Lackluster food tour
Chicago has so much more
That our tour guide skipped

Architecture facts
That had nothing to do with
Restaurants at all

Mediocre beef
Inauthentic falafel
Pathetic pizza

Our guide brought her son
And her mother with the group
And was distracted

Dogs in cement parks
Famed squatters in McMansions
Held her attention

She didn’t notice
That those who walked most slowly
Nearly lost her tour

I kept my eye on
Two members of our party
Wearing polka dots

A plain glazed donut
Provided welcome respite
From disappointment

After four of five
Destinations had been seen
Decided to bail

After we escaped
We went to the riverbank
For another tour

This tour was themed with
Chicago architecture
And history, too

Aboard a large boat
A volunteer docent spoke
For many minutes

Informative, dry
Our tour guide this time around
Was not an airhead

Sunshine and relief
Washed over us as we learned
About Chicago

Its famous Fire
Has shaped buildings and culture
And laws ever since

Chicago Tribune
And the post office building
And architect teams

Made so much happen
Manufactured so much print
Carried so much mail

Paper and marble
Limestone, steel, clay, and granite
Materials rock

Mathematics and
Science and engineering
Hundreds of hours

Hundreds of towers
Places to live and to work
In styles galore

Gothic, post-modern,
Plus modern, contextual
And some Art Deco

Goose Island, the Lake
The canal and the bridges
And the river walk

Sears tower loomed high
Among numerous giants
Beside the water

My least favorite?
Design-wise and otherwise
Trump tower trumped all

The cruise concluded
Unlike the food tour failure
We learned something here

Then we disembarked
We had dinner far better
Than morning munches

Italian food
As an overture to a
Second City show

Laughter abounded
All seven comedians
Played well together

Improv paired with sketch
Impressions, music, and dance
Situational

Self-referential
Rehearsed, chaos, and
Audience ideas

A star ensemble
Firing on all cylinders
Explosive applause

A long and full day
Some good and bad Chi-town tastes
But all worth trying

It has been so fun
To be guest contributor
For a blog I love

I’m lucky to be
Spending travel time with my
Mother and sister

So glad to join in
And here’s to hoping you all
Enjoyed these haikus

-Sarah Van Sciver (guest blog contributor)