Beauty

. The Emmaus Highway Each day we wake up and we walk to Emmaus, escaping what has, and what may yet dismay us. Returning each evening downcast and defeated. Arising again as this loop gets repeated. We start...

. He Knows Our Hearts The Sunday flocks who sing as glory pours Through fancy glass as lusty organs play, The loner bowed in prayer behind closed doors, The lonely who have lost their will and way--- __He...

. Who Believes in Easter Anymore? "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God . . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than...

. Peter’s Story a villanelle I’m standing by the Sea of Galilee And Jesus calls for me to come along With James and John, the sons of Zebedee. I’m with Him as He sets the prisoners free, Feeds the...

. Once Once he was finally dead; once just a piece Of meat nailed to the planks of scabrous wood; Once suffering had done all that it could To him before it ceded him release; And once it seemed that evil no...

. Stations of the Cross . I. Pilate Why, Pentheus, Cambyses, why, Why, Antony, in days gone by, Did you the sons of gods defy? __Well, I your madness share. __Barabbas I shall spare __And must the dread...

. The Lilacs on Good Friday Tumult of noontide long ago dismissed— The rent veil unremembered, and the sun Relit, though shrouded in a new eclipse Of rainswept sky. The garden seems to shun That spectral...

. The Lamb “And suddenly there was with the angel a heavenly host saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” ---Luke 2:14 The lamb looks up and sees a light, a star Or...

. Distress Signals an extended villanelle Distressing times are coming round again, And all the talking heads now flap their jaws To say it isn’t if, but rather when.— There is a dearth of good upstanding...

. Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus I think this velvet dinosaur is fine. Please wrap it up. Does this store still take cash? On Tuesday when my daughter’s son turns nine, This T-Rex really ought to make a...

. Imagine Mountains For the Sesquicentennial of Robert Frost's birth (March 26, 1874 – March 26, 2024) "Let chaos storm! Let cloud shapes swarm! I wait for form."  ---Robert Frost, "Pertinax" Imagine a...

. The Line For Ashes Line is long and moving slowly: Step by step, the high and lowly, Halt and limber, shorter, taller, Young and elder, greater, smaller, Plainer, fairer, pallor, color, Father, daughter,...

. You Do You God’s willing to let you do you despite the fact it pains Him to since you’ll go where you should not go, and do much worse than stub your toe then, when you do, you’ll curse His...

. The Whiskey Priest based on The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene I stand condemned because I am a priest, Condemned to die by law here in Tabasco, The last eight years of memories I’ve pieced Together...

. Queen Esther's Lot for the Jewish holiday of Purim (“Lots”) Oh, to be taken from home’s holy ways, Delivered to a king uncircumcized, And after one grand night, spend endless days With harem women and...

. Change Scrub the rock with glacial ice until the granite’s smooth and bare. Let the river cut through earth until it leaves a canyon there. Let volcanic lava flows raise islands from the trackless sea. Let...

. March 21st, Saints Cranmer and Bach Archbishop Thomas Cranmer,  burned at the stake March 21, 1556 . Johann Sebastian Bach, born March 21, 1685 . “Upon them hath the light shined.”  ---Isaiah 9:...

. St. Perpetua Eyewitnesses of the atrocity Report that on that Carthage afternoon, Already scourged and gored repeatedly By savage bulls, she fell into a swoon (Of Spirit, so they said), then rose immune To...

. Words Matter . I. Out of Context Cheats cherry-pick the words that suit their ploy To shame the names of those who disagree With all they say. If counter claims destroy Their idiotic ideology They’ll...

. Sanderling What saffron stylus could but trace the rusty scallop of the dancing wing, what sculptor’s chisel sharpened to the quick could cleave the charcoal pencil of the beak that stitches grievance in...

. Choices Some lovers only give the rose, __Some only choose to take, Although the florist keeps a bunch __For every partner's sake. The sun has risen for our town __And also for your city. While you say it's...

. Serenade Down dash the splashlets of rain to the ground; Streams from the eaves full and fluent resound. Guests gaily chatter, and clatter their chairs, Readying notes for melodious airs. Whistling hot...

. For Dorothy I have at times sat silent in this chair And furtively cast looks about the room Admiring, or to jot a mental note Of someone’s beauty—eyes or shape or hair. But you were silent also, and my...

. His Stories Were His Legacy Ivan, The Barber, 1882-1963 . Covered in a heavy blanket, __he sat and watched the rain; it had been more than thirty years, __damp weather made him lame. He turned his old pipe...

. Monica's Consolation for Margaret Coats, who introduced me to St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and his mother, St. Monica (332-387) Caritas, enter! I’m so glad you’re here. It seems that sleep eludes us...

. For Paavo Nurmi who trained against his stop-watch and in medias rez we begin as the runners approach the penultimate turn. Though their torsos are heaving, the sweat isn't beading—the storm of their pace...

. Bowing to Power Although they might Not do what’s right, The very strong Are never wrong. If you complain, You’ll feel the pain That’s coming to A town near you. . . Domestic Finances Awash in...

. Samson, Tribe of Dan "Dan is a serpent in the path. He bites the horse's heel and causes the rider to fall backward." ---Jacob, Genesis 49 My father, from the tribe of Dan,Taught me, far too well, we...

. Story Time The father, he sits on the couch with a book, A child in each arm, and one more on his knees; The mother, the same.  All the other ones look Content on the floor; he recites like a breeze. He...

. Sunday Morning Flock of Starlings He saw, while driving down the roadway, off 288, a flock of starlings at the electrical substation gate. It was on Sunday morning, and with serious intent, they dropped down...

. Original Smile Fossil remains show nothing of the first Facial flourish dimpling a human cheek. Was it some reflex as a female nursed Her young one, charmed by its whimpering squeak? (Or her initial invite...

. To Catch The Wind after Tennessee Williams "We Have Not Long To Love" I want to catch the wind __this windy day, as all encompassing __it comes my way. It blows beyond me to __a hill?  a tree? then up into...

. Insomnia, My Sometime Muse She comes to me while I’m asleep,Not with strange imaginings of dreamsBut with fragmented thoughts. It seemsShe thinks they cannot keepBut must be worked upon, upon this...

. I Am with You You are with me, this day, and I’m with you; in spirit and in memory we meet to celebrate and joyfully to rue my span, which in the bounds of Time was fleet. Although I’m gone from places...

. The Nymph by Luis de Góngora y Argote (1561-1627) translated by Alan Steinle As morning sunlight first began to show, a nymph went out to tread the verdant plain. Although she plucked some flowers for a...

. Credit Does it make any sense, For me to have pride, When I just dispense, What God put inside? And is it the same, If I’m disappointed, When public acclaim Is not what’s anointed? . . Repetition If...

. A Walk At Night She's clothed in light when she appears; Freckles speck her argent skin. Her dazzling smile is bright tonight, A lamp to earth's unhurried spin. I gaze at her ascending form And smile at her...

. The Marble Angel The marble angel stood upon a tomb Erect and at attention, wings outspread, His blank eyes watching through the growing gloom, Like some mute sentry sent to guard the dead. I saw him...

. Ogygia Ogygia was green and fair, A dreamy vision to behold, Beyond the wars for blood and gold, Far from the weight of mortal care. Afloat a luminescent sea That great Poseidon held aloft, The waves came to...

. . Shoveling Out the Blizzard Snow came so thick, the roof makes pops and creaks; downspouts froze solid as cement with ice; while working on the walk, you’ve fallen twice: The cold shines through your...