Massachusetts

near th’sox game, make peace
with th’traffic madness – same laws,
different culture
(3-16)






logan tarmac tale –
visa took seventeen years,
but made it for th’fourth
(8-17)




-->
concord t’lexington –
in th’rush hour traffic, he spits
at th’freedom billboard
(1-18)




back roads t’ th’ peace p’goda,
th’green berkshire woods – th’kids feel ‘t home,
though they’ve never been
(3-16)








stop and go traffic -
storrow drivers' distractions,
sunbathers on charles
(2-10)







backup, storrow drive –
some guy was lookin’ too close
‘t th’sunbathers on th’charles
(10-15)







cape sand in his pack -
ten rides 'n' a hike t'get out here,
much easier t'get back
(12-14)






two kids 'n th'laundromat -
guess wellfleet's got noth'n for 'em,
their laughter fills th'night
(12-14)







wellfleet laundromat –
barefoot kids find joy ‘n th’refuge.
outside, rains ‘til dawn
(10-16)








august gale on th’cape –
th’road, and th’dunes alongside it,
completely swallowed
(10-16)







long pond fishermen,
surprised by th’august downpour –
weekend in their trucks
(10-16)








blue line to revere –
th’ocean, th’boardwalk, th’strong feeling
everyone’s related
(6-16)


 



was hustling th’commons,
but needed th’break, fell asleep
‘t th’puritans’ gravestones
(1-17)







waiting for the ship -
these minutes, says th'girl, th'best in
th'whole vineyard summer
(1-15)







warm night, socks ‘n’ sandals,
chess program beats you, ten moves –
café, central square
(2-16)







drives around cambridge,
controls th’car, hidden in th’trunk –
‘t lights, opens th’windows
(2-16)






th’question of racism –
surprised at what th’fans might do
down ‘long yawkey way
(9-17)








construction worker,
bar ‘n southie – tells ‘bout th’treasure
he found in th’big dig
(11-17)






midnight ‘n east sandwich –
they notice th’open windows,
‘n’ try t’imagine th’life
(8-17)





on harvard line man
wears sandals, leisure suit, gets
off at central square
(7-05)





red line eccentric –
wrote twelve books, wears sock 'n' sandals,
gets off ‘t central square
(2-17)




august ‘n provincetown,
th’lass blows glass, sells her mobiles –
she, too, loves th’sea breeze
(2-17)








through hiker ‘n th’berkshires –
even th’trails have th’sense ‘f order,
‘n’ th’leaves are starting t’turn
(9-17)




 

acorns from th’berkshires –
back ‘n brookline, he feels guilty
digging ‘n th’crowded yard
(11-17)






at harvard, th'students
so frugal 'n' clever, th'autumn
night, beating th'pinball
(12-14)






buskers ‘f harvard square –
hustle, traffic, ‘n’ distraction,
th’squirrel drops th’acorn
(12-17)







gravestones 'f th'puritans
acorns 'n his knees, he stops t'read'm
on his way t'th'commons
(12-14)








in th’berkshires, fin’ly –
even with th’fallen leaves, th’noise
‘s gentler on th’spirit
(10-15)






holds th’berkshire acorns
tight ‘n his pocket – promises
not t’drop’m in th’city
(10-16)





killed women and kids
in 'nam, so comm ave peaceniks
could wear nixon masks
(9-05)





 

killed women ‘n’ kids ‘n’ ‘nam,
has t’tell someone – picks th’drunk kids
comm ave, halloween
(10-16)







northampton costume,
gender-free superhero –
maybe not a costume
(7-17)






protesting agnew,
thousands line boylston and charles –
streetlights kind’f pointless
(10-16)







old bak'ry's nutmeg -
wild-eyed woman, glad it's not
the salem of yore
(11-13)





symph'ny road trumpets
introduce an october
of fenway's silence
(10-10)





saxes in th’brownstones –
symphony road’s a madhouse
when th’kids’re back in town
(10-16)






changing leaves below,
sounds’f kenmore square – bathed in th’lights
‘f th’flashing citgo sign
(3-17)









old whalers' stories
served up in new bedford bar -
dead leaves, open door
(~4-10)








cradle ‘f th’rev’lution,
they say – you’d think th’mass pike boys
‘d let you drink this tea
(2-17)

jersey girl points out
th’red trolleys, names like alewife,
snowflake on her tongue
(2-17)





raging nor’easter,
nantucket lass – their turkey
without her husband
(11-15)





near worcester, th’farmhouse –
classic dinner, th’golden bird,
grew th’cranb’rries herself
(11-17)







at sea it’s much worse,
she says – take refuge from th’snow
‘n th’whaler’s museum
(11-15)








turkey, dressing, pie,
raging snows - all th’nantucket
fam’lies have th’same pray’r
(11-15)









raging nor’easter –
nantucket family’s prayer
lasts longer’n th’turkey
(2-17)






hol’day nor’easter –
nantucket mechanic works
on th’lighthouse beacon
(8-17)







p-town curios
in dusty case - outside, sea
and snow from three sides
(2-10)







lass at th’gloucester shore
screams ‘t th’waves – hol’days are coming,
‘n’ he’s not coming back
(11-17)






south station rehab
rent stub lost in christmas bills -
bitter wind from docks
(~4-10)






revere beach boardwalk -
cold angry sea brings new year,
plover finds th'french fry
(2-10)





th’way he says ‘garden’ –
know he’s got hockey ‘n his bones,
been here all his life
(11-17)






why he stopped ‘t stockbridge –
th’long trip west, ‘n’ it’s icy ‘n’ cold,
he’s got th’memory
(11-17)






winter tide, scituate,
th’freezing water’s flooded th’houses –
seems th’ocean’s angry
(1-18)







proctor’s ledge, salem –
th’boys don’t like th’pow’rful, th’lass says,
tongue catches th’snowflake
(11-17)






myles standish rooftop,
bathed ‘n th’glow ‘f th’changing citgo sign –
here’s t’another year
(6-16)






rains pound p-town,
kids spend th’entire new year's break
watching ‘back t’th’future’
(2-16)





proctor’s ledge – salem
lass says this barren hillside's
where it all happened
(1-16)






tex'n scorns th'tiny states,
icy nashua fades 'n th'mirror -
th'world'll spread out soon
(12-14)









odd light, th’snowy fields
driver wonders why th’u f o
would visit th’berkshires
(10-16)






mass pike west ‘f worcester –
morning sun, silver mirrors,
truck runs through th’blizzard
(10-15)





gloucester’s rocky coast –
even in th’blizzard, she waits,
thinking th’boat’ll come in
(10-15)








these little states gone -
icy nashua in mirror -
before you realize
(3-10)








mass pike hitchhiker -
lights on frozen fields are not
just coincidence
(7-05)








andrew square traffic,
st. pat's party somewhere, miss
kid on ninety-three
(3-10)







pulls on th’cigarette,
over garden traffic, says
how much he hates th’habs
(10-15)






curses th’habs ‘n’ th’leafs both –
thin cigar ‘n’ heavy accent,
th’garden kid’s willing t’fight
(4-17)







revere beach ocean
breeze lifts spirit like a kite
but folks never leave
(7-05)







kenmore square, march wind -
he sells his book of poetry,
she's read th'one before
(11-14)








march sleet, kenmore square –
th’guy sells th’poetry book to th’lass,
she’s read th’one before
(1-17)






grim march day, logan –
taken twenty years t’get here,
she’s crying tears ‘f joy
(3-16)






mass pike pace quickens
inbound drivers' urgent plans -
trees bloom in city
(2-10)







weather breaks ‘n th’city,
first frisbees, ‘n’ kids along th’charles –
mind th’crazy traffic!
(1-17)








th’cars don’t respect th’lanes –
th’flowers bloom ‘n th’beacon hill sites,
‘n’ not a moment ‘f peace
(3-17)







near steep rock hill,
th’marathon runner, by chance
happens t’see th’old flame
(10-15)







spring concerts, brookline –
they’ll take th’T to th’club, he’ll stay
with th’allman brothers
(2-17)










along revere’s route,
th’ambulence – she’d use th’earbuds
t’train for th’marathon
(4-18)







thrown off crew f'r drinking,
now he spits off th'mass ave bridge
aiming for th'cockswain
(12-14)







th’oars splat hard on th’charles –
by may even th’harvard kids
have found their refuge
(8-17)





small, purple, ancient,
she found’m ‘n th’em’rald necklace – calls ‘m
th’canada mayflow’r
(2-17)





 
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brick walls ‘f brattle street –
voices ‘f puritans ‘n th’spring breeze,
so darn judgmental
(2-18)








in th’grass ‘t king’s chapel,
mom reads th’puritans’ headstones
th’lass scrolls through tinder
(4-18)







‘n th’emerald necklace,
finds th’canada mayflower –
been here all along
(11-17)




bright logan tarmac -
beyond, blossoms of city,
here, dull empty wait
(3-10)


e pluribus haiku