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      16 Comments
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Beauty

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Poetry
Beauty

A Poem for the 2025 U.S. Presidential Inauguration: ‘Free People’ by Daniel Rancio

The Society
January 19, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
Free People In some sense, free people have no needOf poets to give their speech a better voice.But freedom wanes without great art and heedOf powers that will enslave us with rejoiceIf only given a chance....

‘Stones for My Parents’ and Other Poetry on Grieving by Brian Yapko

The Society
January 19, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
25 Comments
. Stones for My Parents I didn’t want to come. How sad it sounded To kneel beneath a hazy sun surrounded By strangers’ graves---grim watchmen for the bones Of those who’ve crossed the Bridge. The ghosts...

‘Whoever Am I?’: Poetry by Prudentius, Translated from Latin by Margaret Coats

The Society
January 19, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
26 Comments
. Whoever Am I? Preface to His Poetry .by Prudentius (c. 4th century AD)translated by Margaret Coats If I see clear, through fifty yearsI’ve lived. The seventh after them appears to wheelAround as we enjoy...

‘The Hectic Life’ and Other Poetry by Thor Kangas

The Society
January 18, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. The Hectic Life _Sometimes we get discouraged _With life and all its fuss, Its raucous moments speeding by _Like children on a bus. _It’s all the hectic worries, _The troubles and the stress, That pull us...

‘Death Is But a Passing’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
January 18, 2025
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry
13 Comments
. Death Is But a Passing A death is but a passing from one world into another, A change of state, a change of place, a starting to discover, A test of fortitude perhaps for those I leave behind, A change of...

‘Pearls or Swine?’: A Rondeau Redoublé and a Villanelle by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
January 17, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé, Satire, Villanelle
22 Comments
. Pearls or Swine? Pray show me how to tell a pearl from swine. I have a thirst for sanity to slake. I seek a clue---a firm not fluid sign To steer me from the sway of all that’s fake. While Einsteins whine...

‘Best of the Windy City’: A Poem on Chicago and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
January 17, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. Best of the Windy City Nation’s hub and culture center, O’Hare Airport, millions enter. Stunning architecture sites, The awesomeness of Frank Lloyd Wright; Union Stockyards fed the nation; Second City...

‘Elusive Illusive Art’ and Other Poetry by Mike Ruskovich

The Society
January 16, 2025
Art, Beauty, Poetry, Villanelle
1 Comment
. Elusive Illusive Art Where are the pure, illusive works of artthat bubble upward from the deep unknown?Where in this world are worlds Art sets apart? Duct tape? A banana fresh from the cart?Renoir would...

‘A Pleased Jaques’: A Poem by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
January 15, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
10 Comments
. A Pleased Jaques ---after a soliloquy in Shakespeare's As You Like It At first there is the infant, grinning widebecause he has escaped his nurse's armsand her chagrin, in short shirt takes his stridearound...

‘My Soul Is at Home in the Depths of the Ocean’ and Other Poetry by Corey Elizabeth Jackson

The Society
January 15, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. My Soul Is at Home in the Depths of the Ocean My soul is at home in the depths of the ocean; My soul is at home in the cosmos above, Always adventuring, seeking to grow and Wreathing my body in infinite...

‘The Lemon Tree’: A Poem by Satyananda Sarangi

The Society
January 14, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
18 Comments
. The Lemon Tree We leave the house, the nurtured lawn is gone; The garden still resembles lifeless works Of abstract art; at times banana leaves Seem painted by a brush. I look upon The fruiting lemon tree, a...

‘Out in the Open’: A Poem by Steven Frattali

The Society
January 14, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
5 Comments
. Out in the Open The slanting rain comes on and on! The cold drops blear and blur the sun When they hang in my eyelashes. My heavy stomp in the mud mashes The leaves and twigs and mud together. I plough on...

‘Magna Lex’: A Poem by Jeff Kemper

The Society
January 13, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. Magna Lex ---to the choirmaster, a Psalm (19) of David. . I The heavens herald God’s resplendency; The skies above display his artistry. By day the discourse spills like falling rain; Deep verities the...

‘Let There Be Light’ and Other Poetry by Cheryl Corey

The Society
January 12, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. Let There Be Light From beyond, there came the Word—a cosmic “Om”That pierced the void with one colossal bang of sound,Releasing undulating waves of hallowed humThat thundered through the geodesic grid...

‘Emergent Occasions’: A Poem by Maura H. Harrison

The Society
January 11, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
. Emergent Occasions “And even angels, whose home is heaven, and who are winged too, yet had a ladder to go to heaven by steps.” —John Donne, Meditation II, Emergent Occasions __Affliction is a sea, a...

‘Three Cascading Endings on Fallen Civilizations’ and Other Poetry by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
January 11, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
. Three Cascading Endings on Fallen Civilizations I. Everywhere, the sands are endless. Look: A joke is made of all my glory. On Stone once sculpted in my image, my High authority, my grandest works’ Marks,...

‘Winter Night’: A Poem by Martin Rizley

The Society
January 10, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
15 Comments
. Winter Night A full moon fills the sky with lustrous light And gives the vault of heaven in the night A golden sheen that gilds the cloudy wisps That drift across the sky like phantom ships. The moon's glow...
poem/yapko/satire

‘None for All’ and Other Poetry by Peter Lillios

The Society
January 9, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings
15 Comments
. . None for All Backbones wilt and waistlines grow; Brightness dims as diodes glow. It’s history’s course, a simple fact, Declared with pride—or else with tact. Vigor falters, wits regress; The...

‘Healing Hands’: A Poem for the National Health Service, by Drilon Bajrami

The Society
January 8, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
. Healing Hands ---in appreciation of the care provided (free of charge) by the NHS, the National Health Service of the UK, while I was hospitalised as a pain patient. I thank the Lord for healing hands,...

‘Happy’: A Poem by Joseph Stuart

The Society
January 8, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
3 Comments
. Happy ---for B.K. A ground to play, a set to swing, A slide to slide, a bell to ring: She walks the way of there and then. “Hap-py,” she says; “hap-py,” again. A ball for foot, a nut for...

‘The Adoration of the Peacock’: A Poem for Epiphany by Rachel A. Lott

The Society
January 6, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
13 Comments
. The Adoration of the Peacock ---on The Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi The world is a-gawk at a gaudy surprise, for kings walk on foot while the commoners ride, and I, though a...

‘Bollical Dogs’ in Response to T.S. Eliot’s ‘Jellicle Cats’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
January 5, 2025
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
26 Comments
. Bollical Dogs I have a complaint! T.S. Eliot hogs All the fun with his stories of Jellicle Cats! So let me (inspired by zoo catalogs) Write of beasts ripe for versificational chats. But shall I vaunt...

‘Caleb in Canaan’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
January 5, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
. Caleb in Canaan  Green fields, walled towns, strong foes, but we are fit To overcome. Forward, I say. It’s ours. These forty days of foraging have fed Twelve spies good fare and knowledge requisite. Let...

‘The Shepherd God’: A Poem by Jane Schulert

The Society
January 4, 2025
Beauty, Culture, High School Submissions, Poetry
14 Comments
. The Shepherd God On Autumn eves when solipsistic stars__Peer down on bloody, towering oaksWhose gnarled, twisted branches create bars__Encaging man in Fortune’s spokes,When groaning wind rustles through...

‘Topics Over Time’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
January 3, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
16 Comments
. Topics Over Time At 10 boys talk about the games in which they’ve played. At 14 they discuss the girls and “progress” made. At 16 there’s the homework everybody’s got, At 18 work or college and...

‘Oh, the Days’: A Poem on Motherhood, by Gigi Ryan

The Society
January 1, 2025
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
16 Comments
. Oh, the Days Oh, the days of poop and vomit! My best dress had drool upon it While I walked my teething child Up and down the hall for miles. Oh, the days of poop and vomit! When the baby chose to not...

Two Meditations in Verse by T.M. Moore

The Society
January 1, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. Meditation 4 "Now our Lord bestowed great gifts through small means..." ---Homily on Our Lord (11) "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." ---1 Corinthians...

‘My New New Year’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 31, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
44 Comments
. My New New Year I’m shunning bards of lilt and kilt tonight. My cup o’ kindness guzzled dry by kin Has urged the spurning of that worn-out rite Of seeing lame old, same old new years in… The fizz. The...

‘December 31’: A New Year’s Poem and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia

The Society
December 31, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
. December 31 __Another year _Gasps out its dying breaths. __Oh, do not spare _Any further Death’s ___Swift hand _From seizing its demand! __Do not rue __An end now due. Another year begins anew. __The...

‘Lines Written in a Time of Illness’ and Other Poetry by A.J. Illingworth

The Society
December 29, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
. Lines Written in a Time of Illness My body is weak, and this reflects my soul,Who baser pleasures is obsessed to know;For the mind, of late, has been filled with resentmentAnd not contented by mere...

‘The Matters of Life’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

The Society
December 29, 2024
Beauty, Poetry
12 Comments
. The Matters of Life With furrowed brow she knits away her troubles,Her wrinkled face so tight and drawn with age.The skeins of yarn unwind in rapid motionAs woes translate to tight and tighter gauge. Tho...

‘On Learning of a Lover’s Death’ and Other Poetry by Cheryl Corey

The Society
December 28, 2024
Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry
18 Comments
. On Learning of a Lover’s Death Your parting words were not exactly nice, But when I read the news that you had died, At least for old times’ sake, I should have cried. I haven’t—yet. Is that a crime?...

‘The Blank-Page Stage’ and Other Poetry by Warren Bonham

The Society
December 27, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
. The Blank-Page Stage I once embraced the blank-page stage, when words would somehow always rhyme, but now my brain shows signs of age, and operates on its own time. So now, I dread the clean-slate...

‘Ode to a Christmas Pudding’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
December 25, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
32 Comments
. Ode to a Christmas Pudding O fragrant orb of dark and luscious depths Made with magic conjured every year By souls who know the spell---those tricky steps That summon plummy culinary cheer, You started as a...

‘Stars Voluble’: A Christmas Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
December 25, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
32 Comments
. Stars Voluble Profound and lightless silent night _Lay still with curtains closed. Into unspeaking dark the Word Descended from his regal throne And rose from Israel below, _A supernova blaze Encircling...

‘A Present Unclaimed’: A Christmas Poem by James A. Tweedie

The Society
December 25, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. A Present Unclaimed Under the tree is a present unclaimed Paper and ribbon and bows, good to go. Who is it for? “Who it’s from” isn’t named. Where is the tag? No one here seems to know! “Maybe,”...

‘Make Room, He’ll Come In’: A Poem by Warren Bonham

The Society
December 24, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
. Make Room, He’ll Come In Have you spent much time wandering, feeling distressed,and upon your arrival, found no place to rest?You can’t possibly know what it’s like till you’ve beenwhere you longed...

‘Santa Claus Has Passed Away’: A Christmas Poem by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
December 24, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. Santa Claus Has Passed Away As is their custom every year, the Men’s Club promptly after class had half the hallway commandeered and cheerfully began to pass out toys and games as grade by grade the...

‘Love Broke Through Time’: A Poem by Gigi Ryan

The Society
December 24, 2024
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. Love Broke Through Time On the first Christmas night Love broke through time With pain to Mary and her child whose bed Was straw with ox and ass in nearby stalls. Love arrived in suffering and shame. All...

‘A Christmas Eve Sestina’ by Mary Gardner

The Society
December 24, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Sestina
8 Comments
. A Christmas Eve Sestina “He who sings prays twice.” ---Saint Augustine The vagabond had too much Christmas cheer. He doesn’t notice that the air is cold Although his clothes are unseasonably light. A...
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  1. Roy Eugene Peterson on ‘Boomerang’ and Other Poems by Russel WinickJune 13, 2025

    Russel is a thinker. We all can plainly see. His poems are so short But they tickle me.

  2. Margaret Coats on ‘Double Rondel for Pentecost’ by Margaret CoatsJune 13, 2025

    Thank you, Laura! There are few things more exciting than being caught up by God's own Spirit. I try to…

  3. Margaret Coats on ‘Ode to Chronic Pain’ and Other Poetry by Dan DavisJune 13, 2025

    "Ode to Chronic Pain" may be the shortest ode I've seen, but it's admirably clear and comprehensible. Shows why the…

  4. Hetty on 10 Greatest Poems about Death: A Grim ReaderJune 13, 2025

    Muerte, amiga mía, Me caminas como mi madre sin quejarte Compartiendo mi dolor, mi tristeza y mi alegría Todos mis…

  5. Margaret Coats on ‘Double Rondel for Pentecost’ by Margaret CoatsJune 13, 2025

    Thank you very much, Christina! I am overjoyed to know that there is spirit in these lines to bring forth…

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