North Carolina

road pastor's sermon -
locusts, moses, commandments -
rocky mount exit
(5-10)





refined aloofness –
she walks by th’construction zones
‘n th’golden triangle
(3-17)






'bout back to lejeune,
after th'short leave over th'fourth,
but stopped for a drink
(10-08)





 

dallas t’car’lina –
drove a thousand miles t’be sure
t’start th’nascar season
(4-17)





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just moved t’weddington –
iced tea, drip cake, ‘n’ pride in th’south –
they think they’ve made it
(12-17)

hatteras hotel –
hurricane hits th’empty dunes,
‘n’ he’s drunk in th’basement
(12-17)








okracoke ferry,
pounded by rains – he wonders
if they speak english
(7-16)





what would buddha do
sticker stuck on duck beach van -
drifter peels it off
(5-10)








tour boats on th’cape fear –
she looks across at a life
far more idyllic
(11-15)







a-t hiker wants
post box – fly on th’hole ‘n th’screen
chooses th’pisgah woods
(2-16)








badly needed bath
with th’trail hikers – he finds out
th’river’s called th’french broad
(10-15)









lumberton exit –
wanted th’east coast ‘n th’good weather,
he’s so far from both
(3-17)







fly through th'hole in th'screen -
have post boxes here in kyle?
"fahn thank you how're you?"
(8-05)







outside wilmington
girl explains to soldier,
ways of venus flytrap
(3-10)









rain pounds outer banks,
vacation becomes card game-
motel, belowdecks...
(7-05)








hurricane’s closed th’roads
‘n’ they ain’t seen’m – moved t’ th’outer banks
t’drink ‘n’ be left alone
(10-16)






rolls a cigarette,
inhales humid blue feeling
of winston-salem
(5-10)









o'coker's brogue - she'll
tell tourists about blackbeard
n'hoi toide all summer
(5-10)







loggerhead turtles –
power’s out, ‘n’ th’pea island folks
want them to find th’tide
(8-17)






tourists've all cleared out,
got this choppy sound t'ourselves -
okracoke ferry
(5-10)







hendersonville lad,
skipped school t’come t’story fest, ‘n’ learn
t’stretch th’truth a little
(10-16)



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raleigh campaign tale –
turned away hundreds ‘f voters,
some things just won’t change
(2-18)









charlotte waitress claims,
calls ev’ryone y’all – d’y’all want
th’pumpkin pie or not?
(12-16)






from clingman’s dome, th’fog
th’colors just ‘bout at their peak
‘neath th’misty blanket
(3-17)







nags head ocean squall –
th’small kitchen gets a bit cramped,
even with th’smell ‘f sage
(8-16)






nags head thanksgiving,
small talk ‘n’ th’bird’s carved - he wonders
what happened to th’sage
(11-17)





thanksgiving grace, ‘n’ th’tide –
nag’s head storms’ll take all th’power
‘n’ worst when you’re out ‘t sea
(10-17)






rest stop, up th’smokies,
th’colors’ve come down th’ridge – th’coffee’s
for th’long hitch out west
(11-15)







tales ‘f th’ghosts ‘f old salem –
no shortage ‘f th’paranormal
here ‘n th’yadkin valley
(11-17)








cold snap, up th’east coast –
superstitious ‘n’ won’t stop t’pee
‘til th’virginia line
(10-17)








cape may beachcomber –
f’r years he scoured th’beach all winter,
now th’new tech’ll find th’gold
(11-17)






‘cross th’smokies westbound,
way up here, snow already –
s’pose y’all’re used to it
(3-17)






charlotte bellringer –
spent thirty years ‘n th’middle east,
this cold fog feels good
(11-15)







chapel hill waitress –
christmas tips’re slow, ‘n’ they bug her
‘bout th’way she says ‘y’all’
(11-17)




raleigh ‘t christmastime –
truck driver just in from th’coast,
suddenly starts t’sing
(12-16)







hashtag winterstorm –
boone kids know how t’document
wouldn’t dream ‘f shov’ling
(1-18)








rocky mount trucker –
warm cab, cig’rette, salvation,
f’r th’wayfaring stranger
(10-16)






rain pounds th’outer banks –
winter ‘f impassable roads,
he’ll drink himself t’death
(1-15)








cape fear beachcomber -
knows where and when each ship sank,
many winters back
(5-10)








light snow dusts raleigh,
traffic slows to fearful crawl -
now hear my footsteps
(5-10)






"should stop trav'ling," she
says, "'n' settle down along th'shore..."
lent'n rains pound nag's head
(5-10)








waiting in franklin
march snow, a-t hikers pounce
on diner placemats
(1-07)






follows th’tar heels ‘round,
drinking’m up after th’games – ‘nough
just t’be ‘n their shadow
(12-16)









turned against th’tar heels –
th’bask’tball’s good, but th’drunken fans,
th’nights go on f’rever
(11-15)






he played for th’tar heels,
‘n’ knows ev’ry detail ‘bout th’dance,
never quite learned t’read
(10-17)





cold spring rain and fog
hide smokies from clingman's dome -
a hazy kingdom
(1-07)









ways ‘f th’venus flytrap,
th’sticky sweetness – this soldier
won’t make it t’fort bragg
(11-16)








gentle wind on beach,
uplifting sense of hist'ry -
kitty hawk in spring
(5-10)






charlotte waitress, spring
rains - if she'd meant th'four hikers,
she'd've said 'all of y'all'
(12-14)







th’world’s finest art show,
th’ bright colors of th’homemade signs –
th’dads return t’lejeune
(10-17)







creative spirit –
strength and renewal, may breeze,
lejeune welcome signs
(1-15)








her kids picked th’colors –
homemade sign, lejeune spring breeze
he’s on his way home
(10-15)







spring rain, piney green –
busy with kids, but worried
about what he’s seen
(10-15)






loyalty’s reward –
hope road flow’rs, fine wife, ‘n’ th’baby
who’s never seen him
(10-15)






th’soldier’s youngest son,
in th’spring breeze ‘t lejeune, carries
th’most creative ‘f signs
(3-17)








greeted by th’homemade signs –
never did th’blossoming trees
‘f lejeune frame such joy 
-->(3-18)





course he loves nascar –
crossing th’smokies t’hit th’first race,
might stay th’whole season
(12-17)








grits, eggs, ‘n’ some coffee,
may drizzle, winston salem –
life’s not ‘s bad ‘s she says
(3-17)







up th’trail through franklin,
twenty three miles, ‘n’ th’hiker’s mind
starts settling on th’food
(8-17)






th’way he pronounced ‘ice’,
th’charlotte man ‘t th’ outdoor wedding –
she’s shocked he wants some
(7-17)






 

day ‘t roanoke island –
garden ‘f flowers, ‘n’ she likes best
th’statue ‘f her maj’sty
(12-17)







vine ‘f th’morning glory –
durham gard’ner likes th’purple,
but ‘s strangling th’cosmos
(10-16)







vines ‘f morning glory
‘n th’charlotte alley – th’locals say
she knows what t’do with’m
(10-17)





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back ‘n raleigh, th’author,
tired ‘f th’northern diners, ‘t easter
likes when they call ‘m ‘y’all’
(2-18)








asheville, childhood home –
comes back f’r a friends wedding ‘n’ sees
th’poppies on th’roadside
(1-18)






kill devil hills kid,
last day ‘f school, throws th’driftwood
far ‘s he can, out t’sea
(3-17)





came back down t'raleigh,
brought her a fresh bouquet of
her neighbor's dogwoods
(12-13)




e pluribus haiku