‘Ghost Town’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society May 9, 2025 Beauty, Poetry 10 Comments . Ghost Town With phantoms, I have lived for far too long. Both day and night, I’ve sighed, without a song. In vacant shells, I’ve tried to make...
‘Good Friday Rain’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society April 18, 2025 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 9 Comments . 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,...
‘The Settlers’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society January 29, 2025 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . The Settlers —to my forefathers, and all the intrepid men and womenwho settled the Oklahoma panhandle. Across these barren hills, the cold winds...
‘Winter Night’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society January 10, 2025 Beauty, Poetry 15 Comments . Winter Night A full moon fills the sky with lustrous light And gives the vault of heaven in the night A golden sheen that gilds the cloudy...
‘Home for Christmas’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society December 23, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 12 Comments . Home for Christmas Beneath the sinking skies I ride, a traveler on his way, .Through drizzling mist and fading light...
‘A Brief Respite’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society November 14, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 17 Comments . A Brief Respite From murky depths, I rise, by duty fetched,And breaking surface in the waking world,I find my horizontal self outstretched,Exposed...
‘The Iron Road’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society October 30, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 10 Comments . The Iron Road Flecked with the dust of snow, the iron rails Lie still and undisturbed beneath a sky Of cloudless blue where eagles freely...
‘To Melody, on Her Wedding Day’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society October 16, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 16 Comments . To Melody, on Her Wedding Day And now the hour has come for you to fly, To leave your early nest and take the air For vistas yet unseen (though God...
‘Lamplights at Dusk’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society September 20, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 17 Comments . Lamplights at Dusk Along the tree-lined lane, I walk at dusk, On pavement gray, well-washed by autumn showers, And watch the fading day discard...
‘Clouds Over Skye’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society September 3, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 12 Comments . Clouds Over Skye Vast mounting clouds rise over peak and vale; Their shifting billows filter noonday´s beams, Which pierce the spectral haze, so...
‘The Mannequins Are Melting’ and Other Hot Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society August 20, 2024 Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . The Mannequins Are Melting The mannequins are melting as we speak Now that the summer heat wave's at its peak. __While passing by the clothing...
‘The Lighthouse’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society August 5, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 19 Comments . The Lighthouse In honor of the Thridrangar Lighthouse and the intrepid men who built it. Alone it stands, perched high atop a rock That rises from...
‘Dandelion Dreams’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society July 5, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 21 Comments . Dandelion Dreams ---to Melody, on the occasion of her fifth birthday I see her, through the window, picking flowers. Adrift upon a sea of green,...
‘A Precious Wife Is Like Fine Wine’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society June 19, 2024 Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry 14 Comments . A Precious Wife Is Like Fine Wine A precious wife is like fine wine, made mellow with the years, Aged in a barrel made of smiles and laughter,...
‘To a Cicada’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society June 5, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 23 Comments . To a Cicada So, welcome back, you ancient thing! Some time ago, your tribe took wing; But here you are again, my friend, These summer nights with...
‘The Marble Angel’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society February 29, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 18 Comments . The Marble Angel The marble angel stood upon a tomb Erect and at attention, wings outspread, His blank eyes watching through the growing...
‘Sunshine’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society February 3, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . Sunshine Sun, shine on me—come and stay! Dry my tears, send gloom away. Warm my soul, chilled to the bone By the freezing wind that’s...
‘New Year’s Eve’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society December 31, 2023 Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry 24 Comments . New Year's Eve So swiftly tick the minutes to the close Of these twelve months, this day, and life itself! Which jars of clay will stay upon the...
‘Midwinter’: A Christmas Poem by Martin Rizley The Society December 23, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 8 Comments . Midwinter “O blesséd day we now enjoy, from heaven it is granted. He brings us bliss, He shows Himself for all our joy and worship! O may...
‘Beware the Lion’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society November 13, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . Beware the Lion "Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" ---1 Peter 5:8 Beware the lion! Stealthily...
‘Village Home’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society October 6, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 26 Comments . Village Home after George Enescu's Orchestral Suite no. 3, “Villageoise” Along the tree-lined lane he walks at dusk; What brought him here, he...
‘On Going Through Max’s Things’: A Poem by Martin Rizley The Society September 3, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 27 Comments . On Going Through Max's Things in memory of Max Rizley, Jr., 1956-2001 As sand slips through my fingers at the beach, Withdrawing swiftly, like the...
‘Darkface at Dusk’: A Poem on Death by Martin Rizley The Society June 25, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . Darkface at Dusk "Death is swallowed up in victory" ---1 Cor. 15:4 At twilight, as I walked in solitude Along a country lane, unpaved and...
‘To Music’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society June 2, 2023 Beauty, Music, Poetry 21 Comments . To Music Oh, Music, wherein lies your wondrous power To pierce the barren heart and open wide Joy's floodgate in the soul, that from inside Fresh...
A Poem on ‘Land and Lake and Sky’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society May 11, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 25 Comments . Land and Lake and Sky Here standing by the margin of a lake, I look into its waters, cool and deep, Then scan its surface, glassy and...
A Poem for Easter Day: ‘After the Storm’ by Martin Rizley The Society April 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . After the Storm All darkness past, the sun now shines Through shredded storm clouds drained of rain; Its bright beams crown, as day declines, The...
‘The Sea Cliffs’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society March 14, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 13 Comments . The Sea Cliffs Imposing, somber, motionless they stand, Like ranks of rugged soldiers primed for war, They stand where they have always stood...
‘Spring Shower’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society February 28, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 19 Comments . Spring Shower How beautiful the rain– The cool and cleansing rain! I watch as tiny rivulets Run down my window pane And countless glad and golden...
‘Morning Glory’ and ‘Empress of the Night’ by Martin Rizley The Society February 10, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 14 Comments . Morning Glory The morning mist at last has dissipated. The noonday sun is climbing to its height In cloudless skies of blue, where larks,...
Sonnet XVIII of the Sacred Rhymes by Lope de Vega, Translated by Martin Rizley The Society February 8, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Translation, Video 16 Comments . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDSWs61Ye0E . Sonnet XVIII of the Sacred Rhymes by Lope de Vega (1562-1635) translated by Martin Rizley What have...
‘The Wind’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society January 16, 2023 Beauty, Poetry 12 Comments . The Wind Listen, listen! Do you hear it? It is on the march tonight--- The incessant winter wind that blows throughout the wood and glade. Like a...
‘Glory in the Night’ by Martin Rizley The Society December 24, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 12 Comments . Glory in the Night It was a night like any night, when in the evening chill Cold shepherds sat by bonfire's light on many a naked hill To warm...
‘Late Autumn Twilight’ by Martin Rizley The Society November 29, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 24 Comments . Late Autumn Twilight The still earth beckons sweetly. I must go. The dry reeds on the creek have gathered round. The waters, in suspense, have...
‘Do Not Return’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society November 12, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 26 Comments . Do Not Return "...forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." ---Philippians 3:13 Do not...
‘The Pale Rider Comes’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society July 16, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 10 Comments . The Pale Rider Comes “So then give to Caesar what is his,” our Lord and Master said, __“And to God give what is his---your sacred...
‘Sleep’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society March 30, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 12 Comments . Sleep Now the hour has come to lay me down Upon the waters of the river Lethe, To float into the maelstrom and to drown In swirling waves above me...
‘The Night He Came’ by Martin Rizley The Society December 24, 2021 Poetry 12 Comments . The Night He Came The stench of damp straw mixed with mold, The low moan of the night wind cold, The murky shadows draping all Within a drafty...
‘The Gusting Winds’ by Martin Rizley The Society December 3, 2021 Beauty, Poetry 16 Comments . The Gusting Winds The gusting winds, they blow, it seems, more bleakly this December; They bite my cheeks and chill my bones and freeze my aging...
‘Ruby’s House’ by Martin Rizley The Society November 30, 2021 Beauty, Poetry 18 Comments . Ruby’s House to the memory of Ruby Elaine Seal Rizley (1896-1978) You knew it when you woke up in the morning and you heard The sound of pigeons...
‘It’s Raining Now in New York City’ by Martin Rizley The Society October 27, 2021 Beauty, Humor, Poetry 23 Comments . It's raining now in New York City; Yes, I know that's true. For like that dreamer, Walter Mitty, Daydreams take me, too, To fabled places far...
