Persia, Ferdowsi, and the Shahnameh: An Essay by Adam Sedia The Society August 17, 2022 Culture, Epic, Essays, Poetry . POEMS THAT BUILT A NATION PART II. Persia, Ferdowsi, and the Shahnameh by Adam Sedia A previous essay highlighted how the Finnish national epic poem, the Kalevala, spurred the development of Finnish culture...
‘Persistence’ by David L. Williams The Society August 17, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 1 Comment . Persistence It seems when flies get in from the outside, They never find how to get out again; Instead they only buzz around and hide, A game that often is the death of them. At times hours pass when you...
‘An Anti-Evolution Song’ by Evan Mantyk The Society August 15, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry, Science 26 Comments . An Anti-Evolution Song inspired by the writings of Zhang Tianliang How probable is it, however you spin it, __That man has evolved out of nothing? Do I look like a schmuck who would think that dumb...
‘Images of Darwin, post-1859’ and Other Poetry by Damian Robin The Society August 15, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Humor, Poetry 9 Comments . Images of Darwin, Post-1859 1859: The year the ponderously titled On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle For Life was published. A fat,...
A Poem for Salman Rushdie: ‘Mightier Than the Sword?’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 14, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 44 Comments . Mightier Than the Sword? His Eighties searing splash of fiery ink Scorched the skin of those who won’t allow The flare of feisty words. His weren’t in sync With those of kowtow howls. He wouldn’t...
A Poem on Taxes: ‘Give and Take’ by Norma Pain The Society August 12, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 19 Comments . Give and Take Mr. Taxman, you’re a peach, Fill your pockets we beseech. Having money is a curse, Please take freely from our purse. We may catch up some time later, Certainly your need is greater. Money...
‘Byrd in Flight’ and ‘Summer Sunday Baroque’ by Cynthia Erlandson The Society August 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 24 Comments . Byrd in Flight The surplice-vested, five-part choir, Like sparrows on a five-tiered wire, Gives flight to canticles of Byrd. The flocks of lightweight, living notes Ascend to where celestial thoughts Send...
‘Non Existent’ and Other Poetry by Gary Borck The Society August 9, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Shakespeare 12 Comments . . Non Existent One day my body disappeared, __nor could I touch or taste, but I could feel the flood of tears __that filled my missing face. My presence was by no-one known. __Not felt, nor seen, nor...
‘Awake’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 8, 2022 Culture, Poetry 36 Comments . Awake At night I quake and lie awake in bed. My racing mind likes pacing to and fro. My thoughts, they peck and caw just like a crow. I’m in the grip of woe from tip to...
‘Tapestry’ by Mary Gardner The Society August 8, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry 21 Comments . Tapestry My grandfather Evangelos did trading with the Turks Of pipes and hookahs, hash, and cloths, and skillful carpet-works. A tapestry he gave his wife in Main in nineteen-ten, A secular non-Muslim...
‘Byron Swims the Hellespont’ by Joseph S. Salemi The Society August 6, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 41 Comments . Byron Swims the Hellespont On May 9, 1810, Lord Byron swam across the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos to duplicate the legendary back-and-forth trips made by the mythical Leander on visits to his lover...
‘Fishing on the Fly’: Three Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society August 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 20 Comments . Deschutes River Reverie The river, swift and shallow, roils its way Beneath the outstretched arms of old-growth pines, Past bank-side willows diamond-dewed with spray, And hillside ferns and thimbleberry...
‘Transgender Madness: For All the Children Beyond Repair’ by Karen Darantière The Society August 2, 2022 Culture, Poetry 8 Comments . Transgender Madness: For All the Children Being Harmed Beyond Repair inspired by When Harry Became Sally by Ryan T. Anderson . I. At age 5: the tomboy I cared not for the Barbie dolls in pink; I chased the...
‘Camena Interrupta’ and Other Poetry by Peter Venable The Society August 1, 2022 Culture, Humor, Limerick, Poetry 4 Comments . Camena Interrupta The measured words of poetryRise round the mystic sphere,Sift through the dirt or sing divineIn strains that soothe or sear. But now the stanzas halt and freeze:Eternity is stilled—The...
‘A Happy 80th Birthday Wish’ by Evan Mantyk The Society August 1, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings 20 Comments . . A Happy 80th Birthday Wish for the Poet's Father I wish for you the golden years Odysseus had Retired from life’s long strife, a sort of Trojan War: The births and deaths were bloody fights, some...
‘Ballade of Pride’ by E.M. Schorb The Society July 25, 2022 Culture, Poetry 49 Comments . Ballade of Pride They’re a proud people. —The Frugal Gourmet Of every group whose food he shows, this Doctor of Diet, this Frugal Gourmet, this chef whose goodness simply glows and who doesn’t know...
‘After Observing the Working Methods of a Very Important Artist’ by Shaun C. Duncan The Society July 23, 2022 Art, Culture, Poetry 33 Comments . After Observing the Working Methods of a Very Important Artist The aging fool stands deep in dirty water, Cradling the carcass of a native fowl To his bare chest like a tired, suckling daughter. He wears...
‘Three Literary Smiles’: Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society July 21, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 12 Comments . Three Literary Smiles . Hemingway’s Oopsy “Up in my room the rain was coming down Heavily outside on the balcony.” I didn’t know if I should smile or frown At such a dissonant cacophony. It’s...
Two Poems on China Nowadays, by Cheryl Corey The Society July 20, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 4 Comments . I’m Not Too Keen On China Nowadays I’m not too keen on China nowadays: The moves they’ve made against Taiwan of late; The way they treat their citizens, negate Their freedoms, torture, torment,...
A Poem on Nostradamus’s July 1999 Prediction, by Daniel Magdalen The Society July 20, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 4 Comments . A Prophecy the East Fulfilled The year 1999, seventh month, From the sky will come a great King of Terror: To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols, Before and after Mars to reign by good...
Two Courtroom Sonnets by Carl Kinsky The Society July 19, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . Self Defense When he pulled out his knife I thought I had No choice so I pulled out my gun and shot Him twice, then ran the streets for miles, too glad That he lay there dead and that I did not. I got...
‘To Serve and Protect’ by Julian Woodruff The Society July 18, 2022 Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . To Serve and Protect Of all the events that fill the history of quiet, little–known Uvalde town, there cannot be a greater tragedy than that which gave it sudden world–renown. The dreadful act, so...
‘Apology’ by Myrlin A. Hermes The Society July 18, 2022 Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . Apology I’m sorry if you feel like you were hurt. Not everyone in life is going to be As nice to you as you think you deserved. And he sometimes got physical with me, Too---I'm no victim. So he was...
On the UK Heatwave: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On!’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 17, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 105 Comments . Keep Calm and Carry On! “UK heatwave: Temperatures to rise to 41C amid extreme heat warning” ---BBC News “The first Red Extreme heat warning issued” ---British Met Office The BBC is roaring like...
‘The Pale Rider Comes’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society July 16, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 10 Comments . The Pale Rider Comes “So then give to Caesar what is his,” our Lord and Master said, __“And to God give what is his---your sacred soul!” Yet despite these limits placed on him, with drawn sword...
‘Sumo’s Winning Ways’ by Margaret Coats The Society July 15, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 24 Comments . Sumo's Winning Ways Fierce frontal impact clenches victory In less time than an untrained eye can blink, But connoisseurs of sumo’s treasury Prefer discriminating knack. They wink When force through fine...
‘In the First Degree’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society July 14, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau 11 Comments . In the First Degree Had the bullet’s trajectory veered half a foot to the right, It might not have extinguished the life of this innocent youth Who had just turned eighteen. The Grand Jury moved fast to...
On the Recent Overturning of Roe vs. Wade, by Alena Casey The Society July 13, 2022 Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . “Hosanna,” All The Children Cried “Hosanna,” all the children cried, And Christ was pleased to open wide For them his hands and feet and side, The devil’s will to override. “Hosanna,” all the...
‘The Automated Phone System’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society July 13, 2022 Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry 9 Comments . The Automated Phone System I called up a business But no person answered, I got a phone system With multiple options Some rather confusing; I kept getting transferred, Spent most time just holding; Then...
A Translation of Horace’s Barine Ode, by Joseph S. Salemi The Society July 11, 2022 Culture, Love Poems, Poetry, Sapphic Verse, Translation 20 Comments . Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Odes, II.8 “The first thing we learn about Barine is that she is in the habit of making and breaking promises (of love and fidelity, presumably) and that she is never punished...
‘A Hopeless Rondelet’ and Other French Form Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 10, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau, Rondel, Villanelle 27 Comments . A Hopeless Rondelet All trust is dead, Killed by lies in love’s disguise. All trust is dead--- It’s buried in a sigh of dread. Its memory spills from mourning eyes. Can Truth rekindle sunless...
‘In the City’ and Other Poetry by Adam Wasem The Society July 10, 2022 Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . In the City The city, where the liars are in charge And all the criminals are still at large: The just have been imprisoned, brought to heel: Grateful as dogs, oh, how we rush to kneel For the littlest...
‘Back in My Day’ and Other Poetry by David Whippman The Society July 9, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 17 Comments . Back in My Day I tested my courage---well, no, not really. The heroic stuff had been done before. My generation was all touchy-feely. It was our parents who’d fought the war. The post-war population...
‘Free Verse’ by Clive Boddy The Society July 8, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . Free Verse Let us free verse from "free verse" while we can;A pile of branches does not make a tree,And fruit squashed on a plate does not make jam.While words strung down a page can never be,As eloquent...
On the Recent Destruction of the Georgia Guidestones, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 6, 2022 Culture, Poetry 51 Comments . America’s Most Mysterious Monument The first of the anonymously funded Georgia Guidestone’s guidelines: “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000” “The world population is over 8,000 million. According...
‘The Pigeon’ and Other Poetry by Norma Pain The Society July 6, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, The Raven 22 Comments . The Pigeon Once upon a workday morning, sleepy-eyed and loudly yawning, I was splattered without warning by a pigeon from the shore. At my half unconscious stupor, this unpardonable pooper, Took his aim just...
‘O Say, Can You See?’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 24 Comments . O Say, Can You See? Let’s think as we sink into star-spangled wonder, Intolerable acts were the reason to fight Each pillaging bully who’d brazenly plunder The treasures of those who were drawn to...
‘Anew’ and Other Poetry by Talbot Hook The Society July 3, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Anew Whisk me away to the mountainside. __Spirit me far to the glen. For I long to find that secret place __Where I can begin again. All of us long at least once in our lives __To flee from all that is...
‘A Ballade on Being Commissioned’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society July 1, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . A Ballade on Being Commissioned Twixt Florence and the Holy See Of every artist you could hire You thought it meet to torture me. You gave no weight to my desire But quick to wield the Church’s...
‘On Palestrina’s Music’ by Margaret Coats The Society June 30, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 27 Comments . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHUuaA8DKiQ . On Palestrina's Music Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, Ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus. Psalmus 41:2 As the deer desires springs of water, So my...
