Monthly Archives July 31, 2025

. Conjugation: Tense with Mood ---a verbal disagreement between the indicative and the subjunctive If I were all that I could be, Perhaps I’d spend eternity Cavorting in a field of lilies With thoroughbred...

. Beneath the Blooms I search the hills for blooms to smell. The dew drops kiss my naked feet to wish me and my journey well but fade before the rising heat. Oh flowers, flowers everywhere I dance between the...

. Most Conversations Near every grocery-line or petrol-pump, at every social-gathering or game, outside of every church or at the dump, the conversation’s usually the same. I’m hopefully only halfway...

. Autumn’s Fairy Tale ーan ode to Yugen The golden eve allures As autumn’s sun illumes, Gleaming in rose subdued. Replacing clouds that consume, The yonder storm forlorn. Upon the fairy leaves, And flora...

. The Point The Point, defined by geometry, substantiates a theory: position without magnitude. Lest the point be misconstrued consider how a politician, lacking substance, has position. . . Petition for...

. The Dance When Arsis and Thesis met on the dance floor, one bowed to the other, the other implored: “Let’s strike up the band now with haste and due speed. Why wait for the others? We’re all that we...

. Pushback The New Puritans run amok, remaking our society. Through countless forms of media, they assert their authority. Through threat and bluster they control those poor souls who’ll bend the knee, but...

. Whistling Woman "A whistling woman and a crowing hen will scare The Devil out of his den." ---English proverb ____I have whistled and I whistle still, ____gone my own way to my own sweet will. ____I’ve...

. Radio New Zealand's Culture 101 sat down with SCP Editor Evan Mantyk to talk about the SCP's Haiku Competition, the SCP, and the history of the haiku. Listen...

. Of Cats and Cardinals ---for George Lionel (2005 – 2025) You left us at the hour of the owlWhen shameless moons are far too loud and bold__For one so still and cold---One shrouded in a freshly laundered...

. The Gospel of Wives Wives everywhere possess the firm belief Of all their many roles, the one that’s chief Is sparing husbands from the sheer mayhem That would befall their lives, if not for...

. History’s Rondel Human history’s plot repeats In variations, with refrain Each time we purpose to regain Eden, fooled by the deceits That conquered Eve. Then Flood defeats And drowns our pride---but,...

. Aubade at Seven AM The years have fled, and time so swiftly flees,since that brief hour when you and I first met;but how we loved I still remember yet;so purely did you live and love and please.You were a...

. Five Dappled Things A weave of twigs upon the ground; five eggs, cream white, flecked with gray. An ark dislodged —a callous jay or heartless wind— the nest set down. A slant of sun, an ark of twigs. a...

. Paradox of Tolerance "f tolerance is taken to the point where it tolerates the destruction of those same principles that made tolerance possible in the first place, it becomes intolerable." ---Gaetano Mosca...

. Spoiled-Rotten Cat Instructs Visitors Don’t you dare try to sit in my spot! I’ll decide if you pet me or not. _I’m the star here you’ll see. _They all cater to me. They just like you; they LOVE me a...

. The Old Man and the Mouse: A Sicilian Folktale An old man poured a glass of milk, and left it on the table. A small mouse came and drank it up, as much as he was able. The man returned, and when he saw the...

. Let Me Hold the Door I hold the door for you, and then you scoff. “He only wants to push old gender roles,” You think. Because you know you're strong enough, To get a door or dig some garden holes. But...

. Hairless Apes On the 100th Anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial . In nineteen hundred twenty-five, as Darwinists began to thrive, they wisely chose to hang their hopes upon a teacher named John...

. The Inclusivity Policy of a British School ---on a 12-year-old student in Britain being barred from making a speech about being British on Culture Celebration Day Celebrate your race with jubilation. Flaunt...

. Don't Call Me Shirley A Comic Homage Robert Hayes as reluctant pilot Ted Striker: “Surely you can’t be serious!” Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack: “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.” (From...

. On the Epstein Files Debacle ---a villanelle Where are those awful Epstein files? It doesn’t matter left or right! Who are those sordid pedophiles? We need a cleanup on this aisle, From desk to void,...

. One Dumb Mistake When young I made a dumb mistake And was arrested by the cops. I found myself alone in court. Needless to say, my case was lost. And I was sentenced by the judge For murder: ten to twenty...

. Not All Angels Play the Harp Not all angels play the harp, _Or sing in heaven’s choir. Some of them are warriors _Who fly on wings of fire. Daniel saw before his eyes _A mighty angel standing. Gabriel the...

. Living Dead The riffled rush of water mingles withThe wind among the Ponderosa pinesAs damp chill of late summer mountain rainSoaks through my shirt and clings and binds it toMy skin as if I were a mummy...

. Martha “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” ---Martha, Luke 10 In Jericho, the house was washed in white, Where roses climbed around each...

. The Harvest As drops of water drop and drip and drop, Each dripping drop soon fills the deepest crack. But when there is a freeze, they split the rock And once it’s cleft, no hands can pull it back. So...

. Unspoken Moments A sunpatch nap the first warm day of Spring, A curled up kitten sleeping in your lap, A country walk down lanes where robins sing, The surge of joy in every thunderclap And burst of rain...

. The Hokey-Cokey---Chaucer Style With music was a dingy tavern blessed, In Southwark, where we stopped to take our rest. The Miller, Robin, on his bagpipes played A tune---the Hokey-Cokey---and he made Us...

. Poetic Influences Elements swirling in motion,Music in splashes and streams!Waterfall, wild rushing river,Nature is stirring up dreams. Fog on the shores of illusion,Mixing with mist from the seas.Whispering...

. Of a Feather Professor Swann was new among the fonts of knowledge chugging up the tenure track; he'd earned his place among the college fac- ulty with bold views and a fierce response to critics. Apropos to...

. Vesper At dewfall Pipistrella brings her silent flickering silhouette to haunt the after-glimmerings that linger on the garden yet. And quiet overcomes the sky; and shadow pacifies the night; and indigos...

. Lasting Karma What’s the key to living life that matters? How do we spend this precious time on earth? Listen to the lessons of our fathers ---they illustrate the path from birth to death. So fleeting is...

. Myths _I mined the Grecian myths _and wrung from them this gem: The gods amuse themselves with us and we amuse ourselves with them. . . Chuang Tzu We steal all our lives, was Chuang Tzu’s belief, to...

. Poetry as a Pathway to Critical Thinking —with a focus on metaphor and image Poetry: “the right words in the best order.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge Critical thinking: “conceptualizing, analyzing,...

. In this poetry challenge, poet Roy E. Peterson challenges you to post a classic poem and a poetic response to it (of any length). See his example below. Post your choice of poem and poetic response in the...

. The Flower’s Refrain A tender shoot breaks through the ground, Drawn upward by the golden sun; It spreads its quiet leaves around, And grows till warmer days are done. It heeds not time nor wind nor...

. Family Affair It was an educational affair, So many distant relatives were there, And it was nice to learn who they all were, Too bad without a death, this won’t occur. . . Argument Avoided There’s no...

. Pope Leo XIV’s Green Mass My aim is red. My game is green. _I’m cloaked in clouds of white. This choking planet’s mine to clean. _I’m virtue’s guiding light. I’ll save this smoking Earth from...

. For Liza Am I Westward Bound _The year was 1868, __The place—Old King James’ town, _Young John was by his window sat, __Entranced and looking down. _For walking by was Liza Jane, __With flowers in her...