Beauty

. Like Him "But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." ---2 Corinthians...

. The Lighthouse In honor of the Thridrangar Lighthouse and the intrepid men who built it. Alone it stands, perched high atop a rock That rises from a tossing, troubled sea. It crowns that lofty tower which,...

. Ephemeral Our lives are like a summer’s day So swift, so swift, it flies away. A butterfly that’s newly born The brief blush of an early dawn. That’s all it is and all ‘twill be A mere blink in...

. Beauty Flowers are the faded stars that fall from silver skies, Raindrops are the sacred tears that leak from angel eyes. The wind is but a melody the gods bestow to earth, The sunrise is an ember that has...

. In the Shade There Meekly Grows a Plant urushiol (yoo-roo-shee-awl) is the name of the compound in poison ivy that causes allergic reactions. In the shade there meekly grows a plant With roots that hold on...

. When I Have Penned My Final Thoughts _When Ihave penned my final thoughts and left to meet_the sky,don't organize my table; let the sheet,the thumbtacks, and the cartridge pen lie there;let them assume I've...

. Cracks in the Ground Today the mourning parish bells have pealed. Men broke the dirt with family gathered round, And sang the songs of Heaven while we kneeled. __Now we make these cracks in the ground. I...

. Centaury The clear night sky spreads wide a tapestry of beauty in the stars that shimmer all throughout the cosmic exhibition hall. In every age mankind has looked to see and wonder at the might  and...

. Cat Contentment The cat begins his yawn by curling out His pinkest tongue tip as his lips begin To part.  His faith in comfort is devout. Disturbing his furred sleepiness is sin. At least that seems to be...

. Evensong “It’s your Church, Lord, I’m going to bed.” ---Evening Prayer of Pope St. John XXIII I know you’re there, so don’t pretend You’re off somewhere, removed, remote, Preoccupied with...

. . If You Want to Get Someone’s Attention If you want to get someone's attention, then whisperor commit a mistake that continues the momentfor a little bit longer---a smudge on the glisteris the proof that...

. Questions of Legacy First the things we remember—Grandma’s laugh shaking a tablecloth, fixing blue eyes __on children next to steaming pies, or Grandpa’s smothering hug, his rumbling cough before a...

. A Heroic Crown of Sonnets in Honor of the Ever Virgin . ---1st Mystery: The Prophecy of Isaiah . The Timeless Song The timeless song of her virginity, Intoned by holy angels, signifies The consecration to...

. Festal Flourish ---on a country festival, by Roman poet Tibullus (55-19 BC), translated by Margaret Coats All here may help to cleanse these fruits and fields! The rite transmits our wise grandparents’...

. Men Sail Out The waves they come--- A timeless thing, The earth their home--- Adventures bring. Men sail out On wooden ships, Embolden hearts, Prayers on their lips. They do it for Their daily bread. They...

. Summertime The summer solstice, when it finally comes, Begins the ebbing of the sunlit hours, Which daily add up to decreasing sums As passing days dim fair Apollo’s powers Yet even so, the season’s...

. It’s All Her Fault ---with a nod to Eleanor Brown's "Bitcherel" Why write in meter when penning a poem, __You ask me, so here’s my reply: When I drop the rapturous roll of a rhythm __My muse fades away...

. July The sounds of Nature presage__And brilliantly exudeAn all-compelling message__Of carefree attitude. The raven in the garden__That's cawing aw-aw-awAnd throaty-chirping martin__We’re in July! they...

. Endurance Endurance! A three-masted barquentine has lain a century beneath the ice. In frigid-climed Antarctica she’s been athwart the ocean floor. She paid the price for Man’s relentless struggle to...

. The Northern Classical Garden ---on the transformation of a vacant lot by students and faculty at Northern Academy of the Arts in Middletown, New York ---after Keats  Our youth whose lives lie in the...

. The Vision of George Washington based on the story by Wesley Bradshaw, published in 1880 . I. Message Disclosed What you have heard of Washington is true. At Valley Forge, in those dark winter days, Our...

. . An Epistle of Sullivan Dear Gilbert---your libretto is delightful! A charming English-Japanese confection. I now concede my words last week were spiteful And truly earned your heated...

. Cyprus  July 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the invasion of part of Cyprus by Turkey Land of my birth you’re blessed with gifts divine Of loveliness and beauty hard to find, Where Aphrodite from...

. Candlelight Vigil the persecution of the peaceful meditation practice Falun Gong by the CCP began on July 20, 1999 A single candle burns tonight, a sacred memory, An ember for the price of truth, a noble...

. My Vacation Trip in Verse by James A. Tweedie One of the comments in response to the recent “On the Meeting of Poets” post read: “A diary in verse. It’s original and interesting. I’d like to see...

. Desire "Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." ---Langston Hughes, 'Dreams' To have, to HOLD what’s going FAST in longing TO capture my DREAMS, I’m looking...

. Second Chances Just know that you’ve been staked a second chance At any time the future’s looking muddy. Put on your shoes and socks, and join the dance. Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth,...

. Colors by Kukai (空海) (774-835) translated by Joshua C. Frank Colors, fragrant like the flowers, Fade to ash in final hours, Extinguished, gone, returning never. No earthborn life can last...

. The Small Commission When school yearbooks are thrust forth to be signed, We give out life advice. We speak our mind, And charge our classmates to keep some small vow: “Recall our good times!” “Stay as...

. Brainwashed and Hopeless My old friend is a doctor---very bright, But he just said to me the GOP, Opposed equality and human rights, Here’s how such nonsense likely came to be. Conservatives must not be...

. Fire Lurks I recognize, while watching ghastly nightEncircle statesmanship revoltingly,Bright bursts of a spangled pyrotechnic star.America! No star, a land’s lost light.Companions, look and say if you can...

. A Town The difficulty of describing how This town was then, may only be because So little happened there, compared to now, Though what occurred (the bustle and the buzz) Filled every room in each small...

. My Patchwork Quilt Somewhere within my closet a patchwork quilt rests there; The patches cut by hands and with stitches sewn with care. The colorful creation once placed upon my bed, Provided warmth and...

. Becalmed When life is smooth—a gentle breeze On a porch swing—the garden lush. Retirement! Do as I please. Watch leaflets stir—two bluebirds fuss. Gardinia scent—I swing and swoon. My mind is still...

. Street 3/4 On both sides of this street, there are small stores Of groceries, canned food, medicine, and toys. Beside a Hindu shrine whose iron doors Are always fanned, an art school for teen boys Displays...

. The Lord of His Castle Setting: King Stephen’s siege of Newbury Castle, England during the English civil war known as “The Anarchy.” The year is 1152 A.D. Strategic though this castle is to me I would...

. A Console Table after a Google entry A console table in the entryway __Provides a focus for a guest Inside your home: a welcome, you might say. A strong impression’s vital to convey, __And for this...

. Dandelion Dreams ---to Melody, on the occasion of her fifth birthday I see her, through the window, picking flowers. Adrift upon a sea of green, she towers Above the honeybees that hover over The rippling...

. The Convert “Uh, Professor, I don’t get it, Why do people choose to read that? Does it just not fit my taste?” She said, “If you really let it, This will sway you. You’ll concede that This has...

. It Goes Without Saying "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and...