Woodrow Wilson Whidden, Sr. 1913-1999 ;
1:32 in the Afternoon, July 16, 1969
Khonsu; wikimedia commons
He had a lion childhood made of shoves
And tumbles, little nips, and blinks, there by
The sea of Florida with sisters’ loves
To teach him underneath migration’s sky.
He learned horizons, sands of life, and birds,
Including drakes and Great Blue Herons, known
To him as Poor Joes, learning poets’ words
There in a place where transport’s baritone
Remained a part of Ancient Egypt. Notes
Of arias one sister sang did not
Imply high tenor lines above rowed boats
And mule drawn wheels. There only sunshine taught
Him. Yet he lived to see a rocket blast
Lift dreamers far up from slow Khonsu’s past.