‘Job’s Rant’ and Other Poetry by Cynthia Erlandson The Society June 24, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . Job’s Rant Job 3: 3-10 . May darkness and death’s shadow claim the day When I was sent to bear the curse of earth. May clouds blot out the night that gave me birth And drown it in the densest...
‘In Extremis’ and Other Poetry by Adam Wasem The Society June 24, 2023 Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . In Extremis ---from the Western wilds Here at the most attenuated ends Of America’s arterial transport map, Where pavement stops, dissolves to native dust, I find I’m mostly mindful of defense: Where...
‘This Is the Choice’: A Poem by Michael Charles Maibach The Society June 23, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 5 Comments . This Is the Choice The gates of hell Closed from within. No one sends us--- We lock ourselves in. . The gates of Heaven Are open and true, Welcoming souls who Choose to walk through. . This is the...
‘The Deluge’: A Poem by William Harrison The Society June 23, 2023 Culture, Poetry 9 Comments . The Deluge From Heaven came the rain; On Earth the waters swelled To wash away each stain The eyes of God beheld. Each structure man had made Of metal, wood, and stone Cut down by Water's blade, Save for...
‘Pharaoh’s Dream Redux’: A Poem by Paul Erlandson The Society June 21, 2023 Culture, Poetry 24 Comments . Pharaoh’s Dream Redux “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and...
‘The Gallows’: A Poem by Christopher Lindsay The Society June 20, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 18 Comments . The Gallows The trial was quick, the verdict read: “Guilty as charged,” the foreman said. The judge declared the man would hang, the leader of a robber gang who stabbed the sheriff with a knife, and made...
‘The Straight-Fishing, Straight-Talking Jiang Ziya’ by Damian Robin The Society June 20, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . The Straight-Fishing, Straight-Talking Jiang Ziya Far off in time and place but still on this small globe, By a river with his beard and stick and robe, A sage thought on a kingdom’s end that war might...
‘Distant Thoughts from Nearby’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society June 19, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Satire 30 Comments . Distant Thoughts from Nearby I need to turn my dog-ears up __and harken to the quietude ____ignored for many years, __and contemplate my solitude, ____expressing through my tears Incautious songs that made...
‘The Test’ and Other Poetry by Alan Steinle The Society June 17, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau 5 Comments . The Test The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' —Jesus (Matthew 22:39, NASB1995) Is every trial just a self-created test? Perhaps we do not grow until we have been...
‘The Number 207: The Road to Nowhere’: A Poem by Paul Martin Freeman The Society June 17, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 18 Comments . The Number 207: The Road to Nowhere Oh once along the Road to Nowhere That used to be the Uxbridge Road You’d board and pay the tuppenny bus fare And go where milk and honey flowed. For this was then a...
‘Fracture Mechanics’: A Poem by Stephen M. Dickey The Society June 16, 2023 Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Fracture Mechanics Dams, bridges, tunnels, buildings and the like Are often structurally sound for years If not centuries, whereupon men’s fears Creep up on them abruptly in a spike In degradation...
‘The Moselle’: A Poem on the European River, by Margaret Coats The Society June 14, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 28 Comments . The Moselle Tranquil meandering alluvion, From Vosges pink sandstone hills it percolates In rillets past rich vines in echelon To cradle villages of varied traits. Saint Castor limns a linear regime, Both...
‘Fifth Glyph’: A Poem on the Letter E, by Paul A. Freeman The Society June 14, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 26 Comments . Fifth Glyph This glyph, in British talk, occurs most oft--- most common, too, writ down within our books. Twixt ‘a’ and ‘z’ it’s fifth, not sat aloft but low and unassuming in its...
‘Commodore Perry Opens Japan’ and Other Japan-Inspired Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society June 13, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Limerick, Poetry 29 Comments . Commodore Perry Opens Japan On July 8, 1853, on the orders of President Millard Fillmore, Commodore Matthew Perry led four American ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to pierce Japan’s isolation...
‘Lord, Give Me Serenity’ and Other Poetry by Roy E. Peterson The Society June 12, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 35 Comments . Lord, Give Me Serenity Lord, give me serenity To deal with lunatics, Especially the ones Who are found in politics. Help me to stay calm, And keep me honor bound, But take them to perdition Wherever they...
‘All That’s Left Is Yours’ and Other Poetry by Joshua C. Frank The Society June 11, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 22 Comments . All That’s Left Is Yours based on I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris The bride walked the aisle to her husband-to-be, __Who gently took hold of her hand. They started their vows, all to hear and to...
‘Beyond the Visible Veil’: A Poem by Peter Venable The Society June 10, 2023 Culture, Poetry 8 Comments . Beyond the Visible Veil Gravity cannot hold those forms who float __And drift—hiding in air— Though some guard human souls; the others gloat __And sow their bait on snares. These spirit shapes wage...
‘Xanadu Revisited’: A Poem on D.C. Corruption, by Phil S. Rogers The Society June 9, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 4 Comments . Xanadu Revisited after "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Coleridge __In Washington aristocrats __ordain corruption happily: __here the Potomac River flows __past million dollar homes in rows, ____no common man you’ll...
On Indian Boarding Schools and Continuing Subjugation: A Poem by James A. Tweedie The Society June 8, 2023 Culture, Poetry 88 Comments . How Strange We Cannot See a Reflection on Indian Boarding Schools and the Continuing Subjugation of Native Peoples God gave the land: the water, earth, and sky. And though we take it all away and try To...
Advice for Budweiser: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society June 7, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 48 Comments . The Revised Guide to Selling Adult Beverages Dismiss the woke approach to advertising--- It’s mad and bad and far from enterprising. Avoid loud, lipsticked lads in soapsud scenes In full and frothy...
A Poem on an Old Garden Gnome, by Norma Pain The Society June 7, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 18 Comments . Gnome A long-time fixture at our home Is Schnozz, our little garden gnome. This non-complaining happy chap Appears to have a handicap, And looks to me, I must confess, A poor neglected, grubby mess. His...
A Poem on the Odisha Train Crash, by Satyananda Sarangi The Society June 6, 2023 Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . Life and Death This life has so much left in store, We think, a day gone by isn't lost; It's made of hours that bear no cost, A hundred gone, a thousand more While each tomorrow brings its weight, A list...
‘An Aging Senator Returns to the Capitol’: A Poem by Shaun C. Duncan The Society June 5, 2023 Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . An Aging Senator Returns to the Capitol Confused and more than half-way gone to Hell, They wheel her in like some decrepit couch They found beside the road. What ebon spell Or awful drug could fortify that...
A Poem on Creation, by D.R. Rainbolt The Society June 5, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 9 Comments . Creation From deep within eternity, the soundOf song burst out! As Perfect Fullness stirred,A melody in wisdom wrought, profound,Complex in form and powerful in wordReverberated…...
‘Contract Murder’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi The Society June 3, 2023 Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . Contract Murder No one is ever quite sure how it’s planned— What’s clear is that a grievance is expressed By injured parties, who directly make Complaints to the Commission, which in turn Investigates,...
‘Target Gets Targeted’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society June 1, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 22 Comments . Target Gets Targeted A leftist agenda endorsed,Down customers’ throats it was forced.They now find their business is blighted,You could say that they’ve been “Bud Lighted.” . . Newspapers Newspaper...
A Poem on the 2023 War in Sudan, by Paul A. Freeman The Society May 31, 2023 Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . When Two Elephants Fight---Sudan, 2023 The regular army and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) are at war with each other in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, Dharfur, and other places, and civilians are paying the...
A Poem on Gaslighting and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society May 30, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 20 Comments . Gaslighted Our friendship limped along for thirty years. I can’t say why. The scornful views you’d share Instilled resentment, anger, even tears. Your condescending words. Your cutting glare. “Why...
‘America’: A Memorial Day Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society May 29, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . America America, vast land of dreams __From sea to shining sea, Where eagles soar and twilight gleams __On Lady Liberty; America, you lit the way For those who sought a brighter day __In glorious...
A Poem for Memorial Day, by James A. Tweedie The Society May 29, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . With Liberty and Justice for All Old Glory may have stripes and stars, But on those stars and stripes are stains— Reminders of a past that’s ours— Where shame, as well as pride, remains. The sweat of...
‘The Great War’: A Poem by Mary Gardner The Society May 29, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . The Great War Ever be their memory, Those interred across the sea, Men who, fighting evil, fell, Who endured the martial Hell; Those who to their homes returned, Shot or shell-shocked, broken,...
‘For My Grandfather’: A Poem by Amadeus V. The Society May 28, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 5 Comments . For My Grandfather While Sharpton praised low bandits for their grace, And Barack preached self-pity with pure glee, You always taught the simple truth of race. While Black Lives Matter set Pan’s chaos...
‘Red Flags’: A Sestina Sonnet by Joshua C. Frank The Society May 28, 2023 Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, Rondel, Sestina 16 Comments . Red Flags a sestina sonnet The national flags of the Westerners’ lands Turn red in the dim, fading light of the sunset, Like Communist red—bloody floors in a prison. All the flags look the same when the...
‘True Grit’ and Other Poetry by David Whippman The Society May 27, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . True Grit My favourite movie? If I must decide, I'd pick a classic western above all, those epic films of frontier macho pride. Enter the hero, riding straight and tall. There'll be some gunplay, and a bar...
‘The Odd, Flawed and Awed’: A Poem by Warren Bonham The Society May 26, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 8 Comments . The Odd, Flawed and Awed Inspired by “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Canadian poet Robert W. Service If you hear from God, though the words sound odd, __you must not ignore that voice. That’s what...
‘Remorseless’: A Poem by Margaret Coats The Society May 25, 2023 Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry 51 Comments . Remorseless Back on 19, returning from the lake, Where she had stowed sling chairs for next week’s meet, Her car broke down. She checked out what she knew, Glad to have parked securely in the grass. She...
‘On Second Thought’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society May 23, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Epigrams and Proverbs, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . On Second Thought When words fail, __perhaps it’s not the words at all, __but hobbled minds that cannot call __a lucid image to avail ____the powers of description. When love fades, __it might not be true...
A Poem on Cathedrals by Paul A. Freeman The Society May 23, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 62 Comments . Behind the Cathedral Master masons made these bastions their own by blending crafts, attaining structural awe; from Notre Dame, to Salisbury and Cologne they dazzled kings and stupefied the poor. The scale...
‘In a Soviet Gulag’ by Evan Mantyk: Read by Andrew Benson Brown The Society May 22, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Readings, Satire, Video 13 Comments ...
‘Cain’s Daughter’: A Poem by Patricia Rogers Crozier The Society May 22, 2023 Culture, Poetry 13 Comments . Cain’s Daughter I was not in the garden when the veil of beauty tore I heard no serpent beckon to me through the orchard door I weep no tears beholding the angel’s flaming sword For I never breathed the...