earth note 686

even as i type the words

     dog park

i feel the quiet eyes

focusing intensely

on the page

the head tilts a bit

the gnarly hair stands

     at attention

the nostrils twitch toward

the canopy beyond the ridge

there's heat rolling in

like a steamy tide

leaving our eyes to follow the trail

for the shadows

--- e b bortz

make love not war

--- e b bortz

only the words live on

photo by Sandra L Hazley

it seemed appropriate to be re-reading

     howl

in a dusty old chair in the key west used bookstore

just up the street from the cemetery

where souls still living or dead or in purgatory

roam on over and then spread quietly

throughout the stacks

leaving musty remembrances

falling into other worlds and dimensions

before during and after ginsberg

touching a most personal copy of a coney island of the mind

     ferlinghetti mischievously smiling on the wall

notes in the margins of desolation angels

that i bought and eventually lost

or gave away

likely buried now with kerouac

and then there was a signed chapbook from 1972 (?)

     by lyn lifshin

that passed thru my hands momentarily

and then back into a cluttered box only to be lost or sold

as we returned a couple days later

the bookstore has been gone for many years now

the reading lamps all removed and replaced

by sterile corporate logos no doubt

honestly it might be too painful to look inside

the old wood frame building

hoping to hear creaking floors

and voices

--- e b bortz

earth note 685

when the moon is bright

and the ocean is calm

black light stretches out

to the horizon

a mirror of your thoughts

are within your hands

you sift through sand

like deja vu

looking for that one connection

that lets everything else

     fall in place

but of course you think it always escapes you

you sit on that one spot in the cosmos

unique      never predetermined

random in time and place

     and for that you're satisfied

that all else is secondary

by morning

as tides come and go

the ibis and sandpiper

carry on

--- e b bortz

the hills of bannasan thailand

roll with the heat

rain opens pores from the earth

steaming      spinning upward

prayer wheels carry the message

     the mountain is rough but true

when you reach the cliff

listen for the sage

--- e b bortz

earth note 684

a lake is a character shouting clarity from the wetlands

it's not clear who's listening

the continental divide meanders along

and then suddenly settles all disputes

forests shape the dialogue

tamarack straight-back never giving an inch

poplar abundance

     the everyman specie

jack & norway pine the workhorses

sheltering the lakes

each lake

spider     crooked     swan     winnibigoshish

and ten thousand more

all characters

     in a play on words or the real deal

or just speaking up

like every lost soul refugee

from the blood & sweat cities

dying of thirst

looking for a pathway out

and a space within

to germinate seeds

to rise out from the grease pits

to hear like a deafening quiet

below the squealing pitch

of the tanker train

traversing the very spot

where you took your first steps

where the music begins

where a frozen pond

swallows the etchings of a poem

where the holy rolling highway

loses its way but recovers by starlight

--- e b bortz

earth note 683

rocky mountain national park, colorado

our tent site occupies a flat spot

a hundred feet up from the camping loop road

mornings are always cold

sunrise never fails to show a body covered in sky

far past the timberline

a lady looks upward

     still

as purple stone

--- e b bortz

earth note 682

an open eye is the beginning

your skin is your garment

it hides in the stone

a body endures and then moves on

--- e b bortz

tethered in a catheter

the urinary tract ain't no trail in the woods

     but a trial

plastic tube restrictions

broken up by a bureaucracy

so-called health care providers

it's easy to get lost

in the three-hand-shuffle

three-card monte

so sitting at this screen

is the closest thing to escape

where all concentration can

now be centered

     on the pain

past present and future

fill the bag

empty the bag

keep the dog at bay

don't worry i'll wash my hands

but let's skip

     the coffee

--- e b bortz

woke up this morning with my mind set on peace

even as the aircraft carriers

stir towards confrontation

and think

who might be out there

who'll stand with their bodies

in the machinery if necessary

to stop the madness

i think of senator wayne morse

from oregon who confronted

the war makers during vietnam

who is the next wayne morse

where's the next teach-in

we camped a good number of times

in the oregon woods

taking in what's left

of an ancient rain forest

cold rocky coast

a beached dead seal

in cruel sacrifice

too late for godly intervention

the roar of the nascar channel

rips through the barroom clientele

just past noon

high noon like a gary cooper movie

in real life the good guy seldom wins

there's no wayne morse in the house

the mosquitoes are tasting blood

blood from oil

blood from silence

--- e b bortz

earth note 681

ferns standing tall

sharp as the ridge

song from the river

answers the void

--- e b bortz

earth note 680

first sun thru the trees

coming up like an eye

starting to focus

the process seems deceptively simple

with only minor adjustments

but you've been fooled so many times

from the valleys and foothills

of hardwood pennsylvania

to rubber forests in thailand

cold straight tamarack

through the lake country

minnesota to the laurentides

of quebec

late risers from the san juan peaks

to the shadows of painted walls

on the gunnison

the high desert

is always lonely

just before daybreak

even the oceans

tremble in the moment

holding on

with ephemeral hand

i see in each fleeting instant

     a rising sun

--- e b bortz

earth note 679

morning traffic on the avenue

breaking up disparate bird songs

on the ridge

not sure if cacophony is the right word

     but i'll use it

blue jay-robin-cardinal-yellow finch-sparrow-chimney swift

     a lone woodpecker

     no crows this early

     keep cover     there's a hawk

the dog barks at something out-of-tune

     most everything

like a tractor-flatbed trailer

down-shift grind of steel

not quite meshing gears

rough-cut transmission out-of-warranty

hauling pipeline sections

bound & gagged

     once a route to wooded hills

     cacophony

     now clear-cut

          fracked

--- e b bortz

earth note 678

lush maple meets early may

all in the last week

too soon you might think

their shade finally

taking you under

to the root

of your own existence

you've waited on the trail

for this time

when morning cardinals

leap from shadow

becoming red rich sunlight

--- e b bortz

empire & mixed metaphors

in multiple dimensions

of tired old men in suits & uniforms

a good helping of corruption helps

young whippersnappers

empty sloganeering

cash on the barrelhead

as long as it's middle east crude

if you can show there's a

     'constituency'

for your fickle

start an exploratory committee

tweet every intonation out your butt

as if it's an original fart

     profound or visionary

     and be sure and copyright it

     before the debates begin

but an honest polemic doesn't end here

there was a different time and place

maybe there still is

     the iroquois confederation

never ran ads

or built golf courses

or sang god bless america

the land and rivers still speak a common language

humans crawl through millennia

before standing erect

learning the seasons

growing and harvesting

teaching the children

songs without borders

from every forest

to every leaf

--- e b bortz

earth note 677

wind stalled out

after the rain

leaving reflections in black & white

treetops in small pools

looking upward

the river is the only one moving

a railroad bridge

& penitentiary

have a secret meeting

loose spikes & stone walls

ante up in carbon notes

the river bends     looks the other way

--- e b bortz

authenticity is not a workshop subject

ain't a dialect

or something

to be taken

for granted

how many voices

in your inner ear

have deceived you

how many times

have you stepped

     in it

but refuse to show it

you carry the stink

like anybody

in spite of it

origins make the obvious

an easy blind spot

give it enough time

& the words have a way

of elevating themselves

above the repetitious

so it's probably better

to just keep walking

picking up those

not found yet participles

scattering off a volley

of buckshot angst

as it comes to you

eventually all the roads

become footpaths

where the feet become the imprint

touching the earth

never to be taken for granted

--- e b bortz

theft

i never considered

stealing anything

after all the act

is really just an act

against oneself

you never know when it'll all

come back to bite you

even a friendly dog has limits

let me qualify this

the only thing i ever stole

was second

third

and once home

what a feeling

pony league was all about

playing by the rules

which meant stealing

so it was important

for at least one of my sons

to become a catcher

with a rifle arm

those who steal

need to fear

a hard peg to the base

'course you could say

this is all harmless baseball talk

or maybe you're missing

the one chance to be more bold

taking that extra step off the bag

upsetting the rhythm of the game

which might not be a game at all

there's a theft about to happen

it's the only one that counts

the crowd is stirring for an upset

the pitcher fidgets in the stretch

you wipe the dust and sweat off your hands

     crouch like a feral cat

ready to spring free

sliding head first

arm extended

the tag is late

because you stole

the only thing worth stealing

     that head start instant

     that extra step

--- e b bortz

forecast (+) or (-)

clouds moving so fast

they're leaving a trail behind

but a good center fielder

can probably catch it in the gap

before it all comes apart

if the trees don't calm down

     a bit     there could be a run

on the banks

the money line's not safe

but it might be a little less risky

'course that all depends on the center fielder

--- e b bortz

earth note 676

gray overcast

low light

the hawk banks a 90 degree turn

then dives low

talons into the brush

like there's no balance

between failure

and survival

--- e b bortz

earth note 675

marshall trail

green finally taking hold

wild ferns looking up and down

ready to spread their wings

a cardinal goes first

lifts the head

starts a new song

--- e b bortz

earth note 674

early autumn rio grande valley

the hot spring was well hidden

a warm inlet pool
in the dry cool air

in the heart of the big bend

if patience prevails

soothing powers

rest in the stone perimeter

we follow a native family

to the river

their heartbeat

the source

--- e b bortz