July Clouds: A Poem Aaron P. Kittle August 4, 2015 1 Comment July Clouds The clouds have returned Making things feel more normal, somehow A treason to harsher winds Milder skies now brew with beauty For this afternoon, anyhow Crafted vapors, cushioned contours Cyan silhouettes charming sailors And the landlocked alike Their forms forever fading, changing And the bosom retreating Into a mountain slope, or arching hill Turns gently into a pebbled brook Silent and still, sometimes This thing on which to muse Crafting itself with the sky’s endless breath Rolling sweetly towards the western sunset Leaving West Virginia far below and reaching Upwards to the outermost skin of this world Aaron P. Kittle ©2015 Aaron P. Kittle is an Elkins native – a 1999 graduate of Elkins High School and a 2004 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College. Always creatively involved in music, art and design, Kittle began his interest in poetry while writing lyrics for various local bands in which he performed, starting in 1996. Kittle cites his grandmother, Beth Guye Kittle as a source of mentoring and encouragement, having published poems in countless magazines and two of her own volumes: The Sanctioned Fruit (1998) and A Widow’s Lament (2015). Since his start, Kittle has written over 200 poems and lyrics. Of Elkins, Kittle says, “Elkins has a very unique spirit that’s partly embedded in the people, and partly embedded in the surrounding mountains. If you embrace it, it embraces you. This place is unlike anywhere else. Here in West Virginia, worshipping God simply requires stepping outside. Growing up, people always talk about leaving West Virginia and Elkins behind…that’s something you find everywhere, but Elkins is the kind of home one always longs for. I’ll always be an Elkinite.” Kittle is employed as marketing director at Jenkins Subaru-Hyundai in Bridgeport, where he lives with his wife, Jessica. One Response Carrie Kline December 4, 2015 I am so moved by this poem and this bio. I just spent last evenings writing at the home of the grandma in question, Beth Kittle. Thank you, Aaron, for displaying your appreciation for this place, its people, its land and its soul. Log in to Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment.
Carrie Kline December 4, 2015 I am so moved by this poem and this bio. I just spent last evenings writing at the home of the grandma in question, Beth Kittle. Thank you, Aaron, for displaying your appreciation for this place, its people, its land and its soul. Log in to Reply