Arizona

bed ‘f th’navajo truck –
some blankets ‘n’ tools, th’high mountains,
out ‘f th’phoenix summer
(6-16)







high ‘n th’painted desert,
th’scorpion’s noticed – sun’s gone down
a little earlier
(1-18)







window rock on fourth -
this ain't ar'zona, he says,
but sure is th'u.s.
(4-10)






window rock patriot –
our fireworks are navajo time,
not arizona
(1-16)







too poor f’r firecrackers,
phoenix barrio kids shoot guns –
she sees ‘m in th’e r
(6-16)






ambulance ‘n th’valley –
easier t’find guns ‘n’ ammo
than buy th’firecrackers
(10-17)







baked out wash near why,
still asleep, th'cool hours 'f morning -
th'rattler disapproves
(12-14)





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paradise valley –
been in phoenix all her life,
won’t touch th’sun-baked rails
(1-18)








th’ancestral homeland –
douglas t’ten, ‘n th’night breeze, tells ‘bout
skeleton canyon
(1-17)






sky harbor pilot
scorns hazy summers, but loves
t'lift right up out 'f them
(11-14)






sky harbor pilot –
angling t’ward vegas, sees th’house
down th’scorching valley
(6-17)






strip rancher curses
th’day th’saints sold out t’ th’government –
searing sun, blue sky
(12-15)







tent city sheriff –
justifies th’one thirty temps
‘f th’concentration camps
(9-17)







drones ‘f sierra vista
don’t mind midday’s scorching heat –
control them from th’ground
(1-18)






sixty six motel -
gideon's cool, but kingman's walks
egg-fry hot by nine
(5-10)







kingman motel tale –
sleeps t’noon t’avoid th’heat, he says,
sun melts th’beatles tape
(1-17)





somewhere outside why
desert summer stillness asks -
always traveling?
(11-05)







car breaks down 'n oracle,
kid's sure it's sign of god - hiker's
back on dusty road
(11-14)






 
roller coaster road –
pool ‘n th’back yard, ‘n’ he feels guilty
with each new mixed drink
(1-18)







like geronimo -
hides in apache cave, scorns
air conditioning
(7-05)








hundred twenty ‘n th’shade,
encanto village in june –
gallon ‘f water ‘n th’trunk
(6-17)






potholders ‘n th’console –
mesa lass parked ‘t th’water store,
can’t touch th’steering wheel
(6-17)






ajo road rattler –
lets you camp ‘n’th’old dry wash,
tells you when th’sun’s up
(10-16)








in th’superstitions,
th’blazing heat, th’water bottle
‘n’ th’workings ‘f his own mind
(10-16)









mex’can gold poppies
light up th’hillsides – tempe kid
decides t’go t’vegas
(10-16)








on ten through phoenix
th’trucker talks football t’stay awake –
last big town b’fore th’coast
(10-16)







oatman's wild burros
bob for apples - ghost tale of
some irish miner
(1-13)


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hunter’s moon, he stands
‘t th’rim ‘f th’grand canyon – tries not t’think
‘bout th’meaning ‘f it all
(2-18)






decorated skulls -
bisbee schoolteacher explains
nat'ral confusion
(11-14)







decorated skulls –
tucson schoolteacher’s learned how
t’explain t’ th’new parents
(2-17)





visiting artist –
‘n th’bisbee lass’ tour – what shocks her’s
th’decorated skulls
 (10-17)






sedona tourist –
soul’s day ‘n th’vortex, doesn’t buy
th’stuff about healing
(6-17)






two vets, red poppies,
phoenix walmart parking lot -
a little conflict
(11-14)








philly - l.a. hitch,
jalapeno grits 'n' stuffing -
mesa hol'day grace
(11-13)







jalapeno grits –
th’mesa kids thank god d’rectly
‘t th’thanksgiving dinner
(2-17)







mesa rebel’s tale –
even ‘t thanksgiving, he likes
th’jalapeno grits
(4-17)







half th’night t’get t’phoenix –
guy buys th’breakfasts, pays th’tip, takes
candy canes from th’jar
(5-16)







balloon santa, propped
up on phoenix lawn, inches
from prickly cactus
(12-11)








like th’parking meters,
th’saguaros guard th’mountain pass
it’s christmas ‘n tucson
(10-16)







phoenix lass’ window –
balloon santa sways in th’breeze
near th’prickly cactus
(1-18)







tucson saguaros,
twinkling stars greet the new year,
guard pass through mountains
(9-08)






his ears’re still ringing,
freak hailstorm, apache junction –
new year with th’snow birds
(12-15)






apache junction –
tells ‘bout th’freak hailstorm ‘n th’metal
‘bout th’time ‘f th’countdown
(1-17)





apache junction
preacher’s found th’snowbirds – at least
thy have time t’listen
(10-17)





snow on strip pinon -
canyon's fresh blanket shelters
from mormon country
(2-10)






used t’playing gospel –
got gigs all winter singing
‘t all th’snowbird churches
(4-17)






gospel ‘n th’snowbird church –
he’d feel it more ‘f he had th’gas
t’get t’casa grande
(1-18)





more snow ‘n th’streets of flag –
she plays th’clubs ‘n th’valley ‘n vegas,
now she hears his voice
(10-17)





played th’clubs around flag,
she says, mitten on her tears –
she, too, does his songs
(5-15)





navajo blankets,
ride, from gap to snowed-in flag,
remain unfinished
(4-10)





tonopah exit -
even the desert winters
strike him as extreme
(11-14)







cactus garden brims
with exotic blossoms in
phoenix midday sun
(7-05)






saguaros stand guard -
joy of desert chicory,
escape from tucson
(4-10)






phoenix traffic - swath
of mexican gold poppies
don't mind the diesel
(4-10)







navajo blanket –
phoenix exit, haiku day,
‘n’ th’book, too, incomplete
(4-18)







tucson beer garden –
she left him here ‘n th’blooming yuccas,
he still plays th’beeswing song
(5-15)






sunrise, from small tent
wide, pastel, ancient landscape -
easter, hermit's rest
(1-14)









th’organ pipe cactus –
doesn’t mind th’solitude, blooms
entirely t’please th’sun
(10-16)







ajo lass – th’blooming
cycle ‘f th’organ pipe cactus
‘s one thing she knows well
(6-15)








sonoran peoples,
th’topic ‘f h’r books – tucson folkfest,
th’present attraction
(6-15)







sonora’s blooming,
‘n’ through th’tohono o’odham res,
her search f’r common ground
(6-15)






blooming sonoras,
th’allman brothers drum solo –
th’cup runneth over
(11-16)







slight may rain, th’red blooms
of th’ocotillo on ten –
sudden change of mood
(5-15)





oc’tillos on ten -
soft red flowers ‘f th’sonora
could be th’love ‘f his life
(10-16)







broken down on ten –
th’ocotillos, th’morning sun,
have t’accept what is
(11-17)





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valley interstate –
th’mexican gold poppies catch
th’morning sun, just so
(1-18)







serious saguaros’
flow’rs hold out in th’sonora heat –
and th’town’s called carefree
(5-15)







saguaros ‘f tucson –
in th’high mountain pass, their flow’rs
seem t’welcome her home
(10-17)










saguaros blooming –
mexican bats’ only chance
t’come through th’sonora
(3-18)




e pluribus haiku
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