Beauty

  The Reliquary One early morning long ago, I stopped to watch the Avon flow. Long-steeped and weedy, olive green,...

  Listening to Incense A spiral from ignited aloe rises, Translucent, swayed with compound camphor salve Through azure air that...

  Hoosier Autumn October! Morning nips and noontime burns; Crisped, sere, dun cornstalks fall beneath the scythe; Chrysanthemums blaze as...

  Alas! “Alas!” A word of grief and rueful mourning; A gut-punch from what was but is no more Or...

  Rainbow's End I came upon a rainbow’s end that seemed to have sprung full grown from a little field...

  Blowing Bubbles ---for Lisa Mourning a mother, I gratefully smiled, When you sent me a photo of your little...

  Lead, Kindly Light ---in the voice of John Henry Newman (1801–1890) Firmly I stand by virtue of belief, Belief...

  Overture of Rain The birds in the thicket lament in the breeze, expose unfurled backs of silver leaves. Clashing...

  Like a Book He reads me like a book, the One Who wrote Me; knows, it seems, each page...

Lotus First flower, from primeval flooding sprung, In virtuous, voluptuous perfection, The lotus favors eye and mind and tongue With...

  My Bed When life has burdened me and robbed me of an easy way, I’ve looked for succor, such...

  I Dwell Within a Tidal Pool I dwell within a tidal pool; My world, though small, is most complete....

  SCP Poet Paul A. Freeman recently won the King's English Poetry Competition with the below sonnet:   February Fog...

  Dinner Served The sun breaks through the coastal fog, Replacing damp-chill hidden mysteries With warm-wrapped scented dialogue Between the...

  Gul, the Grocer Oh! To be like Gul, the grocer! Disquiet's cuirassier can't toss her __Comfort away. She sits...

  The Elements Within Beginning with the morphogenesis Of cells—of gel-like tissues, organs, skin— Inside a water bath becalmed with...

  Sedona, Arizona Nestled in a canyon sits Sedona, Beauty complementing deep mystique. Mighty walls of rock and cliff and...

. Profoundly Original Everyone is born as an original, but may die as a photocopy. –Carlo Acutis (1991–2006), first millennial...

. Sancho Panza’s Choice Well-met, Señor. And blessings on your inn.You are the landlord here, is that not true?Please sit...

  The Truth Won’t Die ---a villanelle for Charlie Kirk They clung to hate and jealousy and lies, While he...

. Treasure Trove There’s treasure in the words we say, The words we read, the words we write; There’s treasure...

  The Bachelors' Debate When I am put before my friends, around the dying flame, And we have burnt through...

  Autumn Air There’s something in the autumn air, Something beneath the mounting chill Of which we’re vaguely unaware Until...

. Rare Books ---Magdalen College, Oxford, November 1993 From London, westward ho, and slantwise north, I journey into Oxfordshire and...

. When Helen Keller Met Mark Twain ---a poem about America Date: November 2, 1934, Place: New York City: Madison...

  Emily Dickinson: A Brief Synopsis Emily Dickinson Wished Mr. Higginson Hadn’t been so loath Her poems to critique. Higginson,...

  St. Philip Neri “Go take a hike out passed the Catacombs of St. Callistus. Celia once was there. Cornelius...

. Joyful Warrior ---for Charlie Beloved Charlie will lie in state At rest, beyond the reckless hate That roils the...

. Impermanence There’s uproar in the poplars overhead— A dry wind surging from the sun-struck west, Already hot with power...

. Utilization Another person’s misdeeds or their flaws,Are rarely pleasant sights when they are shown,But I try making such ordeals...

. Nearly Home The storm now past, the dark clouds drift away, Unveiling tranquil skies at end of day, Whose...

. A Century's Divinity Another time, another place, A waft of smoke, a peaceful space, Atop the club---a Deke at...

. Esperanza Enticing in her yellow-bell couture, __She shimmers like the sun. With flirty puffs of pollen-pomp allure, __Her blossoms...

. In the Name of Whose God “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people...

. La Vie en Rose  I came across that daft old ditty “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”And wondered why its lyrics...

. Predawn High Sierra Hike The new-moon, star-lit darkness does not hide The beauty that surrounds me on the trail,...

. A Ballad of Fortune "Be brave now, my darlin', We're migrating West! Let's pack up our wagon And then...

. To Truth ---in memory of Charlie Kirk (1993 – 2025) You fly above the flap and fray,Beyond the stir...

. Pamela’s Garden You’ll find her in the garden every day,Her comfort and her confidence so bright.Among the dahlias purple...

. Another North The Megalopolis just north of here Rumbles and heaves and slumbers not at all, Though I at...