Category Archives: On vacation

Vacation haiku, part 3

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Lots of beach reading
Love, war, dragons — and after
The tattoos, some books

The hourglass figures
Seldom have the time of day
For gray-haired tourists

Gymnasts coil, uncoil
Hand- foot- hand- foot- hand- foot-prints
Handsprings eternal

Dapper old surf dude
Wetsuit and walrus moustache
Looks good catching waves

Yellow boogie boards
Carry freezing frolickers,
Smart kids in wetsuits

Waves’ frigid beauty
Irresistible — result:
Frozen bananas

Batman water wings
Happy-tiger-face beach chair
The tot patrol’s here

Endless energy
Bodies less than 3 feet tall
Scoot like windup toys

Plastic-diaper twins
Vertical leap 2 inches
Hop over “big” waves

Toddlers with shovels
Big diesel earthmovers pale
In comparison

Low tide, castle waits
So exquisitely detailed
Exquisitely doomed

Blue, blue green, gray green
Silver flash of sun, foam, crash
Waves rinse and repeat

The tensions of life,
No match for the endless waves,
Go out with the tide

Vacation haiku, part 2

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A quick ferry ride
We’re on Balboa Island
For a lovely stroll

Wind, sun at our backs
Flowers painting rings around
Picture perfect homes

Little downtown strip
Blooms originality
Just two signs alike

“Frozen Bananas”
The rage — two shops claim to be
“The Original”

On ferry ride back
Three cars, bicycles, tourists
Crowd the tiny barge

On ferry ride back
Little girl tells her nanny
“He’s not my boyfriend”

Beach highway beckons
Air so light, cool, crisp with just
A touch of salt taste

Sign says Oceanside
I wonder how they ever
Come up with these names

“No beach out of reach”
Says Navy assault station
— And local surfers

Surreal white pods dot
Grounds of idled reactor
Like alien craft

Vacation haiku, part 1

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Actually, it’s back to work today. But last week was fun.

Didn’t shave today
Therefore, I’m on vacation
Norelco, buzz off

Misty morning flight
Patterned land recedes, clouds fill
Windows with unknown

Leave early, just beat
The lightning strikes that will ground
Other planes today

Beverage cart squeaks by
No inch to spare on board jet
Everything’s compact

Brazil concentrates
In OJ cup; Springsteen fits
In tiny iPod

Change planes in Dallas
Then on to John Wayne Airport
Orange County’s proud field

Some moms trying hard
To look just like their daughters.
In Golden State, tin

OC: Orange County
Or Obsessive Compulsive?
Sorry, HAD to ask

I’m on vacation, redux

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I wish I were on vacation, but I’m not. Instead, I’m posting this batch from a spring vacation. It’s followed by a pre-summer-vacation batch, and then six batches from a July vacation in Southern California.

From March 30:

“Boo hoo, no haiku,”
A friend writes. “So what’s the deal?”
I’m on vacation!

I’m on vacation
But going nowhere real fast
Kinda like working!

I’m on vacation
All of me, not just my brain
Which checked out years back

As the Ramones say,
I’ll have to tell ’em I got
No cerebellum

I’m on vacation
But I did go to Borders
Discounting good sense

My home’s already
Crammed full of unread volumes
Begging to be cracked

My CD shelves sag
With rock ‘n’ roll, classical
And, yes, all that jazz

But could I resist
Borders’ zombie siren song?
You know the answer

Borders closeout sale
Books on everything except
How to walk away

“Famous Last Words” book:
Jeez, if I can’t top these quotes
Pray I die silent

Doctor Laura’s book
“Stop Whining and Start Living”
You go first, “Doctor”

And for just 5 bucks
“A Short History of the World”
Nah, not short enough

Man, it’s depressing
It seems that the only “Glee”
Is in the CDs

Borders closeout sale
87 copies of
“Essential Yanni”

Borders closeout sale
Punk prices rule! 5 bucks for
“Rocket to Russia”

One section does seem
Alphabetized: ZZ Top
Follows Vivaldi

Elsewhere, Fogerty
Meets Manilow, but what will
They sing? “Proud Copa”?

In another row
Britney, next to Placido,
Hits a high G string

Borders closeout sale
“Blue Kentucky Girl” real cheap
Makes me not so blue

R.E.M.’s right: End
Of the world as we know it.
And I feel a sigh

I’m on vacation
Giving further proof: A mind’s
A terrible thing

Vacation beckons

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From June 28:

Haiku hiatus
Internet independence
Vacation beckons!

Who knows what treasures
In 17 syllables
I’ll bring back with me?

In the meantime, friends,
Enjoy your respite; I know
My targets will, too

And “For those about to beach, we salute you,” from June 30:

My toes in the sand
Big umbrella overhead
Small one in my drink

Let God count the grains
Of sand; my kids will track them
Back to the hotel

Surf sound so soothing
All of this year’s pent-up stress
Goes out with the tide

KC to LA flight

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“Nothing better to do on the plane” haiku, from July 2:

Scenic vacation
Gorgeous start; concrete runway’s
Best I’ve ever seen

It’s sardine city
Gill to gill, but at least we
Haven’t lost our heads

Overhead bins packed
40 of them, inch to spare
Attendant genius

Takeoff delay gives
People more time to not read
Books they brought with them

Runway memorized,
Silent wife trying to sleep
Time to people watch

Hmmm, can see only
Backs of heads; there’s some really
Bad hair on this flight

Gal across the aisle
Nose stud, tatoo, hair died black
Must be the real she

PA says “Carey,
Cody, Rita are our team”
— Or 3 Mouseketeers

Whoever they are
They sure talk fast; safety spiel
Breaks sound barrier

At last we’re aloft
iPads, iPods, iTouches
Somewhere, Steve Jobs smiles

“Waitress in the Sky”
Replacements’ song put them down
But man, what service

Coffee, snacks, refills
Blinding smiles, blonde hair, nice bods
Shallow male’s happy

Bathroom break, best to
Have a plan going in, there’s
No room to change mind

One in-flight bummer:
Noise canceling headphones mean
I can’t hear Ramones

Out the window, clouds
Then canyons, light and shadow
Etched into the Earth

Approaching LA
Swimming pools dot the landscape
Like little blue pills

Man at airport shouts
“I want a divorce!” Will she
Be his LA ex-?

KC to LA
Two extra hours appear
Straight from Twilight Zone

Pismo Beach

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From July 2-4:

The beach on the Fourth
Red, white, and blue, and that’s just
Tourists’ skin and lips

Bodies every shape
Umbrellas every color
Waves — just green, white, gray

Dreadlocks past her waist,
Wide body, richly tattooed
A living mural

Romping on wet sand
Playing tag, catching some rays
And that’s just the dogs

Two women, two dogs
Whippet, chihuahua, that’s the
Long and short of it

Diversity dogs
Golden-yellow by design
Big cross-bred beauties

Chihuahua trio
A dozen tap-dancing paws
Strain sequined leashes

Neat slashes in sand
Gangs mark their territory
The gulls and the terns

Beach boy loves the birds
But wishes they all could be
California gulls

Heads bob, dots in foam
Chocolate M&M’s in waves
Of ocean frosting

Solitary sail
An antenna attuned to
Wavelengths of the sea

Idyllic beach scene
Like movie but God doesn’t
Turn off wave machine

Lifeguard Station 5
Abandoned alien craft
From ’50s planet

Tiny house, west wall
Nothing but windows, gazing,
Catching every wave

San Simeon

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From July 5:

Times few and fleeting
The beauty’s overwhelming
And life’s a postcard

Waves shatter sunlight
Seven thousand silver shards
Refract and reflect

Lone boulder juts up
Takes surf’s pounding, makes its plans
For next thousand years

Seaweed leaves, networks
Of brown veins, like discarded
PC circuit boards

Pop pop popping pods
On a long skein of seawood
Neptune’s bubble wrap

Panhandler sponges:
“Something to tide me over?”
“Here’s a sand dollar”

Pelicans in flight
Angled, prehistoric like
A ’60 Buick

Soft setting sunlight
Dusts the contours of her face
Unparalleled view

Fingernail moon sinks
Into its own reflection
Lights out on the bay

Fire pit, aglow
No match for the icy waves
Breaking in my heart

Quarter moon, chilling
Sends down silver white pathway
Splits the inky sea

Quarter moon, no rest
For waves’ mistress on her quest,
Longing for fullness

Driving back south to LA-LA land

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From July 5:

July’s tawny hills
Like a lion lie in wait
Wind-brushed grass like suede

Voluptuous hills
Dressed in live oak and grapevines
That can’t hide the curves

“Mens Colony” sign
Suspect one of its inmates
Stole apostrophe

Sweet spot: Dylan’s voice
Annoys teen daughter just as
It did my parents

Ventura Harbor
White sails, blinding triangles
On blue glass water

Green mountains one side
Pacific blue the other
Dude, California!

GPS working
“Satisfaction” on K-Rock (KROQ)
Next stop, Hollywood

Hollywood high-ku

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From July 6, 7:

Stars in the sidewalk
Stars in strollers’ eyes as they
Walk this street of dreams

Five stories above
Shoppers and his sure demise
Billboard artist hangs

Suspending his life
So we’ll suspend disbelief
And buy that Pepsi

Roll by roll he works
Choreographed wallpaper
Unfurls new message

LA shopping day
Tree-lined streets, my daughter’s hand
Palms out everywhere

On Rodeo Drive
It’s true: If you want to ask
You can’t afford it

On Rodeo Drive
Dad sees so many pricetags
So little fabric

On Rodeo Drive
Exquisite bookshop provides
Island of relief

On Rodeo Drive
Millionaires pause, sigh, envy
All the billionaires

On Rodeo Drive
Fundraiser for the homeless
Seems so far from home

Stuck on LaBrea
Apropos since my daughter
Thinks I’m dinosaur

Clouds give rooftop pool
A hint of reality
Just a hint, mind you

Candy-striped one-piece
Plaid trunks, sleek swimmer’s Speedo
Kids in what suits them