‘Soldier of the Rising Sun’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society June 8, 2025 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 46 Comments . Soldier of the Rising Sun Date/Location: February 19, 1974---Uninhabited jungle, Lubang Island in the northern Philippines. The matter: Believing...
Hurricane Poems: ‘The Genesis Wind’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society May 25, 2025 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé 24 Comments . The Genesis Wind ---written in the wake of Hurricane Milton I close my eyes to better gauge the gusting wind. It howls and tantrums hard against...
‘Back in the U.S.S.R.’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society May 11, 2025 Culture, Poetry 26 Comments . Back in the U.S.S.R. ---St. Petersburg, Russia. The present. Your borscht, Dmitri. Come and eat, smart boy. You asked me how life was? Well take a...
‘High Society’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society April 27, 2025 Beauty, Culture, Love Poems, Poetry 15 Comments . 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...
‘Cantarella Wine’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society April 13, 2025 Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . Cantarella Wine Rome. 1501. Lucrezia Borgia hosts Bishop Giovanni Cavalieri of the Republic of Siena. He is visiting Rome as the leader of a...
‘The Restoration’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society March 30, 2025 Beauty, Poetry, Rondeau 39 Comments . The Restoration ---for SJB Words sometimes fail. How best explainThat life can seem eternal rain?That though friends care they cannot seeOr grasp...
‘Ode to The New York Times’ by Brian Yapko The Society March 23, 2025 Poetry, Satire 43 Comments . Ode to The New York Times O, soulless source of leftist propaganda Known still throughout the world as “The Gray Lady”--- You promulgate...
‘Reflections on a Visit to Saint Augustine’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society March 18, 2025 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . Reflections on a Visit to Saint Augustine With each step up the old Castillo wall I pray The hurricane will detour east past Grand Bahama. If...
Three Poems Dealing with Death, by Brian Yapko The Society March 2, 2025 Beauty, Poetry, Terza Rima 22 Comments . A Brief Return Hey, little girl. I’ve come to check on you;To hear your voice, to see your face anew.Can it be true? Has it been seven...
‘As Hamas Celebrates Dead Babies’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society February 23, 2025 Culture, Poetry 24 Comments . As Hamas Celebrates Dead Babies The Bibas deaths... how do I tell this news? A mother and her sons---all blameless Jews--- Killed senselessly. My...
‘Strauss Vater’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society February 16, 2025 Beauty, Music, Poetry 19 Comments . Strauss Vater Scene: Vienna, Austrian Empire: Midnight, October 15, 1844. On this night the famous musician, Johann Strauss, Sr. snubbed the...
‘Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy’: Poems by Brian Yapko The Society February 2, 2025 Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for...
‘Stones for My Parents’ and Other Poetry on Grieving by Brian Yapko The Society January 19, 2025 Beauty, Poetry 25 Comments . Stones for My Parents I didn’t want to come. How sad it sounded To kneel beneath a hazy sun surrounded By strangers’ graves---grim watchmen for...
‘Bollical Dogs’ in Response to T.S. Eliot’s ‘Jellicle Cats’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society January 5, 2025 Beauty, Humor, Poetry 26 Comments . Bollical Dogs I have a complaint! T.S. Eliot hogs All the fun with his stories of Jellicle Cats! So let me (inspired by zoo catalogs) Write of...
‘Christmas in Florida’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society December 25, 2024 Culture, Humor, Poetry 22 Comments . Christmas in Florida I watched him pass! St. Nick himself---Kris Kringle,Who hails from Buffalo, not the North Pole.He waved; I heard bells on his...
‘The Interview’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society December 22, 2024 Culture, Poetry, Satire 20 Comments . The Interview “Respect my grammar rules or else,” K said, “This interview will be extremely short. Or better yet, I’ll summon you to...
‘Galileo Under Confinement’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society December 8, 2024 Beauty, Poetry, Science 22 Comments . Galileo Under Confinement Scene: Florence, 1636 AD. In the third year of his life imprisonment (as sentenced by the Holy Inquisition) Galileo...
‘The Greatest Gift of All’: A Poem of Thanksgiving by Brian Yapko The Society November 28, 2024 Poetry 31 Comments . The Greatest Gift of All To wake and find I still can see and feel And know deep down what is and isn’t real. To weep when all I’ve planned is...
‘The Lop-Sided House’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society November 24, 2024 Culture, Poetry 27 Comments . The Lop-Sided House A lop-sided house on the edge of a cliff; A family trying so hard to be nice As their eavesdropping neighbors spy, wondering...
‘The Ghosts of Altamira’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society November 10, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 27 Comments . The Ghosts of Altamira ---a meditation A herd of prehistoric bison; blood beliefs Depicted in concentric whorls with prints of hands. Stick...
‘The Venetian Doge on the Sack of Constantinople’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society October 27, 2024 Culture, Poetry 22 Comments . The Venetian Doge on the Sack of Constantinople Setting: Constantinople in the Summer of 1204 AD. Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice prepares for bed...
‘The Waste Land: 2028’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society October 17, 2024 Poetry, Satire 35 Comments . The Waste Land: 2028 You said you loved her---everything about her---Her color, accents, laugh, that she was woke.Her joy outweighed all duty and...
‘A Roman Noble on Constantine the Great’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society October 13, 2024 Culture, Poetry 26 Comments . A Roman Noble on Constantine the Great Setting: A villa on the outskirts of Rome, ab urbe condita 1082 (329 A.D.) Cornelia, no. The household gods...
‘Send in the Clones’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society September 29, 2024 Pantoum, Poetry, Satire 34 Comments . Send in the Clones Year One. Computer, help me make this switch! This lab is now my church. Advance my mission: To nail the science for my sex...
‘Follow the Miracle’: A Poem on the Trump Assassination Attempts by Brian Yapko The Society September 16, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . Follow the Miracle A random head-turn? Vector wind deflection? Or was it truly heavenly protection? His head came close to being torn asunder Yet...
‘Kristallnacht—The Night of Broken Glass’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society September 15, 2024 Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry 31 Comments . Kristallnacht---The Night of Broken Glass I tell my son he must not make a sound. I whisper, “Karl, this attic is our haven. Don’t cry! Don’t...
‘Married to the Mob’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society September 1, 2024 Culture, Poetry, Satire 24 Comments . Married to the Mob He’s going out again today. What for? His hundredth chance to settle some old score? “Damn this! Screw that! Free cash! Free...
‘Stolen Valor’ and Other Poetry for the Democratic National Convention, by Brian Yapko The Society August 19, 2024 Poetry, Satire, Villanelle 44 Comments . Stolen Valor ---a poem in unheroic couplets Osama used his wives as human shields When being hunted down by Navy Seals; Bruce Ismay engineered...
‘The Leper’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society August 18, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 51 Comments . The Leper “When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord,...
‘Patton on the Lipizzaner Horses’ and Other Poetry of Vienna by Brian Yapko The Society August 4, 2024 Poetry 28 Comments . . Patton on the Lipizzaner Horses I’m certain that I’ve done all this before: I’ve hid old frescoes, ordered statues buried, Helped salvage...
Poems on Artistic Collaboration and Gilbert and Sullivan, by Brian Yapko The Society July 21, 2024 Beauty, Music, Poetry 27 Comments . . An Epistle of Sullivan Dear Gilbert---your libretto is delightful! A charming English-Japanese confection. I now concede my words last week were...
‘The Lord of His Castle’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society July 7, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 38 Comments . The Lord of His Castle Setting: King Stephen’s siege of Newbury Castle, England during the English civil war known as “The Anarchy.” The year...
‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society July 4, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 38 Comments . . Battle Hymn of the Republic The Lord doth come; the grapes of wrath are crushed! Behold His fiery sword of Victory. He heartens those whose...
‘Elder Abuse’: A Poem Written Upon Watching the Presidential Debate, by Brian Yapko The Society June 29, 2024 Culture, Poetry 44 Comments . Elder Abuse What’s left to us to say? There’ll be no more debates. We know the truth now. Biden is not there--- The president of the United...
‘Spanish Moss’ and Other Florida Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society June 25, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . Spanish Moss A thicket hides the remnants of a grange, An antebellum place of ghosts and rue--- A gothic ruin---tropical and strange Which even...
‘Driven from Their Homes’ and Other Israel-Inspired Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society June 11, 2024 Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . . Driven from Their Homes Deported and despised. Compelled to leave. 900,000 driven from their homes With pain enough to fill one-million...
A Poem on the Trump Conviction: ‘The Witch Hunt’ by Brian Yapko The Society June 2, 2024 Culture, Poetry 42 Comments . The Witch Hunt I’ve been a lawyer for a long, long time And seen a lot of things that shouldn’t be--- Like rape and murder; every type of...
‘Surviving Caligula’: A Poem on the Roman Emperor, by Brian Yapko The Society May 28, 2024 Culture, Poetry 31 Comments . Surviving Caligula Setting: Caligula’s Palace, the Palatine Hill, Rome Date: 23 January 794 Ab urbe condita (41 A.D.) The Matter: A Praetorian...
‘Look Homeward, Sweet Afton’: Poem by Brian Yapko, Set to Music by Jeff Eardley The Society May 14, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry, Song Lyrics 32 Comments . Music by Jeff Eardley . Look Homeward, Sweet Afton after Robert Burns Look homeward, Sweet Afton, back to thy green braes, Recalling with pride...
An Interview with Poet Brian Yapko: Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown The Society May 5, 2024 Classical Poets Live, Essays, Interviews, Poetry 18 Comments . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR0MktU78bA . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His...
