Author The Society

. Anyone But You The phone may ring; The call will bring __Anyone but you. The mail will come; It will be from __Anyone but you. A text may buzz; I’m sure it was __Anyone but you. Oh, this is dire; I...

. My Sonnet as Texted Her face, uplit as she scrolls through her phone, no feelings shown, she wears light like a mask. Have we two lives we share? Is each one’s own? Afraid that I know, I’m too scared to...

. A Sentimental Villanelle This year I’m wrapped in Christmases of old--- The tinseled tree and glee of hearts on high. My mood is laced with myrrh and graced with gold. The air is spiced with mulling wine...

. Introduction Each year I compose or arrange music in celebration of Christmas. This year I have created three arrangements of familiar Christmas music, each introduced by a poem. The organ piece is based on...

. https://youtu.be/fx3NidSVFKk . A Wretch Like Me by Joe Tessitore To miss the mark, to lose my way,To choose the dark, on Christmas Day.No star I see, no Virgin Birth,No joy for me, no peace on earth. But...

. . Dramatis Personae: Ebenezer Scrooge: An infamous miser Bob Cratchit: Scrooge’s assistant Mrs. Cratchit: Bob’s wife Tiny Tim: Disabled child of the Cratchits Jacob Marley: Scrooge’s old partner Mr....

. 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 cattle stall--- These were the first things that He sensed The...

. It's a Wonderful Life The forecast promised luscious, gleaming snow; Instead the sky pours bitter, freezing rain. The lights are strung but half of them won’t glow.Our tree sags like the one in Charlie...

. The North Pole's on Lockdown ‘Tis the night before Christmas; it pains me to say--- The North Pole’s on lockdown before the big day. The elves have been furloughed and fester in bed. The toy...

. The Tunnel to Australia It’s raining every day in Merrie England. It’s falling from the sky most every day. But I’ve just heard about a place that’s burning, In a country that’s so very far...

. The People That Walked in Darkness The Christmas lights are out tonight, __Early and fierce and brave. The lawns of all suburbia, __A parti-colored nave. Their swollen ranks caused me to think __How changed...

. Hedge Theory The hedge plants are trimmed by a gardener with shears As they have been, like clockwork, for twenty-five years. Yet they push out new shoots in continuing hope Of extending their reach through...

. This Present Madness “To sleep! Perchance to dream; aye, there’s the rub…..” ---Shakespeare, Hamlet I The daily nightmare hovers; and each night We pray to stay unconscious---not to dream (Perchance...

. Twelve Chaucerian Limericks for Paul Freeman Some pilgrims went riding to Kent, And here’s how the journey was spent: As they traipsed through the dale They each told a tale Of sacred or worldly...

. Critical Race Theory It’s quite amusing when some first Defend it with persistence, Then---feigning that they’ve not reversed--- Deny its whole existence. . . Federal Government Logic The National...

. Habeas Corpus Of those whose job it is to get results It might be asked: to what infernal purpose? Extortion, threats, felonious assaults, And foul deceptions only scratch the surface Of crimes they’re...

. Journey’s End To Adventuresome Children at Bedtime Mountain, forest, stone, and stream all glisten under sun, While golden morn and midnoon beam call children out to run. But after day has had his say, see...

. The Harp  by Gustavo Bécquer | from Spanish by Cheryl Corey Obscured by corner shadows, gathering dust, perhaps forgotten over time—there stands the silent harp. So many hidden notes entombed on muted...

. Three Sisters Clotho When mother sat me down, I feared the worst. Her words, however, offered praise instead. “Your gentle hands are motherly,” she said. “That’s why I’ve chosen you to be the...

. Panic What is this feeling that sometimes afflicts Us with awful intensity and fear? A feeling close to panic, very near To dread, to terror; something that constricts The breathing, chokes the throat and...

. Fool’s Gold The gutsy suffragettes gained girls the vote--- One bold soul trampled by a monarch’s horse Grabbed patriarchy by the gloating throat. Her ghost changed every voiceless woman’s...

. A Spider in My Room In the corner, there's a spider Between the ceiling and the wall. Its legs are long, its body small, Seeing it there my eyes grow wider, Fearing it to be the kind Of spider I’ve been...

. . Bidenflation to the finale of “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie Fuel prices go up Tomorrow Bet your shrinking dollar that tomorrow They will soar! Inflation will rise Tomorrow All the things you...

. Tidal Lock for Michael Collins died (Oct. 31, 1930 - April 28, 2021):, Apollo 11 Command Module Astronaut who saw the dark side of the moon Has one brave man's small step dethroned the moon And brought the...

. A Flower for Giannina Milli by Alceste De Lollis (1820-1887) | translated from Italian by Adam Sedia A fragile herb, this blooming flower, I planted with my hand one day; Once more I fed refreshing...

. Lightning Could Strike Just when hope Is out the door, Has flown the coop, Has said “No more.” Just when "up" You have now "given," Just when life Seems so now riven. In she walks Her smile so...

. Tamara to Emily for Emily Dickinson We viewed the lighted houses well below, whose roads ran serpentine through mounding snow, zoomed in on walls that formed each hollowed room, then juxtaposed the gaiety...

. There Was a Free Nation That Swallowed a Lie sung to the tune of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" . https://youtu.be/luLcKkCHWFo There was a free nation that swallowed a lie. I don’t know why...

. Advent Twist "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple . . . But who may abide the day of his coming? and who...

. Sibylline Sonnets for Advent The sibyls were ecstatic prophetesses active from about 600 B.C. in the Greek coastlands of Asia Minor, and in Greek colonies on the west coast of Italy. A few apparent...

. Samode Palace Hotel An erstwhile palace, and all wished to claim a former sultan's, not a servants', room. So we drew keys, for all had paid the same and won two turrets and a vast bedroom. But, best,...

. So Simple Lies are told to Balkanize, To disenfranchise, federalize, To bloat the vote. An anecdote, A narrative, a false footnote To cast their spell on sheepish folk, Who swell with pride because they’re...

. Maria Montessori Seldom felt hunky-dory. Her vision for education Fell short of inspiring a nation. . King George the Second It has often been reckoned Would have been more fecund Had more mistresses...

. The Devil and the Hounds of Hell Over and over in the gloom of night, In degrees of Celsius or Fahrenheit. From deep in the middle of a hard-won sleep, An evil entity begins to creep. A dark, diabolical...

. What Is Truth? a pantoum To keep us blind and riven You falsify the facts. You will not be forgiven--- These are a tyrant’s acts! You falsify the facts Promoting news that’s fake. These are a tyrant’s...

. We Are in for Another Covid Christmas! We are in for another Covid Christmas: __Lockdown tales of woe. ____Now forbidden to fly his sled __Santa is drenched in dread And Rudolph’s rosy nose has lost its...

. Turn, Turn, Turn I, whose heart is closed and locked, Who turned away when your Son knocked And who, through sin, did turn my soul Into a twisted lump of coal Turn now, Holy Mary, to you. Least worthy, no...

. Daphne and Apollo “O foolish Cupid,” fair Apollo mocked. “To think that you, a wanton boy, should dare To think yourself the equal to a man Of arms, or even to a god like me, In putting arrows full...

. Failure to Strive Do, or do not.  There is no try. —Master Yoda We’ve traveled far, or so it seems to those Of us who shy from setting distant goals Requiring passage through unending rows Of thornhedge...

. Elemental, My Dear Slight air and purging fire, the first my thought, the other my desire. ---Shakespeare, "Sonnet 45" I am of air and fire wrought, though I am drawn to water like a dowsing rod. Carousing...