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Oh Fairfield Inn and Suites

Thank you for the nice room

The bed was so cosy

But the wall mounted AC

Roared like a jet engine

Too hot to sleep without Cooling

I adopted a military watch routine

30 minutes of wide awake cooling

Silent deep sleep and a sweaty awakening

The night seemed to last forever

Until daylight rapidly appeared

I jumped in the shower

Alternating hot and cold streams

Just for continued masochistic amusement

Normally I start the day with great optimism

But there was no way to look forward

To 450 miles of Interstate 95

A boring straight road of convoying trucks and cars

Monotony was gratefully interrupted by a road accident

We all slowed pretending its for safety

As we leered at the twisted metal

Hoping for a glimpse of gory broken bodies

disappointed when the occupants were uninjured

Perhaps the next wreck will be more entertaining

The endless journey continued

I got tired of listening to music

Ran out of people to call on the phone

My driving became sloppy

I was tailgating a long line of cars at 70mph

A tidal wave of brake lights erupted ahead

Not enough room to stop in time

The inevitable impact approached in slow motion

Blackness enveloped my sweating body

I woke up in the Fairfield Inn and Suites

Time to get up and drive that 450 miles for real.

scrambled eggs and scrambled words

I decide to cook scrambled eggs for breakfast today

Eating on the balcony while watching the world go by

Like any city, Miami is full of life and activity

Always some thing new to discover

I notice a small group gathered across the street

Maybe a dozen folks setting up cameras and reflectors

Somebody appears to be in charge

Giving direction to the others

Although most of them seem to be standing about drinking coffee

A lady in a green dress makes multiple strolls by the corner

As cameras click away from various angles

No logos on trucks means this is not a news crew

A low budget film or documentary perhaps

The whole event only lasts fifteen minutes

Gear rapidly packed into an unmarked white van

Perhaps they are moving to another part of the city

To shoot the next scenes of this mystery production

I close my eyes to focus on the sounds of the city

Trying to dissect the components of the broken silence

Intermittent drilling of construction noise as metal hammers concrete

The steady rumble of traffic from cars rolling along the street

Rubber on road combined the roar of engines

The electric vehicles emit hardly any sound at all

Whilst the throaty V8’s on shiny sports cars yell out “look at me

Occasional motorcyclists make the most noise

Blipping their engines to warn others of their presence

The traffic noise comes in waves with periodic lulls

There is however one constant background sound

Birds singing from the trees below

A never ending chatter of tweets and shrieks

I open my eyes to look for the birds

Mostly invisible on their perches they are seldom to be seen

Except when a large flock of parakeets takes to the wing

Flying between buildings with shrieks with laughter

They fly by me close enough to make eye contact

I wonder what they are all laughing about

Do they find the film crew on the corner to be hilarious

Perhaps they are poking fun at all the humans in their habitat

Laughing at the silly bugger on the balcony eating scrambled eggs and writing scrambled words

Haiku poetry

A Haiku uses just a few words to capture a moment and create a picture in the reader’s mind

Haiku is written in three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line

My favorite Haiku of all time was written by John Cooper Clerke 

To convey one’s mood
In seventeen syllables
Is very diffic

I wrote my first Haiku in 2016

my wife is a gem

our home is like Buckingham

A palace indeed

Here are my latest Haikus

I dare you to try

writing a Haiku yourself

Its fun and free

Who writes this stuff

Daily poetry for you

The cheeky monkey

Seasons

Photo by Alissa Nabiullina on Pexels.com

the cold wind blows from the north

its icy tentacles seek out your exposed flesh

your face numbed so hard you can’t smile

you stopped smiling when winter arrived

brown withered lifeless foliage surrounds you 

where once colorful flowers bathed your eyes

naked trees sway in the howling wind

withered leaves cling to their branches 

their lives are over and soon they will fall to be absorbed by the soil

today’s raging brown river was once a gentle summer stream

you watch the angry boiling muddy water rushing down to the bay

no boats dare wrestle with those white capped waves 

the watermen all stay at home by roaring fires telling fisherman’s tales 

summer is now a distant memory

we will all suffer many cold dark days before she creeps back

seasons make us appreciate the weather we don’t have on that day

do you really like winter

flames in the fireplace may give you heat

but you can’t get a tan from laying by a fire

sitting by a pool in summer is so delightful 

you dare not sit by a pool cover dusted with snow

please come back soon summer

will you promise never to complain about summer’s long hot lazy days

is this art

Pure abstract art

Random paint splatter

No recognizable shapes

Meaningless to some

Beautiful to others

Everybody interprets different

Some see calm

Others see anger

I see vibrance

She sees faces

Real artistic impressions

Doubters see nothing

Great conversation starter

Two camps form

Those totally for

Rest non believers

Nobody on fence

Either love it

Or hate it

Either its art

Or spilled paint

If in doubt

Take a risk

Look at it

With open mind

Let it speak

To your soul

My litmus test

Made me think

Therefore its art