Monthly Archives May 31, 2023

. When Two Elephants Fight---Sudan, 2023 The regular army and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) are at war with each other in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, Dharfur, and other places, and civilians are paying the...

. Elegy "Beauty can pierce one like a pain." —Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks When Mother died, she left me all her books. Bewitched by words, how much she loved to read. And chief among her loves was...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 3: Embrace the Epic, Not the Opaque If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. . Podcast on Spotify:...

. Gaslighted Our friendship limped along for thirty years. I can’t say why. The scornful views you’d share Instilled resentment, anger, even tears. Your condescending words. Your cutting glare. “Why...

. America America, vast land of dreams __From sea to shining sea, Where eagles soar and twilight gleams __On Lady Liberty; America, you lit the way For those who sought a brighter day __In glorious...

. With Liberty and Justice for All Old Glory may have stripes and stars, But on those stars and stripes are stains— Reminders of a past that’s ours— Where shame, as well as pride, remains. The sweat of...

. The Great War Ever be their memory, Those interred across the sea, Men who, fighting evil, fell, Who endured the martial Hell; Those who to their homes returned, Shot or shell-shocked, broken,...

. For My Grandfather While Sharpton praised low bandits for their grace, And Barack preached self-pity with pure glee, You always taught the simple truth of race. While Black Lives Matter set Pan’s chaos...

. Red Flags a sestina sonnet The national flags of the Westerners’ lands Turn red in the dim, fading light of the sunset, Like Communist red—bloody floors in a prison. All the flags look the same when the...

. Target If you’re too young to take a marriage vow, Stuck at an awkward age that won’t allow A dizzy dose of liquor-laden brew Or puffs of buzzy stuff… just one or two--- __Target beckons...

. True Grit My favourite movie? If I must decide, I'd pick a classic western above all, those epic films of frontier macho pride. Enter the hero, riding straight and tall. There'll be some gunplay, and a bar...

. Some Satirical Epigrams in hendecasyllabics (essentially trochaic pentameter with a dactyl for the second foot) . Complaint to a Complainer You complain all the time; about the weather, Other peoples’...

. The Odd, Flawed and Awed Inspired by “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Canadian poet Robert W. Service If you hear from God, though the words sound odd, __you must not ignore that voice. That’s what...

. Remorseless Back on 19, returning from the lake, Where she had stowed sling chairs for next week’s meet, Her car broke down. She checked out what she knew, Glad to have parked securely in the grass. She...

. Butterfly Habit Ungainly butterfly, Misdirected flight. Fascinating random, Unpredictable delight. To and fro… up and down And backwards if you please, Bumbling aeronautics Independent of the...

. Beatrice and the Ineffable Smile: Canto XXIII of Paradise by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns Just as a bird that stands watch to ensure __the safety of her brood, beside the...

. On Second Thought When words fail, __perhaps it’s not the words at all, __but hobbled minds that cannot call __a lucid image to avail ____the powers of description. When love fades, __it might not be true...

. Behind the Cathedral Master masons made these bastions their own by blending crafts, attaining structural awe; from Notre Dame, to Salisbury and Cologne they dazzled kings and stupefied the poor. The scale...

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. Cain’s Daughter I was not in the garden when the veil of beauty tore I heard no serpent beckon to me through the orchard door I weep no tears beholding the angel’s flaming sword For I never breathed the...

. Abyss  In deepest, darkest depths of my despair I find myself without a saving grace. A pendulum of pain prevents my prayer from rising upward through the dead of space. Within these walls a war where no...

. Poems from 'The Still Beloved' ('La Amada Inmóvil') by Amado Nervo (1870-1919) translated from the Spanish by Alan Steinle The poems below are selections from the book La Amada Inmóvil: Versos a Una...

. A Poetic Heretic’s Poetry Tips a villanelle inspired by Dr. Salemi's essay "Poetry As The Philosophers Stone" Don’t listen to the howl of highbrow spiel From preachy creatures out to flatten...

. Reviewed Book: Seven Poems by Jacob Balde (Translated by Karl Maurer) Cooper and Posey, 2023 by Monika Cooper In 2022, a small and brand-new press launched a paper ship, full of herbs and poppies from...

. La Corona A childhood scene recalled by Trump of his mother, Mary MacLeod Trump, in The Art of the Deal, with a parallel to English-Scottish history.   Two popes, two presidents. Two queens. Recall How...

. Matters of Class . Saying hello The modest o’s the most polite of letters; But is he facing up today or down? Each day he questions those he calls his betters In order so he knows to smile or frown. A...

. Below is the SCP Journal XI Introduction written by lead editor and SCP co-founder Evan Mantyk. After the Introduction is the complete first section of poems and art from Journal XI. Other Journal XI...

. Rhymeless in Manama My UK friend said, “Rhyme is old, you need to venture free and bold.” My Turkish friend said, “Rhyme's a must, a rhymeless bard deserves no trust.” But I found out I needn't...

. Canyon de Chelly Reflections of a Non-Native Visitor . An updraft from the red-rock canyon floor Blows through the mesa’s Piñon pine and sage As ravens, wings outstretched, in freedom soar Between the...

. So Much for Legitimate Women's Sports Vladimir Gonzales, a young Italian athlete, With 28 inch biceps and a 68 inch chest, Entered competitions where he knew he wouldn't find Even a...

. Spring’s Here! It’s sprung in the branches and springs home to me, It soars through the sap and the buds in the tree. The geese have returned and the flowers and bees Are buzzing with life and perfuming...

. Bach's Amazing Journey In the autumn of 1705, when Johann Sebastian Bach was 20, he set out to travel over 275 miles (each way) on foot from Arnstadt, Thuringia, in the heart of what is now Germany, to...

. The Garbageman Adrift amid a world that’s lost all rhyme, Where reason reels from first degree assault, It’s little wonder that from time to time One’s inner life can lapse into default. Our former...

. The Power of One You think that you're alone. There's nothing to be done. But I say, "You have strength. It is the Power of One." You may have had ideas That you have told to someone. They may have laughed...

. Newness a sonnet corona for Doris   I watch you view the newness of your world. Your widened eyes are dazzled by the light. Your fists of curiosity unfurl Like flexing wings on chicks who dream of...

. The Ballad of the Heroic Mother a true story A toddler into water fell __And sank as quick as rock. At nine feet deep, she couldn’t yell __Or jump or thrash in shock. Her mother heard the splash...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 2: Fake Poets and Hollow Prestige . Audio version available here: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nbFbs2YtvlgZ2B4RtQOcG Apple Music:...

. FIRST PLACE . Tooth and Claw a pantoum by Susan Jarvis Bryant Observe the tooth and claw of savage deed. Beware the ferric breath of looming dread. Don’t let the taunt of terror sow its...

. Poetry As The Philosophers’ Stone by Joseph S. Salemi The alchemical art, though long in disrepute, is nevertheless of great antiquity.  Supposedly founded by Hermes Trismegistus, a Ptolemaic Greek reflex...

. The Devil Comes to Buckingham from Legends of Liberty: Volume 2 One day as Britons cheered their sovereign’s sight, The devil crawled into his servant’s brain. He entered through the ear as a termite And...