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      Poetry, The Environment
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Beauty

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Poetry
Beauty

‘Knee Jerks’: A Poem by Warren Bonham

The Society
February 26, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
13 Comments
. Knee Jerks When wronged or hurt, the way life works, we all convert to knee-jerk jerks. Our brains react, but do not think. It’s just a fact, our instincts stink. We can’t forget or dare look weak. Our...

Third Eye: An Ophthalmologic Triptych by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
February 23, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. Third Eye An Ophthalmologic Triptych . The Emergency Room I came because the website told me to, My symptoms glowing dully on the screen, Insisting that I move with much ado. So quickly then I said a prayer...

On Black History Hero ‘Captain Francisco Menendez’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
February 22, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
. Captain Francisco Menendez Born a Mandinga, on Africa’s west coast, Where farm and hunting toil supported most, But tribal spats and small jihads maintained For centuries a brutal trade in slaves, This...
poem/rizley/easter

‘Authenticity’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

The Society
February 21, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. Authenticity Some skies stark and vivid, But others milky white. Sometimes lovely azure skies, Or pale with fading light. Some skies gray and gloomy, Yet others black as night. Skies! Their...

‘On Me’ and Other Poetry by Shamik Banerjee

The Society
February 20, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
17 Comments
. On Me I am a simple Eastern bard __Who moseys by the heather That grows in sweeping fields and loves __To dance in springy weather. I glamourize my hometown great, __Pen tales of grief and love, And avidly...

Three Poems Exploring the Experience of Grief and Loss, by James A. Tweedie

The Society
February 19, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
16 Comments
. Lachrimosa As winter pushes fall aside And birds complete their southward flight I sit and watch the water glide Beneath the old stone bridge at night. The crescent moon, with smile askew, Reflects her...

‘The Name We Leave’ and Other Poetry by Angel L. Villanueva

The Society
February 19, 2024
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
24 Comments
. The Name We Leave When we first breathe and start to peer, What we will be is still unclear. A book of pages yet unturned Is what we are when we appear. Whether assigned, purloined, or earned, And when a...
poem/philosophy/descartes

A Poem on Descartes’ ‘I Think Therefore I Am’ and Other Poems by C.B. Anderson

The Society
February 17, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
26 Comments
. Ipse Dixit I say Cogito ergo sum To the animal here in the room. So how do I know I exist? Well, here’s a provisional list: I doubt, and I fear, and I bleed; I attend to a friend who’s in need. The...

‘In the Woods’ by Eduard Mörike, Translated by Alan Steinle

The Society
February 17, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
20 Comments
. In the Woods by Eduard Mörike (1804-1875) translated from German by Alan Steinle While lying on the grass beneath the leaves, I listen to a cuckoo's mournful song. His melody flows gently out along the...

Catullus’s Poems 101 and 51, Translated Bruce Phenix

The Society
February 16, 2024
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry, Translation
12 Comments
. Poem 101 by Catullus (circa 84-54 BC) translated by Bruce Phenix Conveyed through many countries, over many seas, to these poor funerary offerings I come to give you, brother, that last present for the...

Poems on Dogs and Humans, by Joshua C. Frank

The Society
February 16, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Sestina
16 Comments
. Last Visit to the Beach a sestina The beach, untouched by Time throughout the years As millions of waves washed from the sea, As Time transformed me, now no more a boy, Where I would walk each season on that...

‘The Poet’s Good Pen’: A Poem by Michael Charles Maibach

The Society
February 15, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
. The Poet’s Good Pen Take up your good pen. Write only words true. Now open your heart--- Your worth will shine through. Among the spare lines A poet can't hide. Their soul thus defined--- In their words,...

‘Contagious Joy’ and Other Valentine’s Day Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
February 14, 2024
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry, Villanelle
24 Comments
. Contagious Joy a villanelle You always find a way to make me smile. Like sunlight tracing rainbows in the rain, Contagious joy is never out of style; The day we wed, when you walked down the aisle, You...

‘Vintage Love’: A Poem by Gigi Ryan

The Society
February 14, 2024
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
16 Comments
. Vintage Love Love is as a grape when it begins, Unblemished by the bruises and the sins That will come in time. For now it is Refreshing sweetness and delightfulness. Bewilderment accompanies the crush That...

‘When?’ and Other Valentine’s Day Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
February 14, 2024
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry, Villanelle
26 Comments
. When? I’ll love you when the bee has lost its buzz, When wolf and bear have quit their howl and growl, When lambs don’t sport a snow-spun fleece of fuzz And hoots don’t float from barns that house...

‘I Am the Stone’ and Other Poetry on Israel by Brian Yapko

The Society
February 13, 2024
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
32 Comments
. I Am the Stone I am the stone The humble stone the barefoot shepherd boy Selected from the muddy river bed; The stone which fit inside the sling he made As soon as he was given leave by Saul To fight for...

‘The Southern Cross’: A Poem by Adam Sedia

The Society
February 12, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
. The Southern Cross The caravels escaped at last The roiling tides of Bojador And entered tropic seas far past What any chart described before--- __An unknown world to cross. Strange southern seas! Unending...

Nocturnal Litanies I & II: Poems by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
February 11, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
22 Comments
. . Nocturnal Litany I “From all malevolence the night employs….” ---James Agee, “Epithalamium” . From all malevolence the night employs To haunt our ragged hearts and weary brains With bitterness...

‘How Septuagenarian’s Cope’ and Other Poetry by Peter Venable

The Society
February 9, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
6 Comments
. How Septuagenarian’s Cope Past seventy. Age does prevail. __The day is growing dim. I’ve managed through life’s calms and gales— I still can trapse through woodland trails __And workout at a...

Poems from the Night, by Sarah Stoltzfus Allen

The Society
February 8, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Triolet, Villanelle
10 Comments
. Bedtime Stories in triolets He’d curl her close and hold her tight and let the words dance in the air. The dragons soared and knights did fight, he’d curl her close and hold her tight. She’d gasp and...

‘A Temporary Exhibit’ and Other Water Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
February 4, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
11 Comments
. A Temporary Exhibit A million drops of water will be sprayed Across my yard today. And each of them Will capture the refraction of each blade Of grass, each dandelion leaf and stem. Each image is reversed...

‘Left Outside’ and Other Poetry by Daniel Kemper

The Society
February 3, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
10 Comments
. Left Outside The shopping cart, precisely ordered now while searching for those perfect little lines of lights for decorations---anyhow, I'm sure there must be something that combines with lights around the...

‘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 blown. With your reassuring light Put my griefs and fears to...

‘Gawain’s Prayer in the Wilderness’: An Alliterative Poem by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 2, 2024
Alliterative, Beauty, Education, Poetry
22 Comments
. Gawain’s Prayer in the Wilderness …the wildrenesse of Wyrale; wonde ther bot lyte That auther God other gome with gode hert louied. (…the wilderness of Wirral; few wandered there Who loved with good...

Two Sonnets by James Sale

The Society
February 2, 2024
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
33 Comments
. Had I held you in the fields of Hay beside The Wye and on an afternoon that cleared To brilliance, although the sun soon would Sink to an evening in which darkness neared, Nothing so near as never---we could...
poem/poetry/farm/fly

From Michael Bunker’s Surviving Off Off-Grid, and Other Poetry by Joshua C. Frank

The Society
February 2, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
28 Comments
. In a Home based on Michael Bunker’s grandmother (b. 1909) as described in his book Surviving Off Off-Grid . I Old, blind, and helpless, Grandma’s all alone— Bed, radio, phone, and nothing...

‘A Wing-stroked Spectacle’: A Poem by Daniel Moreschi

The Society
January 31, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. A Wing-stroked Spectacle Segmented sets of starlings sharply elevate towards candescent skies, suspend, then circulate in sync. Their wingspans whisper sunset symphonies while manifesting silhouetted...

A Poem on the Winter of 1949 Blizzard, by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
January 30, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
25 Comments
. A Blanket of Snow from childhood memories of the blizzard of 1949 on a farm near Bonesteel, South Dakota. The world is all bound in a blanket of snow, The kerosene lamps keep the windows aglow. The fire...

‘Unshackling the Spirit’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
January 30, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
53 Comments
. Unshackling the Spirit I toss and turn at night. I wonder why I’m here. But then with dawn the skeptic’s free, Dismissing faith and scoffing at the sky. I’m certain---Oh so certain---all I see Is...

‘Learning to Laugh’ and Other Poetry by William Harder

The Society
January 29, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. Learning to Laugh The pathos of a circus clown, with empty pockets inside out, now challenges a small boy’s frown. Bewildered by the mimicked pouts, the racoon eyes and painted tears, he wonders what this...

‘Another Day’: A Poem by Christina Lesinski

The Society
January 28, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
29 Comments
. Another Day How time has wasted, over time, over time. __At least to me, that’s how it seems. Oh how I’ve chased it, back and forth, back and forth… __I catch it only in my dreams. The clock is...

‘The Blue Absorbent Towel’: A Poem by Charles Southerland

The Society
January 28, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
9 Comments
. The Blue Absorbent Towel . As he fillets my leg and makes a flap above my knee of skin to sew it shut, interns are watching closely how the cut is perfect artistry, a suture map, a hemisphere I'm sailing...

‘Ambition’: A Poem by Siân Marlow

The Society
January 27, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
15 Comments
. Ambition We’re dipping our toes in the paddling pool __When we ought to be tackling the seas. There’s no point at all in thinking so small __With the water just up to our knees. We need to be braver, go...

A Poem on Paisley, and Other Poetry by Margaret Coats

The Society
January 26, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
39 Comments
. Windjam Dry leaves abruptly fell that day— Whirled weathervane communiqué Proposing a quick stroll away Along a narrow inlaid path To venture past the aftermath Of an alfresco yellow bath. Emerging from...

On Living with Someone with Alzheimer’s, and Other Poems by Vicki Roberts

The Society
January 26, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. What Time Is It? “What time is it?” he asks of me, __“It’s now eleven o’clock;” “What time is it?” he asks of me, __As I hear the tick and tock. “What time is it?” he asks of...

‘Requiem’ and Other Poems by C.B. Anderson

The Society
January 25, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
25 Comments
. Requiem The notes we cherish most Are gathered from the throats Of those who perished young. The song we sadly toast Was sown from wanton oats, Disowned and never sung. . . Role Models __A forager is...

‘A Star’: A Poem by John Freeborn

The Society
January 24, 2024
Beauty, Culture, High School Submissions, Poetry
12 Comments
. A Star O silent sphere of silver-soft-spun light,Thou crystal pearl strung on an airy veilSuffusing bright celestial delightIn snowy glory o'er thy starry trail:The bridal necklace of the night inflameWith...

‘Blessings’: A Poem by Adrian Fillion

The Society
January 24, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
. Blessings Every now and then when I’m in prayer I feel Your famous joyfulness descend. It doesn’t descend, of course; it’s always there Waiting for us, just as it’s always been. It doesn’t happen...

‘On Cats and Love’ and Other Poetry by Benjamin Cannicott Shavitz

The Society
January 23, 2024
Beauty, Humor, Love Poems, Poetry
4 Comments
. On Cats and Love My cat does not explain himself. He knows his reasons. Why must I? He needs to bathe while on a shelf Or hunt some trash? I don’t care why. I do not need to understand. I love him since...

‘To Find a Waterfall’: A Poem by Monika Cooper

The Society
January 21, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
16 Comments
. To Find a Waterfall The wild forest is a spiritual place. Disbelief does not last there. Halfway through My span of life, my sunrise-to-set race, I found my trail among the trees anew. Goal for the Spring:...
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  1. Brian Yapko on ‘On the Existence of Two Genders’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJuly 2, 2025

    Mike, I'm so moved to read this compassionate new comment which shows such an intense awareness of what this poem…

  2. Brian Yapko on ‘On the Existence of Two Genders’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJuly 2, 2025

    Thank you very much indeed, Andrew. The rhymes on this one were particularly difficult to figure out because the poem…

  3. Carole Mertz on ‘Summer Family Cookout’: A Poem by Doug StoiberJuly 2, 2025

    I truly enjoy the flap snap of your hamburger toss and all its fixin's down to the yellin' for the…

  4. T. M. on Two Poems on Cardinals, by T.M. MooreJuly 2, 2025

    Easy to praise what you prize, no? Thanks, Susan.

  5. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘Bayesian Hubris v. Mercy Seat 11A’: A Poem by James SaleJuly 2, 2025

    The story is definitely apocryphal. Hitler was wounded twice in the war -- once in 1916 by a shell fragment,…

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