Minnesota

bound’ry waters lakes –
wide sky, th’lack of conflict, but
th’bugs sure are hungry
(5-16)




feet ‘n th’lake ‘t two harbors,
even ‘t night, th’fish nip – ‘cross th’way,
fireworks ‘n wisconsin
(2-17)




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throwing th’lutefisk –
from th’festival ‘t two harbors,
he looks back ‘cross th’lake
(11-17)






birches’ve come alive –
winnipeg-bound trucker tells
about th’folk festival
(7-16)






from th’cities t’fargo,
takes th’june northern recklessness
and changes his route
(7-16)







bound’ry waters tale –
th’bear considers th’americans
just a bit naive
(7-17)







th’ir’n comes down th’hillside –
th’rusty water ‘f gooseberry,
like drinking a nail
(11-17)






ir’n colored water,
toes in th’cool gooseberry ponds –
th’way they make their o’s
(1-16)






orange cones, road t’saint paul,
th’tiny wildflowers amongst th’weeds –
no time for a nap
(2-17)







foul words, orange cones –
bound f’r moose lake, doesn’t want t’miss
th’precious good weather
(3-17)





old boat on white bear -
rhythm of ripples on hull
minutes into days
(1-10)









locks ‘n’ dams‘re th’problem –
winona houseboat lass tells
‘f canoeing th’whole thing
(10-16)






north shore gulls adrift,
lake breezes changing their minds -
and days turn shorter
(8-11)








outside two harbors,
night softens lake and wisconsin,
but for some fireworks
(8-11)






winona houseboat
tales – she tells ‘f th’summer she
canoed th’whole river
(1-16)








old guy ‘t two harbors –
plays accordion ‘t th’festival,
loves t’watch’m throw th’lut’fisk
(6-17)








half mile from downtown -
dirt path, green woods, secret beach
minneapolis
(7-05)









folks find secret beach
downtown t’franklin t’twenty first –
tonight, th’loon’s found it
(11-16)






 


t’ev’ry beach, its crowd,
gay or straight – but secret beach,
f’r whoever finds it
(2-16)






hidden part ‘f calhoun –
cool, clear ‘n’ close, not too hard t’find,
best ‘f all th’ten thousand
(6-17)






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‘fast corn’ technol’gy –
through albert lea ‘n th’caddy, claims
three crops in, this year
(1-18)










warm rock, ten foot drop
t’frigid lake superior – those
boys’ll live forever
(10-16)






county fair, north coast –
th’kid ‘n’ th’dog, both int’rested in
th’dead fish they’re throwing
(10-16)







barefoot ‘n powderhorn,
smoke ‘n music fill th’afternoon,
but th’days get shorter
(9-15)







bush on either side,
buck ev'ry ten, twenty miles -
hit duluth by six
(8-12)







xerxes avenue -
i learned th'alphabet, he says,
on these shady streets
(2-14)






tales ‘f th’laughing waters,
‘n’ th’summer th’hippies took over,
out ‘n minnehaha
(7-17)





grasshopper on rush
trying to make it to shore
before th'bass gets him
(1-10)








chisago lowland
visitors - mallards fly in
for wild rice dinner
(1-10)






superior shore's
cold august rain lets up in
split rock tunnel's glow
(9-05)








dinkytown cafe -
workers don't know what happened
to the baseball scores
(7-05)







ten thousand lakes, but
one loon's cry throttles the night
even at th'town park
(7-05)









needin' thirty bucks,
they'll walk through any open door in
minneapolis
(~12)








northfield lass’ complaint –
that they’d call th’her’tage fest’val
defeat ‘f jesse james
(11-15)







‘her’tage festival’ –
most ‘f northfield not bothered by
‘defeat ‘f jesse james’
(1-17)






kind of likes th’silos,
rides minnehaha t’downtown,
‘n’ likes when they’re filled up
(1-17)







omelets come and go,
fall breeze catches sports section -
life at the seward
(1-10)







road t’eden prairie –
gets th’new students t’play hockey,
lost some teeth himself
(3-16)
 






oak savannah, they
call it - pin oaks hold out on
minnesota plain
(1-12)







pin oaks against th’wind –
sometimes folks dig in their heels
‘n th’minnesota plains
(8-16)








pin oaks, road t’moorhead –
stubborn ‘n’ slow changing th’colors,
‘n’ th’hard plains loneliness
(9-17)






night ‘n th’town ‘f grand marais –
th’road t’canada, too, is ready
f’r th’long, silent winter
(11-17)






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road t’thief river falls –
hoping his luck will change, quick
before th’weather does
(11-17)






out from split rock’s cliffs
with th’whitecaps ‘n’ th’cold wind, he knows
there’s trouble on th’lake
(8-16)





raging lake ‘t splitrock
‘n’ th’fury ‘f november – she knows
what it’s like in th’boat
(11-17)





up through two harbors,
northern lights, icy forest -
days'll be longer soon
(12-13)


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shakopee t’saint paul –
live on th’interstates, get t’know
all th’kinds of black ice
(11-17)










sleet ‘n th’parking lot –
to her, th’shirts are heavenly
‘t th’mall ‘f america
(9-17)



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folk music ‘n th’cities,
‘n’ snow drifts ‘n riverside – he’s found
‘n old two-dollar bill
(11-17)







uptown beemer's trapped,
not by th'two feet 'f fresh snow, but
by th'punctual snowplow
(12-14)









outside minnetonka,
tale'f th'city scrapin' dozer
fell through a soft spot
(12-14)






whole scrapin’ dozer
fell through th’minnetonka ice –
spring, you get what’s left
(11-17)






tales ‘f th’old hastings bridge –
icy days like this, th’spirals
made th’horses nervous
(9-17)









walker in th’blizzard –
what s’prises th’guest, not th’ice ‘n’ snow,
but that life goes on
(1-17)





cities’ roads ‘r’ iced ‘n’ glazed –
folks don’t mind, all th’rinks ‘n’ lakes,
‘n’ hot cocoa by th’fire
(1-17)





some jerk broke his nose
high school hockey's serious
in eden prairie
(1-10)






eden prairie coach
tries t’get kids t’play fair on th’ice –
he, too, ‘s missing teeth
(11-16)







choosing th’eastern branch –
th’gold dome, a silent saint paul,
then, th’frozen river
(9-15)








saint paul streets, glazed ‘n’ clear,
gold dome’s silent – car full ‘f kids
goes back t’dinkytown
(11-16)






lost faith th'winter ir'n
range priest took bingo funds, spent
'm all in holy land
(6-13)






brought her show t’ th’walker,
knows her warhol and th’soup can -
ice on dayton’s curb
(9-15)









hennepin café –
she tells ‘f warhol’s marilyns,
they tell ‘f th’kinds ‘f black ice
(9-15)







ice on th’silos –
jaded as she is, she likes
the mini-apple
(9-15)









march blizzard 'n th'cities,
drunken sioux, angry tirade -
on th'wrong city bus
(1-10)







slush flies from th’bus wheels –
on saint paul’s grim haiku day,
it’s hard t’find th’poetry
(4-18)








warrior’s anguished rage –
may blizzard, seward bus fare,
th’fate of th’sioux peoples
(7-16)







angry lake street sioux –
may blizzard, ‘n’ lost patience with
“minnesota nice”
(7-17)








duluth harbor quest –
he’ll know all the lake’s secrets
soon as th’ice breaks up
(9-15)









west 'v th'cities, the plains
open out, green 'n' wide - clara
city, you're a speck
(2-14)







down from winnipeg -
hit th'cities 'round two, but 'n june,
everyone's still up
(1-14)





sun ‘n’ th’old star tribunes –
th’hippie farmer’s on th’porch, with
th’huge stalk ‘f brussel sprouts
(3-17)



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coast t’coast, ‘n’ comes t’saint paul –
neat lawns ‘n th’city he used t’know,
‘n now, th’lit up cap’tol
(2-18)






twinkiedome drama
yankee fans, a bit crude, but
june belongs to twins
(1-10)





called th’false indigo,
says th’saint paul lass – th’purple flow’r
escaped into th’wild
(1-17)






iron range trainyard –
prairie larkspur, you’ve come far,
forgive their language
(1-17)






dinkytown lattes -
punks agree, june's too short to
suffer through classes
(1-10)



e pluribus haiku