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      Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry
      14 Comments
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      May 29, 2023
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      May 28, 2023
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      A Poem on Target’s Transgender Clothing for Youth, and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

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      May 27, 2023
      65
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      From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests
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      Beauty, Culture, Essays, Poetry
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Blank Verse

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Blank Verse

‘Some Satirical Epigrams’: Poetry by Shaun C. Duncan

The Society
May 26, 2023
Blank Verse, Epigrams and Proverbs, Poetry, Satire
12 Comments
. Some Satirical Epigrams in hendecasyllabics (essentially trochaic pentameter with a dactyl for the second foot) . Complaint to a Complainer You complain all the time; about the weather, Other peoples’...
poem/coats/blank verse

‘Remorseless’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
May 25, 2023
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
45 Comments
. Remorseless Back on 19, returning from the lake, Where she had stowed sling chairs for next week’s meet, Her car broke down. She checked out what she knew, Glad to have parked securely in the grass. She...
poem/macgregor/education

Two Cinquains by Tiree MacGregor

The Society
April 21, 2023
Beauty, Blank Verse, Education, Poetry
6 Comments
. A Novice Speaks to a Guardian Tell me, Oh honoured one, The secret of the Way, Of how to live, to reach the place Of light! . The Guardian’s Reply Kid, train And work hard; doubt The self; gain all you...
poem/cooper/melon

‘El Melon’ and Other Poetry by Monika Cooper

The Society
March 9, 2023
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. El Melon There is a maze or map on melon skin Even the blind could read and seek to solve. A little girl watches the housewives, deft, Touching the head shapes swiftly, one by one, Until they somehow know...

‘La Sirena’ and Other Poetry by Monika Cooper

The Society
February 19, 2023
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. La Sirena At some point they ceased to be beautiful. Even their voices. Bare breasts, bare arms, screams Savage as acid swamped the scholar-priest His reasoned teaching fading from his lips. Bare breasts,...

‘Time Travel’: A Poem by Leland James

The Society
February 3, 2023
Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry
19 Comments
. Time Travel I chance upon a sylvan glade, an Orphic place: moon threads, a lace of nightkin shadows. A trill of breeze awakes the guardian trees, live oaks in gowns of moss, tall runes of pine. I hear the...

‘The Calendar’ and Other Poetry by Jez Punter

The Society
January 20, 2023
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. The Calendar You are the festive dregs of January,you liven February with Valentine’s.You are the March that gives spring sanctuary,you are the splashing rain April confines.You entertain the shaken buds...

A Poem Commemorating January 6th and Ashli Babbitt, by Monika Cooper

The Society
January 6, 2023
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
. La Bandera “ never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders” —Benjamin Franklin It was the feast of the Epiphany. The mall was full, the air alive with flags And musical with...

Poems Against Birth Control, from Joshua C. Frank

The Society
December 30, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Found Poem, Poetry, Rondeau
21 Comments
. Two Empty Chairs “We did the NFP bit for awhile ... and have felt revulsion over it ever since. During that time we might have had at least two more children.”  ---Letter to the Editor, Seattle...

‘Toward Yehuling, 1211’ by Talbot Hook

The Society
December 15, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
16 Comments
. Toward Yehuling, 1211 Unfolding steppes emerge as flattened plains Of long grasses of gold and April-green, While crystal streams, like bold and careless children, Careen away through boundless fallow...

A Poem for Donald Trump: ‘Nessun Dorma’ by Monika Cooper

The Society
December 6, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Music, Poetry
4 Comments
. Nessun Dorma after the Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni  The aria "Nessun Dorma" was played for Donald and Melania Trump's first dance at their wedding in 2005. No sleep tonight.  The...

‘Nero Before the Tomb of Simon Magus’ by Shaun C. Duncan

The Society
November 21, 2022
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
. Nero Before the Tomb of Simon Magus And Peter, looking steadfastly against Simon, said: “I adjure you, ye angels of Satan, who are carrying him into the air, to deceive the hearts of the unbelievers,...

‘Lullaby of New Mexico, Part Two’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
November 13, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau
34 Comments
. Lullaby of New Mexico, Part Two Part One can be read here. Duerme Papi---Dad, it’s time to rest. I smooth your blanket here at Desert Sage And look with worry at your wrinkled face. My calloused hand...

‘Gone Are the Days’ and Other Poetry by Cheryl Corey

The Society
November 1, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry
16 Comments
. Gone Are the Days The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young. ---Oscar Wilde Gone are the days—the halcyon, magical days of yore, When you were young and full of marrow in your...

‘Lullaby of New Mexico’ by Brian Yapko

The Society
August 11, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry
33 Comments
. Lullaby of New Mexico Duerme mijo---sleep my weary child As we drive south upon the interstate. My side-eye checks on you, my tired you. My calloused hand caresses your wheat hair. The radio sings dreams,...

‘The Photograph’ and Other Poetry by Chantal LaFortune

The Society
July 29, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry
5 Comments
. The Photograph The snowflakes tumble down like frozen tears, Which fall from every eye this winter day; They heard the call and answered without fear, Their country to defend without delay. A couple stands...

‘The Automated Phone System’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick

The Society
July 13, 2022
Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry
11 Comments
. The Automated Phone System I called up a business But no person answered, I got a phone system With multiple options Some rather confusing; I kept getting transferred, Spent most time just holding; Then...

‘A Glass for My Father’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
June 19, 2022
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. A Glass for My Father Marie-Maurille de Virot, Mademoiselle de Sombreuil (February 14, 1768—May 15, 1823) My father was the Marquis de Sombreuil: An old man when it happened, but back then The Revolution...

‘And Turn’ by Jack Granath

The Society
June 5, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry
1 Comment
. And Turn Thanks for the twenty seconds of Your crisp, medicinal perspective, Encapsulated in a laugh That shook like a bragging monkey’s ass. Call it a joke, a gentle nudge— It pushed me over some good...

‘Where Your Treasure Is’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
May 25, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Epic, Humor, Poetry
20 Comments
. Where Your Treasure Is “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where...

‘Now Once Again’ by Leland James

The Society
May 20, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry
5 Comments
. Now Once Again How many years ago, I’ve lost the count, we lay beneath these trees at summer’s end; the orchard left to tend itself for then the children came and seasons tumbled all together, mad...

In Response to the ‘In This House’ Sign: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
May 11, 2022
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry, Readings
31 Comments
. Read by Susan Jarvis Bryant . In This House... In this house... We value science so much we accept that male and female chromosomes exist and gender is not merely a suggestion. In this house... We know...

‘Guardians of the Sunset’ by J.B. Mulligan

The Society
May 3, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Poetry
5 Comments
. Guardians of the Sunset III. The years go down like liquor.  Drink and pour and drink again, and laugh or sigh, and look behind you at the dark streets of the past, the rows of street lamp dandelions. ...

‘A Clamshell in Concrete’ (and a Short Note) by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
April 8, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Essays, Poetry
24 Comments
. A Clamshell in Concrete  I was a child in kindergarten class. My mother held my hand as we trod on The sidewalk leading to the boulevard. This was 1951. The path Was paved in smooth cement, and at the...

Three Poems on Language by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
March 28, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. The Hypodermic For a poet, the pen is merely part Of the apparatus of addiction. He emulates the frozen fly in amber Watching eons come, roll by, and pass. As motionless as veined quartz in a stone, He seeks...

‘Everlasting’: A Blank Verse Poem by C.B. Anderson

The Society
February 19, 2022
Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
. Everlasting I must admit, when I arrived in Hell I was surprised.  Not, as you might surmise, Because I never reckoned it was real— And surely not because I thought I’d led A sinless life—but owing to...

A Valentine: ‘To a Girl Named Olivia’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 13, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Love Poems, Poetry
19 Comments
. To a Girl Named Olivia What shall I say to you of untold love In this more than empty space that lies between Our two selves wound in tongue-tied reticence? I have touched your hand in images and dreams, As...

‘The Crucifixion of the Serpent’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 8, 2022
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
. The Crucifixion of the Serpent And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. —Numbers...

Three Poems on Religion (with a short note) by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
January 20, 2022
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
. Apocalypse The fractured sky splits, flaming at the edge— The earth heaves upwards in explosive wrath. No eye can bear the clay-caked risen dead Sleepwalking through the streets in blackened shrouds. The...

‘Pierrepoint on Capital Punishment’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
August 17, 2021
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
19 Comments
. Albert Pierrrepoint (1905-1992) served as one of GreatBritain’s chief executioners from 1931 to 1956, duringwhich time he hanged over 500 persons. All the namesand events mentioned here are real. My father...

Two Mythological Poems by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
July 19, 2021
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
. Heliotrope Phaeton, son of the god Helios, attempted to drive his father’s celestial chariot. His inexperience caused him to burn up part of the earth and the heavens, so he was killed by a thunderbolt...

‘The Carnelian Ring: A Still-Life’ by Joseph S. Salemi, and ‘A Note on the Objective Correlative’

The Society
June 29, 2021
Art, Beauty, Blank Verse, Essays, Poetry
11 Comments
. The Carnelian Ring: A Still-Life Footfalls echo in the memoryDown the passage which we did not takeTowards the door we never openedInto the rose-garden. —T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton I think of a walled...

Two Poems about Stone, by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
May 19, 2021
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
. Isolde and the Men of Stone Who could believe, except on ancient trust? The stones grew pliant, yielding into shape When softer nature touched them; human forms Emerged, as marble figures...

Two More Poems with ‘Conceits’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
March 27, 2021
Beauty, Blank Verse, Essays, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Forms
10 Comments
. The Bibliophile’s Birth Certificate Marius Michel (1846-1925) was one of the most prominent and gifted bookbinders in France. He produced work in strikingly beautiful and unique designs, and today his...

‘Maurras at the Parthenon (Acropolis, 1896)’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 4, 2021
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. Charles Maurras (1868-1952) was a highly influential French poet, essayist, and political journalist. He edited the rightist paper Action Française, and was a member of the French Academy. He wrote that the...

Two Poems Making Use of ‘Conceits,’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
January 9, 2021
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Essays, Poetry
26 Comments
. The Death of Today’s Sequoia Flecte ramos, arbor alta, tensa laxa viscera: Et rigor lentescat ille, quem dedit nativitas, Ut superni membra regis miti tendas stipite. —Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-609...

‘The Homeward-Bound Armada, 1588’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
December 1, 2020
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
X No tengo más que darte —Inscription on a Spanish sailor's gold ring, in the shape of a hand holding out a heart, found off the western coast of Ireland. Their splintered hulls well-raked with cannon...

‘Spindle, Shuttle, Loom’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
October 4, 2020
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
…anulbaṇáṃ vayata jóguvām ápaḥ. Weave ye the singers’ work without a knot. —Rigveda 10.53.6 Those pale cream swaths of handmade linen, brought From Sicily around 1905 Lay in our rag drawer...

‘On Antonello Da Messina’s The Annunciation’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
November 21, 2019
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
  Palermo’s great basilica is still— All prayers are tongueless for a lonely hour. Here high and holy silence can be breathed Like incense from the smoking thuribles Swung by acolytes at solemn...

‘Domitian’s Dark Dinners’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
April 9, 2019
Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
  The Graeco-Roman historian Lucius Dio Cassius, in his Roman History, describes “dark dinners” that were given by the emperor Domitian to specially chosen guests.   Domitian’s dinners...
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  1. Mike Bryant on A Poem on Target’s Transgender Clothing for Youth, and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis BryantMay 29, 2023

    IF you are a paid troll, Brent, I suspect you are paid by the word.

  2. Mike Bryant on A Poem on Target’s Transgender Clothing for Youth, and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis BryantMay 29, 2023

    Interesting article: https://merrimackvalleyhavurah.wordpress.com/2023/01/23/how-many-genders-are-actually-in-the-talmud/ The uptake… “The claim of 6 (or 8) Talmudic genders however, requires reading Talmudic sources extremely liberally…

  3. Brent W on A Poem on Target’s Transgender Clothing for Youth, and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis BryantMay 29, 2023

    @Joseph Frank- That is merely your opinion of manhood, as one individual. I am a man and I have no…

  4. Joshua C. Frank on A Poem on Target’s Transgender Clothing for Youth, and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis BryantMay 29, 2023

    Brent, why are you so eager to have children’s genitals mutilated beyond repair, effectively spaying and neutering them like dogs?…

  5. Margaret Coats on ‘Remorseless’: A Poem by Margaret CoatsMay 29, 2023

    I love your review, Yael!

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