What do I really see
in dreams

sometimes
all I am

is on a stage
with

our life our love
mimed

in gestures
motions
and

every now and then
a silent scream

Whit Howland © 2020

Tabloid
or tablet

either way
the truth will
always

rise
like cream
in a cup of hot coffee

and that's fact

rather than opinion

Whit Howland © 2020

It's not you
me

or about a place

but more to do
with what exists
beyond

the structure
and can we trust
each other

until we earn
the right and the ticket
to ride

Whit Howland © 2020

we paint
or verse

to create a feeling
or a mood

through a place dark
and dimly lit

so we can search for
enlightenment
that was never lost?

why?

what were we afraid of?

Whit Howland © 2020

In retrospect
do I have any
regrets

I'd say not

the particulars were sparse
coupled

with an atmosphere cold
and clear


thus
the choice was stark

in life
we make the best decisions
given what we know

say nothing of the stonewalls

Whit Howland © 2020

Take a morning that's
ashen

paint faint
blood-red streaks across
its horizon

a simple picture
maybe more a Post It note

just an affirmation that
you are still here

and the sun is rising

Whit Howland © 2020

a dozen deep

red roses with
crinkled
and blackened edges

wading in powdered
water

in a cheap crystal
vase

there's a story behind
the object the image

but it's not the same one
you've heard before

it's about things left
undone

and leaving it at that

because for reasons
known only to God

it's better left that way


Whit Howland © 2020