Culture

. The First Fallen Leaf A single leaf begins to fall. He wants to be the first of all. His brethren strain to join his fun. For now he’s still the only one. He floats and sways inside the breeze, but, looking up, he promptly sees another leaf depart the...

. August Foraging “It’s hot, it’s dry. No fun outdoors; No fungi, flowers, foliage, fruit For us to eat where Nature stores Wild food. The month is destitute.” Now, novice, look about you. Woodland floors May hide the first autumnal mushroom loot, The best, small, firm, fresh growth from latent...

. The Worst of Our Convictions When, finally, the last church shuts its doors; when we run out of new identities to choose from; when the politicians have enough of power and wealth to make sure they can always get a little more, and each is safely snuggled in the...

. Mainstream News "Just 7% of Americans have 'a great deal' of trust and confidence in the media, and 27% have 'a fair amount.' Meanwhile, 28% of U.S. adults say they do not have very much confidence and 38% have none at all in newspapers, TV and radio." ---Gallup Survey...

. The Mannequins Are Melting The mannequins are melting as we speak Now that the summer heat wave's at its peak. __While passing by the clothing store __This afternoon at half past four, I saw the havoc waves of heat can wreak--- Wax statues melting in their own boutique. There...

. The Web of Sustenance __Voraciously the lion feeds, But leaves the scraps for jackals and hyenas— __To each according to its needs, In Nature’s sprawling tawny-grass arenas. __The residue will nourish seeds Selected to renew the vast savanna. __By sundry means at different speeds: To every living tribe its...

. The Leper “When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be...

. The Wise Farmer ---based on a Zen parable attributed to Alan Watts A farmer in China was left by his horse. He took up his plow and continued his course, And right after sunset, he finished his labors. When he told it in passing to some of his neighbors,...

. It Won’t Happen Here There were anti-Semites in our Congress, And still they said:  “It will not happen here.” Anti-Jewish protests broke out often, And still they said:  “It will not happen here.” U.S. campuses bred anti-Semites, And still they said:  “It will not happen here.” Synagogues were vandalized...

. Free Verse as Nightmare Surrealism “I thirst for new songs without moons or irises, and without loves that have died.”  ---Lorca, New Songs (Cantos Nuevos) Who doesn’t?  But the problem is the songs Aren’t songs.  Once irises and moons are gone, We  suffer dreck.  Where poetry belongs, We get...

. Prodigious Dreams Let not these Autumn notes lead you amiss. Autumn, indeed, is come (the signs are all around). This aging empire wanes, its fall accelerates: decay effects abyss. Our Winter now approaches, precipice we didn’t foresee. Our legacy? A squall that confiscates our children’s wherewithal! Still, as we...

. Knock, Knock! ---free speech in the UK is dead Three more children stabbed---a country mourning The murdering of minors by the score. Opine online---ignore the hate-speech warning--- And fascist fuzz will knock upon your door With fists of iron balled in churlish horror. What gall the masses have to...

. But Who Am I? “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’” ---Exodus 3: 11 God, did I hear you right?  Did you tell me (But who am I?) to lead...

. Sicilian Samurai circa 1700 He made a startling, militant request To journey to Japan—strange land long closed To foreign influence. The Pope’s behest Asked that authorities be unopposed— But how to know, if not to make the test? Giovanni Battista Sidotti, thirty-five, Saw Africa and India in a year,...

. Chasing Time  "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not...

. Boycott the Bullies ---a pantoum for the real women boxers at the Paris Olympics Don’t let a slappy chap punch out your lights. Refuse the bruise of hairy rounds with guys. It’s time to block woke blokes from female fights Before they’re holding every golden prize. Refuse the bruise...

. The 2024 Olympics . I. Excusez-moi, s’il vous plait, But having seen your lewd display, I’ve chosen not to watch your Games; Despite too late, half-hearted claims Attempting to equivocate, As if to merely celebrate The gluttony of Dionysus; And thereby hide your true blasphemous Effrontery. I draw the...

. 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 gently to loose soil. In spring it rises up because it can’t Contain...

. Three Small Tabs Upon the men’s room wall at church, A flyer’s there for men who search For healing after an abortion Served to them, their awful portion. I glanced and saw in that display That three small tabs were ripped away. Three grieving fathers, pain untold For children...

. The Psychopath Addresses the Ladies Auxiliary of the Mental Ward "When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate."  —C.G. Jung "Physician, heal thyself."  —Luke 4:23 1. Ladies, cease your mindless chatter Lest I take a club and shatter Your thick skulls and leave you...

. 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 the Trinity Of her who godly grandeur glorifies. As font of Christian being...

. The Maze Her little game of make believe has turned into a nightmare maze. Her tears have spilled upon her sleeve while empty eyes have lost their gaze. Her maze is very hard to beat; The mice go round and round and round. Not one of them admits defeat...

. A Ballade to Becoming .. I. Conceptio You may have fame, be well to do, And live beneath a constant sun; You may attain all you pursue And be a friend to everyone. But, without fail, a time will come When all your efforts come to naught And all...

. 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 freedom-fighting soldiers suffered so I’d see the tears course our commander’s face. He’d...

. 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 your sea did rise To taste the nectar of your air sublime. Cyprus, where the...

. 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 more.” Since I journaled in verse that recent trip my wife and...

. Freedom of Speech vs. the NBA The CCP has raged and seethed, oh joy! Daryl Morey was not playing coy, He spoke the truth, a gun then to his head: “Fawn now! Or else your hoop dreams are all dead!” Even Ted Cruz and AOC allied; When evil rises,...

. Dementing Torture of Benign           Drugs against Malignancy His life came to its End.  Smell of the medicine Departs chillingly.                                    ---Dakotsu The faint, faint fragrance of the cancer...

. 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 seeThe common faith that made us what we are. You patriots intrepid, rise and tryTo tell what blasts your households must...

. The Trail of Hate Amid the upbeat crowd a sudden blast Of noise arose like fireworks kissing skies. Fallacious musings struck then swiftly passed When crimson dripped before the saucer eyes Of those who saw the bullet-bitten ear Of Trump who dodged then dipped down to the ground As...

. Storming the Bastille from eyewitness accounts July the twelfth, the City of Light was filled With brigands bought by dimes and dismal speech; How cheap to buy a riot in this heat— Yet hard to rouse Parisians so soft-willed. Louts rant of bread withheld, but within reach, Shout massacre...

. Gunfight at the Oatcake Corral There’s an old English town known as Fargo, In the dark, rugged hills of the west. Where they say, there was many a gunfight, But this one was one of the best. Old Homity was the Town Sheriff, A man to be trusted and...

. 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 house and more To overflowing with the acts of people Engaged in vicious...

. The Red Carpet There's nothing left to tease imagination When so-called starlets, vying for attention, Sashay the carpet practically nude; And you don't have to be a total prude To know when something isn’t right. Here You have these women wearing "dresses" sheer Enough to clearly see their breast...

. The Expert Class “Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see” ---Benjamin Franklin The experts with professorships are filled with such great certainty. They warn us that the point that tips our world into catastrophe, is right around the corner and, though they have erred...

. Houses Made of Stone Masvingo, southern Africa’s the place; a backwater, land tired and over-farmed, where army ants cut underbrush and race trimmed morsels to their hills. The air becalmed and hot as Hades. Here a ruin lies called Great Zimbabwe; houses made of stone ‘Zimbabwe’ means in English;...

. Promises Made, Promises Kept... Give Me a Break! We know, because they promise us their virtuous intent when allocating funds is always currency well spent That supersedes all arguments of basic common sense— despite the fact the cost accrued for every buck they print Adds, of course, another layer...

. 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 we had avoided Newbury Where I have been outwitted and outmanned. John Marshall!...

. A Hurricane by Any Other Name... The lights went out in Mexico today. A fury hit Cancun with no remorse. With death upon her breath, she makes her way To Lone Star shores. She's on a fiendish course. The Yucatan sapped ire from her eye And now she's sucking...

. 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 the pursuit of Happiness." ---the Declaration of Independence Self-evident truths were once taught in...