Nevada

fountain spray ‘n th’dry heat –
you’d think this alone would serve
‘s entertainment
(11-16)





dead eyes, whirring ‘f th’slots,
‘n’ th’casino announces th’show –
gone right through th’solstice
(3-17)






came from th’big city,
near reno, hiked th’canyon ‘n found
th’truly wild horses
(3-17)



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lazy ‘n th’summer heat –
back ‘n hawaii, bad dreams ‘n th’tides,
here – only th’sound ‘f th’slots
(2-18)






looking down at sparks
desert summer loses grip -
eastbound train starts out
(2-10)







steep rugged hillside –
no rides ‘cross th’parched desert – down
b’low, th’train rolls through sparks
(6-16)




through vegas ‘round th’fourth,
she found th’slots ‘n’ got that glazed look,
been here ever since
(6-17)





can’t see th’wash from here,
says th’caliente mom, food ‘n th’oven –
th’boys got th’m-eighties
(3-16)







squints ‘t th’vegas neon –
just back from spirit mountain,
th’shim’ring heat hurts th’eyes
(9-16)









miles ‘n’ miles, sun-baked road
hit austin hungry, instead,
mormon church, silence
(12-15)






austin’s mormon church,
shade ‘n’ silence – it’s locked against
th’loneliest highway
(3-17)






neon boneyard bound –
washed up performer wants t’camp
‘n th’glow ‘f th’golden slipper
(11-16)







knows th'beatty speed trap,
lets caddy fly past, get caught -
small town, summer night
(12-14)








houses built angled
away from sun - 's why they call
it caliente
(2-10)








some cash from working –
through reno t’ th’rockies ‘n summer,
enough t’get t’alaska?
(4-17)








eastbound train from sparks
through cold desert summer night
chills us to the bone
(~05)







desert train’s ‘t lovelock –
even in july, chills th’bones,
makes you want th’coffee
(3-17)







th’mirror he took from
th’liberace museum
reflects th’blazing sun
(6-15)








outside enterprise
burning sun reddens the weak -
rock caves offer shade
(2-10)







fountain spray ‘n th’desert –
coming from th’dusty campground,
he knows his face’s streaked
(9-17)








a week in black rock -
he's brought the desert with him,
doesn't stop in vegas
(11-14)






black rock desert tale –
th’burner who rushed into th’fire,
lost in th’spirit ‘f th’burn
(9-17)






unforgiving chill
desert summer night settles
miles still from elko
(1-07)







dusty old pickup -
campground host, in dunes sign's glow,
curses lost food stamps
(9-10)







smell ‘f desert sagebrush –
campground host warns of th’perils
‘f winning at th'blackjack
(3-17)





down from burning man,
stops ‘t th’casino t’use th’bathroom,
‘n’ th’mirror seems t’mock him
(8-17)






august dust rises -
plane's wing turns toward vegas,
sun gets lost in haze
(8-12)







she’s ‘t th’neon boneyard –
after th’blackrock fest’val, had
t’stop ‘t th’golden slipper
(5-15)






smell ‘f desert sage ‘n th’breeze,
at th’neon boneyard she’ll cry
at th’golden slipper
(9-17)







opp’site ‘f fame, she says –
desert camping, with th’soft glow
‘f th’boneyard stardust sign
(5-15)








smell ‘f desert sagebrush –
something ‘bout th’glitter 'n' th’sparkle
keeps her coming back
(5-15)








neon boneyard tale -
harvest moon stirs her mem'ries
of golden slipper
(9-10)


 


harvest moon ‘n vegas –
you came t’love th’new desert life,
he altered th’weapons
(10-17)







town ‘f austin, silent –
harvest moon, empty streets, back
t’ th’loneliest highway
(9-17)







schoolkids, dutton park –
with a straight face, they tell us -
most ‘f th’strip’’s ‘n paradise
(6-15)







vegas interstates –
going eighty just t’get t’school,
not his kind ‘f gambling
(9-17)





behind th’mandalay,
study break t’go watch aldean –
he hears th’commotion
(9-17)





loneliest highway –
even on th’night of th’first frost,
he swerves ‘n’ saves th’rabbit
(10-16)






on cold desert train,
dawn brings empty fall stillness
somewhere near elko
(10-08)







watching guests throw coins
in strip fountain - alas, souls' day's
just like all the rest
(11-14)







bare ‘n’ sleepy mountain,
on th’elko road on souls’s day -
is there life up there?
(3-17)


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lost ‘n th’cowboy christmas –
million dollars ‘f western clothes
seem t’block all th’exits
(1-18)






vegas stopover
flight calls to snow belt towns fade
slots' whirs take over
(~06)







hears th’sound ‘f th’basque language –
th’old man ‘n th’winnemucca bar
sheds tears at th’countdown
(11-17)









hits vegas for slots -
new years day he sees lake mead,
even quits drinking
(9-10)









near winnemucca,
th’old basque shepherd’s new year song -
wants th’news from back home
(11-16)









delayed by new year
fog - vegas pilot's never seen
a ceiling this low
(12-10)






new year near mesquite –
lost’t all ‘n vegas, back ‘n minot,
he’ll d’clare bankruptcy
(11-16)







left his aging ma
't home on frigid plain - he rests
'neath th'old stardust sign
(9-10)







back on th’frigid plain,
left his fam’ly – now he rests
‘t th’gate ‘f th’neon boneyard
(3-17)





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night train through elko –
blizzard in th’empty streets, then,
miles ‘f empty desert
(11-17)








blizzard hits elko –
we have some tol’rance, she says,
f’r folks who’re different
(10-16)






mormon peak trekker
tells how th’dry rugged winters
tend t’make folks extreme
(9-16)







homestead dreams derailed-
toxic waste, never to thaw,
stay frozen, yucca
(1-07)







vegas pool tanner
tells of march cop convention -
he never went home
(10-08)








reno slots winner
cap full of quarters - stumbles
into march blizzard
(2-10)







came from basque country -
took a few blooming valleys
t'call nevada home
(1-14)






loneliest highway –
goldfish ‘n th’desert spring play tag
in th’june morning sun
(12-15)








fragrance of sagebrush,
golden slipper ‘t th’boneyard – th’fame
didn’t amount t’much
(11-17)










wildflowers ‘f tahoe –
high in th’mountains, she finds one
called th’wooly mule’s ear
(3-17)


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finds th’wooly mule’s ear –
like th’mountain flow’r, th’tahoe lass
feels ‘t home in th’high glade
(11-17)







she eyes th'mountain man,
come down t'reno with th'snowmelt  -
all life's a gamble
(1-14)






restaurant’s full ‘f slots –
reno waitress gambles on th’ride
up t’where th’snow’s melting
(11-17)





spring’s come down th’mountains –
th’mountain man wins th’reno slots,
looks more int’resting
(11-16)




e pluribus haiku