There's a much better poem out there
about you

it's one I probably wrote

like you
I found my niche

though not among Greek Isles
excavations
blue water and olive trees

but in the rough but
loving paintings

hung on walls
in places

seldom remembered
and mostly
forgotten

Whit Howland © 2020

A white beam of light
stirs the night

like ink

probing
for a thought
a word

then a sentence
to support the image
the thought

and to justify the search

Whit Howland © 2020

Pink and orange
smear
the gray clouds

as though a ***** mop
swabbed

the darkness
and the night away

it's over now
I forgive you

why

I do not know

I just will
I just am
and it'll just be

Whit Howland © 2020

maybe it takes
a stomach

for dirt and
grit

and an ear

for jazz

and an eye

as well as an ear

for onomatopoeia

to see

the music

hear

the city

and say

CUCKOO

SLAM

BOOM

BANG

CRASH


Whit Howland © 2020

If I've wanted to be anything
in this life

it's consistent

I've never done well
with

shifting sands
or mercurial weather

and I've always found solace
in a steady hand

on the wheel


Whit Howland © 2020

Today feels more
certain
than yesterday

last night I
dreamt
I found the puzzle piece

I've been searching
for

and I no longer
have to force
the wrong ones

into its space

today feels more
certain
than yesterday


Whit Howland © 2020

More importantly
than the car

it’s about
where I was
why I was there
and who I was
with and were they

my first

I might
have been able
to illustrate that
by talking about

the spider-webbed
windshield
the rusted maroon
paint job
the missing hubcaps
and the fuzzy dice
and thinking

but do I know
you and do I trust

that you’ll
get the flow
of my thoughts
and how they
spill into a lake
clear enough
to see the bottom

Whit Howland © 2020