Beauty

. Elysium O golden hour, soft denouement of day, O mystic time of quietude and peace, When boughs and rushes whisper as they sway, Twirled by the sighing zephyrs’ soft caprice; When, fallen from his blinding noonday height, The dimmed, declining sun, departing west, Immerses all in glowing, golden light---...

. Bergerette by Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), translated by Margaret Coats O shepherdess, my friend,On love alone I live.True love is life’s true end,My heart can comprehend,And therefore I intend_My love unceasingly to give.O shepherdess, my friend,On love alone I live. Love lends me confidence,Grants conscience calmer sense,Builds patient competence,_Forms...

. Lay of the Oak I now recall a lay for you, A Briton’s tale of love made new. A humble knight rode through light morn, Until dark clouds made blue skies mourn. Lost he was soon in a dreadful storm, Fair Summer turned to dark---forlorn. Dismounted then, the knight...

. Fire on Ice How shall I serve my anger up to you? Shall I become like one most distant star Burning intensely, far from where you are, Incinerating---infinite degrees Made a mere twinkling to the earthly view--- Till, when its light has reached you from afar, By then, my...

. Congratulations and Homage to Giorgia Meloni Italy rises up and overthrows The stench of leftist tyranny at last. Rage among the EU’s pooh-bahs grows— They realize that their heyday is now past. Thwarted will, hurt pride, and disbelief Send quaking scum in Germany and France Into apoplectic fits of...

. The Last Detail Two cocksure, loud–mouthed lads one day set out, Intent on catching perch. “No,” Jim said, “trout.” The hole they headed for neither one knew: All for adventure, they sought someplace few Of their acquaintances had been before. “It’s just five hundred yards from Sandy Shore,” Said...

. Sex in the English Garden Light, feathery Astilbe Sways gently in the breeze Afraid she always will be Faint fluff beneath the trees Concealing dear Sweet William, Who rings each foxglove’s bell Mid coreopsis ruffles, While lily, like a shell With deeper inner meaning, Disdains to join with them;...

. Sentimental Song A pad and pen lie by his side __This moonless night of fall. And though he tries to hush his pride, To only see the tears she cried, His hands refuse to breach the wall, __A pithy line to scrawl. His mind, in angst, replays the day...

. The Recollected Dream When midsummer rain is spearing From storm clouds darkest grey That provide no hint of clearing To reveal the blue of day, The scent from marshland grasses Permeates each breath of air That summons as it passes, Winged creatures from their lair. Then the wattled spur-winged...

. 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 torn, The path ahead seems lost in storm and murk....

. 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 the Law, Provide a satisfying remedy. It doesn’t matter what they really saw, Or how...

. 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 see that life on earth is filled With perfect happiness for none. My wish, it...

. . 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 eyes can’t see past the evening veil Nor the eerie shadows...

. 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 meet the fourth poet in the sequence of meetings, which...

. 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 awash with hues of heather. You’re a whisper of wild weather __As you pass. You’re a starlit stratus wonder. You’re a moon-kissed nimbus under Luna’s spell before Thor’s thunder __Wages war. You’re a splash upon my brolly. You’re a dash of fuzzy folly. You’re that woolly wisp of jolly __I adore....

. 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 line And checks the lit-up numbers on the sign. Nobody else is coming, there...

. 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 their bloom. Squirrels grab the acorns to store in their nests. Baking a pie...

. 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 their maker was that power divine, The highest wisdom and the primal love, Who makes and...

. 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 then the leaves foretell the noon, Aglow with some prophetic light;...

. 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 protests, always don your mask, And quite politely call men “them” and...

. 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, on stamps, in scenes of history’s changing view. She slipped away this solemn day---her...

. 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 scenery. Of all delights we love to see, He planned with great integrity, The English Aristocracy, Would pay his most...

. 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 seat upon his cushioned chair To have four weeks of outgrowth...

. 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, rejoiced! __And shunned despair. Stoney we trod. Bitter our rod. True to our God, Who...

. 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 meet the third poet in the sequence of meetings, which is...

. 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 statue’s stone-blank face I cut the ruthless glare residing in his eyes, the frown with...

. 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 slant Of katy-did and katy-didn’t. __In call to mate, The owl decides to dedicate An octave in crescendo. Eight Tu-whoos in...

. 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 irreverence. Societies of soulmates lent the sacred halls a mood Socratic, scholars bonded to evince...

. 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 salad-y. Now his wife, she was plump, but quite purty, Euphemistically "big-boned" or "sturdy"; __Which...

. 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 heroic dream. I think of childhood wrapped in...

. 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, light the pyre Where all the putrid flesh shall burn; Now let the...

. 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 which he pointed out a “tree!” Indeed,...

. 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 cicada’s husk grandfather in his best suit hands folded, eyes closed —Ngo Binh Anh Khoa . ....

. 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 roars. . . Mary Virginia Vietor is a high school senior from Phoenix, Arizona. She enjoys playing...

. 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 flying flock calling Stir remembrance of hopes who have fled, While a ballet of...

. 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 ground. While children run and play around The lip of Hell’s wide, yawning gate, Their mouths are...

. 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 the word. A now familiar species__comes to beara message from an age __beyond this...

. 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 do? No hand does good, no heart loves well Constrained...

. 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 the rain at college when he went where laughter led;...

. 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 fraught. These introspective times have brought sweet peace and comfort when I've fought a...