‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley: A Reading by S.A. Todd The Society May 14, 2022 Beauty, Poetry, Readings, Video 6 Comments . https://youtu.be/6gDs63kyLhc . CREDITS Poetry: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Voice-Over: S.A. Todd Photos/Footage: Photo of Pharaoh by ArchaiOptix, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share...
‘Some Days in the Life of a Bride of Christ’ by Jack DesBois The Society May 14, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 26 Comments . Some Days in the Life of a Bride of Christ “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” —Paul, 1 Corinthians 6:17 Some days my Lord and I rejoice __Like honeymooners gay; Some days our joy is...
‘Resist Arrest Instead of Arresting Resistance’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society May 12, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Villanelle 14 Comments . Resist Arrest Instead of Arresting Resistance In Denmark, something now is very rotten, As fetid as the food-scraps in the trash That we have, somehow, carelessly forgotten To take outside. Our mood...
A Poem on Michelangelo’s Dusk and Dawn, Night and Day, by Margaret Coats The Society May 12, 2022 Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry 30 Comments . Moments in Marble from Michelangelo’s sculptures; above from left are depicted Dusk, Dawn, Night, and Day Day hustles up, impelled to humanize His world of work by wary energy, To make hours grow,...
A Translation and Musical Setting of Victor Hugo’s Poem, ‘Demain, dès l’Aube,’ by James A. Tweedie The Society May 9, 2022 Beauty, Music, Poetry, Translation 11 Comments . "Tomorrow, at Dawn" Sung in English . "Tomorrow, at Dawn" Sung in French . Tomorrow, at Dawn by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Translation by James A. Tweedie Tomorrow, when the countryside is kissed by...
‘Euryalus Describes His Mother’ by Margaret Coats The Society May 8, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 7 Comments . Euryalus Describes His Mother In Vergil’s Aeneid, the youthful Euryalus volunteers for a dangerous nighttime raid, asking that his mother not be told of it before he leaves, but that she be cared for,...
‘A Mother’s Worth’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society May 8, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 29 Comments . A Mother’s Worth A mother’s worth, it glows and gleams in eyes. It beams in grins and giggles sent her way. It echoes at the core of coos and cries. It greets a burst of cheers and fears each day. __It...
The Canterbury Tales General Prologue: Translation of Lines 1-18 The Society May 7, 2022 Beauty, Chaucer, Culture, Education, Poetry, Translation 16 Comments . The Canterbury Tales---General Prologue, Lines 1-18 by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) Translated by Evan Mantyk When April’s sweetest showers downward shoot, The drought of March is pierced right to the...
‘Mind Games—Three Cerebral Triolets’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society May 7, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Triolet, Villanelle 25 Comments . Mind Games---Three Cerebral Triolets Propaganda It wants your mind. It wants you blind. It warps and washes wayward brains. It gains control of humankind. It wants you blind. It wants your mind To cave,...
‘The First Spring Rain’ by Phil S. Rogers The Society May 6, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 4 Comments . The First Spring Rain a rhupunt The first spring rain ends winter's pain; new growth again, the earth revived. Soft melting snow will quickly go, small brooks will flow; life has survived. Frost leaves the...
‘This, Too, Will Pass’ by Michael Charles Maibach The Society May 5, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 2 Comments . This, Too, Will Pass This, too, will pass--- They like to say. This pain now here Will fly away. This, too, will pass--- This broken heart, This dear, sweet loss--- Tears me apart. This, too, will...
‘Incense’ by Jeffrey Essmann The Society May 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 8 Comments . Incense I cast my words aloft this way and that, Imagining they’re incense offered sweet And fragrant, curling in their brief conceit, Their wisps as agile as an acrobat; And think of priests the Covenant...
‘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 Sonnet for My Nephew’ by Caitlin O’Brien The Society May 2, 2022 Beauty, Humor, Poetry 5 Comments . A Sonnet for My Nephew Your mother held you first, and then your dad, And after that, the nurse. But then: your aunt. You curled inside my arms—such a small lad— My heart was yours right then. You did...
‘May Day’ by Cheryl Corey The Society May 1, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . May Day Note: Maypoles were a feature of ancient Roman festivals to mark the renewal of Spring. The feast days of Saints Philip and James were celebrated by the Church of England in May. Having hewed a...
‘Apollo’s Lament’ by Brian Yapko The Society April 30, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry 31 Comments . Apollo’s Lament He pounds his naked chest and looks for bones Suspecting that the bay tree is a sham. At last he falls upon his knees and moans “My little doe, my tender dove, my lamb!” He scans the...
‘Apocrypha’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society April 29, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . Apocrypha Two orbs in hand—one large, one small— He climbed the tower to the top. He let them go and watched them fall, And those below who saw them drop Were dumbstruck when they hit the ground With a...
‘Seasons of Change’ by Stuti Sinha The Society April 27, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 18 Comments . Seasons of Change Our fervour was apricity’s embrace. As neon streaks awash a Nordic night, it flared unfettered through the carapace of clotted clouds to cast its fluid light. Accrescent cravings bloomed...
‘Uluru / Ayers Rock’ and Other Australia Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society April 24, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry 6 Comments . Photo of Uluru / Ayers Rock by the Poet Uluru / Ayers Rock The winter outback chill of mid-Julys Cuts to the bone as waning suns conspire To send their sparks through darkening cobalt skies That set the...
‘With Boots On’ and Other Poetry by Lionel Willis The Society April 21, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 3 Comments . With Boots On Soon after break of day an old man comes Trudging along the thawing roads of Cottage Country (the common land of day and hope) Considering the analects of Spring. At every unploughed drive...
‘All Out of Hope’ by Michael Charles Maibach The Society April 21, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 6 Comments . All Out of Hope I am right here, Lord All out of hope. What of me now, Lord? End of my rope! What shall I do, Lord, What shall I know? Tie now a knot, Lord, Or just let me go? So much of life, Lord, I’m...
‘Easter Monday’ by Cynthia Erlandson The Society April 18, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . Easter Monday Luke 24: 13 – 35 With hearts eclipsed by Friday’s three-day night And eyes still blinded to their master’s face, They hear his sermon, senseless that his light Has thrown the flames of...
‘The Prince of Peace’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 17, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . The Prince of Peace He braved each gouging lash and bruising blow Till scourged and bludgeoned flesh was raw and torn--- Paraded in a crown of thorns to show This phony King of Jews was ripe for...
‘Easter 2022’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 17, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . Easter 2022 In silence, night retires with a yawn— Its starlit labor blessed by God’s, “Well done.” And as the weary world awakes to dawn, The auric radiance of the risen sun Illumes a garden where...
‘Sunrise at the Hollywood Bowl’ by Brian Yapko The Society April 17, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . Sunrise at the Hollywood Bowl A sleepy son, a father who mourned still. Their first time greeting Easter since she died. When illness came, Anne said her fondest will Was that their boy know God. John set...
‘Hymn to Aurora’ by Andrew Benson Brown The Society April 16, 2022 Beauty, Humor, Love Poems, Poetry 27 Comments . Hymn to Aurora 1 Aurora, rise and cast your curls Of daybreak through the vapor swirls To drape my face in scarlet beams— Since you left me I’ve had bad dreams. Like waves, my sheets have tossed...
A Poem for Those Who Have Suffered Abuse: ‘Via Dolorosa’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 15, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Via Dolorosa for those who have suffered abuse. Where does one go to forget? Where does one go to erase Memories filled with regret? Nightmares of shame and disgrace? What does one do with the pain Abusers...
‘Sepulcher’ by Brian Yapko The Society April 15, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . Sepulcher Jerusalem is built of prayer and quarried stone, From yearning, heartache, sacred scrolls and ancient bone--- The shuls, the mosques, the churches, every ancient room. And as a bride prepares with...
‘Annunciation’ by Jeffrey Essmann The Society April 14, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 2 Comments . Annunciation It’s not really an angel but a voice, Less heard than sensed, an urgent undertone That murmurs in the place where I’m alone And all my fears with longing there alloys. It whispers that I...
‘Rendering Ruins’ by Leland James The Society April 12, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 14 Comments . Rendering Ruins A barn abandoned, left to drift alone, wind torn and breached upon the reef of time; fields, now dust, where summer wheat was sown, the wagons heaped with grain stood long in line to fill...
‘Tomorrow’s Poets’ by Enrique González Martínez, Translated by Cheryl Corey The Society April 11, 2022 Beauty, Poetry, Translation 5 Comments . Tomorrow’s Poets by Enrique González Martínez (1871-1952) translated by Cheryl Corey Tomorrow’s poets will sing beyond all praise In verse that’s out of tune with present day; New stars will bring...
A Reading of ‘The New Colossus’ by Emma Lazarus The Society April 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Video 7 Comments . https://youtu.be/PguXX2PRzvI . CREDITS Poetry: Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) Voice-Over: Katy Mantyk Photos/Footage: “Unveiling the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” by Edward Moran, 1886...
The Flowers’ Easter Debate: A Translation by Margaret Coats The Society April 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Translation 28 Comments . The Flowers' Easter Debate Palm Sunday is the Flowers’ Easter, the day when they honored Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem. As they did not need Good Friday’s bloody atonement for sin, the flowers were...
‘Lost Song’ by Jack DesBois The Society April 9, 2022 Beauty, Music, Poetry, Song Lyrics 10 Comments . https://youtu.be/LllN9NflfR8 . Lost Song A compass that won’t point the way, And a map of the faraway skies… I once was a child of grace; No matter the country I trod My feet found the path in its...
‘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...
‘Parallel Man’ by Roy E. Peterson The Society April 7, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 20 Comments . Parallel Man As I was going to the fair, I met a man with silver hair. The more I looked how could it be? He looked an awful lot like me, ‘Cept furrowed brow and walking cane. Perhaps my thoughts were just...
‘Slivered Moon’ by Norma Pain The Society April 6, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 25 Comments . Slivered Moon Slivered moon on slippers slides Across the skies on silver tides, Draping cobwebs over trees And coaxing shadows to their knees. No more this day will swallows sweep, Above the ground where...
‘Love’s Seasons’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society April 5, 2022 Beauty, Humor, Poetry 37 Comments . Love’s Seasons In the heat of the night, when conditions are right, __Gentle lovers will cuddle and spoon. It’s a wonderful plan, much more marvelous than __Any other found under the moon. When the...
Three Poems on Thinking, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle 36 Comments . Birdbrains a villanelle “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions.” ---Carter G. Woodson If we just parrot newspeak without blinking And push...
Sibylline Sonnets for Passiontide, by Margaret Coats The Society April 3, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 36 Comments . (See an explanation on what Sibyls are here.) . The Tyburtine Sibyl The Tyburtine sibyl has the iconographic attribute of a hand, indicating her foreknowledge of insults suffered by Jesus. Not from my...