Culture

  Alas! “Alas!” A word of grief and rueful mourning; A gut-punch from what was but is no more Or “almost was,” miscarried, died aborning. “Alas!” A raven croaking, “Nevermore.” “Alas!” Shall time deface, erase, surrender The still-warm memory of love’s last kiss? A gasping grasp at fading spectral splendor;...

  The Lorelei by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) translated from German by Bruce Phenix I don’t know what it can mean, such sadness do I find in a tale from ancient times which never leaves my mind. The air is cool, it grows dark; the Rhine flows quietly down; the hill,...

  Sign Wars Each autumn brings the Sign Wars once again. MUSSELLA versus TAYLOR for the crown of Village Mayor. All the Councilmen will pick a side while whispers spread through town. The current, lifelong Clerk will lead a charge against the young brash Super with a mouth agrestic. He’s...

  Lead, Kindly Light ---in the voice of John Henry Newman (1801–1890) Firmly I stand by virtue of belief, Belief in God who wills we act and speak, And aids our feebleness to sanctify What is of earth, of humble worth unique. As one to One, in love to Him...

Pumpkin Palooza Spooky, Kooky, Mostly Ghosty. Pumpkins round Cover ground. Corn stalks propped. Traffic stopped. Costumes galore: Short dinosaurs! Spiders! Black cats! Witches’ cone hats! Ghosts and goblins whirl. Dancers leap and twirl. Black witches ride on brooms. Who’s hidden in that tomb? Tiny ghosts are wrapped in sheets. All...

  Fervid Fall Fantasy Dismal dread night shadows creeping, Darkened curtains barely keeping Misty moonlight beams from seeping Through my study, down the hall. Ghostly demons float unending. Messages to me are sending Echoes from the past resounding--- _Bouncing off my wall. Bouncing, sounding, mind confounding, _All around rebounding--- On...

  Uncle Stanislaw I still can hear the sound of acorns popping Beneath the wheels of father’s horse-drawn cart As we drove through the woods—four hooves a-clopping— Where Uncle Stan, his brother, plied his art. His smokehouse was a wreck of salvaged timbers, His living room a den of salted...

  Vera Crux Vera Crux is Latin for “True Cross,” and is the source of the name of the Mexican city Veracruz, which was founded by the conquistador Hernán Cortés on Good Friday in 1519. Veracruz became one of the richest cities in colonial Mexico because of its substantial export...

  On Single-Parent Migrants Canadians by the millions, as most everybody knows, slowly migrate southward every winter, back and forth, Keen to nest in milder climes from fall to early spring when sources for their sustenance, because of snows up north, Fade to where they all but starve, and predators...

. Revising Strauss It’s 1941 and Goebbels broods.It may take years for Germany to winIts Aryan war of European conquest.As Minister of Propaganda heMust keep up spirits all throughout the Reich.And what are Germans better at than music?Good, wholesome music---Wagner, Schubert, Bach.And those enchanting melodies by Strauss!Such polkas, overtures, Die...

  Galahad_2000 Donning his abs and armor, broadsword at his side, _He cleaved his way through orc-infested lands Quest after quest, a valiant paladin astride _The beanbag, gamepad clamped in clammy hands. Outside the sunlit April leaves awakened, dyeing _The blinds with emerald—as if to chide him. Each day he...

  Ten Rules for Living the Good Life You must make peace with your own past. _Construct a mental suture With timeless thread and mercy’s needle, _Then focus on your future. What other people think of you _You never will control. If truly bad, then prove them wrong _For peace...

  Samson’s Final Revenge ---after Judges 16:23-30 Now when Philistine lords amass with zest In festive adulation of their god— “Praise Dagan! Samson cowers in arrest!”— They bring him out and jovially applaud. “Our god, Dagan, has now interned our foe Who ravished our dear land and killed our spawn!”...

  When the Old Guys Get Together When the old guys gather and swap stories, From their strangely growing inventories, Thrilled to be reliving claimed past glories, There’s no doubt of what will be in store. Each guy was more skilled and wittier, Victories achieved were grittier, Many of the...

  Garden of Gethsemane Come join me in the garden now, _I need your company. I’ve never been so frightened, friends, _please don’t abandon me. Tomorrow they’ll profess my guilt, _they’ll paint my blasphemy. Leaving Pilate just one choice: _to hang me by decree. They’ll hand me to an angry...

  Cause of Death _Because I chanced to be around _The day when poor Melissa drowned, They asked me to identify the body. _A trifle over five-foot-four, _With graphic body art galore, There was no doubt that she had been a hottie. _They mentioned in the news reports _That she...

  Song of Conquest The craftsman takes from tree and rock To shape in uniform dimension, Hoarding all in one large stock So might he plan for their ascension; This goes here, and fitting there A brick and board do so conspire, In single compliment they dare To raise from...

  Revisiting Antietam How odd imagining war’s artistic tint, where tactics clashing let men’s captive blood. Just look—the paradox of bodies rent, yet jaunty at this portrait streaked with mud! It’s strange to visit battlefields with joy that motions me as sunshine permeates when poised-to-tussle soldiers were just boys awestruck...

. Profoundly Original Everyone is born as an original, but may die as a photocopy. –Carlo Acutis (1991–2006), first millennial saint, canonized 7 September 2025 This teen proficient at computer gaming Spent utmost technologic talent framing “Eucharistic Miracles of the World,” Brave signal flags of his own site unfurled, Displaying...

. Sancho Panza’s Choice Well-met, Señor. And blessings on your inn.You are the landlord here, is that not true?Please sit with me and drink. I’ll pay for two.Your least expensive, though. My purse is thin.I serve my master gratis. Yes, that’s right---The white-haired viejo now in sleep’s embrace.Don’t say “Señor...

  The Mead of Poetry In the Norse myth, the god Odin becomes an eagle after stealing and swallowing magic mead, made by cunning dwarves of honey and the blood of the wise Kvasir. The mead grants poetic powers to those deigned to drink it from Odin's lips. Spit upon...

  Theseus in the Labyrinth ---from "The Slaying of the Minotaur" As Theseus crossed the threshold, Minos told his men to shut the door. The heavy clang caused all to think the brave lad would be seen no more; But there, inside the darkness, clever Theseus’ plans were taking shape,...

  Three Short Poems by Heinrich Heine translated from German by Josh Olson   1 I laugh at every doltish jackanapes Whose drooling, goat-like visage leers at me; I laugh at every fox who sneeringly Approaches, sniffs me up and down, and gapes; I laugh at all the bloated, learned...

  Persona Assume a work identity, conform And hide behind an urban harlequin, Conceal the tattoo beneath a uniform, Desert yourself and cloak the genuine. The Greeks devised a rich formality, Dramatic masks of frozen mirth and gloom. A shaman’s rites in anonymity Demand an alien spiritual costume. Conceive of...

. Nice Things Done Most of the nice things some people will do,Are done partly for their own benefit too.But even if their motivation’s the latter,When nice things are done, do the reasons much matter? . . A Sense of Belonging With social motivationOne need forever strongIs fighting isolationTo feel...

  The Bachelors' Debate When I am put before my friends, around the dying flame, And we have burnt through all our songs that we consider tame, We all decide to sing a song before we go to bed A song about the secret thoughts that swim within your head....

  Angel I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set free. —Michelangelo (attributed) One wonders what an angel does all day. Just sit there, wings slack, staring into space? But that assumes space-time is where she’ll stay. A comrade of the host that fell from grace?...

  J.K. Rowling’s Response to the Assassination of Charlie Kirk If you believe free speech is just for people with whom you agree, then you’re illiberal, and trust in your infallibility. And, if new facts get vilified before they’re heard, then you have missed the awful truth that deep inside,...

Unjust Trade   I. An endless wet: Earth’s gathered sea-salt tears Wept-swept before a rising, darkening gale, As dim horizon fades and disappears Behind a slave ship’s squared tri-masted sail. Her hold full-filled with human suffering, With chain-torn flesh sustained by lice-laced gruel, To serve the needs of cotton, cane...

. When Helen Keller Met Mark Twain ---a poem about America Date: November 2, 1934, Place: New York City: Madison Square Garden after Helen Keller delivers a speech honoring the Salvation Army. An old reporter recognizes one of the attendees. You flatter me! It’s rare I’m asked to speak. I’m...

. The End of Fred the Thief ---based on various news reports Twenty-eleven was the year When they put Fred the Thief to death So that the tourists in Cape Town Might in more safety draw a breath. A wily gangster throughout life, With some four hundred of his kind,...

  And These Two Despots Smile “where organs switch one human to another, where one stays live, and one’s a discard donor.” —Damian Robin While walking side by side at the huge military show, dictators Xi Jinping and Putin, talking to and fro, were caught on a hot mike, discussing...

  St. Philip Neri “Go take a hike out passed the Catacombs of St. Callistus. Celia once was there. Cornelius is and other Popes in domes of ancient stone. Inhale the olive air. Then buy a chicken from a chicken-farm and bring it back to me the way you came....

.   Bleed, Saxon Blood "Þær wæs sang || and sweg samod ætgædere, fore Healfdenes || hildewisan; gomenwudu || græted, giomaenes spell, cwæð þonne se scop, || sumeres þegn" “Then there was song and music together, before Hrothgar’s battle-leader; the harp sounded, the joy-wood’s voice, when the scop sang afterwards.”---Beowulf...

. Old School ---for an elite British boarding school The rooves are dark and lichen-strewn and damp,the window panes are flecked with drops of rain;a summer downpour’s welling while the stampof lightning flash and thunderclap engraintheir image and their sound. The chapel bellis chiming out the quarter hour, which bringsthe...

. We Love You Charlie Charlie, Charlie, Charlie We’re so sad to see you die. Sorry, Sorry, Sorry Couldn’t even say goodbye. Heaven, heaven, heaven Is where you are I’m sure. Evil, evil, evil Is what we still endure. Hatred, hatred, hatred Has left its mark on Earth. Goodness, goodness,...

. Utilization Another person’s misdeeds or their flaws,Are rarely pleasant sights when they are shown,But I try making such ordeals the causeOf seeing and disposing of my own.. . Superiority Although superiorityMay lead to trophies on your shelfOf greater import is to beSurpassing of your former self. . . Knowing...

. Monsoon in the Jornada _Months of unwavering stillness, _Parched powder seared by the sun, Pitiless taunts from New Mexico sky, _Tenuous cloud-wisps undone _By defiantly static surroundings _As summer’s assurances wane; Skittering deer mice seek lifegiving shade, _Blearily thirsting for rain. _Jornada del Muerto they called it— _Conquistadors dogged...

. The Pentagon Panama Plan A place in turmoil—Panama_In nineteen eighty-eight—Was where the strongman Noriega_Was busy tempting fate. The Pentagon felt like a dreamworld_Where fantasies were made.Years later the 9/11 plane struck_That office where I’d stayed. Lieutenant Colonels stationed there_Were often called “gophers.”We'd go for coffee, go for errands,_Go find...

. Free Won’t ---Hypothesis in a 2007 study in the Journal of Neuroscience Perhaps it’s false, about “free” will—_A myth we hold as true.What happens when we’re ruled by lust?_“Free” will is ballyhoo. Perhaps instead, we have “free won’t.”_We logically decide;Think “No” to impulse or desire,_Then reason is our guide....