it's the texture
we need

something less
course

and
abrasive

more soft
and velvety

to the touch

sentences
and if necessary

paragraphs

can  still be short
and quipped

but polish them
into

the smooth and
colorful

stones
we know

they can be

Whit Howland © 2020

I feel

released

with my head above
the clouds

the weight the bundle
I was shouldering

lifted and I've now become
a leaf

maybe a little dry
and brittle

but free to embrace
the gusty

exuberance
blowing me

this way and
that

Whit Howland © 2020

Except for the
wind

creaking
the hinges

of the door

there is silence

but I can hear

and I feel closer to you
now

your hand
is no longer

ghostly
and invisible

Whit Howland © 2020

where roads winded
and doubled back
on each other

and dark
gray clouds
roiled


a life
serpentine
and tempestous

but we edit as
we go

Whit Howland © 2020

It's hard to top
a day in early spring

when I can smell
the crisp air sandwiched
in between

warm
and cold

hear again
the symphony of birds

and see the color return
to my mother's pale face

Whit Howland © 2020

Short and
declarative

definitive
punctuation

it seems
I caught you
on your worst
day

but at your finest
hour

Whit Howland © 2020