Haiku-isms -- Old Haiku and a new Blog: A 2008 Road Trip

So...this is how I pass the time on a long solo road trip.

I find myself making solo road trips sometimes these days and have been trying to find ways to occupy my drive time -- listening to music or maybe an audio book works but even that gets old. So I've invented a mental past-time called Haiku-isms. I try to come up with a short description of a sight or a place or an experience in the form of Haiku. Some of it happens after the fact - on reflection. I don't drive very far each day so I have time to work these out and sometimes they are pretty crude and I have to go back and 'fix' them.....but that is part of the exercise too, I guess.
Here is an example (sort of cleaned up) from a couple late winter trips west in 2008.....not exactly Kerouac...


I head west to spring
Torn trees tell a tale of woe
A toll booth is next

I find what I seek
The seasons change in Tulsa
Plum trees in blossom

Oklahoma sucks
The wind propels - the blades turn
Electrons line dance

Soft bed and road noise
Someone locks a door nearby
Motel room at night

Abundant cow pies
Land of sun baked bovine art
Welcome to Texas

Cityscapes fade fast
Caddy Ranch reeks of fresh paint
Much remains to see

This place has nine lives
Burque wants them all at once
Albuquerque naps

Local time seems stuck
Atomic age relics glow
Route sixty-six shines

The desert shows bright
All roads lead to empty space
The river flows by

Coronado's camp
Bernalillo lives its past
My view takes it in

Clouds drift in blue skies
Shadows cross the mountain wall
as they always have

Ancient wisdom lives
Ruins mark the way they came
The padres brought change

Old Taos charms me
The blood of Christ surrounds me
A fish in my net

Santa Ana stars
They act like they own the place
That’s because they do

Desert storm rages
Instant mud from windblown rain
makes it hard to drive

The trip home looms now
Time flies when you're having fun
The road goes both ways