‘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...
‘Perchance to Dream’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society September 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 24 Comments . Perchance to Dream __The sky is wide, __The sea is deep, And when we’ve woken into sleep __A place to hide __Cannot be found, For probing eyes are all around. __The day is bright __And notes are...
Songs for a Granddaughter: Poems by Jeff Kemper The Society September 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . Nine: A Song for a Granddaughter for a girl, M___, raised in my household, though not a blood relative 1 She is the girl who cheers my heart: “Come, Jeff. Let’s play!” she voices smart And innocent as...
‘A Curveball of Blackbirds’: A Poem by Leland James The Society September 7, 2023 Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . . A Curveball of Blackbirds “Thousands of blackbirds fell out of the sky….” —The New York Times . Five thousand blackbirds from the sky. ____I don’t know why. Neither do they, the EPA, State...
‘Pilgrimage’: A Poem by Margaret Coats The Society September 7, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 28 Comments . Pilgrimage The strong will long to go on pilgrimage, Assembling to reclaim their heritage Of sanctity and stable permanence Embezzled by debased belligerence, For life is war, as Job so aptly said; We battle...
‘Hymn to the Night’: A Poem by Michael Taormina The Society September 6, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Hymn to the Night Every thinking creature adores the light __Where twinkling stones and stars and flowers stun Senseless matter into a sense of sight __And all behold the splendors of the sun. First...
‘Fallen’: A Poem by Mary Gardner The Society September 2, 2023 Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . Fallen The Universe was perfect, Heaven and Earth, Upon Almighty God’s Creation’s birth! He made the spirit-beings, Angels, free; And later, Man with physicality. Most-favored Lucifer the Fair grew...
A Poem for Parents: ‘Tough Love and Hugs’ by Mark Stellinga The Society August 30, 2023 Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Tough Love and Hugs “Where the heck do they learn this crap?” one father asked another. __When we were kids---we never talked like that. “Almost every kid I knew at least went out for sports… __No...
‘The Pietà or Mickey Mouse?’ and Other Poetry by Joshua C. Frank The Society August 28, 2023 Art, Culture, Humor, Poetry 23 Comments . The Pietà or Mickey Mouse? A book I’ve read depicts a boy Who’s searching for creative joy. His mind can’t focus on a vision, So he’s weighed down by indecision: To carve the rock behind his...
Critiquing Woke Language in Rolling Stone: A Poem by Maura H. Harrison The Society August 25, 2023 Culture, Music, Poetry 5 Comments . A Deeper Scaly Screed "'Rich Men North of Richmond' is a passionate screed against the state of the country sung by Oliver Anthony, who identifies as a farmer living off the grid with his three dogs in...
Poems on ‘Modern Times’ and Transgenderism by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 24, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 36 Comments . Modern Times . I. The Cutting-Edge Misogynist He slams the bland and damned old-fashioned type--- Those tiresome dinosaurs born with a womb--- The sexless species of the XX stripe--- The sort he states must...
Sonnet Summaries of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts I & II, and Henry V, by James A. Tweedie The Society August 22, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Shakespeare 9 Comments . Henry IV, Part I In Henry IV Part 1 the king’s possessed By fears that Harry Hotspur wants him dead. While Henry’s son Prince Harry is obsessed With drinking with his friends at the Boar’s Head. The...
Two Poems from Mexico, by Brian Yapko The Society August 21, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 20 Comments . Overheard in a Mexico City Cantina A downpour started. The cantina beckoned. I sat and heard two men debating change; How Mexico’s divisions should be reckoned. These words are what I heard in that...
‘Poetics the Ginger Cat’: A Poem by Leland James The Society August 20, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . . Poetics the Ginger Cat —Ποιητική: ‘poi-EIGH-tee-keigh’ By a caged fire I read. Around me walls of ancient lore, of poetry and war…. Prometheus bound, flames behind glass...
‘Something Higher’ and Other Poems by Monika Cooper The Society August 18, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry 22 Comments . Something Higher the brown scapular of Elijah Departures and arrivals. Passengers. The life of one old man describes an arc: A sudden collapse from sitting. Messengers, Come lift my weight, grown lighter...
Can Long Poems Still Work? A Discussion Topic from Julian Woodruff The Society August 17, 2023 Culture, Essays, Poetry 80 Comments . A Discussion on Long Poems by Julian Woodruff In her second comment to the thread trailing my recent poem “The Heavy Launch of the Siegfried Idyll” (July 29), Margaret Coats suggested I “begin a...
Poem of Passion Challenge The Society August 16, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests 88 Comments . Scenes of passion in literature, on the stage, and on the silver screen, have captivated audiences for years. How about spicing up some poetry with a soupçon of sauciness and savagery (tastefully done, of...
‘Deep in the Heat of Texas’: A Poem by Phil S. Rogers The Society August 15, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rhupunt 13 Comments . Deep in the Heat of Texas a rhupunt One hundred one, a scorching sun that I should shun. I shed no tear. Sun blazing down, the grass is brown, I do not frown I’m in good cheer. The soil on fire as we...
A Reflection Poem on the End of Yellow Freight, by D.R. Rainbolt The Society August 13, 2023 Culture, Poetry 4 Comments . The Fall of the House of Yellow On July 28, 2023, after months of failed negotiations between Yellow Freight Lines and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) over Yellow’s proposal to consolidate...
A Little League Baseball Poem: ‘My Boy’ by Gregory Ross The Society August 13, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . My Boy His mess of hair plays with the wind; Eyes beaming now, he shines alive, A thrill to watch amongst his friends, The guys who throw, and hit a drive, And catch the fun, with glove and dirt, And run...
A Poem on John Kerry’s Private Jet and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society August 12, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire, The Environment 16 Comments . The Jet Not Owned When climate czar John Kerry was chastised, For flying in his carbon-spewing plane, He angrily replied he’d never owned A private jet---he called that charge insane. It’s true---the...
‘The Outing’: A Poem by Paul Martin Freeman The Society August 11, 2023 Beauty, Children's, Culture, Poetry 18 Comments . The Outing . I Miss Deidre Ealing of Tiny Tots School, A woman who'd never be anyone's fool, Observing her charges like little buds sprouting, Decided the next day they'd go on an outing. Departure was...
A Poem in Memory of Father Peter Carota, by Margaret Coats The Society August 10, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 67 Comments . Facing a Famine of Fatherhood in memory of Father Peter Carota They say a country road or city street, The pavement, stones, and dirt pressed by his feet, Recall a holy man who passed thereby, But what of...
A Poem on JFK’s Assassination: ‘Some Questions?’ by Bruce Dale Wise The Society August 8, 2023 Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . Some Questions? “We’ll know our disinformation is complete when everything the U.S. public believes is false.” —William J. Casey, former CIA director Does anybody still believe, in ode or...
‘The Certainty of Kelly Green’: A Poem by Joshua C. Frank The Society August 7, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 25 Comments . The Certainty of Kelly Green My friend and I went to a coffee shop; She read her intricately crafted verse That proved that she alone was at the top Of all today’s poetic universe. She read her...
‘Mercedes Benz Makes a Corporate Decision’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society August 7, 2023 Culture, Poetry 39 Comments . Mercedes Benz Makes a Corporate Decision Good morning, fellow members of the board. I’ve summoned you because your vote’s required To update social policies. We’ve fired Conservative dissenters and...
A Poem on Censorship: ‘Batten the Sovereign Soul’ by Maura H. Harrison The Society August 5, 2023 Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Batten the Sovereign Soul I think we used to be stronger, home-made With simple stuff. We’d read a headline, see An ad and know that we were being played. We’d roll our eyes and let the bias...
‘The Blame Game’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society August 4, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondel 38 Comments . The Blame Game a kyrielle They rile. They gall. They know it all. These irksome jerks in folly’s thrall Are perilously cretinous. __It’s always Them. It’s never...
‘On Water & Evil’: A Poem by D.R. Rainbolt The Society August 4, 2023 Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . On Water & Evil “Evil, like water, seeks the lowest point.” ---Earnest McDaniel The thunder clapped again, applauding light Displays, and weighted condensation fell From Heaven’s darkened brow—a...