Alabama

iced tea, mint, sugar
calhoun county’s best manners –
little extra sugar
(2-16)






gadsden barbeque –
no matter how hard times are,
y’all’re welcome for th’fourth
(2-16)



 

in mobile, th’junction –
heavy rain’s cancelled th’fireworks,
‘n’ her plans are in th’air
(10-17)






she’s back ‘n fairhope f’r th’fourth –
a town that’s absorbed ‘n itself,
kind of refreshing
(10-16)








lazy fairhope morns –
th’old mansion has issues, hers,
th’cool mint tea ‘n th’study
(10-17)





fishing th'tombigbee, 
his sultry prison 'f a town's
million miles away
(11-14) 









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back home from th’army –
wants t’work f’r th’birmingham police
‘n’ crank th’air con at home
(2-18)





kudzu chokes back road,
ominous warning posted -
go back to mobile 
(4-10)







clanton tourists' tale -
came hundreds 'f miles in this heat 
to pay our respects
(11-14) 






picnic near clanton –
their honor, their lives, bound
t’ th’confederacy 
(2-16) 







clanton picnic tale –
he knows th’confed’rate gen’rals,
names his sons after’m
(6-16)






second-guessing lee –
clanton picnic folks insist
stonewall would have won
(10-17)







grew all th’mint herself –
vegetables all got withered
in th’hot ‘bama sun
(5-17)





shocked t’see th’yankee hat
on th’red clay bama backroads –
little out of place
(9-16)







windows closed ‘gainst th’heat –
active shooter ‘t th’arsenal,
but th’word seems t’get ‘round
(6-17)




midnight trucker’s voice,
they’re burning tires up ahead –
then, th’crickets ‘f fort payne
(6-16)







good manners steeping, 
iced tea, mint, lemon, sugar -
sweet heart of dixie 
(7-05)






nice fiddle ya got
come up blount mount'n, he says - got 
folks play all summer 
(8-05)







muscle shoals fiddler –
used t’ th’summers ‘n’ th’culture of th’place,
loves those dixie songs
(2-16)







trowbridge egg n' olive -
iced tea to cool the tongue, from 
florence gossip's sting
(4-10)





fairhope maiden's wish -
her own front porch, summer read,
someone to talk to
(4-10)







fairhope, she says, town
where folks notice ev’rything,
‘n’ summer still drags on
(1-16)






excited ‘bout th’tide,
eager t’take that hopped up truck
‘n’ parade th’red colors
(1-16)





 

old yankee hat on 
rider, old 'bama clay in 
truck, fall sky outside
(8-05)










her wood’s cut and stacked,
guy ‘n th’old truck, ‘bama clay,
drops off th’venison
(10-16)







ven’son ‘n’ collard greens –
not happy ‘bout th’auburn game,
‘n’ scroungin’ for dessert
(2-18)








'bama fans trashing 
auburn streets - college prank, 'cept
they aren't in college
(1-13)








don’t care f’r th’college kids –
he’s fixin’ t’do some damage
when th’tide beats auburn
(4-17)







twenty near ranburne –
rolling hills, autumn fog, dusk,
th’u.f.o. was real
(2-16)







hauling through ranburne,
th’changing leaves through th’fog, then, th’lights
from another world
(10-17)








confederate flag,
united we stand sticker- 
'bama football day
(8-05)



 



red ‘bama jerseys –
for each number, a player,
gods of th’pantheon
(6-17)






ranburne trucker’s tale –
th’saucer landed ‘n th’autumn fog,
right along twenty
(3-17)






behold, the first frost,
th’hanging bottles, th’morning sun –
two-lane t’montgom’ry 
(9-15)








black friday ‘n gadsden –
mall owner tries to explain
why they kicked him out
(11-17)







pedophile ‘n th’senate –
election season, ‘n’ asks ‘bout
bus’ness as usual
(11-17)











bottles hang from th’trees –
first frost, two-lane t’montgom’ry,
walk past th’eerie light
(3-17)






dothan laundromat -
young boy, inconsolable
saw santa drinking
(1-13)






road forks in mobile -
cut north to face family,
or winter on gulf
(4-10)








coden temple gift,
from shrimper's wife to buddha - 
new year's storm hits gulf
(4-10)






coden shrimper’s boat –
hull ‘n’ ornament, all they found,
after th’new year’s storm
(2-16)





 

eastbound at grand bay,  
epiph'ny wind - unprepared,
for dawn's light'n her eyes
(4-10)






space heater, packed church - 
sand mountain snakes stay in box,
amens all around
(2-14)








b’lieve god speaks through th’snakes,
but th’sand mountain church burned down –
left th’space heater on

(3-17)








fam’ly’s kicked around
bama – now he stays warm ‘n’ works
making odysseys
(4-18)









snakes of sand mountain –
spits on th’frozen ground, says she’s
punished f’r ev’ry thought
(3-18)







tales ‘f old ‘bombingham’ –
rubs hands t’keep warm, ‘n’ tells how you’d
stay out of th’churches
(3-18)






plain old city bus, 
a mid-winter way to work - 
selma's reflection
(4-10)






selma bus ‘n winter,
take it just for th’experience –
often late, she says
(1-17)







standing by th’trash can,
burning th’news t’keep warm, telling
why ‘t’s called ‘bombingham’
(2-16)






oh so ord’nary –
selma bus, winter morning,
driver keeps ‘s eyes down
(11-17)






trash can fire, share th’heat –
th’black folks ‘n th’city can tell you
th’hist’ry ‘f “bombingham”
(3-17)







blount mountain music –
so good, he says, ya tend t’forget
y’ain’t worked all winter
(1-16)


 



ain't been this cold in 
gadsden, she says, since th'war of
northern aggression
(8-05)




 



not much to see here,
grim march rain's soaking florence,
blues in muscle shoals
(9-08)








dothan court, spring day,
she mutters about justice -
her son’s still locked up
(1-16)






gadsden magnolia,
flowers, strong ‘n’ fragrant – behind th’bush,
they’ve thrown some beer cans
(6-16)






‘nother round ‘f spring winds –
trailer home ‘n tuscaloosa
not th’best idea
(10-17)






inside th’van, th’guitar –
no money, th’grim ‘bama spring,
‘n’ now, ‘t’s raining again
(8-16)






rain, mobile exits,
on t’ward th’new orleans blood bank –
somewhere, it’s easter
(8-16)








from montgom'ry west,
spring dawn wakens th'countryside, 
ir'n rails sing f'r freedom 
(11-14) 







th’local lass jumps th’train –
west from montgomery, th’flow’rs,
th’valleys call to her
(12-16)







th’trees’re blooming ‘n dothan –
outside th’courthouse, th’mother yells,
no justice f’r th’poor folks!
(3-17)





westbound, seminole,
green-eyed lass, bouquet ‘f flowers –
he’s stopped in his tracks
(10-15)


 


lives on th’styx, th'flowers 
are all over th’place – he tries
t’imagine stopping
(10-15)







scent ‘f honeysuckle –
all up th’river styx she feels
so overpowered
(10-17)





it’s honeysuckle, 
she says – he admits he’s not
from alabama
(10-15) 








flowers on th’river styx –
surprised you’d notice, what with
all th’honeysuckle
(12-16)








rains pound birmingham, 
bright unmatched sock - another
laundromat easter 
(1-14) 






proud ‘f his ten c’mmandments –
gadsden gard’ner’s tales ‘f how th’guy
don’t mind th'coveting
(11-17)








train t’montgomery,
th’brakes screech – wisteria in th’fields,
th’morning dew shines ‘n th’sun
(3-18)








dothan magnolia –
th’place itself holds onto her,
‘n’ ‘t’s just now getting hot
(2-18)






 

june rains ‘n muscle shoals –
th’river rises, th’hiker waits,
somewhere, there’s music
(4-17)



e pluribus haiku