai chi puzzle
stretch
extend
homeward

--- e b bortz

one of those online ads

said
submit your best poems
and then take a break
have a thousand cups of coffee
and we'll get back to ya
we have all these professionals
sitting around waiting to evaluate
     even you
we'll even give you some pointers
vouch for your credentials
on your next graduate school application
give you the agent-inside-track on the
poetry-biz
there's a lot more to this
then meets the eye

we lead the industry

in contact lenses down the toilet

don't get yourself in a tizzy

about mixed metaphors and verb tense
don't worry about running out of time
we can help you with your next draft
every career has its downtime
maybe you've hit bottom before
and since you've stumbled on to our ad
maybe you should just take this
     as a sign

--- e b bortz

earth note 608

the search begins

by looking under every leaf
     yes
this is a lifetime

in every allegory

there will be a lesson
     no
the answers are not easy to find

the rain often breaks

the membrane
     yes
the body often carries a message

if there's a third eye

will that guarantee vision
     no
there will always be another leaf

--- e b bortz

earth note 607

i'm still learning

to claw my way
up through the ash & maple
above the trail
below the bus shelter
the hill feels like it's falling
from the sky
and all its undergarments
white fluff and then metal gray
the leaves weep
looking for a way out to the avenue
the daylight will only take you so far

after that

you'll need to get down on all fours
the ground is shifting

--- e b bortz

by the time we got to norwood colorado

we were feeling separation anxiety
     from the black canyon of the gunnison
a rock wall can warm the body organs
bring it back to life
when all else is cold

the messages are all there

if the eyes let you in
when the bees insist on their turf
there are no tourists
or spectators

--- e b bortz

earth note 606

a sidewalk that closes

can't be rolled up

if you want to learn to fly

follow the pelican

as an alternative

find a trail
without a name

--- e b bortz
 

earth note 605

sunset august
minnesota itasca county road 8
leads you west toward the scenic highway
mapping it all out in my mind
     if you keep a bicycle rolling
     the mosquitos will become frustrated
     they'll tell you that much in their wings

there'll be some small lakes

if you're lucky
     a soaring blue heron
loons
& geese
crappies jumping
a-frames aging

it's hard to let the summer go

guess you could say
this is somewhat of a rehearsal
take the blue with the clouds
while you got 'em

touch every bit of the light

--- e b bortz

earth note 604

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a deer run will only take you so far

after that it's all the sweat of your brow
or the odd or lucky conjugation
of a made-up verb
that'll bring you to the finish line
this being near the convergence
of the oliver high school cross country course
     1962-1966
which i never mustered
therefore can't brag about

by the time i reached sixteen

and could coax my dad into letting
me have the car for the night
riverview park wasn't for running
but for making out

and now

who knew it would come to this
a captured thought
in a morning downpour
walking not running
a million steps gone missing
     still looking to liberate
     a verb

--- e b bortz

i'm not gonna swallow the bitter pill

as long as i can rage from within
there's a month of sundays difference
between what passes for truth
and whose shoe really touches the road
a long distance friend once told me
to leave well enough alone
find out where the squirrel hides the nuts
leave the rest or the nest to the robins
when you hear the voice of the cicada
many years will have passed

--- e b bortz