My great grandfather.
Herbert B. Willits,
lived in a small trailer
in a backyard summer green
behind his daughter’s house,
my mom’s aunt Alice,
in north Downey, ELA.

My grandmother Mabel,
Grandma Blaize to me,
watched us weekends
when my parents pleasured
in 1954 in Las Vegas, NV.

We visited Great Grandpa Willits,
slow, and old, and gray,
hobbling-wobbling on his cane,
dressed in a suit,
rocking in his rocking chair
most of his final hours and days.

Once, my brothers and I,
playing in his Downey back yard,
were asked by Great Grandpa
to show him our strength.

We flexed our boyish biceps,
did push ups, sit ups,
ran back and forth,
tossed a ball to catch,
acted rowdy in horse play.

He told us “Be strong,
be brave, be tough, be a Man.”
We listened,
absorbed his advice.

Decades later,
a Grandpa now myself;
I looked at picture
of Grandpa Robert Ast.
Amazed, I look exactly like him
in our Germanic faces and frames.
Uncanny resemblance: genetic strains.

Hopefully, I was adequately
strong, tough, and brave
most of my 65 years
as a Man every day.

Characters in this Family Tree:
Herbert Benjamin Willits (1870-1954)
Robert Dewey Ast (1894-1924)
Mabel Amelia Willits Ast Blaize (1898-1974)
Michael James Garofalo (1/10/1916-4/2/1997)
Bertha June Ast Garofalo (4/3/1921-2/12/1994)
Michael Peter Garofalo (1946-)

Cuttings: Haiku and Tercets (1998-2016)

Transitions: Haiku and Tercets (2017-2024)

25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works

Bundled Up: Tanka Poetry

Two Levels: Haibun Poetry

The Gushen Grove Sonnets

Above the Fog

Sunday, July 03, 2022

Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo

Short Poems

By Michael P. Garofalo

Summer Adventures

Seaside Snippets

Autumn Views

Uncommon Considerations

Winter Home

Memories of Uncle Mike

Springtime Days

Backyard Gardens

Favorite Short Poems

Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo

Haiku, Brief Free Verse, Photos
Tercets, Concrete Poems, Cinquains
Graphics, Waka, Couplets, Senryu
Sonnets, Limericks, Quatrains
Under 30 Letters Best Per Line of Text
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series I & II

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series I

Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series II
Uncle Mike's Favorites: Collections of Short Poems
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

Uncle Mike's Favorite Short Poems Collections

Poetry by Michael P. Garofalo

Concrete Poetry

Cloud Hands Blog

Memories of Uncle Mike

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series I & II

Monday, June 27, 2022

Memories of Uncle Mike

Memories of Uncle Mike Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series

Friday, June 24, 2022

Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo

Short Poems

By Michael P. Garofalo

Summer Adventures

Seaside Snippets

Autumn Views

Uncommon Considerations

Winter Home

Springtime Days

Backyard Gardens

Memories of Uncle Mike

Favorite Short Poems

Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo

Haiku, Brief Free Verse, Photos
Tercets, Concrete Poems, Quartets
Cinquains, Waka, Couplets, Senryu
Sonnets, Limericks, Quatrains
Under 30 Letters Best Per Line of Text
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series I

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series I

Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series II

Uncle Mike's Favorites: Collections of Short Poems
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

Uncle Mike's Favorite Short Poems Collections

Poetry by Michael P. Garofalo

Concrete Poetry

Cloud Hands Blog

Memories of Uncle Mike

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series - News

Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series

Uncle Mike's Short Poems Collections # 1-5

Collection 1

Short poems by Emily Dickinson,
Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes,
Robert Frost, e.e.cummings,
Odgen Nash, Vikram Seth,
Joyce Kilmer, Michael Burch, etc.
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series 2

Collection 2

Short poems by Ezra Pound,
Anais Nin, Sylvia Plath,
Rita Dove, Shakespeare,
William Carlos Williams,
Issa, Mike Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series 2