Fifty one years ago I returned to my family’s home in Chilmark after spending a year fighting in the Vietnam war.

The Tiasquam snakes across the flats / like a student’s handwriting, / curving and back tracking, in no great hurry.

Next Friday, the International School of Engineering/Architecture (IEAC) of Cern, Switzerland will continue its preliminary assessment of the causes and remedies concerning the current and common inundations of Beach Road in Vineyard Haven.

The Sweetest Days by John Hough Jr., Gallery Books, 2021, 352 pages, $27.

Doors open wide / To horizon’s illusions / Of noble ideals / “Independence,” equality,” / “Freedom,” and “justice”