‘Worse Than Widowed’: A Poem by Cynthia Erlandson The Society April 15, 2023 Culture, Poetry 20 Comments . Worse Than Widowed They’ve made us widows while we’re still alive. I’m not allowed to see my wife, although She isn’t sick; the head nurse told me so. (I know, of course, she’s sick with lack of...
Poems on Growing Up, by James A. Tweedie The Society April 15, 2023 Culture, Epigrams and Proverbs, Humor, Poetry 14 Comments . Growing Up . Starving Children in China If you don’t eat the food that’s on your plate ....I will, in turn, assert That you will be excused—no need to wait— ....For you won’t get dessert. . Crime...
‘Just Words’ and Other Poetry by Norma Pain The Society April 14, 2023 Culture, Love Poems, Poetry 26 Comments . Just Words The more we are together dear, __I fear… can love suffice? Of late I find you’re cavalier __And not so very nice. Your nonstop nag-nag-nagging __Is a never-ending drain, Your tongue...
‘Restoration of Nôtre Dame’: A Poem by Margaret Coats The Society April 14, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . Restoration of Nôtre Dame One Paris evening seven years ago, We walked the neighborhood of Nôtre Dame, But no café had seats. We settled on A bench with the cathedral as tableau, Congenial scene our...
‘Acceptance’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society April 13, 2023 Culture, Education, Love Poems, Poetry, Satire 24 Comments . Acceptance Relationships are courses in which You should not enroll, If changing other people is your Pre-existing goal. . . When One Overrides Twenty-Six It started in first grade as I recall. Our son...
‘The Little Knight’ and Other Poetry by Joshua C. Frank The Society April 13, 2023 Alexandroid, Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry 26 Comments . The Little Knight The kitchen door slams open wide; The boy flies through to play outside. His house becomes his castle’s walls; The distant car horns, clarion calls. A stick becomes a mighty sword; The...
‘Cryogenic Freezing’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi The Society April 10, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 35 Comments . Cryogenic Freezing from the conclusion of A Gallery of Ethopaths Let’s end on a deathly note To grab my readers by the throat. When ethopathic nonsense reigns It keeps a populace in chains, And though...
Three Denarii or Best Offer: An Easter Poem by James A. Tweedie The Society April 9, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 5 Comments . Three Denarii OBO For Sale: One ten-foot wooden cross. Good cedar, cypress with some pine. The owner selling at a loss. Used once, by Rome, to assist dying. Some minor nail holes need repair, The crossbeam...
‘How Great Thou Art’: An Easter Ballade by Brian Yapko The Society April 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 12 Comments . How Great Thou Art __An Easter Ballade . It’s Easter. I can hear the choir sing. The gospels have been prayed upon and read And now I cheer the news the watchmen bring With shouts of “He is risen!” I...
A Poem for Easter Day: ‘After the Storm’ by Martin Rizley The Society April 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . After the Storm All darkness past, the sun now shines Through shredded storm clouds drained of rain; Its bright beams crown, as day declines, The Victor’s head, now free of pain– That holy head, which...
‘Hymn’ and Other Poetry for Easter Sunday by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 9, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 21 Comments . Hymn I met Him on that Sunday afternoon I trod the Kentish cobbles through the streets Of Rochester past dwellings in the gloom Of fog laced with the waft of teashop treats. I entered the cathedral...
An Easter Poem and Song: ‘The Shroud of Death’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 8, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 12 Comments . . The Shroud of Death The shroud of death’s night-shadow fled Before the dawning light of day; Unveiling tombs wherein the dead In grave and solemn stillness lay. And earth-life voices stirred the...
‘Of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague’: A Poem by Isabel Scheltens The Society April 8, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . Of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Once I used to live a waking dream Devoid of starlight: lanterns on the hill Betwined the huddled palaces which gleam In reverence to the crown cathedral’s will. I saw her...
A Poem for Good Friday on Grűnewald’s Crucifixion, by James A. Tweedie The Society April 7, 2023 Art, Beauty, Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . Deconstructing Grűnewald’s Crucifixion It isn’t de rigueur these days to show A bloodied, tortured Jesus on the cross. Post-moderns would prefer we came to know Him as innocuous instead of gross. No...
Four Poems of a Theological Nature, by C.B. Anderson The Society April 7, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Satire 27 Comments . The Faithful Who Have Chosen Not to Wait He rose and told us He would come again To supervise a world of righteous men And women who believed in what He’d said, That both the living and the wakened...
An Incidentally Anti-Woke Poem from 1992 by Kevin Shearer The Society April 6, 2023 Culture, Found Poem, Poetry 7 Comments . Race and Color, 1992 I see white and you see black and other shades of skin in fact. Though we have different colored skin, we're very much alike within. Our blood is red and I must say: "We love and hurt...
A Poem for Passover: ‘The Pillar of Fire’ by Brian Yapko The Society April 5, 2023 Culture, Poetry 31 Comments . The Pillar of Fire from Exodus 13: 19-29 A giant, flaming pillar bars our way; The sea yawns open for the Hebrew tribes Permitting them to flee; the horses neigh With fear---sights bound to mystify our...
‘The Wound in Christ’s Side’: A Poem by Margaret Coats The Society April 5, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 43 Comments . The Wound in Christ's Side Culprits inflicted countless injuries On Jesus’ body during fifteen hours; The spear-thrust (last of loathsome savageries) Ripped out from His dead Heart, for sins of ours, Water...
A Poem on the Transgender Roman Emperor Elagabalus, by Brian Yapko The Society April 4, 2023 Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . Elagabalus Consults His Soothsayer You must, Soothsayer, probe into Rome’s mind And speak of any hidden threats you find. Your Emperor commands you: show your skill Lest I subject you to my godlike...
Inspired by the Ukraine War: A Poem by Mark Stellinga The Society April 3, 2023 Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . Oh…I See! While sitting in the park one day, my beagle lying near, a little girl came strolling up---I’d say ‘bout four years old--- And asked me ‘bout a big ol’ tank. She queried, “What is...
‘The End’ and Other Poems by Anna J. Arredondo The Society April 3, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . The End Unraveled string may be rewound, __A hidden thing be sighted; A missing object may be found, __A fallen object righted; A candle snuffed can be relit, __And if a glass has spilled, That doesn’t...
Three Poems for National Poetry Month, by Roy E. Peterson The Society April 2, 2023 Beauty, Children's, Culture, Education, Poetry 16 Comments . The Mystery of Poetry The mystery of poetry __is found between the lines. The poet sends the signals while __the sentence shows the signs. Alliterative artifices __alert the adept minds. The power of each...
An April Fools’ Day Poem for ‘Government-Anointed Experts’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 1, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 26 Comments . A Screw ‘Em Sermon for Government-Anointed Experts “Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give solidarity to pure wind.” ---George Orwell Dish up...
A Poem for Those Who Died from Covid Hospital Protocols, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society March 31, 2023 Covid-19, Culture, Poetry 68 Comments . Marching with the Mourners In Memory of Richard and Rob inspired by the Halt Hospital Homicide Rally I attended in San Antonio on March 25, 2023, for those who lost their lives to evil...
‘La Muerte’ and Other Poetry by Monika Cooper The Society March 31, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . La Muerte In those days, no king ruled in Ithaca. A pack moved in with communist ideals: An orgy funded by another’s store. Wine flowed like beer, with all the women free. All except one. Plus one too old...
‘Signs of the Times’: Poetry by Joshua C. Frank The Society March 30, 2023 Culture, Pantoum, Poetry, Rondeau 27 Comments . Signs of the Times . I. Hymn 6-6-6 a rondeau Hymn 6-6-6 on high display— The devil’s number where we pray Before the Lord—is that a thing? Is Jesus Christ no longer King? Must Satan now be met...
‘Jägermeister’ and Other Poetry by Gregory Ross The Society March 29, 2023 Culture, Education, Love Poems, Poetry, Rondeau 6 Comments f Jägermeister "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior __are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man __whose quiver is full of them." ---Psalm 127 My quiver’s full, as David said, With children...
‘Ballerina’: A Poem by Michael Pietrack The Society March 28, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Performing Arts, Poetry, Readings 51 Comments . . Ballerina The balanced ballerina on her toe was poised with perfect posture—back and chest. The crowd, in silent awe, enjoyed the show, as she maintained a flawless arabesque. The dancer twirled to...
‘Song of the Wailing Women’: A Poem by Margaret Coats The Society March 27, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 25 Comments . Song of the Wailing Women Her spirit has gone forth. Return her to the earth, Released from work and words; In death she is the Lord’s. Did Adam bury Eve? Leave Abraham to grieve The wife no longer...
‘The Glass Delusion of King Charles VI of France’ by Shaun C. Duncan The Society March 25, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 28 Comments . The Glass Delusion of King Charles VI of France ‘His malady grew worse every day until his mind was completely gone. Sometimes he thought he was made of glass and would not let himself be touched. He had...
Pastoral Calls—Part 3 of 3: Poetry by Retired Pastor James A. Tweedie The Society March 25, 2023 Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . Pastoral Calls—Part 3 of 3 . Midnight Encounter He was tall, well-built, and handsome and as far as I could tell, If it wasn’t for the crystal meth—intelligent as well. He was in and out of jail and...
Don Quixote Text with PDF: Adapted for Students The Society March 24, 2023 Culture, Education, Humor, Poetry 3 Comments . The following is an excerpt of Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, encompassing most of Chapters 1 through 8, including Don Quixote getting his start, acquiring his squire Sancho Panza, and going on the...
‘Dialogue on a First Grade Science Textbook’: A Poem by Evan Mantyk The Society March 23, 2023 Culture, Education, Poetry, Science 10 Comments . Dialogue on a First Grade Science Textbook Many spiritual traditions throughout history have perceived all things, animate and inanimate, as living. "Usually religions teach people to believe spiritually so...
A Poem for World Poetry Day: ‘To the Reader of Verse’ by Paul Buchheit The Society March 21, 2023 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings 18 Comments . To the Reader of Verse Ah, lover, critic, arbiter of verse, divulge your passions, fill a lusting soul with praises. Let the balladeer coerce the skeptic. Let the troubadour cajole Antaéus: wrestle not with...
World Poetry Day Limerick Poetry Challenge The Society March 21, 2023 Culture, Limerick, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests 42 Comments . In celebration of World Poetry Day, write a limerick on the theme of World Poetry Day, poetry in general, or poets. Post it in the comments section below. Learn how to write a limerick here. An example is...
‘How to Write Contemporary Poetry’ and ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ by Brian Yapko The Society March 21, 2023 Culture, Education, Humor, Pantoum, Poetry, Satire, Shakespeare 35 Comments . How to Write Contemporary Poetry a pantoum in free verse composition keep letters lower case. dump classical tradition then cite the marketplace. keep letters lower case make use of ampersands then cite the...
‘Ex-Freedom of Speech’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society March 19, 2023 Culture, Poetry, Satire 36 Comments . Ex-Freedom of Speech In fact, most liberals don't support free speech today, And often see a need for censorship instead. They claim “misinformation” causes broad decay, So free speech ends if they...
A Poem on Bank and Financial Collapses: ‘Ponzi’ by C.B. Anderson The Society March 19, 2023 Culture, Poetry 26 Comments . Ponzi Your promises mean nothing if they lack fidelity. It grieves a man to hear such welcome words, then have them taken back without the least regret before a year has passed. I thought our future was...
A Poem for Josh Alexander: ‘The War on Children’ by Julian Woodruff The Society March 18, 2023 Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . The War on Children “I quoted some Scripture, I said that there are only two genders. And apparently, because there are transgender students in the class, this was considered bullying.” ---Josh...
‘The Leprechaun’: A Saint Patrick’s Day Poem by Cheryl Corey The Society March 17, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . The Leprechaun Come mid-March, the leprechaun Glides up and o’er the rainbow, Playful as a unicorn That’s prancing in a meadow. With greedy eyes glimmering, And shim’ry as a peacock, He slides to...