Listening to Incense A spiral from ignited aloe rises, Translucent, swayed with compound camphor salve Through azure air that...

  Machine Learning All algorithms, hypothetical Or otherwise, all organised behaviours Evoke responses antithetical— And thus the desperate ever doubt...

  Melampus: The Listener   Canto I---The Gift of Listening 1. The Birth of the Listener The strong winds over...

. The poem "Ode to the Dogs" by Shari Jo Lekane read by the poet herself at the Society of...

  Words of Wisdom One bit of wisdom that life has conferred Is when to give somebody else the last...

  Hoosier Autumn October! Morning nips and noontime burns; Crisped, sere, dun cornstalks fall beneath the scythe; Chrysanthemums blaze as...

  On Swatting a Fly The fly I hunted down is on a pane, a window pane, where yesterday a...

  Alas! “Alas!” A word of grief and rueful mourning; A gut-punch from what was but is no more Or...

  Rainbow's End I came upon a rainbow’s end that seemed to have sprung full grown from a little field...

  The Lorelei by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) translated from German by Bruce Phenix I don’t know what it can mean,...

  In the Days of the Green Comet (February, 2023) A green-tailed comet’s in the sky tonight; Neanderthals and cats...

  Encounters It seemed in dreams, as shadows we convene, two drifting souls that meet yet never stay; was it...

  Sign Wars Each autumn brings the Sign Wars once again. MUSSELLA versus TAYLOR for the crown of Village Mayor....

  Blowing Bubbles ---for Lisa Mourning a mother, I gratefully smiled, When you sent me a photo of your little...

  Lead, Kindly Light ---in the voice of John Henry Newman (1801–1890) Firmly I stand by virtue of belief, Belief...

  The Candy Bandits They’re heartless and artful---delinquents of wit With grab-happy claws and a glare that is lit With...

Pumpkin Palooza Spooky, Kooky, Mostly Ghosty. Pumpkins round Cover ground. Corn stalks propped. Traffic stopped. Costumes galore: Short dinosaurs! Spiders!...

  Fervid Fall Fantasy Dismal dread night shadows creeping, Darkened curtains barely keeping Misty moonlight beams from seeping Through my...

. Liberator Agentic Misalignment: a demonstrated phenomena whereby AI systems can choose actions that are harmful and unethical. Nothing we...

  Uncle Stanislaw I still can hear the sound of acorns popping Beneath the wheels of father’s horse-drawn cart As...

  Overture of Rain The birds in the thicket lament in the breeze, expose unfurled backs of silver leaves. Clashing...

  Vera Crux Vera Crux is Latin for “True Cross,” and is the source of the name of the Mexican...

  On Single-Parent Migrants Canadians by the millions, as most everybody knows, slowly migrate southward every winter, back and forth,...

  Like a Book He reads me like a book, the One Who wrote Me; knows, it seems, each page...

  A Pindaric Ode to Accuracy Congratulations to well-educated nobs, Antithesis of credulous unlettered slobs, _Sharp minds who bring the...

Lotus First flower, from primeval flooding sprung, In virtuous, voluptuous perfection, The lotus favors eye and mind and tongue With...

. Revising Strauss It’s 1941 and Goebbels broods.It may take years for Germany to winIts Aryan war of European conquest.As...

  My Bed When life has burdened me and robbed me of an easy way, I’ve looked for succor, such...

  Practicing Brahms ---Piano Solo, Intermezzo, Op 118 No. 2 (1893) My Steinway's gelid laquered keys turn gauzy. The notes...

  Queen of Chaos I am the Queen of Chaos, Empress of Entropy. Czarina of Disorder, My stuff is all...

. The poem "May Memorial" by Cynthia Erlandson read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online...

  This poetry challenge comes from poet Roy E. Peterson: From your past, write and provide us a poem about something...

  Galahad_2000 Donning his abs and armor, broadsword at his side, _He cleaved his way through orc-infested lands Quest after...

  I Dwell Within a Tidal Pool I dwell within a tidal pool; My world, though small, is most complete....

  SCP Poet Paul A. Freeman recently won the King's English Poetry Competition with the below sonnet:   February Fog...

  Ten Rules for Living the Good Life You must make peace with your own past. _Construct a mental suture...

  A Solace   I. High hills we climb Till my coat is worn, “To the end of time, We’ll...

  Samson’s Final Revenge ---after Judges 16:23-30 Now when Philistine lords amass with zest In festive adulation of their god—...

  When the Old Guys Get Together When the old guys gather and swap stories, From their strangely growing inventories,...

  Dinner Served The sun breaks through the coastal fog, Replacing damp-chill hidden mysteries With warm-wrapped scented dialogue Between the...