Culture

. 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...

. 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---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 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 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 __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...

. 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 “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 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 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 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...

. 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? 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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 —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 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...

. 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...

. 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 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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 . 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...

. 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...

. 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 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 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...

. 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 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 “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...

. 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 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 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 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 ‘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 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 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...