Dear Granny

Not sure where you are
but I am positive I know
who you are with

Grandpa that is
again
somewhere  sailing
deep at sea
in the far far east

and like when you were here
I've ridden many waves

some with expert ease
and some so towering
I almost crashed myself
upon the rocks

but Granny
I am really writing
because
there was one thing
you once said
that now has hit the mark

sometimes there's no hurry

just float and see
life through many lenses
at all different angles
before you launch

plain word and verse

though over time
profound and most treasured

signed

Your Loving Grandson and Fellow Sojourner

Whit Howland © 2019

A place I've been to before
and one I must go again

the Fairfield Connecticut
of my youth in dreams

the scene

plate glass window
Blinn's Toystore

framed in red
Christmas time

a model train
traveling through tunnels
toward Christmas lights
up hills and down again

to the station
pick up cargo and off it goes

again

cheerful and tireless
in its work

naive simplistic
a dreamer

maybe all

but all I've got

I will survive

Whit Howland© 2019

Today I'm on an even keel
because today

I'm reminded of the time

a breezy sunny day

I saw my  nieces sail
out on San Francisco Bay

they among others
in a junior regatta

playfully braving
wind and white caps
chopping at their hull

and heeling as they
fought the elements
a fight

they would come to lose

but the boat did not sink
and neither did they

their bodies buoyed
like their spirits

and they returned to port
wet ruddy and
full of vigor

ready to sail again

Whit Howland © 2019

Dear Brother

I hope you are well

but since we've  fallen out
I have no way of knowing

as well as
whether you mind these letters

however

these letters

are the power cord I'm trying
to unravel and some day
with a lot of fumbling

I'll find a socket I can connect it to

because brother
you see and I really hope you do

I'm trying to give a lonely lamp
some companionship
and further light the room

signed

with the warmest light
I can find

your brother


Whit Howland © 2019

What's to fear about

a memory of a lazy
summer day

laying on a patch
of lush green grass

staring at a benevolent
kingly blue sky with a firm
but gentle sun

that suddenly
is drawn on
with frosty contrails
of  a jet with a silent
calm and steady hand



Whit Howland © 2019

Chrome
almost mirrored

yes yes
that's what I remember

and the stainless steel counters
the Silver King

yes yes

and more chrome
on the stools

yes yes

bordering the festive red

of the yeah

seat pads

and boy

can I still
hear the rollers
of the shiny steel mop bucket

rolling across
the black and white
checker board floor

no not chess

checkers

a more primitive game

don't like something

jump it

oh  you mean like
ratty menus

burnt stale coffee
and leathery breath

no no sorry


I don't
remember such
****** things

just chrome
and more chrome

  Whit Howland © 2019