Haiku Written Under the Full Caribbean Moon

I needed to escape the Internet and my phone. I needed to escape him. I had the money in the bank, but none of my friends did for a last minute trip to the isle of St. John in the US Virgin Islands. So I went alone, and camped for a week on a beach that belonged to me in a National Park. These are the haiku that I wrote every night under the full moon on the beach, sitting in my chair with a headlamp, although sometimes the moon was so bright I didn't need it. There was so much to do on the island, I didn't think about any problems that much.

a thousand frogs
sing their chorus at dusk
fighting for pretty ears

earplugs needed
to sleep in the alive jungle
caribbean night

a rainbow of fish
seen all day through my mask
sunburn on my back

two stingrays
and a large fish
stare up at floating me

the barracuda
scared me away
underwater scream

i swam
to near island
to conquer my fear

frightened of the dark
jungle black swallows me whole
alone in my tent

jungle rain
followed me
to the beach

which pirates
have set foot
on this shore?

blackbeard watched for
spanish ships up there, now begs
for food at my table

pirate market
now just sells
coral necklaces

the people were rude
until they discovered me
...generous tipper

homesick
after only two days
in paradise

me in a blue dress
holding a giant coconut
caribbean street

two almonds
lay in sand
fresh from tree

paradise has a cost
i paid the mosquito
in gallons of blood

don't look at me
that way mon
see tha wedd'n band!

turquoise beach
no longer
belongs to me

i ran from rain
the frog rejoiced
long song of glee

moonlight shine
reflects off white sand
clear water in dark

last bottle of rum
moonlit turquoise ocean
roars in the still night

puffy white clouds
shroud the moon
peak a boo light

above sea grass
a sea turtle ran from me
in mahoa bay

stoplight screams
up at me
a snorkeling delight

jungle tent
moist dirty...sand
never feel clean

described da pine tree
to da caribbean mon'
he couldn't picture em

lack of good sleep
under frog chorus