City of Vapors

by Carlos W. Colón, Paul Kreth, Stacy Pendergrast, Michael Dylan Welch, David G. Lanoue, and Howard Lee Kilby

First published in Hedgerow #133, Autumn 2020, page 25. Originally written 3 November 2018 at Angel’s Restaurant in Hot Springs, Arkansas on the weekend of the 22nd annual Hot Springs haiku weekend. The poem by Carlos (who died in 2016) was selected from the 1999 Haiku North America conference poster signed by many dozens of attendees with one of their haiku (photo shown).

143°

my Hot Springs

hotel room Carlos

steam rising

from a half-filled jug Paul

Bill Clinton’s boyhood home

freshly painted

an apple green Stacy

Bathhouse Row—

newlyweds stroll

under the magnolias Michael

mugging for a selfie

with Al Capone David

photo finish—

tickets in the air

at Oaklawn racetrack Howard

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