Florida

boca’s steamy ‘n june,
might want t’go t’th’beach – but no,
it’s all ‘bout th’clubs ‘t night
(1-17)


 

santa maria –
so hot, even th’tourists’ve left –
‘t’s when she likes it best
(10-17)






he’ll take th’humid summers,
says th’quebecois in melbourne,
t’never have t’shovel
(2-16)






jupiter dune tracks,
lead out into ocean tides,
june's gentle blanket
(10-08)







on th’beach ‘f jupiter,
before th’summer heat sets in –
feel th’pull ‘f other worlds
(2-16)






jupiter’s dune grass
catches th’moon’s light –th’smooth black sea
stretches forever
(7-16)









old town sanibel -
on the fourth, they want th'real thing
and t'relax, finally
(2-14)










old town sanibel –
his idea ‘f a pleasant fourth,
avoiding th’people
(1-17)






midnight, everglades –
they stop for coffee, and t’wash
th’love bugs off th’windshield
(7-16)





-->
love bugs on th’windshield –
th’feeling there’s crocs ‘n th’everglades,
but ‘t’s too hard t’see them
(12-17)




steals th’lawn flamingos,
but th’hurricane hit th’warehouse –
lost’m all that summer
(7-17)






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th'rains pound marathon –
you can’t mention climate change,
but this state’s on th’edge
(10-17)







steamy boca streets –
hard t’focus on th’partying,
hurr’cane’s just offshore
(9-17)






arrive at key west
to summer sunset dock dreamers -
kiss the earth, grateful
(~05)










looked th’dolphin in th’eye –
sea world lass tells ‘bout th’summer
she made th’lifelong friend
(9-17)











anna maria's
wide, empty beach - got used to
calm august tempo
(2-14)






dockside at sunset,
their eyes meet - even key west
has a hunter's moon
(11-14)






gators' line held up -
three steaks and ten beers later,
thinks he's entitled
(1-13)







fiercely protective
‘f th’gators’ quarterback, now wants
th’three steaks, and th’waitress
(10-16)







gainesville linebacker –
innocent ‘f all charges ‘f rape,
‘n’ at th’top of his game
(9-17)


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he tweets ‘bout football,
‘n’ thousand more puerto ricans
move t’ th’four corridor
(9-17)








yom kippur - west palm
widow, sorry she brought him,
sad he had to leave
(11-14)







genuine r’pentence –
west palm friends get th’lox, complain
‘bout th’shiksa waitress
(10-16)



-->

solemn ‘t yom kippur –
lox ‘n bagels ‘t th’west palm deli,
‘n’ true stories ‘f th’ocean
(12-17)







souls' day in boca -
in rhinestones and high heels,
got four clubs in mind
(11-14)

calls delray par’dise –
th’concepts ‘f turkey ‘n family
‘re really quite abstract
(12-15)






old ybor city,
trolley to cuban kitchen -
turkey, flan 'n' cigar
(6-08)







panhandle outlaws –
th’crimes were out west, but their path
brought’m here, out of th’cold
(4-17)








jax traffic nightmare,
black friday at th'malls - th'old man
heads back t'saint aug'stine
(11-14)






selling lots ‘f pain meds –
tampa pharm’cist’s just like th’rest,
saving up f’r th’hol’days
(6-17)




carols ‘t th’outlet mall –
raining hard ‘n ellenton, ‘n’ she
feels so far from home
(12-17)






wakodahatchee –
flock of purple gallinules
celebrate the holidays
(1-16)







barefoot beach burglar
hid’n ‘n th’weeds t’get some hol’day loot -
all’gator got him
(12-15)








hotel, sebastian –
with all th’hol’day business, they
don’t mind th’camper ‘n th’dunes
(12-15)









in disney line, kids
watch santa whisper t'mickey -
personnel issue
(11-14)







got friends in boca -
it's a good place to thaw out
when champagne goes flat
(9-05)







wakes up in boca –
silk sheets, but she’s hid th’champagne,
th’husband rings th’buzzer
(5-15)









vengeful and violent –
waves crash on south beach, b’yond th’porch,
he turns on th’rose bowl
(5-15)









new years, south fed’ral –
she’s got money, th’bad marriage,
he’s got th’pack ‘n’ th’fiddle
(5-15)







new year - what's left of
three bottles, and the same curb
hemingway sat on
(1-13)








drunker’n hemingway,
sits ‘t th’key west curbside, new year,
seeking his wisdom
(10-16)





on th’beach, sebastian
hotel guests’ve opened th’champagne –
he’s slept through th’new year
(7-16)







glove rubs rounded glass,
she swears she'll never forget
the launch on this beach
(1-13)







tucked b’hind th’windswept dune,
th’old beachcomber lights th’smoke, ‘n’ says
he’d watch th’launch from here
(8-16)






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midwinter ‘n tampa –
arrested feeding th’homeless,
had t’pay all th’court fines
(2-18)







boca iguana –
temps fell to freezing, ‘n’ he fell
from th’palm tree in th’yard
(1-18)








miami t’boca –
got too into th’drugs ‘n’ th’tourists
now she just takes stuff
(4-17)







homestead motor home,
new york blizzard on its screen -
no guilt or regret
(2-14)
 





maine to chile, but
luck, time stop in miami
for epiphany storm
(1-13)






almost got frostbite –
twenty years ‘n tallahassee,
‘n’ he’d never seen snow
(1-18)









panhandle outlaws –
like th’warm winters ‘n’ th’cheap pain meds,
ain’t ‘fraid t’use their guns
(12-15)







spring break, clearwater –
at th’edge, bull shark grabs th’tarpin,
nobody else sees
(12-15)








bull shark grabs th’tarpon -
clearwater beach, th’spring break kids
quite oblivious
(4-17)






motel near tampa –
spring break kids make th’huge racket,
he’s scanning craigslist
(10-17)




la-dee-dah's nightlife,
a spring break destination,
weary bum's tangent
(9-08)





spring break, pens’cola –
they’ve left behind th’cold country
‘n’ th’rigid sense ‘f morals
(3-17)





jupiter beach dunes -
starry march night reaches wide,
pulls gray ocean tides
(9-05)








crocs in th’everglades –
driving t’boca, makes her plans
for her schoolchildren
(3-18)









tales ‘f th’dry tortugas,
march currents that don’t go straight –
they kiss th’key west docks
(8-16)





on key west, watch th’march
sun set on th’dry tortugas –
bad place t’get stranded
(7-16)








thirty-a traffic -
spring break, whole world comes t'visit,
sits out on th'highway
(2-14)









midnight ‘n marathon –
th’road ‘n isle hold out against th’sea,
except in th’spring rains
(12-15)






cards in jupiter -
cigars, flask, hoops brackets, and
jacket just in case
(3-10)







th’young guys with th’hot cars,
night life lively’n’ exciting –
cards’re back ‘n jupiter
(10-17)






the girl, from jersey
to sea world this march - dolphin
looks her in the eye
(1-13)









looked th’dolphin in th’eye –
parents’d brought her t’sea world ‘n march,
changed her life f’rever
(1-17)






she got t’hug elsa –
th’little girl’ll tell th’tale when she
gets back from spring break
(10-17)











up t'ten from the keys,
ready for the long hitch to th'coast - 
dawn with st. johns frogs
(2-14)








saint john’s river frogs,
pull ‘f wine b’fore th’long hike to th’coast –
listen t’their chorus
(10-16)







saint john’s river frogs –
he’s turned west t’go t’grand canyon,
‘n’ they chirp ‘n approval
(12-17)






hides ‘n th’bougainvillea –
key west sparrow, hoping t’share
this crowded island
(4-18)









panhandle back roads –
fresh kudzu strangles his world,
wants t’get back on ten
(6-16)






west palm on tax day –
just not raking in th’money
like mar a lago
(6-17)





gets all their names wrong,
but she loves all th’birds ‘n’ flowers
‘n wakodahatchee
(10-16)







drydocks th’boat ‘n key west,
says he’ll get th’cargo later –
off t’easter dinner
(10-16)






dominic'n easter -
she explains through tears why she's
still on concourse f
(1-13)






easter, concourse f –
th’dominican lass finds folks who’re
close t’understanding
(10-17)







back t’calle ocho,
red beans ‘n’ rice, even ‘t easter –
kind ‘f misses th’island
(11-16)








fear ‘f th’alligator –
keeps you from th’flor’da swamps, and,
th’scarlet hibiscus
(1-17)







biscayne boulevard –
baby alligator’ll cross
right into th’traffic
(6-17)





it’s not hemp ‘n’ not sage,
says th’tampa lass ‘f th’blooming bush –
better name’s th’chaste tree
(1-17)




builder frames his house,
tampa reaches to marshes -
scrub jay moves her nest
(4-10)







red ‘n’ yellow, th’blanket
fort myers lass ‘n’ th’gaillardia
out beyond her field
(4-18)








land o’ lakes, june rains –
th’old guy tells of th’huge sinkhole
that swallowed his house
(7-17)


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e pluribus haiku