21 Haikus on the Way to Burning Man

1
Black boughs overhead;
Vee of light marks night highway:
Pre-dawn excitement.

2
Shredded animal:
Scatter’d red parts on pavement:
Party reminder.

3
Donner Lake dawning.
Those poor fucking pioneers,
Missed the party too.

4
Oh Reno sunrise!
See pink car, pink road, pink dawn;
All of it will burn.

5
Multicolored thread–
Cars in line thru sagebrush plain.
Distant peaks shimmer.

6
Knuckles of raw earth
Raise giant fists at the sky.
Antiquity lives!

7
Clean, vast, unreal, wow!
First view of Pyramid Lake,
Ice-blue desert sea.

8
Obey speed limits.
Fast cowboys will be chased by
Nixon Indians.

9
Cows crossing the road
Look wide-eyed and curious,
See crazy gringos.

10
Nine miles per gallon
On the way to Burning Man,
Laden with Fortune.

11
White sign along road
In middle of nowhere says
One word: “REQUIRED.”

12
Later, green sign points
To somewhere in the mountains,
Says one word, “LIMBO.”

13
Another, black sign,
Looking ominous and grim,
Says, “JESUS IS LORD.”

14
Highway center line
Cuts a bright yellow swath thru
Chaos of earth-tones.

15
Road bed, lake bed touch,
As Now meets Eternity.
Which will last longer?

16
Telephone wires here
Parallel far mountain chains;
Both flow Energy.

17
In Empire village,
With one store and gas station,
Now there’s Bike Rentals!

18
Town of Gerlach sits
On hump between two deserts:
Last normal outpost.

19
Black Rock City view–
Plumes of dust mark the entry:
Alkali Heaven!

20
Yes it’s a grand sight–
A site for city-sore eyes:
Creative Chaos.

21
Black Rock City lives,
Vision of what life can be:
Imagination!


by Ed Buryn

About the author: Tales From the Playa

Tales From the Playa

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