California

arcata redwoods,
refuge from th’high price ‘f summer –
sea fog gives him chills
(5-16)






th’four-oh-five, late june –
ev’ryone’s going too slow,
‘n’thinking ‘bout th’bronco
(7-17)






back from tijuana –
among th’green suburban lawns,
somewhere, th’sound ‘f fireworks
(3-17)





finds him out in th'haight
dealin' 'n' trippin' at th'same time,
even on the fourth
(1-12)






up t’yosemite –
july heat ‘n’ lots of dead wood,
nothing to stop th’fire
(7-17)




 
summer ‘n people’s park –
showdown, nazis ‘n’ antifas,
‘n’ what’s left of free speech
(9-17)







bare feet in th’crosswalk –
th'city’s tired ‘f th’influx ‘f hippies,
but all th’cars still stop
(6-17)





hearst castle ‘t sunrise –
by th’roadside, near th’sea, campfire,
‘n’ th’plainest ‘f cereal
(9-17)







coast fog, crashing waves
big sur, soothing balm, after
sizzling desert road
(6-13)





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imperial valley –
th’canteloupes are delicious,
th’sandy soil’s shifting
(1-18)









look for th’right stuff t’wear –
he wants th’job near candlestick,
they’ll go t’ th’freedom p’rade
(4-16)









full bus t’candlestick,
folks have leisure – he needs th’job
‘t th’cardboard box fact’ry
(4-16)








boxes, th’wines ‘f sonoma –
he mentions th’boycott ‘f gallo
as if they would care
(5-16)








dodgers at candl'stick,
ancient and bitter feud - pard'n,
but I'm just pass'n through
(6-13)







death valley camper –
knows th’six-lanes ‘n th’valley, prefers
th’unbearable heat
(5-17)







no use for marriage –
los gatos vintner, instead,
loves th’fine kitchen knives
(10-16)










humboldt redwood dreams,
ferns, rotted bark as mattress,
canopy as tent
(9-08)






redwood camper’s tale –
round th’golden gate, someone gave’m
a new perspective
(12-15)








campfires on the beach -
he grew up 'n l.a., but knows
it'll never be th'same
(12-14)







downtown stockton - five's
shoulder, flat tire, van 'f hikers,
impatience 'f the law
(10-14)










saw sign say'n "zzyzx"-
california in summer
or desert mirage?
(1-13)






road to manzanar -
sweat imprisons, sun rises,
camp memories burn
(3-10)







august, manzanar –
nisei, imprisoned in th’heat
dreaded th’rising sun
(2-16)







th’baby, born ‘t manzanar –
the stifling heat, he knows so well,
not what they promised
(5-16)







takes three days to get
from south l.a. to north by thumb
nights with roadside flowers
(7-05)








road splits in barstow,
where hopes fry like egg on road -
one hiker's still stuck
(7-05)












from baldy, th'hazy
valley - warm winters're good,
summers like this're hell
(12-14)






embarcadero –
back from burning man, they love
th’fog on their faces
(12-15)





‘cross th’russian river –
left th’city, labor day, t’go up
where there’s room to live
(1-17)




cheese, apple, skippy -
waves crash, harvest moon rises
over th'hearst castle
(12-14)







harvest moon on th’sea,
crackers ‘n’ skippy by th’roadside –
to th’east, th’hearst castle
(12-16)






camp ‘n th’woods, this side ‘f one,
go down t’ th’beach t’bathe in big sur –
beats going back t’school
(4-17)






candlestick vendor
doesn't want to run for change -
tired of long season
(2-10)






long way t’watch football -
even longer, t’leave th’niners
‘cause someone took th’knee
(10-17)






rest’rants on sunset –
th’man talks raiders ‘n’ th’new dramas,
th’laas, th’me-too hashtag

 (10-17)

third night, roadside flowers,
vast valleys, l.a. traffic -
miss'n two-lane's colors
(9-14)








malibu surfer –
friends’ve gone back t’school, he remains
consumed by each wave
(1-16)






ravaged by th’tubbs fire –
hard t’believe th’october winds’d take
ev’rything he owned
(10-17)









annadel, she says,
paradise, whole fields ‘f wildflow’rs –
gone in th’october fires
(10-17)






voodoo queen ‘f th’city,
says th’olivia street lass, th’most
famous ‘f th’pac heights ghosts
(10-17)






even on saints' day,
flowers blooming on hillside -
l.a. freeway bridge
(2-10)






halloween t’souls day,
same exit, same l.a. smog,
same roadside flowers
(5-15)







gated commun’ty –
lots ‘f poor folks ‘n santa rosa,
don’t want’m trick ‘r treating
(3-17)






souls' day cable car
rider - "how limiting 't is
t'only love women"
(11-14)










souls’ day, griffith park –
fear ‘f th’wild cats overtook him,
been here way too long
(11-16)







a plain-looking gruel –
souls’ day ‘t th’mission, tells th’story
‘f patty hearst cereal
(5-16)






mendocino surf's
brooding crash - 'n' abalone
for thanksgiving feast
(10-14)

fires from th’sant’anas –
easy t’see how stuff burns, but
where’d th’wind get that pow’r? 

(12-17)

grew up in th’suburbs –
two years ‘n east jesus, ‘n’ ready,
now, f’r normal hol’days
(4-18)




even ‘n th’holidays,
tries t’get th’hikers t’come back with’m
down t’daly city
(4-17)







police on the ten
stop hikers five yards from sign -
no christmas spirit
(2-10)






steep traffic ticket –
eight feet wrong side ‘f th’hiker’s sign,
‘n’ a merry christmas
(1-17)






nob hill cable car –
gay blade ‘n’ th’handsome bell ringer
practice th’freedom ‘f speech
(12-16)






near carmel, th’hiker
by chance meets th’folk singer – both
want t’be home f’r christmas
(7-15)







savage traffic fumes -
neon diamond, sunset haze,
christmas eve descends
(12-11)







easy climb t’baldy –
new year hits th’valley, leaves him
slightly out of breath
(9-16)






took four days to hitch
south l.a. to north - new year
in roadside bushes
(2-12)






fog ‘t mendocino –
champagne ‘n’ tales ‘f his days at sea,
b’low, th’waves crash on th’rocks
(6-17)






santa monica
cop, no hot crimes, spends new year
waking the homeless
(9-10)








venice canal's edge -
old country's reflection in
a champagne bottle
(9-10)









week in griffith park
'f love, coffee, peanut butter -
holidays come and go
(9-10)









got to san diego
felt the dark east behind him -
epiphany tide
(5-13)






traffic ties up th’five,
curses his luck – wanted to get home
t’watch th’state ‘f th’union
(1-16)





west ‘f reno, th’mountains –
‘n th’bay, warm ‘n’ endless spring, here, ‘t’s ice
‘n’ th’brakes don’t work so well
(11-17)






long barn ice skaters
spent two months watching those fires –
th’wind whistles through th’pines
(11-17)







high sierra storm
ice on pines and patios
takes one's breath away
(7-05)








lodi trucker's drawl -
it's only green in winter,
brown, rest of the year
(12-10)









mountain winds whistle,
snow-laden pines sway and shriek -
long barn and its glade
(12-10)








art on venice walls -
they ignore it all winter,
he tags the palm tree
(4-10)








backup on the five
cars, sun, air con - for this we
trade scraping windshields?
(7-05)





santa clarita –
eight lanes reflect in th’windshield
he’d got tired ‘f scraping
(6-17)









out off mulholland,
he sits by the pool ‘n’ fires th’whole crowd,
right through valentine’s
(1-16)






embarcadero,
chance encounter, th’long-lost friends –
they share th’be mine hearts
(11-16)






hollywood freeway
denny’s – even th’graveyard shift,
talking ‘bout th’oscars 
(10-17)





sweeping clay street curbs,
he speaks of spring festivals
where weather changes
(11-13)





donner pass, westbound,
covered ‘n snow, even ‘n spring –
don’t mention th’hunger
(11-16)






creek ‘t yosemite –
none of th’people on th’tramway
get this far up th’ridge
(12-16)






sleeps days, big sur woods -
spring moon at highway crossing,
nights by ocean waves
(9-12)






night ‘n th’central valley –
knows th’place with good cabritos
somewhere ‘n modesto
(3-17)






up ‘n mendocino –
‘t’s easter ‘n th’city, but came t’hide,
‘n fog this thick it’s easy
(11-17)




city park coyotes –
presidio lass knows them all,
‘n’ knows this one’s babies
(7-17)







fog ‘n sebastopol –
like th’hummingbird, th’lass hovers
‘t th’bright red jup’ter’s beards
(4-16)







death valley hoppers –
when th’grasses fin’ly arrived,
devoured them, and left
(3-18)











th’bright jupiter’s beards,
‘n’ th’fog moves in t’sebastopol –
kind ‘f stuck in th’sixties
(12-17)

to th’schoolkids, her love –
la purisima mission,
th’stories of th’old priests
(10-15)










spanish heritage –
th’bloody tales fall on th’blank stares
‘f th’lompoc schoolchildren
(10-15)







caught one fourth grader
had t’make th’model ‘f th’purisima
tried t’take th’pieces ‘f tile
(10-15)








near mendocino –
th’april rains pound th’rocky cliffs,
‘n’ they’re out there, with th’seals
(4-18)






cable car’s jangle –
he holds tight n’n frets ‘bout th’may rent,
th’kids lean over th’edge
(6-17)




panhachel 'til may
then bring it to malibu
in time for arts fest
(9-10)






redwoods ‘f santa cruz –
takes th’math final, looks at th’sea –
don’t give grades, t’speak of
(3-17)






mother’s day, golden
gate bridge – quickly, help give her
some reasons to live!
(5-15)







sunday morning’s best,
ticket th’parked cars june t’august -
he climbs t’th’hollywood sign
(1-16)






bolinas turnoff –
he makes th’fateful decision
t’go up th’coast f’r th’summer
(5-16)





june evening drama -
he curses the four oh five
and all its people
(8-10)






victorians, flag day –
none ‘f richmond was ever old,
even before th’earthquake

 (4-17)

e pluribus haiku