Culture

. A Picture of Repose A young boy’s seated on a wall that overlooks Capri, an oil painting by Dane Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn, where a rock ridge arises over architextured walls, with arches, domes and towers...

. Standing Up The screech of an eagle __Will marshal our senses And, if reckoned regal, __Refocus our lenses __On many events That we blithely ignored __When we kept to our tents, Hypothermic and bored. As a...

. Friendship When was it first struck up? Nobody knows. It’s carried us through heydays, drabs, and falls. An unsown balm, ex nihilo it grows Like capers from the cracks in old stone walls. Previously...

. Historical Negation A pen works wonders. Just ink in, scratch out. Rewrite what people learn about the past. Repeat false facts, promote a fabrication--- Voila! You’ve aced historical negation. You don’t...

. La Pompe Funèbre Félix François Faure, President of the French Republic, died on February 16, 1899 in his chambers at the Palais de l’Elysée, while being fellated by his mistress Marguerite Steinheil....

. Senryu on Free Thought . I. As storied Kipling Is stricken from pupils’ tales I feel his burden . II. Arise Dame Roseanne From the inquisitor’s stake Comedy’s phoenix . III. Young Harry...

. 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...

. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 . 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...

. 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 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...

. . 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 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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 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...

. 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...

. 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 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...

. 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...

. 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...

. 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 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 . 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...

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 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 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 ‘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 . 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...

. 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 Many spiritual traditions throughout history have perceived all things, animate and inanimate, as living. "Usually religions teach people to believe spiritually so...

. 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...