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Amy’s Trip Haiku


On one of the wet days in Oregon last week I was thinking about ways we could celebrate the end of our time in the USA. There is a big end-of USA family post on the way, but I wanted to have some fun with this on my own. The idea of writing a little something about each state came to mind, and I settled on writing a Haiku for each state. Take each with a grain of salt...it certainly wasn’t possible to capture everything about each place but I did my best to choose things that I loved (or didn’t love) or that made me smile.

KY
Just a single night, 
then we hiked in limestone caves.
No bourbon this time.

TN
After the Opry 
we gathered eggs for breakfast.
Two kinds of ‘country.’

GA
Cold cloudy canyons 
and mossy forest coastline 
both invite us back.

FL
Land so flat and low.
Impressive beasts surround us 
and so do trailers.

LA
Outside our hotel, 
wedding party in the street 
dancing to The Saints.

TX
Pumpjacks everywhere
but we loved your palms and dunes 
and riverside walks.

NM
Recycled houses 
and radio telescopes 
both looking hopeful.

CO
Next time we’ll bring skis 
and spend more time exploring 
narrow icy trails.

UT
The shocking beauty 
of your rugged rainbow rocks 
helped excuse the snow.

AZ
The canyon amazed, 
then Saguaros entertained 
and burros were friends.

NV
Probably unfair 
to judge you based on Vegas, 
so maybe next time.

CA
It’s all breathtaking: 
coast, Yosemite, Redwoods, 
prices, traffic, smog.

OR
If rain’s what it takes 
for a place to be so green 
we can forgive you.

WA
The old rainforest 
whispered on the breeze ‘Please, stay!’ 
but home was calling.


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