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...
A Poem for Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, by Cheryl Corey The Society August 2, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . The Forgotten Earl He thought about the sonnets that he wrote; The time he spent composing metered lines Of rhyme, divided into quatrains. He Alone devised the scheme;—but Virgil’s books! If only there...
‘The End’s Hard Edge’: A Poem by Damian Robin The Society August 2, 2023 Culture, Poetry 7 Comments . The End’s Hard Edge The End Is Near, it always was, Its point is clearer now because Collapsed disturbance occupies With moaning cries and droning skies; So penetrate to higher things Remembering what...
‘One Law Away’ and Other Poetry by Warren Bonham The Society July 30, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 10 Comments . One Law Away Everyone can agree that we all disagree. __We don’t see what we see quite the same. We all think that we’re right so we can’t help but fight __and incite against those who we blame. It...
‘The Heavy Launch of the Siegfried Idyll‘: A Poem by Julian Woodruff The Society July 29, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 18 Comments . The Heavy Launch of the Siegfried Idyll The landing offered just the space required for Wagner and the band that he had hired to play the idyl Cosima inspired, the mother of young Siegfried, whom he’d...
‘Learn Now, Learn Now Young Master’: A Poem by Gary Borck The Society July 29, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings 9 Comments . . Learn Now, Learn Now, Young Master ‘Learn now, learn now, young master; You soon will take your test. The books to learn are plenty; You need to do your best; No time to take a rest. Your marriage is...
‘Key West’ and Other Florida Poetry by Adam Sedia The Society July 28, 2023 Art, Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry 11 Comments . Key West Rum, reeling, raunchiness, and revelry, Palms, poincianas, palaces of old--- All lie behind; the Morro Castle’s hold Guards old Havana past the sparkling sea A half-day’s sail south from this...
‘Formulas for Failure’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society July 26, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Satire 17 Comments . Formulas for Failure I’ve seen too much of devastating failure, In almost every avenue of life. One might guess lack of skill the main derailer, But that’s not even close to what’s most rife. A bigger...
‘The Emperor’s New Chromosomes’ and Other Poems on Transgenderism by Brian Yapko The Society July 25, 2023 Alexandroid, Culture, Poetry, Satire 22 Comments . The Emperor's New Chromosomes The Emperor would be remade; He felt if he could be a maid He’d be more loved and find relief. His maleness brought him nought but grief. Two doctors showed up sharp as...
Three Poems on Sleep and Dreams, by Joshua C. Frank The Society July 24, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Love Poems, Poetry, Villanelle 18 Comments . Back to Sleep In very early years, now far behind, When I returned to earth at midnight deep From nightmare scares within my frightened mind, My mother rocked and sang me back to sleep. I hid in bed from...
‘The Jeweler’s Deposition at the Coroner’s Inquest’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi The Society July 23, 2023 Culture, Poetry 30 Comments . The Jeweler’s Deposition at the Coroner’s Inquest I certainly will tell you what I can. I knew the family—watched her growing up. Take it for what it’s worth: I was her friend. She started with the...
‘On Lies and Liars’: A Double (Petrarchan) Sonnet by James A. Tweedie The Society July 23, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . On Lies and Liars A Double (Petrarchan) Sonnet . “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with...