it's always been
my brother

not me
who could mix up the paint

saw the boards
hammer home the nails

and pour the 'crete
so to speak

and bless him
for doing all that I have never

been able to do
and for being able

to pull me from my own
abstractions

to show me
again

how to clean the roller
and the brushes

and preserve
what others have done

before us

They are at their best
and most beautiful

when hanging
on a nail

driven

into a wall
or the weathered wood

of a door

because then
they become an object

of nostalgia
which turns to inspiration

each day I find myself
more

and more

adopting your patterns
your rhythms

your pug tenacity
and dauntless courage

I miss you brother

I hope you never doubted that

Whit Howland © 2020

Pulpy and juicy
to the touch

Rasberry to the taste
it bleeds

down my chin
and blossoms on my shirt

as my heart bleeds
for you

similar to this pen
that bleeds bad verse

all over the pages
like fall leaves

brittle
and ephemeral

Whit Howland © 2020

It soothes the
soul

knowing

we can call it out
by name

extreme fear or
a child who causes
trouble and

is a nuisance

and to interpret or to bend and
stretch the meaning

like it's play dough or
silly putty

is our superpower


Whit Howland © 2020

He sits in a metal chair
creaking
under his weight
his shadow rocks
as he rocks peaking
around the corner
is a flaming red gas pump
with a dyspeptic glass globe
out there off in the distance
are four lanes of blacktop
his is the fifth and solitary
one something we and the rest
of the world never will be privy to

Whit Howland © 2020

Last month it was
sultry

but today the air
bites

no notice
no transition
and definitely


no warning


just like people
who rarely say goodbye

or herald their changes
and maybe  I shouldn't

and maybe it's not
necessary

but
I'll tell you anyway


I've growing terse
in my old age

my life
flashing
by
like
a fast car
going on the green
and headed out of town

some twists and turns
a lot of missed calls
some lucky pulls
but ultimately a dead end

whit howland © 2020

I'll love you

if you want
our lives
can be inter-twined

no beginning
no end

and our earth will be
round

not flat

and our happiness

and our sadness

will whip up the most spectacular
storms

complete with churning
clouds

and waving sheets
of rain

that will water us

and make it grow

Whit Howland © 2020

it's really about the hat
straw with a farmer's brim

we got them for free
at a baseball game

and made each other laugh
tilting them rakishly on our heads

it was the first time we had talked to each other
in days

Whit Howland © 2020

We stare at the explosion
the mess of paint
glopped onto the canvas
thinking of what could've been

a driver's cap
a bundle of newspapers
a can of soda
hot and chewy pretzels

meat
cut into red juicy strips
wrapped in thick wax paper
tied with twine

Whit Howland © 2020

and like a still life
their faces are waxen
their bodies flat

pale lips blow
stiff fingers plink pluck
and beat the skins

it's as if their souls
have left us and the club


I've seen this print before
though not in a frame

but in mirrors shiny metal things
and reflections in the glass


© Whit Howland 2019

We were dreaming
were we not

this didn't happen
did it not

a garden with an apple
tree

a woman

a snake

charcoal smudges
and erasures

we were dreaming
were we not

Whit Howland © 2020

As if rubbed with
charcoal

tire black rope white
and slung over a branch

ashen pale
against the gray trunk

a summer
my summer
your summer

colored
in gothic tones

much like a rubbing
from a  gravestone

in an old church
cemetery

whit howland © 2021

coffee brewed
smelled

bundled

newspapers
foreign tongue


a code
we need to break

Like we are  traveling
by rail
through bucolic scenes of villages
hamlets and vineyards

with the sun bright-eyed
and fresh
in a sky that's marbled
and blue

it's the concerto
we hear when we
close our eyes
plug our ears

and write the
music
to the soundtrack
of our lives

Whit Howland © 2020

sprinkled with the petals
of roses

much like ours that have crossed
throughout the span of time

the paths are dirt
where they diverge

with some flourish here and there
but mostly hardscrabble

making travel bumpy
and rough

I'm here to bury
confusion

not to give it
voice

or a pulpit
from which to proselytize

we worship
truth

we practice
truth

we don't just spoon it
every now and then

into a cloudy cup
of coffee

Whit Howland © 2020

White but dark
its face

is like
a sinister heart

and its eyes
are the black marbles

little kids shoot
in the ally behind the drugstore

friend or foe
can we even tell the difference

anymore



whit howland © 2021

Tonight the moon is full
and as always
it's a ball of green cheese

if we are lucky
it'll be here all week
so

in its honor

what say you and I
do a Chinese Fire Drill
on 42nd Street

because like Slinkys we must bend
and twist ourselves
to prove

and plead
that we are human
and should be called such


Whit Howland © 2020

This is just
a friendly reminder
to take out the trash before you leave

love you

a plate of eggs
bacon
sausage

and ham

so fast
it moved it was a blur
and so loud it howled

throughout the night

whit howland © 2021

you hope you live long enough
to see it

giant
and full of itself

mirrored on the ocean
or some other body of water

the moon just being the
moon

and no one's crazy
goddess

Whit Howland © 2020

Plug

I get could get
lost

in you


you're so ugly

you're beautiful

I'll fall into you
and fall fast

for you

you'll turn me
upside down

and shake me
for change

then drop me

so I'll land face down
in the gutter

lapping up
puddles

upon puddles
of street-water

Whit Howland © 2020

It's an image
I can mass-produce
on cue

ladling syrupy
sentiments into a cup
like punch

depression glass
frosted
with flourishes

filled with candy
wrapped in flashy
gold cellophane

all because
I'm trying to
sell you what you want

whit howland © 2020

A hardboiled egg
on the counter

dyed blue

staring at me
at six am

he is risen
and unfortunately

so did I

Silhouetted trees
against a dusky sky

and it's only been a week
but already

too long

but hey
what can I say

we got a little hot
and things got a little weird

but no it's not
at least

I don't think
it's too late

that is

Glasses clink
the piano dies

and the bartender
begins his sweeping

who am I
who are you

maybe
someone

who hates long goodbyes
and probably prefers

we just shake hands
and go?

Hardly enough snow
to call it Winter

but dustings here
and there

made islands
in thought

which heightened our
awareness

and augmented our
quest

for a warm touch

and a personal
connection

Whit Howland © 2020

Bulbs

in their day
they banded

read

No Vacancy

but not now

today
one lit
the other
burned out

as if to say
some days good

but on balance
mostly bad

Serenity

captured
so beautifully

in almond blossoms
and blue-green

something
I almost stopped
searching for

but then it came
on a tickling
breeze

just enough
to ruffle
some petals

you're a good man
Charlie Brown

Lee

or whomever
you choose and decide
to be

Whit Howland © 2020

Though hard to judge
I feel you

are no longer close

as I see you fading in my
rearview mirror

now just a smudge
on a painted horizon

Whit Howland © 2020

Yes

I found your journal
deep

in the attic
the black one

with a gold lock
I pried open

but
what I wonder

is

do I dare
try and decipher

your hen scratches

I guess the bigger question
do I dare

disturb the universe

We can be
folded

or

broken
down

so easily

wrapped
up

put
in a box

tied
with twine

just like
that

in a moments
notice

fight or flight

it never fails

we'll always
choose

flight

Whit Howland © 2020

The glass of my mask
is clear though foggy

at the edges

as I often dream
of turquoise waters

where I splash dive
and roll with

zany  shelled creatures
paddling by my nose

as white sand between my toes
floats up to the surface

it's hard to know where life
is going

I am told there's a plan
and a God who executes it

and with a vision like this
could it be

he's telling me to trust
what I see when I'm fast asleep

and that the plan is something
not to overthink

it's possible

whit howland © 2021

A classic car
turquoise

blue
with chrome

WHOOSHES

by in futuristic
flurry

it's style and make
now

etched in my mind
as well as a desire

to go back to
a time

when things were
simple

and all it takes is
fifteen seconds

to make your claim
of fame

with me

Whit Howland © 2020

Is it too late
to ask ourselves

how  it came to this

he sits
his back pushing

into a red
nogahyde booth

his hat pulled low
and his suit

just a little dusty
and rumpled

the drink
at the edge of his hand

something with *****

who is he
and who is he waiting for and

again
is it too late

to back track
do the math

and find out
how it came to this

© Whit Howland 2019

In a pinch
I always retreat
to my Grandmother's kitchen

that's not only a room
but also a 3 D polaroid
of 1971

turning to sepia before
my very eyes and
right now

I'm spinning on one of the mustard
yellow
nogahyde chairs

so fast I'm getting dizzy
but then I remember something
I learned that year in school

about ballerinas

to keep their balance
and grace they
focus on one thing

so I fix my gaze
on the ornate cuckoo clock
hanging on the far wall at eye-level

with its dark brown flourishes
carved curly cues horn-blowing hunters
and the piece de resistance

the hart's head with
fanning antlers
it wears for a crown

I wish I could remember more
and I always tell myself
details make the case

but they too
have been washed out
by time

Whit Howland © 2020

The writing's always
on the wall

usually
something scrawled

about a good time
and who to call for it

or maybe
a more ominous message

about how in ten years
the world will have exhausted

its supply of ding dongs
so you better

stock up now

We can't

keep them straight
we

mean well but
in time

our hand
cramps and quivers

and

we do whatever
makes the discomfort

stop

hence the squiggle
the curve

or the corner
cut

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

Last night I dreamed of rippling
turquoise

and sybaritic rhythms
as if

I was in my own echo chamber
made

of sea glass shaped
like a giant

tongue

Let's talk about
mustard and burnt orange

while we sprinkle a couple
of flakes

then let's move down
to brown

slugs snails

and after that

melt

fade
to black and white

blobs

but pity them not
they were here to destroy

our gardens our
trees

ok,
I'll stop beating around the bush

us

they came to destroy

us

whit howland © 2021

Outside
the bare
tree branches

some brittle
some strong

interlock
and crisscross

the pattern
haphazard

so it seems

the method

apparently
unsound

Whit Howland © 2019

What we saw yesteryear
on the silver screen

threatens to become
quotidian

so before you say
this is the new normal

can you at least lookup
the word


Whit Howland © 2020

Gleaming
white it shines in the cold sun

of this early Spring day
with the corrugated door

rolled up
the uniformed driver

dollying packages
down the silver ramp

a Fed Ex truck
parked outside my window

a backdrop of blue
with tiny dots for stars

and it swooshes away

from a saucer shaped
like a paper plate

this rocket ship
or clear

plastic pen
a pin-up girl inside

it's confusion

it's wonder

it's pulpy desire

Whit Howland © 2020

like in a barrel
or in a sink

we are the lambs the paper ducks
the canaries

in the goldmine
we are battered

next to chips
the food

for hungry
watering mouths to feed

sorry
it was nothing personal

whit howland © 2020

The soul
no not really

try windowpanes
of frosted glass

at Christmas time
looking in on ugly seaters

eggnog cheap ornaments
and things we need to return

more a sleight of hand
a distraction

whit howland © 2020

A mad flight
and rickety descent

down the back of a
beast

that clanks
and flakes rust from under

our feet
and as always the case

success usually comes

by the skin of our  
teeth

Whit Howland © 2020

As we got older
the windows

stayed open for only
a brief moment

then they shut
for a very long while

seconds mattered
and so did accuracy

Whit Howland © 2020

A sleight a hand
trick of light

now you see me now
you don't you

fell for that one
got played for a chump

can I be honest

not if you're going to continue
insulting me