A Calling Card

After an afternoon sticky
and still
with late summer heat,
announced by
clattering wind chimes,
an unexpected
guest finds us scantily
clad in
today’s revealing attire.
With a push,
the screen door opens
and then
closes when it’s noted
that we are
not properly dressed
for company.
A calling card in hand,
this visiting
wind bearing autumn’s
sudden chill
waits on the doorstep
as we hastily
don our goosebumps.

Turning The Lock

Devoid of furniture,
how shrunken the porch seems.
Stepping into
a home reduced to empty rooms,
ghostly impressions
still document an absence on
walls and floors.
Undressed, scars of wear and
tear now evident.
Weathered by decades of use,
with curtains gone,
imperfections stand exposed.
Who would have
thought that the past could be
stripped and
reduced to these few boxes.
What is left is
this bleached autumn flower,
with a final leaf
to pull off and end the season.
Turning the lock,
it will bloom again as another’s
springtime gift.

Night Pastoral

Shadows led
by headlights speed over
a causeway
bisecting lake from bay

After midnight,
the water has darkened
and settled
into a smooth expanse

Heard, but not
seen, a splintering splash
only reaffirms
the depths of this silence

Then, feather
light, defying the weight
of darkness,
a bird’s summoning call

Shrugging off
cloud cover, a moon’s
pliant light is
mirrored skyward again

Hello Beautiful / Ann Napolitano

In its opening chapter, Hello Beautiful introduces William Waters, an emotionally damaged young man who turns to basketball to escape a loveless home.  This leads him to getting a sports scholarship to Northwestern University where he meets and falls in love with Julia Padavano.  She is still living with her parents and three younger sisters, who welcome William into their lives with open arms.  Spanning the years 1960 to 2008, the story is told from the separate perspectives of William and Julia, her sister Sylvia, and later William and Julia’s daughter Alice.  As seen through their eyes, the novel addresses the complexities of family life, and how unexpected events can fracture the bonds that unite family members but can also reassemble them again.

One of the bombshells is Walter’s battle with depression, and how it leads him to divorce Julia and give up their daughter Alice, fearing his presence might somehow infect her as well.  Despite this, the rest of the Padavano daughters refuse to turn their backs on him, and this leads him into developing a loving relationship with Sylvia.  Other landmines rock the Padavano family, including the death of their beloved father, a child born out of wedlock, and one of the younger daughters coming out as gay.  Napolitano masterfully weaves the themes of grief, loss, love and forgiveness into a fully realized story of the intricacies of family relationships. Published in 2023, the novel has won rave reviews for good reason.  Capturing the personalities of William and the Padavano household, it is a story that rings true from beginning to end.  It is sure to resonate and leave a lasting impression with most readers.

A Soggy Rewrite

A to-do list revised.
Rather than cutting it, watch
the grass thicken
in an all-day rain. Having
counted on sun,
tally the multiplication of
earthworms across
the driveway instead. Tune
in the musical
cascade of a stream down
gutters in lieu
of a washed out ballgame.
Despite deciding
to sit tight, when a breath
of wind opens
the porch door, accept its
gracious invite.
With the addendum of an
umbrella, stepping
outdoors, let the ink smear
in a soggy rewrite.