Charles Preston Howes
CONTACT:
Email: chowes8055@aol.com
BIO:
Charles Preston Howes (cp howes) is a retired technical writer now dedicating himself to his passion for poetry and songwriting. His poems have been featured in numerous magazines and anthologies.
His Haiga consists of close-up photography of everyday subjects (such as rusty pipes, salad dressing, and items in the natural environment) and portraits of interesting people. He then filters the photographs, sometimes enhancing them with acrylic paint or colored inks, and adds a haiku poem to create modern Haiga or micro-poems. Haiga refers to a traditional Japanese art form that combines haiku poetry with simple brush paintings.
His interests include writing essays, songs, Japanese Haiku, and spoken-word poems. His poetry and music can be found by Googling: cp howes
He served in the United States Navy in the Second Fleet, Mine Division 81, during the Vietnam Era. He prefers structured poetry over free-verse prose.
Poetry
Pier 7*
Walking barefoot along the ocean’s shore
the white caps break like a standing encore.
Morning skies of crimson and abalone blue,
the salt-scented breeze renews her faded memories of you.
Pictures stamped indelibly into her mind,
now roll like the waves of the incoming tide.
99 dead on Jonah’s steel whale
not one survived to tell the tale.
Killed by a fish said to be of their own kind,
all of them died before their time.
Even before the hull grasped the muddy bottom,
most had already been forgotten.
The truth of the story many thought they had to hide
so their fates were marked as classified.
Secrets were kept out of sight
about the horrors they endured under the red light.
Women with children waited in the foggy rain
it was the not knowing that caused most of their pain.
Fifty years later, she walks the beach again,
in memory of that day and the 99 men.
Water holds memories of sunken ships and sailors of lore.
Of what consequence are 99 more?
The breeze blows again through her hair,
a tear drops as she reminisces about the day that she stood there.
*For the mothers and wives who waited on Pier 7 at Norfolk, Va., for the return of the USS Scorpion (SSN 589 ) on May 27, 1968. God bless all Navy sailors who are on eternal patrol.
A Troubled Night
Villanelle
Deep in solitude on this troubled night
As I peer into the darkness
Just beyond the flickering candlelight
As far as my eyes can see through the fading light
A vision comes from out of the velvet blackness
Deep in the solitude on this troubled night
At first, the eerie manifestation gave me a fright
As I peered into the darkness
Just beyond the flickering candlelight
I say a silent prayer that all will be alright
Hoping that the doves of peace will wing their way
Deep in the solitude on this troubled night
I rise to my feet, with fists clenched, and ready to fight
As I stare at the vision emerging from the darkness
Just beyond the flickering candlelight
Oh, I now believe, I believe with all my might
That the ghost of Jesus Christ is coming to me
Deep in solitude on this troubled night
Just beyond the flickering candlelight
