Author: kimhaynesjohnson

 

Of My Yesterday

Mama often said:

“(Someone) seems fully perturbed!” 

I was the someone. 

 

scholarship granted

poetry foundation work

Multitasking work 

 

Home from vacation

Back to work early Monday

Sunday evening blues…..

 

VRBO Attitude Adjustment (2,670 feet)

four-wheeled Ruby Gulch

fun way to bruise the peaches

steep hill, loose gravel

shopping in Blue Ridge

neither of us needs a thing

lunch, wine at The Vine

Adirondack chair – 

charcuterie board-suppered

more wine on the porch 

kayaked Blue Ridge Lake 

Mystic Mountain Pizza dined

shared ice cream downtown 

rainy day binge watched

Virgin River Season 3

game room’s big TV

packing truck to leave

want to stay another week

work hard to play hard! 

 

Momentousness

visit a Georgia State Park,

where everything around you is momentous ~

a hawk swooping into a tree (my mama checking in on me acting like she’s just another red-tail and I’m not on to her)

waggy tails on a long walk with dogs whose beginning wasn’t wonderfully waggy 

a picnic with fresh, sweet watermelon at the top of the waterfall (and a world championship seed-spitting contest)

a circled family playing colorful parachute ball around a rainbow

turtles sunning themselves in long-awaited warmth on the rocks in the lake 

a son and his dad flying a fire-breathing dragon, eyes upturned to the sky as one big hand helps little fingers hold tight against the wind  

      (nature echoes human hands: baby pine 

         tree fingers grasp invisible pointers)

reading a twist of an ending in the sun with sherpa-slippered feet propped 

yesterday’s indelible roller skating memories conjured by today’s Lionel Richie and the Commodores weekend radio songs ( 🎼yes, you’re once, twice, three times a lady…)..as the disco ball sparkles on couples on the darkened rink

a sizzling seared salmon dinner on the charcoal grill, with mouth-watering sides of corn on the cob and red onion tempting a sneaked pre-taste  

young, playful ribbon-dancing clouds cloaking grandmother mountain in wispy shawls 

…                …             …               …       

a game objective challenge: visit a park where everything around you is momentous and discover all that was left off…..

 

Love Songs on a Breeze Limerick

State Parks of Georgia are magical

Everything ‘round you’s fantastical

Their breezes sing love songs

And everyone belongs 

One visit is purely medicinal  

 Uphill Climb 

Four wheel drive uphill

Loose gravel on mountain climb

One mile in 8 minutes

We’re plum tuckered out

Watching Forrest Gump, snoozing

Ready for bedtime 

 

ABACADABA! Magical Parks

everything around you is magical

mountain air, glass mirror lakes, open skies

everything around you is mystical 

ethereal clouds of coffee cup haze

everything around you is artistical

paintbrush palette of botanical shades

everything around you is lyrical

rustling leaves, evening waterfall fireflies 

parks transcend the mere geographical

 

On the road again

In our backseat travel pen 

Seeking adventure 

We’re Fitzie and Boo

Bros: black Schnauzer and white Schnoo

Just wait…. stay tuned, dudes!  

 

State Park Chueh-chu 

State parks are a world without fear

where thoughts, like clean streams, all run clear

where we go to think deep on life

to give thanks for all we hold dear

State parks are diversity realms

where those from all lands gather near 

where everything around you is 

a rainbow of skin-color cheer 

*Chueh-chu form AABACADA, first stanza in monosyllables, in response to Kwame Alexander’s invitation for poems to celebrate National Parks and Recreation Month – July 2021