Yearly Archives April 29, 2025

. How I Spent My Spring Vacation: Poetry and Photography by James A. Tweedie . It Begins 45 Days Surrounded by the circle of the sea I cruise Atlantic waters, eastward bound, As knot by knot each longitude...

. Heritage I’ve never asked for anything The living soil does not provide. I don’t want cash; I don’t want bling; I only want to stand beside The footprints of departed fathers, Now looking down through...

. An Ode to Silay Cathedral bells now toll, And horses march the streets, The crowd has filled the hall, We hear the priest now preach. A lady makes a curtsy To the Lord respectfully. The marble pillars...

. Medusa's Sisters Medusa lost her head and found renown instead. Her living sisters roared, “And why are we ignored who so much fouler are and deadlier by far? “You’d think that she’d become the...

. High Society The Cornelius mansion on Park Avenue, New York City, Sunday, August 22, 1886 A derby hat; a fresh, white boutonniereOn my lapel. You just can’t have a newBeau Brummel jacket without something...

. Book Reviewed: Doorway: The English Cantos, Volume III, by James Sale, 2025 by Cynthia Erlandson It’s been several years since I’ve read Dante’s Divine Comedy; yet as I read James Sale’s Doorway,...

. Healing by Heart Dear André, let me see your face And cry out with you to lament The rot of flesh and foul disgrace You suffer, ulcered hands unbent. Your body needs rebirth that’s meant To cure your soul...

. Linden She stands against the sunlit sky, _Her beauty plain to see. The birds sing sweet and pleasant songs _High in the linden tree. The weary travelers stop below _To rest their weary bones, And listen to...

. Anachronistic Chaucer When April showers, forecast on TV,delayed our pilgrimage to Canterbury,an eating house, clept Hooters, we espiedbeside a leafy glade where we could bideour time in revelry and...

. The Luigi Mangione Act We need to contemplate the true impact of The Luigi Mangione Act. Although we sympathize with those who penned this act, it won’t turn out as they intend. Our health care system...

. https://youtu.be/9Qx03HgoXAQ . . Andrew Benson Brown‘s epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, chronicles the major events of the American Revolution. He writes history articles for American Essence...

. The Ballad of Shamus Well, Shamus were a likely lad wid a good well-meanin’ ‘eart As strong as O’Malley’s ox, ‘dey say—but only ‘alf as smart. ‘Is ‘eart belonged to Nellie, aye ‘e wished...

. Bardic Bones Who dug the dust? Who didn’t spare the stones? Who churned the earth that festered with a curse? Who had the gall to judder bardic bones, To steal the skull from him who gilded verse? These...

. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all...

. The Comedy of Rosalind ---As You Like It I show more mirth than I am mistress of. This forest and my folly prompted change Of sex, and my disguise dissembles love. I’m altered by men’s hose and doublet...

. On Shen Yun . I. The land of China. Deep in history That like a river flows with people and culture, Extending into misty mystery. But now this fascinating, gleaming treasure Is buried in the mud beneath the...

. Voyage Among the Ancients "Tread softly, for here you stand On miracle ground…" ---Lawrence Durrell, "On Ithaca Standing" ( 1937) The Juno anchors, docks. We disembark. Each landfall’s an Odyssean...

. Two Lyrics by Philodemus of Gadara translated from Greek by Joseph S. Salemi . V.124 Summertime has not yet cast off her buds Nor has the grape bunch turned to purple for you, The one near bursting with its...

. Innovative Thinking My long-time love gave me a special gift, a photo of himself when he was young. He even autographed it: “Love you! Dave.” From then, upon my wall this treasure hung where I could...

. Stone’s Point of View They brought Him to the tomb and rolled me into The right position to seal in the dead, And there was nothing I could do to undo The suffocating sense of loss and dread. The bloody...

. Easter Couplets Easter’s more than just about eggs and bunnies;More than what you may have read in the funnies. Short and sweet, (although I can’t guarantee it),This is what it’s all about, as I see...

. Who Are You and Who Am I ---a villanelle Who are you and who am I That you fill my life with light And for me you chose to die. I have fallen from on high, I am foolish, you are wise, Who are you and who am...

. Emmaus We barely saw he’d joined us as we made Our way along the road, so sad, afraid, So utterly confused by what had come To pass, so unsure as to what was rumor And what was true. And we were near...

. In the Garden of the King In the garden of the King I sit beside a crystal spring. The Tree of Life shines up above Fed by God’s eternal love. The Rose of Sharon is in bloom Freely giving sweet...

. Holy Saturday "Call the Sabbath a delight." —Isaiah 58:13 His weary, soulless body needed rest, Not only pierced and physically exhausted, But racked with mental pain, the scourging test Of misbelieving...

. Crucified  She pondered horrors of the modern age. He thumbed through piles of dusty history tomes. She craved the timeless wisdom of a sage. He chewed on clues and mused like Sherlock Holmes. He...

. Unless . . . As un-sun darkness swallows up the day, And quake shake rends an empty Holy Place, God’s grief-strewn Via Dolorosa way Leads to a cross and Jesus’ death-stained face. For here at Calvary...

. Good Friday Rain I wake and hear the rain cascade. Its cleansing drops roll down my pane; They soak the garden, bathe the glade, Refresh the grass, and swell the grain. Stretched out in bed, from stress...

. . Lament for Clairac by Théophile de Viau (1590-1626) translated from French by A.Z. Foreman Sun-hallowed walls where I once loved Phillis, Sweet places where my soul knew charm and wonder, Today,...

. Poetry Legacy Superb is her poetic contribution, Unique in its design and execution. She hopes the work is widely loved and lasting— With love beginning prior to her passing. . . Restricted Lane He sees...

. Australian poet Clive Boddy sent in the article "How Poetry Changes You and Your Brain" published in Greater Good Magazine, which includes the following: A 2022 study found creative expression therapy using...

. Magnolia The south wind’s newfound breath, The spring sun’s waxing ray, Draw from your outward death An opulent array. Before one fleck of green Has clothed your naked frame, The life that coursed...

. "But Fruits Are Not Concealed in Them" ---Friedrich Schiller, "Breath and Depth" We hear the ancient rule: The fools think they are wise; The wise know they are fools… But who knows their own lies? The...

. The Hermit Curses Sharp sunrises cut white streaks on the plain, whet edges on black soil, where all at once the spirit clefts from matter, and my gains recoil when I recall your face. Not front or profiled,...

. Curb Appeal . I. You really couldn't find a better plotOn which to build a house. The yard is rimmedIn masonry. The hedge is neatly trimmed;Without a doubt, a perfect corner lot.  There's something...

. Druthers I’ve never warmed to the absurd idea That I should lean toward being what I ain’t. I’m more inclined to move to North Korea Than hanker to become a martyred saint. I want to live an...

. Ovechkin Beats Gretzky He’s the greatest at one task, it’s putting biscuits into baskets. He scores goals from awkward angles after making dekes, and dangles. He’s a hockey fan amazer, wearing blades...

. Cantarella Wine Rome. 1501. Lucrezia Borgia hosts Bishop Giovanni Cavalieri of the Republic of Siena. He is visiting Rome as the leader of a faction of priests intent on pressing the Church to address...

. Strange Blindness: A Play in Two Acts . Prologue Joseph and Jesus knew that perfect timing---and not plain, unforeshadowed proclamation---would show the deepest truth about life’s drama.Its plot twists...

. A Ballad of Life ---after Winslow Homer's "Through the Fields" They spoke of life unfolding, A future far from home. No more of country living--- No fields, no farms, no loam. And so, they left for...