A Poem on Cystolitholapaxy, by Jeff Eardley The Society October 21, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 36 Comments . Cystolitholapaxy Cystolitholapaxy (si-stow-luh-THAA-luh-pak-see): a procedure to break up bladder stones into smaller pieces and remove them “It’s Cystolitholapaxy for you, For guys of your age, it’s...
‘Salome’s Soliloquy’: A Poem by Margaret Coats The Society October 19, 2023 Culture, Poetry 38 Comments . Salome's Soliloquy John the Baptist rebuked Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, for an incestuous and adulterous union with his brother’s wife, Herodias. Herodias therefore wished to kill John, and found an...
‘Avoidance’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society October 18, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 19 Comments . Avoidance I don’t sign up for group Zoom calls __With folks I know are boorish. I don’t go visit galleries __Where art is amateurish. I don’t make plans which likely will __Cause me to have to...
The Battle of Bunker Hill in Epic Poetry, by Andrew Benson Brown The Society October 18, 2023 Culture, Epic, Humor, Poetry 18 Comments . Bunker Hill an excerpt from the forthcoming Legends of Liberty, Vol. 2 . The Eve of Battle The midnight moon. The month of June. A neck Of land. A hill of sand. A group of shadows With...
‘A Petless State’ and Other Poetry by Mary Jane Myers The Society October 17, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 14 Comments . A Petless State after Katherine Philips' A Married State, 1664 A house with pets affords but little grace. The best of dogs or cats destroy the place. Note when you visit friends you can detect foul odors,...
‘My Brother in Galilee’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society October 16, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 38 Comments . My Brother in Galilee I had a fearsome dream---I saw my friend -- My teacher-brother---nailed onto a cross. I wept with sorrow at my brother’s feet. He said his mother henceforth would be mine. Unearthly...
‘Two Bugologues’ and Other Poetry by Donald Mace Williams The Society October 13, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Two Bugologues . Moth Onto a wall in chilly gloom I fold myself, all silk and dust, and then, from half across the room, the candle flickers: Come. You must. I am well past my crawling days when, wingless,...
A Psalm of Lament for Israel, by James A. Tweedie The Society October 10, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 13 Comments . A Psalm of Lament So says the Lord: A voice is heard on high, lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, she refuses to be comforted for her children for they are not. ---Jeramiah 31 In...
‘For Israel Under Siege’: A Poem by Brian Yapko The Society October 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 84 Comments . For Israel Under Siege Imagine that you live in fear of violent Acts of terror daily---bombs may kill Your friends and family---all you love grows silent As hatred of the Jews makes more blood...
‘The Man in 2C’: A True Story in Poetry, by Jeffrey Essmann The Society October 9, 2023 Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . The Man in 2C I’m trying not to make too much of this, But someone in 2C (the floor below) Has walled himself within an edifice Of waste, a rank malodorous abyss In which he sits as insects skitter...
A Poem on Alexa’s 2020 Election Fraud Analysis, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society October 8, 2023 Culture, Pantoum, Poetry, Satire 69 Comments . Not Alexa's President a pantoum on the news story here “The real risk with AI isn't malice but competence.” —Stephen Hawking Alexa says election fraud took place. She says the 2020 vote was...
A Poem on Biden Backing the Border Wall, by James A. Tweedie The Society October 8, 2023 Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . It’s All for Show The Big Guy’s going to build a wall. He’s going to build it strong and tall "Because," he says, "we cannot leave Our border leaking like a sieve." He used to say, “It isn’t...
A Poem on Writers’ Block and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society October 7, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 19 Comments . Blocked Though honeyed breezes warm the marble halls on Mount Parnassus, vainly do I search for writing on my January walls— molasses clogs my veins. A different church, perhaps a fresh sodality of...
‘Village Home’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley The Society October 6, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 26 Comments . Village Home after George Enescu's Orchestral Suite no. 3, “Villageoise” Along the tree-lined lane he walks at dusk; What brought him here, he cannot now remember. The chilling breeze, the scent of pine...
‘Hybrid and Wild’ and Other Poems by Sally Cook The Society October 5, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . Hybrid and Wild All of her life had a meaning, Each section in its compartment. Tenants went through a close screening— Somehow, I got the apartment. She was a prickly old lady— I, a rambling young...
‘With a Smile of the Heart’ (Circa 1200), Translated by Margaret Coats The Society October 5, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation 18 Comments . Introduction This long lyric of short lines has pairs of stanzas linked in rhyme. It is a sequence honoring Gilbert of Sempringham (1083–1189, canonized 1202), founder of the Catholic Church’s only...
‘The Song of the Woman Who Bled’: A Poem by Philip Rosenbaum The Society October 4, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . The Song of the Woman Who Bled Mark 5:25-34 When you have no more money you can spend, Then men will tell you, “You cannot be cured.” Though Jesus makes it better in the end, First tribulation has to be...
‘Massacre of the Innocents’: An Ekphrastic Poem by V. Paige Parker The Society October 3, 2023 Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry, Readings 7 Comments . . Massacre of the Innocents Matt. 2:18, 10:28, 18:10; Psalm 116:15; 2 Mac. 7:29 Why are the fish and fruit stands closed today— Too many soldiers, stationed all around. My God, they’re pulling out...
‘The Idealist Who Became an Ideologue’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society October 2, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé 42 Comments . The Idealist Who Became an Ideologue a rondeau redoublé To heal the world he treasured this ideal: Unite the many into one great whole. He preached the view that truth is what you feel, Convinced he played...
‘Writers of the Purple Sage’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson The Society October 1, 2023 Culture, Music, Poetry 35 Comments . Writers of the Purple Sage What happened to the music? The writers of the West? The legends of the cowboys? The songs I loved the best? The outlaws and the posse? Please tell me where they went? The ones who...
‘Wood’: A Poem by Mary Kipps The Society September 30, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Pantoum, Poetry 21 Comments . Wood a pantoum It’s only furniture. But that’s both truth and lie. To find Mom’s treasured things a loving new address is near impossible, no matter what I try. Her home’s impending sale exacerbates...
‘Labyrinthine Bag’ and Other Poetry by Wael Almahdi The Society September 27, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 18 Comments . Labyrinthine Bag My wife, bless her heart, went and bought me a bag with tons of compartments, and pouches, and pockets. But searching for stuff is a chore and a drag it takes me forever to locate my...
‘Abortion Notes’: A Poem by Phil Flott The Society September 27, 2023 Culture, Poetry 27 Comments . Abortion Notes Please bury babies ripped to parts, Especially their tiny hearts. They’re slain in hiding from our sight. And even scheduled in the night. We never hear the babies’ cries. We cannot see...
A Poem Inspired by Kimberly Hartke and Other Poetry by Joshua C. Frank The Society September 26, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Epigrams and Proverbs, Poetry 19 Comments . In Eve’s Footsteps based on “Genesis 2: Teaching its Truth to Women” by Kimberly Hartke “And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself. ... And...
‘Out of Purgatory’ and Other Poetry by James Sale The Society September 24, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 23 Comments . Out of Purgatory There I went blind. I could no longer speak, but as I died, I murmured Mary’s name, And there I fell and left my empty flesh. Now hear the truth. Tell it to living men: God’s angel...
‘A Draft of Death’: A Poem by Jeff Kemper The Society September 23, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . A Draft of Death Did Flavius not inform us How a fart fetched fates enormous? After Flavius Josephus’s account of a Jewish Passover (ca 50 AD), when Ventidius Cumanus was procurator of Judea. While in...
‘The Battle of Athelstaneford’: A Poem by Margaret Coats The Society September 21, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 36 Comments . The Battle of Athelstaneford King Angus clapperclawed NorthumbriansIn combat close enough to hammer faces;His Pictish troops enacted brutal plansTo break the bones of foes with metal macesAnd throttle...
‘The Sum of All Fears’ and Other Poems on the Government by Cheryl Corey The Society September 20, 2023 Culture, Poetry, The Environment 30 Comments . The Sum of All Fears “Oppressive government is fiercer than a tiger.” ---Confucius Psst. Be careful what you post online.The slightest threat, even made in jest,And alphabet men will don the armored...
‘On Being “Chopped”‘ and other Gaming Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society September 19, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . On Being “Chopped” On TV, watching the show “Chopped,” I see Three losing chefs go home each episode; And one who celebrates a victory For a dessert they called, “Shrimp a la Mode.” Imagine...
‘The Golden Calf’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society September 18, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau 30 Comments . The Golden Calf a rondeau The golden calf draws shouts of awe From wanton men who bray and caw. The fevered crowd ignites a fire Then cheers as flame on flame grows higher And fuels the lusts of groin and...
‘Under Which Altar’: A Poem on Abortion by J.D. Graham The Society September 15, 2023 Culture, Poetry 9 Comments . Under Which Altar Eros, at last, has left the field. The flowers on the bushes yield __to coming winter. See Lyssa, Mania, Ares, Furor, older gods (and often purer), __who now reenter. Together with Hermes...
‘Meditation on the Myth of Sisyphus’: A Poem by Daniel Howard The Society September 15, 2023 Culture, Love Poems, Poetry 14 Comments . Meditation on the Myth of Sisyphus Like Sisyphus, whose fate it is to bear A boulder on his back, and up the mound, Only to watch it roll towards the ground, As if it mocks his strain to climb the stair; So...
Thoughts on Education Outside the Box: Poems by Anna J. Arredondo The Society September 14, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Education, Humor, Poetry 22 Comments . . Freedom high school algebra class; May 12, 1993 . A breeze blows in; it wisps my hair, And flutters papers in the air; It carries, with the scent of rose, A dream---and takes one as it goes. . Upon its...
‘Losing Battles’: A Poem by Warren Bonham The Society September 14, 2023 Culture, Poetry 22 Comments . Losing Battles It seems when we declare a war, we rarely win them anymore. So, though much money will be spent by our corrupted government, the thing on which war’s been declared is very likely to be...
‘The Tale of Wanton Ange’: A Poem by Paul Martin Freeman The Society September 13, 2023 Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . The Tale of Wanton Ange . The Number 53: Unholy Thoughts Wanton Ange makes her appearance That’s Ange there on the 53 at Plumstead; She’s thinking once again about the vicar. “’E’s even older than...
‘But What of Us?’: A Poem on Rich People by James A. Tweedie The Society September 12, 2023 Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . But What of Us? They have it all,The richest men on earth.No calculator can compute their worth.Yet doomed to fall.And it’s no secret why.For rich men, just like you and me, will die. Their wealth...
Two Sci-fi Poems by Joshua C. Frank The Society September 12, 2023 Culture, Love Poems, Poetry, Triolet 13 Comments . Younger Selves I have you leaning up against my side, Our boys and girls around us on the couch. Below the window, watching from outside, Our younger selves, age twelve, crawl up and crouch. The boy and...
‘Earthquake in Morocco’: Poem Written by a Poet in Morocco, Paul A. Freeman The Society September 11, 2023 Culture, Poetry 22 Comments . Earthquake in Morocco---8 September, 2023 My flight to Casablanca landed late, and through an ill-chanced vagary of Fate I found myself---soon Mauritania bound--- Inside a gangway, meters off the...
‘Not Forgetting 9.11 in 2023’: A Poem by Monika Cooper The Society September 11, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Not Forgetting 9.11 in 2023 New York, the City that I've only seen In flashes, glimpses, footage, faraway, New York I've read about, you filter in To every cranny of America. We are your suburbs, everywhere...
Wings of Desire: Canto I of Paradise, Translated by Stephen Binns The Society September 11, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Dante, Poetry, Translation 10 Comments . . Wings of Desire: Canto I of Paradise by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns . God’s glory, which moves all, sends beams to bless __each thing in space, reflected just as bright __as...