Monthly Archives July 31, 2023

. The Sky Within The rolling sea becomes a frothy lather When argent Sister Moon calls forth a tide And sooty billows on the skyline gather. A flash of lightning urges us inside Where we observe the phases of...

. Death Musings . 1 On New Year's Day my body fell as dead Before a frightened child who hid her face From terror's flaunt. Death-taunts delivered dread To this dear child with cold and reddened face Till I...

. The Tortoise and the Hare in limericks A tortoise and hare were a-talkin’. Said Hare: “Why, your slowness is shockin’! __If we ran a race, __You’d be a disgrace. I’d win, even if I were...

. One Law Away Everyone can agree that we all disagree. __We don’t see what we see quite the same. We all think that we’re right so we can’t help but fight __and incite against those who we blame. It...

. The Heavy Launch of the Siegfried Idyll The landing offered just the space required for Wagner and the band that he had hired to play the idyl Cosima inspired, the mother of young Siegfried, whom he’d...

. . Learn Now, Learn Now, Young Master ‘Learn now, learn now, young master; You soon will take your test. The books to learn are plenty; You need to do your best; No time to take a rest. Your marriage is...

. Key West Rum, reeling, raunchiness, and revelry, Palms, poincianas, palaces of old--- All lie behind; the Morro Castle’s hold Guards old Havana past the sparkling sea A half-day’s sail south from this...

. The Number 53: To His Coy Transport Had we but world enough and time, My coy and tardy 53, This hesitancy were no crime And I’d be waiting patiently. When other buses came along I’d not obstruct or...

. Henry at Morning Time I’m lost in Greek or Latin, when You break into my life again. “Daddy, look! It’s morning time,” You say, as rays of sun sublime Bring color to the room. The leaves of...

. Seaside Retreat Footsteps move slow through shifting sand; A weather-beaten picket fence Encloses beach verbena fanned By sea oats where the influence Of busybody breezes fades. The cottage yard commingles...

. Crackpot Clown a villanelle     “Clowns are the pegs on which the circus is hung”  ---P. T. Barnum The blue moons wax and steely spirits wane As brown-nosed asses bloviate and bray. The crackpot...

. Formulas for Failure I’ve seen too much of devastating failure, In almost every avenue of life. One might guess lack of skill the main derailer, But that’s not even close to what’s most rife. A bigger...

. To Michael Burch: The Hillbilly Voice of Liberalism Mike Burch hates the stuff we write, Abuses us at his website, Spouting venom, bile, and spite Like some manic troglodyte. Here’s my answer to the...

. The Emperor's New Chromosomes The Emperor would be remade; He felt if he could be a maid He’d be more loved and find relief. His maleness brought him nought but grief. Two doctors showed up sharp as...

. Back to Sleep In very early years, now far behind, When I returned to earth at midnight deep From nightmare scares within my frightened mind, My mother rocked and sang me back to sleep. I hid in bed from...

. The Sea The sea rolls on, unchanged. Unmarred By earthly wars it stays unscarred. Always as long as man exists, The sea will froth in perfect bliss. When our life is borne away, And sunlit fingers point the...

. The Jeweler’s Deposition at the Coroner’s Inquest I certainly will tell you what I can. I knew the family—watched her growing up. Take it for what it’s worth: I was her friend. She started with the...

. On Lies and Liars A Double (Petrarchan) Sonnet . “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with...

. King Dom’s Dream Kingdom “In death’s dream kingdom…” —T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Me" Ukrainian Victoria Amelina has died from injuries along with others; it was dinnertime. It happened in the...

. Poorer by the Day a villanelle They pay in promises they will betray; A scam as cold and ancient as the sea. While those who work grow poorer by the day, Their masters mint fool’s gold to give away To...

. Sonnet I Our arms are leaves stretched out; our thoughts can bloom The grandest only when we crowd out those Who have been planted in a place of doom— Perhaps for something only Heaven knows. While...

. Melodious Curlew Melodious curlew mottled brown and bister, No longer raise your crescent-shapen beak Towards the waning moon, to which you shriek That harmony which haunts the twilight’s glister; Your...

. Via Appia Beneath the pines of Rome, the wrinkled sibyl will croak your future for eleven cents, and with her finger in the dust will scribble predictions of uncertain consequence. But go near, fix your eyes...

. July 20, 1999 a villanelle for Falun Gong Practitioners after 24 years of persecution Your path is narrow, yet look at where it goes As you seek truth and truth defines your ways; The land of bliss waits...

. Meditation on the Moon O! think about that strange celestial clump, That ball of dust God found beneath His bed And set it spinning round the Earth instead Of tossing it in outer space’s dump. Its...

. ***** The Red Hotel has blood on ev’ry floor Where ev’ry room is numbered 666 And blood-greased door knobs bolting every door Suspend a blood red sign of ZZZ So slaving cleaners need not knock to...

. Good Friday, Revisiting Glamis "Not in the legions Of horrid Hell can come a devil more damn'd In evils, to top Macbeth" ---Shakespeare The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in...

. On Silicon Avenue The lawns on Silicon Avenue were mowed on Wednesdays. All the hedges, too, were cut. On Thursdays cars were polished till they glowed, or else you got a bullet in the gut. The Sheriff-Bots...

. The Park The Park he’d built, which hovered overhead, Went far beyond the scope of any to That time constructed.  Architects were bred For several generations: some were wed To siblings just to purify the...

. It's Dangerously Close to Too Late Virtually stormed by countless disciples, __trolled by their merchants of Hate, We, who obligingly counter their tactics, __impassioned to join the debate, Must, with our...

. Balderdash? What are these hidden, unseen things? Do angels, demons, float on wings? Such ghostly shapes the full moon brings! __Our modern minds dismiss. Who twists and turns a shooter’s mind? Who ties...

. A Birthday Prayer Dear God, a new year has begun, My thirty-fourth of blessèd life. You’ve given children, lovely wife, And lately, happy, newborn son. We have, by your munificence, Enough intelligence...

. Me and My Pronouns Pronouns—I’ve gotten rather tired of them. Not quite so tired, though, as of being queried as to mine. “He,” “him,” “his”—why can’t I hem them up, the lot of them, and...

. Panchavati, An Introduction by Maithili Sharan Gupt (1886-1964) translated by Paddy Raghunathan The full moon’s mesmerizing rays Appear to skim the lake and sand, As moonlight, fresh, diffuses...

. The White House Coke Though Hunter left his laptop at the shop, The Woke deny he lost his White House coke, And call the chance of Joe partaking nil--- Has anyone drug tested Dr. Jill? . . On Second...

. Stand There comes a time to stand for what you know To be the right, whatever be the cost. Then get you up to speak, or do, or go, To fill some gaping breach, though you be tossed From wave to towering wave,...

. Suiseki Rainfall has stopped; it’s the best time for hunting a stone. Drizzle still dampens debris; Trees put forth roots unobtrusively; mosses have grown; Animals leaving their burrows run free— Sodden...

. Insomnia Kyrielle The stars above have gone to bed, their quilt of clouds a calming sweep as moonlight strokes their tossing heads: O lord have mercy, let me sleep! Here in this dark I lie awake. The cliff...

. The Nation’s Heart The Nation’s heart has passed away, A loving grandmother to all. And now it’s for her son we pray Whom Charles the Third we’ll learn to call. But will he fill that vital...

. Heavy Excess a plea from the human realm I must flee this land where feelings choke, Unrope attachments that were tied in love. Through halting rites of passport checks I grope. My bulky baggage makes my...