Chain Letter Poem by Kevin Howell

I decided one day to send out a note
'To each his own', I wrote
not expecting much of anything
but what I got back surprised me
a person writing of strange things

They wrote: 'Do you remember laughing out loud
snatching raindrops from the clouds
or looking deep in someone's eyes
and thinking back of time gone by'

I couldn't believe the audacity
of someone I had never before seen
but with what I read, someone, somewhere
had struck a chord with me
but I likened it to a flood
which sweeps in, and washes away
sent out a clear note of intent
first thing the next day

'To each his own', I wrote
but tell me an ordinary joke
or a harmless, everyday quote
someone anyone would say
to carry on from day to day

But what I got back was the same thing:
'Do you dance in dreams of moonbeams?
Lift your eyes up to the sky
and count the stars until midnight'

I couldn't even think of such things
angels, stars and moonbeams
I then decided to end these notes
'To each his own', I joked

I then tended to my ordinary strife
a status quo man in a status quo life
when someone began to stir within me
of things long ago buried

I then suddenly laughed out loud
an almost forgotten sound
I went outside and counted the stars
stretching across and wide so far
I then swore I could see moonbeams
and even tried to catch the rain

I wrote my friend the very next day
the world opened to me in a new way
The response was simple as 1-2-3
'To each his own! '
they wrote back to me