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Per Diem Archive: T. Painting July 2013, Open Road

Haiku of the Open Road, escape, adventure, exhilaration and the feeling that comes with the illusion of freedom.

Walt Whitman may have said it best in his poem, Song of the Open Road: // Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, / Healthy, free, the world before me //

I’ve driven highways and back roads in fifty states. Read with enthusiasm Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon and mirrored some of his travels. Each summer my children and I throw the tent into the mini-van and head out. Last year we found remnants of old Route 66. The open road is comprised of places we visit or temporarily reside. The road may take us to spots familiar, but far removed from routine.

The open road inspires poetry and especially haiku, which may come without warning just around a bend or at the top of the Great Divide. // summit road / once more the moon / changes windows //

What a pleasure it has been assembling this selection of haiku written by poets who have embraced the unexpected or a chance encounter while traveling the byways of life.

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Author: Merrill Ann Gonzales
stone in my pocket—
the brook cuts deeper
into the mountain
Author: Marjorie Buettner
loon calls
my daughter drawing circles
near the fire
Author: George Swede
wilderness canyon
my shout and its echo
quickly lost in time 
Author: Bruce H. Feingold
farewell hike—
windswept emptiness
of Haleakala
Author: John (Jianqing) Zheng
hiking to Makapuu Point
someone's name
carved in cactus
Author: Billie Wilson
rattlesnake country-
shadows of storm clouds           
darken the foothills
Author: Laura Sherman
Lake Cherokee an echo in each breaststroke 
Author: Valeria Simonova-Cecon
rising stars
from my house to yours
six constellations
Author: K. Ramesh
blue sea
the paper kite rises
again from the sand
Author: Dorota Pyra
fork of the road
the rusty signpost
points to the sky
Author: Nika
dawn—
the smell of wild horses
permeates the fog
Author: Patricia Nolan
        dawn
river otters tease
        my boat into the current
Author: Eve Luckring
out of the agave
out of the blue
Guadalupe
Author: Deborah P Kolodji
morning fog
on the coastal route
wild mustard
Author: Kirsty Karkow
gnarled oak
my path to the hills
begins in mist
Author: Michael Ketchek
first time swimming
with my son in water
over our heads
Author: Penny Harter
distant thunder--
overhead a satellite
moves in the dark
Author: Paul Hodder
far from home—
I find a shell
by the Tokko river
Author: Robert Epstein
each swig
of the bottled water
the sky
Author: Dee Evetts
switchback trail
my hand slides round
the polished tree
Author: Hal Cantwell
edge of day
across the prairie
the scrape of wind
Author: Aubrie Cox Warner
roadside violet
all the places
I've yet to go
Author: Allan Burns
blackberry brier
an old boundary post
clawed by bears
Author: an'ya
june breeze
a hole in the cloud
mends itself
Author: Carolyn Coit Dancy
spring
a helium balloon
breaks free
Author: Pamela A. Babusci
putting on
my dancing shoes -
summer wind
Author: Deanna Tiefenthal
prairie motel
from my window
stars and fireflies
Author: Deb Koen
back roads
Ella sings
heaven
Author: John Kinory
roadside café
on the flatbed truck
bits of a fairground
Author: Terri L. French
road trip
bringing home grasshoppers
from five states
Author: David G. Lanoue
driving east across Nebraska
a cloud
epic
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