‘Flodden’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society January 10, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Performing Arts, Poetry 15 Comments . Flodden Historical Note: The Battle of Flodden took place between English and Scottish armies on September 9, 1513. The battle proved a tragic...
‘Uncivil War’ by James A. Tweedie The Society January 6, 2021 Culture, Exposing Election Fraud, Poetry 10 Comments . with reference to Macbeth V,5 . So bleak and dreary, like a stormy day, The world a whirl of whorls of endless rain And wind, with crash and...
“Pride Goeth . . . .” and Other Sonnets by James A. Tweedie The Society December 30, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 17 Comments “Pride Goeth . . . .” “How dare you, sir! Your libel will not stand!” The words flew out across the now-hushed room. “Retract your...
‘The Cracks of Doom’ by James A. Tweedie The Society November 25, 2020 Culture, Poetry 5 Comments Pandemic epidemic, fever, chills; As viral spiral sickens, quickens, kills. We’re tasked and masked with no place left to go. A...
Three Translations of Goethe and an Original Musical Setting for One of Them, by James A. Tweedie The Society November 15, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry, Readings, Translation 15 Comments Introductory Note These paraphrased translations represent three short poems composed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a person so well-known that I...
Veteran’s Day 2020 Poem: ‘Remembering’ by James A. Tweedie The Society November 11, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 13 Comments Thoughts following a visit to the World War 2 National Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. Eugene Ovid Lambert was my...
‘A Fragmentary Introduction to the Geo-Political America of the Progressive Left’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society November 1, 2020 Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry 23 Comments A Fragmentary Introduction to the Geo-Political America of the Progressive Left Exuding virtue-signaling savoir-faire, "The Vanguard of the...
‘Tewkesbury Mason’s Mark’ by James A. Tweedie The Society October 19, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 29 Comments Ego Feci Hoc A man, I was, of flesh and blood and bone, Nine-hundred years ago, I lived and died; A Norman mason skilled at cutting stone, An...
‘Feeding Time’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society September 19, 2020 Coronavirus, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry 23 Comments Feeding Time Chickens feed on chicken feed. Birds on birdseed, yes-indeed! Cattle feed on cattle feed, Twitters feed on Twitter...
Rhyme and Reason: Four Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society August 26, 2020 Culture, Humor, Poetry 36 Comments Abracadabra The written word is magical And not just something clerical. You scratch some marks into the sand; I see the marks and...
English Tomb Poetry, With an Introduction by James A. Tweedie The Society August 4, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Found Poem, Poetry 12 Comments by James A. Tweedie On my most recent visit to England in 2017, I paused to record a number of prominent grave monuments that included poetic...
‘Notre-Dame de Chartres’ by James A. Tweedie (Last Part in the Favorite Places Sonnet Series) The Society July 21, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments Enrobed in blue—enthroned and crowned—her Son, __With proffered blessing, safely in her hands— __The Queen of Heaven reigns on high...
‘Paris’ by James A. Tweedie (Part 4 in the Favorite Places Sonnet Series) The Society July 7, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 6 Comments La Ville Lumière—City of Lights, of Dreams, __Of Love: La Ville d’Amour. Whose night is day— __Whose stars are mirrored in the sky...
‘Viral Hair Care’ and Other ‘Wuhan Flu’ Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society June 30, 2020 Coronavirus, Culture, Humor, Poetry 4 Comments Viral Hair Care After four months untrimmed, my coiffure was ovoid, Well in tune with Aquarian couture. I was starting to look just like Christopher...
‘Mont Saint-Michel’ by James A. Tweedie (Part 3 in the Favorite Places Sonnet Series) The Society June 25, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments In triumph the Archangel stands atop __The medieval fortress church and isle __That bear his name—the legendary spot __Where Satan...
‘Istanbul’ by James A. Tweedie (Part 2 in the Favorite Places Sonnet Series) The Society June 7, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 6 Comments Astride the Golden Horn, where Occident __And Orient collide, the silhouettes __of minarets co-mingle with the scent __of spice and...
‘San Francisco’ by James A. Tweedie (Part 1 in a Sonnet Series) The Society May 24, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 45 Comments ...
‘In Praise of Formal Poetry’ by James A. Tweedie The Society May 5, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 5 Comments In the midst of free-verse critics’ Smug, inchoate analytics __Seasoned with self-righteous pedantry, There are poets who are...
‘Good Friday’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 10, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 7 Comments Sullen, somber skies— Heavy leaden tears are shed in sorrow. Heaven cries. Thunderous sobbing grief— Thrashing, crashing; Flashing,...
What Happened to Narrative Poetry?—An Opinion Piece by James A. Tweedie The Society March 5, 2020 Culture, Epic, Essays, Poetry, Short Stories 24 Comments This isn’t so much an essay as it is an opinion piece where I shoot off a few words in praise of narrative poetry or, in other words, poetry that...
‘Ash Wednesday’ by James A. Tweedie The Society February 25, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 5 Comments Icy, biting breezes cut like knives; Sea-spray wave crests crash upon the shore; Silent, unseen clam and crab life writhes, Buried neath...
‘The Magic Lamp of Al-Jafar: A Terza Rima’ by James A. Tweedie The Society February 4, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Short Stories 12 Comments While walking through the Grand Bazaar In Istanbul, I came upon A man whose name was Al-Jafar. His friendly face was thin and...
‘What Song Shall I Sing?’ by James A. Tweedie The Society January 20, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 35 Comments What song shall I sing for a nation divided By politics, race, economics, and power? By what sweet refrain shall our nation be...
Five Sonnets on Grimm’s Fairytales, by James A. Tweedie The Society December 7, 2019 Culture, Humor, Poetry 14 Comments Grimm Reckonings Summary Thoughts on Five Fairy Tales: A Sonnet Cycle Rapunzel I wish Rapunzel could have saved the day __By climbing...
Two Whale Poems, by James A. Tweedie The Society November 22, 2019 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 21 Comments Reflections on a Dead Whale The sound of surf; the scratch of sand on feet; The sight of distant ships; the taste of salt; And on the gentle...
‘The Sound of Sunset’ by James A. Tweedie The Society November 8, 2019 Beauty, Poetry 19 Comments The gold-etched clouds of evensong intone A whisper of rhapsodic melody; Kaleidoscopic shards of psalmody Aflame with facet-fire of...
‘Daguerreotype’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society October 18, 2019 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 28 Comments Daguerreotype An old once-treasured memory engraved On glass to keep the dying past alive. A fractal blink of time preserved and saved So...
A Pair of Punny Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society September 18, 2019 Culture, Humor, Poetry 16 Comments Fright and Flight The sleeping farm was bathed in soft moonlight. A quiet evening, peaceful and subdued; When suddenly a single bovine...
A Poem on America’s Trade War with China, by James A. Tweedie The Society September 6, 2019 Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry 3 Comments Calling China to Task The PRC has ways to make a foreign capitalist rich With plenty of cheap labor featured in their tempting sales...
‘For Dayton and El Paso’ by James A. Tweedie The Society August 5, 2019 Beauty, Culture, News of Note, Poetry 5 Comments Two mass shootings took the lives of twenty-nine this afternoon. Fifty-one (at least) were injured, every life cut short too...
Poems of Hibernia & Caledonia, by James A. Tweedie (with Audio) The Society August 1, 2019 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry, Readings 13 Comments Poet's Note: These five sonnets and song are the product of a four-week journey taken in June to Ireland and through west central Scotland and the...
Three Sonnets in an Antiquated Style by James A. Tweedie (with Audio) The Society July 13, 2019 Beauty, Culture, Love Poems, Poetry, Readings 11 Comments Her Love for Him My true love laughs, and angel choirs sing; The mountains echo back his tuneful mirth While Nature dances, heav’n in step...
‘Foggy Morning Fantasy’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society June 24, 2019 Poetry 10 Comments Foggy Morning Fantasy If heaven, as they say, is in the clouds Then it appears my home and neighborhood Were raptured in the night. If so, I...
‘Ballroom Dancing’: A Sonnet Cycle by James A. Tweedie The Society June 16, 2019 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 7 Comments Note: Formal Ballroom Dance competition involves five specific dance forms. This sonnet cycle attempts to introduce and describe them. I have also...
“We are super, we are fine, We’re the Class of ’69!” by James A. Tweedie The Society May 24, 2019 Culture, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments Fifty years ago . . . (it seems Like only yesterday) . . . the dreams, The hopes, and the unspoken fear That marked and marred my Senior year . ....
A Poem on Recent Shooting Heroes Lori Kaye and Riley Howell, by James A. Tweedie The Society May 2, 2019 Beauty, Culture, News of Note, Poetry, Terrorism 10 Comments For Lori Kaye and Riley Howell I sing in praise of Lori Gilbert Kaye. When racist hatred paid a deadly call On Congregation Chabad of...
‘An Ode to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 30, 2019 Culture, Humor, Performing Arts, Poetry 3 Comments An Ode to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 50 Years Later A Poetic Summary of Tom Stoppard’s Award-Winning Play As Seen Through the Eyes of Its Two...
A Poem for Easter Sunday: ‘Tosspot Tulip’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 21, 2019 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 7 Comments Tosspot tulip, withered, bowed and bent; __Severed stem embedded in a vase. __Natal bed a now-forsaken place. __Glory passed; its bloom...
An Immigration Poem: ‘Of Geese and Migration’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 12, 2019 Culture, Humor, Poetry 7 Comments The Canada Geese used to migrate each year. They’d summer up there and spend winter down here. Their nests were in Canada, home of...
‘Early Morning Winter Walk’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society March 10, 2019 Poetry 19 Comments Early Morning Winter Walk Footprints follow like a shadow as I walk Through early morning snow as white as powdered chalk. Dragon-steam appears...