Art Work First thing each morning, Susie makes the bed. I should say, “sculpts the bed”, because she treats...

  A Strange Sun The ships sailed up the river’s mouth, Against a steely, clear-eyed gale, Far from the vineyard...

  Shave Off Those Whiskers _I do not understand Why some men don’t shave their whiskers. _A beard or a...

  The Man from China The man from China struts around D.C. And silences the chatter about tariffs. He says,...

  The Ballad of the Ghost Mountain Boys ---to the “Ghost Mountain Boys” of World War II— especially the Iowa...

  The Threat of Virtue Falun Gong, which has faced persecution since July 20, 1999, has three main principles: Truth,...

  A Poet at the Tower Ah, what a perfect, golden, autumn day. The headsman’s brought the bearded ax, I...

  Florence Foster Jenkins “A Jenkins recital was never exactly an aesthetic experience--- only to the degree that an early...

  WINNERS & RANKINGS The Great American Poetry Competition Judged by Andrew Benson Brown, Joseph Bottum, Margaret Coats, Evan Mantyk,...

  The Gold Star Mother “Dear Mom, Dad, Billy and Baby Sis, It’s rough out here but I’m with some...

  An American Dash There are two dates on a headstone: the date we’re born, and then the last. And...

  The Anonymous Soldier Beneath these granite monoliths we stand, Immortalizing warriors’ names in stone. We oft forget the sacrifices...

  For Those We Never Meet Before the dawn could touch the pines, _Or gild the ridges high, The miners...

  Ben Franklin's Copper Fugio Cent Designed by Benjamin Franklin, the copper Fugio coin was the first coin circulated in...

  Three Brief Poems by Luxorius (circa A.D. 500s) translated from Latin by Joseph S. Salemi   11. A Phalaecean...

  The American Spirit (One Voice, 250 Years)   I Brave loving hearts have helped our nation stand, though history...

  The Ballad of Zebulon Pike In Colorado’s mountain range _There stands a peak named Pike’s. Named for our hero...

  We Are the Ones The first to circumnavigate the globe, To map the continents and island chains, To climb...

  My Pyjamas! My jamas have lemurs and llamas, A rude cockatoo and a yak, Cerulean shrews and iguanas All...

  A Snowy Egret While driving down the road one day, in the pouring rain, a snowy egret flew above...

  The Swearing-in of Calvin Coolidge ---Plymouth Notch, Vermont, 1923 Strange, the postman’s loud, insistent knock (The nearest phone, in...

  Ballad of the Sequoia _Six hundred years ago, My seed was planted in the ground, _A life so full...

  The 51st State "A republic, if you can keep it." — Benjamin Franklin, attributed answer after the Constitutional Convention,...

  La Uva I packed a bag of grapes into her lunch. My hands resembled his, though not as worn;...

  There’s Blood that Flows Within the Stripes There’s blood that flows within the stripes; _The stripes upon the flag,...

  Birdsong If I might for a moment go all soft And corny; hold in humble hands aloft A simple...

  The Melody That Lingers On “Any requests?” the leader asked from the Old Time Country Band. “Just tell us...

  American Dreams   I Dreams of new realms, refuge outside The scepter’s and the crozier’s reach: Dour, black-clad zealots...

  An American Fabius I shan’t soon forget that impactful day When my son marched with face weathered cloudy and...

  Vernal Clinic To regular observers, spring had never seemed So jarringly abnormal as it did this year. Its bright...

  Omaha Beach The ramp went down, and the brute din of war Was like a furnace. Some collective will...

  Music to Part the Veil ---on first hearing Mendelssohn’s 5th forty years ago. The winter sun had just begun...

  A Gentleman’s Guide to Losing a War I hold my spyglass to my face, _And straighten my cravat. A...

  Black Shuck There are curious marks on the north door of Holy Trinity, in Blythburgh, England. Tradition has it...

  When the Last World War II Veteran Passes Away _Lower the flag, men! The last great one has passed....

  A Fallow Year at Worthy Farm No Glastonbury Festival occurs at Worthy Farm in twenty twenty-six. the land, where...

  Outstanding in Afghanistan The man rose up at break of day, His feet like thunder on the ground, He...

  250 More My country, sweetest home I’ve come to know, Your wings have sheltered me, a foreigner. I came...

  Americans Cross the Rubicon   1. Preamble Be proud, be grateful that we’re here! We came In pain from...

  Two Fateful American Coin Flips   Asa Lovejoy, Francis Pettigrew & The Portland Penny We settled on the banks...