The Convuluted Mind of a Poet and Essayist

By Howard Leff

This work is the accumulation of the writing done over the years, that is provocative and meant to inspire people to think out of the box and be the best at everything that they do.
Subjects range from Dedications, Concepts, Love, Names, Nature and thirteen essays of yesterday, tomorrow and the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665502696

Howard Leff

Howard Leff, has lived half his life in and around New York City. In 1980, he and his family, moved to Houston, TX to begin another phase of his career in transportation. Leff has travelled to 133 countries and 47 states for business purposes. The sights, sounds, smells and a myriad of people have given him many ideas that still have to be written. An English major, college graduate, his plans to write were put on hold as he matured and needed money to excess. He was married for over five decades, until his wife, Barbara Ann, suddenly passed, five years ago. The father of a daughter and a son, now a grandfather to seven marvelous adults and children adored by their “Papa,” The age range is from 12 to 27. This is his first book of Poetry and Essays. His second novel in the “Max Trilogy, “ will be released in the summer of 2021 You can contact him at [e-mail].

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© 2021 Howard Leff. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/23/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-0270-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-0271-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-0269-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020919279

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Any similarities to persons places or things beyond common knowledge, are figments of your own imagination. I encourage you to thing out of the box, to understand what long life has taught me and omitted.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

DEDICATIONS

Please (My Prayer For My Wife)

The Intermediate Years

79 Years Young

CONCEPTS

A Photo

Awakening

Cats

Divided

Forgiveness

Heartbeat

Hope

Justice

Money

Obtuse

Photograph

The Vicissitudes (changes) of Human Life

When

Weeks

LOVE

A Gift

An Epistle Of Love

Because…

First Meeting

If…

Is There A Match???

Love Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

Love Lost And Found Again

Me And You And The Babies Make For A Lot

Name Calling

Shoulda, Woulda, Could’ve

Te Amo

Together?

Waiting

What My Love Of You Means To Me

What Was She Like?

NAMES

Fort Wayne

Joanne

Judy

Sondra

NATURE

Clouds

Earth

Fire

Flowers

June

Orchids

Our Moon

Pink

Planets

Radiance

Silence

Sky

The Day After Yom Kippuer

The Sounds of Night

Thunder

Tranquility

Universe

Wind

ESSAYS

A Choice! ©

A True Story Of Love Re-Found

An Epistle Of Love

Changing Opinions

Communist-Era Bucharest

Fright Night Entry

On Saving The World With Laughter

Rx The Elixir of Life?

Spirtual Hell

The Game of 27©

The Interrelatedness of Genesis and the Big Bang Theory (BBT)

The Racial Divide

What Is Wrong Today

This collection is dedicated to memories of my wife,

Barbara Ann.

And a friend.

Also by Howard Leff

The Early Life and Times of Max Harold

Max Kidnapped² (due out in Summer 2021)

DEDICATIONS

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Please (My Prayer For My Wife)

Dear Sweet Wonderful G-d,

G-d of the Heavens and Earth,

G-d of Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel,

G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Yaakov (Jacob),

G-d of what was, what is, and what will be.

Please, Please, Please watch over my baby, my Barbara, my life, my heart and soul, my departed wife.

Please keep her safe.

Please help her to smile, to laugh, to have a big old-fashioned belly-giggle.

Please help her to be without pain: no more, rheumatoid arthritis, back pain, or knee pain, which will help her to freely smile.

Please never, never, never, never, ever let anyone be able to put my baby down, whether physically or mentally.

Please help her to learn more; be up on current events and other subjects so that she can participate as a major contributor to any conversation or discussion.

Please help her to conquer her fears, apprehensions, and anxiety.

Please help her to always show that beautiful smile of accomplishment as on the day she alighted from an elephant at the Texas Renaissance Festival.

Please watch over my Barb, my baby, and let her know, although I know she realizes that I love her, and I will always love her. I miss her terribly. I want to be with her eternally.

AMEN!!!

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The Intermediate Years

After marriage, came a cluster of events that sped together in light-years.

Two apartments, two planned children and one home in Melville, New York.

Type AAA+ workaholic, led from a trainee to owning parts of three and then one company solely.

They were good years, with Peri & Steven blossoming and my travelling almost 50%.

My wife, Barbara Ann, and I grew-up together. From babies to fun loving baby-boomers.

Drinking to excess; needless fighting; questioning travel needs and trying the Kamasutra.

Love abounded in our small first home.

My hands, along with my helper, Steven, torn down and renewed inside & outside.

Fondly, I remember a flue left unopened that burned in honor of my??? birthday.

My present was painting two walls and then eating cold leftovers and making love.

Friends abound with tales imagined or actual until the hostess/host awakened their children.

Plenty of hard booze made minds into mush; Sunday morning mourning; before the Giants game.

Reveling about nothing was our trademark, along with braggadocio, fighting and stupidity.

Until, I was beaten and almost gasoline lit.

Planes were tossed about, landings aborted and survival still luckily prevailed.

I used every moment to increase our wealth and knowledge to climb ever higher, on any device till my goal was reached.

Nothing was ever impossible!

It just took more work to accomplish the impossible!

Before moving to Houston, I forgot my teenage through forty forays. I toast to all the girls I’ve known.

Each had something new to behold.

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79 Years Young

Today, I am an older man.

Birth time was the same as dirt.

It was a Wednesday in 1941 that I was born at an early age.

Grew, Schooled, Married, Worked, Children and Grandchildren,

Mostly good, some unhappiness.

Sickness, illness, and maladies overcome.

Truly Bionic!

Pacemaker/defibrillator, artificial hip, glucose meter, insulin pump,

Countless procedures and surgeries galore.

Yet, I live, mobile, self-sufficient, intelligent, conversational, friendly,

Smiling and remembering yester-years, sometimes forgetting recent paths.

Slower, weaker, muscles flapping, a diminishing behind with a quick mind and whit.

Privileged to be alive at seventy plus.

So many people physically gone, missing but never to be forgotten!

Their spirits live forever, as long as we see them in our mind’s eyes.

The past foretells the future. Never forget to build upon that foundation.

Honored to witness events that made headlines around the world.

Pleased to have travelled to 132 countries and forty-seven states.

I will never knowingly, Let The Old Man In!

CONCEPTS

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A Photo

Black and white with shades of grey,

Or, in the colors of a rainbow…

Evidence of a moment shown, frozen, still.

Possibly scenic beauty,

Perhaps a man-made concretized edifice to withstand the ravages of time.

A pictured group or individual.

Does she need gentle hair, curled eyebrows, eyes of an acceptable color, a Roman nose,

Succulent lips, surreal skin, noble chin or any other physical attribute?

Does he need groomed hair, un-wild hairy brows, eyes that shine, a short or long nose,

Kiss-full lips, shaven or hairy, cleft chin and manly attributes?

Should bodies be Angel-like without wings, long limbs, slim waistlines, narrow feet?

WHY?

First sight is often forgotten in favor of the whole person’s unseen qualities.

After a visual, is a person not more likeable with animation, with an unseen smart mind, with ideas that penetrate, with knowledge