The Phonetic States of America
—Fifty Mad Gabs in Haiku
1—AK
Alas, can I go
back to when time moved slowly—
childhood in the dusk.
2—AL
Al, a ’Bama boy,
bet his heart on fourth and goal—
Mama said, “Again?”
3—AR
Rainbow arc inside
the holler’s mist. Our boots squish—
somewhere, frogs begin.
4—AZ
Arid zone, a breath—
scorpion scurries through shade.
Even silence stings.
5—CA
“Cal… if, or… Niall…”
she slurred, lost in martini—
left me in L.A.
6—CO
Nature called. A rod
was cast where mountains exhale—
peace, the only bite.
7—CT
Here to reconnect.
I cut through autumn leaves to
Luke’s diner. “Coffee.”
8—DE
By the deli, where
Washington once crossed the stream—
pastrami on rye.
9—FL
Cockroach on the floor.
Daphne grabs his flip-flop fast—
misses, blames the heat.
10—GA
“George, ya did it now.
Peach pie’s gone. Mama’s real mad.
Go! Back door! Run!”
11—HI
We danced at sunset.
Now he’s ghosting my DMs.
Ha! Why he like this?
12—IA
I owe a moment.
Fields of gold beneath the sky—
Whispering my name.
13—ID
I don’t know what Christ
they mean when they say “take back.”
It’s still just Boise.
14—IL
Fell ill. A noise burst.
White smoke trailed a Wrigley cheer—
that brat was divine.
15—IN
Debbie booked the inn.
Diana is downing brews—
race hasn’t begun.
16—KS
“Yes you can. Zesty
BBQ sauce goes on beans.
Sir, you are dismissed.”
17—KY
Ken tucked eager hope
into bourbon and bad tips.
Still, he had fun times.
18—LA
Louis is in Anna’s
kitchen, stirring up trouble—
gumbo and regret.
19—MA
Missed Mass. A choo set
him off—he cursed at the T
in perfect silence.
20—MD
Mara landed at
the Mall. A protest passed her—
she just bought a pretzel.
21—ME
Third day in a row.
Lobster again for the main—
even butter sighs.
22—MI
He threw. Missed again.
Snow day in Kalamazoo—
CRACK! “Get off the ice!”
23—MN
Gulped her third mini
soda. Church basement potluck—
Karen brought opinions.
24—MO
July won’t shut up.
Misery hums at the door.
We sweat through the dark.
25—MS
Front porch drama brews.
“Miss, he’s sippin’ tea again—
ain’t his to be spillin’.”
26—MT
Mount and a cold wind.
Still, he faced the same direction.
Big sky calling him.
27—NC
Punch his nose. Carried
a line of sweet tea and shame—
Mama said, “That’s kin.”
28—ND
He turned to the north.
The coat a stranger gave him
still held the wind’s breath.
29—NE
Never knew brass could
become the twelfth man and turn
the whole game around.
30—NH
“New ham?” “Sure…” she said.
His dad poured syrup on it.
She blinked. Wonderful.
31—NJ
New jersey, tags on.
He called game from the bleachers—
“Knicks in four,” he swore.
32—NM
He knew Max echoes
UFO conspiracies—
“Can we please move on?”
33—NV
Never oughta gamble
in the biggest little town—
but she brought quarters.
34—NY
West Village, 9:10.
I knew your coffee order.
You knew how to ghost.
35—OH
“Oh, hi…” “Oh, you know…”
“Same ol’, same ol’. Still red here.”
Corn don’t change its mind.
36—OK
Not okay. Home’s a
pile now. The twister folded
rooms like prayer requests.
37—OR
More again. Protesters
shouting near Tillamook. White
boomers love the chant.
38—PA
Tapped his pen. Silvia
would never read this letter.
She would leave Philly.
39—RI
End of the long road.
I landed where gulls don’t care—
clam shells underfoot.
40—SC
So Carrie lined up
the bottles on the windowsill.
Rain filled them last night.
41—SD
She wore the softer
coat—a gift from someone gone.
The wind held her still.
42—TN
“Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten!
I see Robin in the coop.”
Chickens give her up.
43—TX
Beau was supposed to
text us. Houston, we have a
problem: wrong Buc-ee’s.
44—UT
“You thawed the chicken?”
He shrugged toward the freezer.
Still frozen. Like us.
45—VA
Wore jeans in a
room full of pressed suits and ties.
No one offered tea.
46—VT
For Monty, I kept
the porch light on through the thaw.
No one wrote this year.
47—WA
Autumn rains and floods
wash a ton of leaves from roads.
Windshield wipers swish.
48—WI
He’s Packers whiz,
Constant stream of stats and facts—
he weeps when they lose.
49—WV
On US-19,
go west—where Ginny almost
proposed at GoMart.
50—WY
The fire wouldn’t catch.
“Why so mean?” she kicked the logs.
He blamed the pinecones.