Beauty

. What I Learned from Tolkien The darkness comes and all seems bleak and wrong, My calm is rent, right burdens can’t be borne And Evil holds an iron grip so strong It seems it must prevail. With all hope...

. Milking the System We waited, we have waited, and we wait. Delays continue to increase the cost Of doing business.  Every magistrate Can understand the hours and dollars lost But yet cannot, according to...

. Carcassonne by Gustave Nadaud (1820-1893) Translated by Joshua C. Frank “At sixty years, I’m getting old, And I’ve been working all my days Not being able to behold Fulfillment of my wishing gaze. I...

. . The Night When most have fled the day and sought their beds Pre-empting stealthy onset of the night; When every corner holds its store of dread And the courage my soul held has taken flight; When my...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract 2 Context: In the 10th Canto of HellWard we met 4 poets condemned to Hell. Now in the 10th Canto of StairWell, we meet another 4 poets stuck in Purgatory. This extract takes us to...

. Wanton Wandering Winds Those wanton wandering winds, my darling fair, Whose western currents comb in several ways And lose themselves within the marvellous maze Of locks luxuriant that you loosely wear; So...

. To a Cloud  You’re a pillow of marshmallow. You balloon and bob and billow As I sprawl beneath the willow __On the grass. You’re a swish of whitest feather. You’re...

. Last Place Winner after winning the 30-34 age group with a last-place finish in a 5K Inhaling frozen oxygen, he rounds The final turn. No cheers, just muffled sounds. He barely wobbles ‘cross the finish...

. Mid-September Reverie from the book Eternal Spring Moonbeams at midnight and frost on the pole; Wind in the willows to tickle the soul; Roses in gardens still share their perfume; Peonies offer the last of...

. The Beginning of Wisdom Within the passing noon of our own life, I saw through woodlands dark and traces grim, Those words upon the graven arches rim, Whose clarity compounds immortal strife. They claimed...

. The Morning’s Crest The morning’s crest is in its youth, The dawn has yet to lose a tooth, The virgin firmament is dark, The sun’s no more than a tired spark Transcended by the cold, brash moon. But...

. Drunk on Compassion How good it feels to open up your heart And groove on how compassionate you are! You advertise your causes on your car And list your Facebook “likes” upon a chart. You march in...

. For My Queen Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor April 21, 1926 - September 8, 2022 My symbol of nobility, stability and grace, Who reigned yet never ruled---she was my constant caring face On TV screen,...

. Capability Brown Lancelot “Capability” Brown was England’s greatest landscape architect. His name was Capability, A man of great humility, He knew just where to plant a tree, Enhancing England’s...

. Who Shaves the Barber? shaves all those, and those only, who do not shave themselves.  —Bertrand Russell The barber had a gift for cutting hair, And once a month the men who lived in town Would take a...

. Cracked Liberty Bell July the 4th—Independence. Many bands play. Parades pass by— Fireworks fly. __Rocket’s red glare . . . 1900. A song was sung From old to young: Lift every voice— They sang,...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract Context: In the 10th Canto of HellWard we met 4 poets condemned to Hell. Now in the 10th Canto of StairWell, we meet another 4 poets stuck in Purgatory. This extract takes us to...

. Ozymandias Begins I met the monarch of our ancient land, who said, ‘Your skill at sculpting is renowned. The hammer and the chisel in your hand will make my semblance evermore resound.’ Upon his...

. Summer Nocturne In steady, humming monotone, With synchronism the crickets drone, And hushedly through the night intone __Their evening chant, Accompanied by a brusque descant, In equal-measured, rhythmic...

. Seminary Recalling days of vigor and simplicity, of boyish spirits spun from neural gossamer and hardened into granite by a panoply of actors: scamps of nimble wit, a conjurer of whimsy, lords of innocent...

. Food for Thought A Culinary Tale There once was a man wan and pallid, he Suffered from a mysterious malady: __He ate carrots and greens, __Ripe tomatoes and beans, But eschewed anything that's not...

. The One Standing Tall for the Poet's father The home is where he lives, his heart is full Of love, no wealth can buy his rich esteem; No rock can match those nerves that hold our life Together still like one...

. The Death of the Leviathan The monster finally meets its doom: Sound out the death-knell, light the pyre! The depths are ready for its tomb--- Now let the wretch at last expire! Sound out the death-knell,...

. The Shade Tree While out for a walk with my toddler, late, In the city I have come to hate, But where I am compelled to stay By my and his mother’s unmarried state, He startled me with a sudden glee With...

. The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2022 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . COMPETITION WINNER . a...

. Requiem for Eurydice The sunlight dims before my eyes, __My fingertips lose yours, And as my whispered farewell flies, __The last crescendo soars. Then one breath hovers, trembles, dies— __The audience all...

. The Grieving of Autumn Be tender toward your own yearnings, When the grieving of autumn returns. When the brown leaves are piled for their burnings And the frost has corrupted the ferns. Farewells from each...

. A Villanelle for Robert Hoogland Hoogland was imprisoned for calling his daughter female Their mouths are gagged, their hands are bound; Their children taken by the state, These parents have no legal...

. Ode to Poets of the Past I do agree with the sights__that I have seen:the warm and comfortable steps__where love has been and with the sounds of truth__that I have heard—the whisper and the song__between...

. Daedalus Icarus, you have disobeyed, As all men do, and dearly paid. Too recklessly your heart did fly Between high seas and louring sky. The wings I gave you, it is true, But what would you have had me...

. An Old Man's Wallet His wallet holds the scraps of yesterday with faded photos dearest to his heart; A raffle ticket, notice of a play attended when his daughter had a part; A stub from some wild party in...

. On Rainy Nights On rainy nights, in pensive thought, I claim the respite I have sought but seldom found on sunny days. Cool drops soothe more than brightest rays in times when life's with trouble...

. Ruby Jubilee We’ve made a grand tour of exuberance, Repeated as our hearts reverberate, Imagining abodes where we might dwell For seasons long enough to celebrate Red-letter days our travel plans...

. I. My body heat is at a modicum: Say, ninety-eight point two or one or so. Foreboding naught particularly glum Except a disposition to succumb To fevers only cooler heads can know. . II. Some other hand has...

. Five Poems for My Mother by James A. Tweedie Poet’s Note: My mother, Marjorie Schlatter Tweedie, passed away on June 18 at the age of 101. She was still mentally alert, moving about with her walker and...

. There Is No God? “There is no God,” Some men do say. This doubt, some voice, And claim this day. If God is myth Who gave us eyes? Who gave us joy? Who paints blue skies? Have they no dog, Have they no...

. A Stranger in Your Land after Dimash Qudaibergen’s song “Stranger”  A lonely stranger in your land__where you are strange to me,underfoot, your rock and sand__enfold your land, your sea. I haul my...

. Mightier Than the Sword?   His Eighties searing splash of fiery ink Scorched the skin of those who won’t allow The flare of feisty words. His weren’t in sync With those of kowtow howls. He wouldn’t...

. As Day Transitions to Night for "JD" and Margaret Coats There is none of the daylight’s verve— __no ripples of the sun in the brook streaming ‘round the curve. __The day will come undone, splitting at...

. Lament of the Little White Horse by Paul Fort (1872-1960) Translated by Joshua C. Frank The little horse in the weather so dread, What courage he had inside! A little horse as white as white bread, All...