Monthly Archives December 31, 2022

. New Year’s Resolution a villanelle by David Whippman And what have you resolved for the new year? I guarantee your vows will be in vain. Oh, I don’t doubt that right now you’re sincere. But soon,...

. Same Old New Year   I bid adieu. You shuffle out. A new you shimmies in--- A you without the frown and pout, A happy you of zip and clout, And once again I’ve little doubt You’ll make me rich and...

. Her Silent Prayer  for Isabel Vaughan-Spruce  Beneath the whisper of suburban trees One sombre, sunless, British afternoon, A hushed and humble lady stood at ease In...

. Two Empty Chairs “We did the NFP bit for awhile ... and have felt revulsion over it ever since. During that time we might have had at least two more children.”  ---Letter to the Editor, Seattle...

. “Where Ever-present Joy Knows Naught of Time” ---Dante, Paradiso, Canto X, D.L. Sayers translation a rondeau redouble Where ever-present joy knows naught of time, The music of infinity is sung In...

. Crimes Against My Sanity At any-given-time o’clock While tidying my house, I find--- Oh look---is that another sock? It really isn’t such a shock; My kids for chaos were designed At any-given-time...

. Addiction A ripple imperceptible, like hints of amber in the tiring balsams, swells to waves of apprehension, then imprints a vision on my mind, with carousels of pirouetting bronze bouquets that plead for...

. Villanelle for Timothy When chains of cold resentment in the end Entangle souls and circle ‘round to bind, There’s freedom in forgiveness, my dear friend. When grievance woos the wounded to offend And...

. On Attending a Holiday Ensemble with My Wife We’re gathered in a colleague’s home, Invited to this performance; Watching musicians’ fingers roam, I’m taken to when providence Crossed mine with Dr....

. The Fall of Babylon Come hear the footsteps march at warlike pace, Come see the merchants weep and craftsmen flee. The vengeful grin on every stranger's face; The angel's cast the millstone in the...

. Wisdom When young I dreamed of someday being wise, And pictured brilliant input holding sway. But via jolts of life now realize, There’s wisdom also in what you don’t say. . . No One Fully Measures...

. How Troubling to Know Mrs. Pain How troubling to know Mrs. Pain. She has written some ludicrous stuff. Some think that she hasn’t a brain, And some think she has just enough. She types her stuff on the...

. St. Joseph's Hymn of Praise Matthew 2: 10-15: “And when the Magi were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee...

. . An Iffy Christmas   with a nod and a wink to Rudyard Kipling If you can’t rise above the treetop fairy (That plastic risk to Rudolph’s rosy nose); If you can’t marvel at the Virgin Mary And...

.   Christmas Rules and Promises My first rule for this Christmas is__No carrot sticks for me.They might have been a snowman's nose,__So I will let them be. My second rule this Christmas is__Your gift I will...

. Glory in the Night It was a night like any night, when in the evening chill Cold shepherds sat by bonfire's light on many a naked hill To warm themselves while watching over flocks of wandering sheep That...

. The Animals on Christmas Eve Some boarded dogs stayed for a while Until their owners took them home; I walked them all, in single file, But left the cows and pigs alone. My mother went the extra mile For...

. Nativity Scene The hour draws near to midnight, and a priest Completes his preparations for the feast, Assisting at last practice with the choir, Inspecting layout in a makeshift stable, Checking on the...

. A Christmas medley by poet Jeff Eardley: . . Jeff Eardley lives in the heart of England near to the Peak District National Park and is a local musician playing guitar, mandolin and piano steeped in the...

. The Present---Tense The partial thaw of yesterday now slips Beneath a crust of light that is white snow. This snow is hiding stumbling blocks that trip Intrepid elders' steps to broken hips As small-warmed...

. Vom Himmel Hoch by Martin Luther (1483-1546) translation by James A. Tweedie 1. From highest heaven I here befall To bring a good news tale to all. So much I want this tale to bring To tell it I will gladly...

. Sunday Morning While the World Burns Another something, somewhere, every day Perturbs the practised calm of her routine. Those sad reflections on the fractured screen Of tragedy ten thousand miles...

. “Use the Word ‘Cancel’ or ‘End’ Instead of 'Abort'" —Stanford University's 'Harmful Language' List What might have been What could have been What would have been A child who dared to climb a...

. See the painting more closely here. Eden The newborn world is all aswirl with beasts Obedient who, as God specified, Have duly fruitful been, have multiplied And claim laid to the garden west to east. Their...

. Continuation You and I are of two discrepant minds: We disagree on all that matters—plus, Our separate brains are not quite sure what kinds Of things they favor, making four of us. The four of us engage...

. Mother’s TV It numbs regretBut, better yet,Helps her forget,Lest devils spawn. It quells each thoughtOf folly’s rotLost, sold, or bought,From dawn till dawn. Time Confounder,Siren Sounder,Demon Drowner...

. There She Goes When Everyone’s a Woman, No One’s a Woman upon reading the news story here. There she goes, erased from Cambridge pages--- An instant relic wafting on the fringe Of lunacy as sybils,...

. ---To My Beloved Husband Our married love is no ethereal sound Which dies away when wedding bells cease tolling: No idle lust for courting or cajoling Which dissipates, its petty joys once crowned; Nor yet a...

. The Tartini Tones Combination tones generated by violins of good quality can be easily heard, affecting the perception of the intervals. The harmonic content of the dyad is enriched by the combination tones...

. Winter’s Perfection A Zen aesthetic guides winter’s perfection--- uncluttered, austere, natural, still, subtle, embracing flaws and daring introspection, a quiet season, slow, without the hustle of...

. The Portrait   I dreamed I was an artist, and had made A likeness of the one I loved for all To wonder at, and, that the homage paid Might grow, I hung it on a trendy wall. It was a likeness, but had...

. Arrival of Spring Each wing delivers news of a young earth: The nightingale, the end of moonless woes, The dove, the peace of melting mountain snows, The hummingbird, a lightness dense with mirth. The...

. Autumnal Wind Autumnal Wind, who are in speed as swift As was the Spring with which my life began, If you would sigh upon this lonely man, And whistle through his heart’s wide-open rift, Then from the...

. Toward Yehuling, 1211 Unfolding steppes emerge as flattened plains Of long grasses of gold and April-green, While crystal streams, like bold and careless children, Careen away through boundless fallow...

. Lessons in Love  inspired by William George Falconer (1922 – 2006) I. The First The photo flew from Grandad’s falling wallet. It fluttered to the floor within my reach. I picked it up and saw the...

. Supplication to Erato and Melpomene Erato, decked in crimson roses; green branches of myrtle, Help me forge the words to win her heart: My crippled pen can summon not the words that might make fertile Barren...

. Yet The withered dune grass slumps beneath a sere Gray frozen sky, as winter tag-teams fall And nighttime frost compels the Black-Tailed deer To seek out warmer lairs beneath the tall, Cone-laden Sitka...

. In a Soviet Gulag from an oft repeated joke There was a break in the relentless cold And then the guard stepped out for quite a while. Such changes made the prisoners grow bold: Two yelled their thoughts,...

. Gathering in the Names for Michael Vincent Laureate Ortiz Hill (1957-2022) I'll add names to my life until I'm subtracted, And my name is as long as this poem. There's a scroll with a list of the lives I've...

. Tuesday Afternoon I sit beside a lake and fish, And read The Captive Mind. An hour gone, I stand and switch My bait for a new kind. But cheddar cheese and crawdad square For catfish work the same: In wind...