Culture

. Drunk on Compassion How good it feels to open up your heart And groove on how compassionate you are! You advertise your causes on your car And list your Facebook “likes” upon a chart. You march in...

. For My Queen Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor April 21, 1926 - September 8, 2022 My symbol of nobility, stability and grace, Who reigned yet never ruled---she was my constant caring face On TV screen,...

. The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, falls on Sept. 10 this year. A common tradition is to read riddles hung from lanterns while under the moonlight. The holiday usually corresponds to the harvest...

. Capability Brown Lancelot “Capability” Brown was England’s greatest landscape architect. His name was Capability, A man of great humility, He knew just where to plant a tree, Enhancing England’s...

. Cracked Liberty Bell July the 4th—Independence. Many bands play. Parades pass by— Fireworks fly. __Rocket’s red glare . . . 1900. A song was sung From old to young: Lift every voice— They sang,...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract Context: In the 10th Canto of HellWard we met 4 poets condemned to Hell. Now in the 10th Canto of StairWell, we meet another 4 poets stuck in Purgatory. This extract takes us to...

. In Plain Sight Our enemies aren’t rattling at the gate. Our foes aren’t firing shots from foreign ground. They toy with minds---pain brains, and obfuscate--- We bend and bow and break without a...

. Ozymandias Begins I met the monarch of our ancient land, who said, ‘Your skill at sculpting is renowned. The hammer and the chisel in your hand will make my semblance evermore resound.’ Upon his...

. by Susan Jarvis Bryant This is a word of encouragement to all those poets out there who use their art to get a grave point on current issues across. Never let those who criticize you shut you down. Never...

. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition  Although this mad world’s headed for perdition, Don’t cower or wring hands with misery. Spines straight, my friends! Choose gumption and ambition Just like the...

. Seminary Recalling days of vigor and simplicity, of boyish spirits spun from neural gossamer and hardened into granite by a panoply of actors: scamps of nimble wit, a conjurer of whimsy, lords of innocent...

. Food for Thought A Culinary Tale There once was a man wan and pallid, he Suffered from a mysterious malady: __He ate carrots and greens, __Ripe tomatoes and beans, But eschewed anything that's not...

. The Death of the Leviathan The monster finally meets its doom: Sound out the death-knell, light the pyre! The depths are ready for its tomb--- Now let the wretch at last expire! Sound out the death-knell,...

. The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2022 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . COMPETITION WINNER . a...

. Requiem for Eurydice The sunlight dims before my eyes, __My fingertips lose yours, And as my whispered farewell flies, __The last crescendo soars. Then one breath hovers, trembles, dies— __The audience all...

. Ode to Poets of the Past I do agree with the sights__that I have seen:the warm and comfortable steps__where love has been and with the sounds of truth__that I have heard—the whisper and the song__between...

. A Conceit or Just a Similitude? Two Brief Illustrations from Sir John Suckling by Joseph S. Salemi One of the earliest things one learns in poetry is the distinction between a simile and a metaphor. In...

. Not the Third Reich... Yet It makes me burn to hear the left berate Good policy and leaders they dislike With claims the U.S. is a fascist state--- “A Nazi nation just like the Third Reich.” Invoking...

. Snub the Grub upon reading news of a beetle burger, The Daily Mail, August 24, 2022 I scan the menu (a la carte) To find that I can take no part In scarab chowder with a pinch Of millipede. It makes me...

. Daedalus Icarus, you have disobeyed, As all men do, and dearly paid. Too recklessly your heart did fly Between high seas and louring sky. The wings I gave you, it is true, But what would you have had me...

. Poetry Lessons The poet said he’d show and never tell--- His imagery would mesmerize and blaze. In quatrains laced with Aphrodite’s spell, His sibilance would scintillate and daze. The poet said...

. Un-Justice Merrick Garland “Garland is a moderate,” Obama swore, We all can see his moderation now--- The Trump raid tactics never used before, Which Garland must have learned from Chairman...

. POEMS THAT BUILT A NATION PART II. Persia, Ferdowsi, and the Shahnameh by Adam Sedia A previous essay highlighted how the Finnish national epic poem, the Kalevala, spurred the development of Finnish culture...

. Persistence It seems when flies get in from the outside, They never find how to get out again; Instead they only buzz around and hide, A game that often is the death of them. At times hours pass when you...

. An Anti-Evolution Song Evolution Is False. God Is True. inspired by the writings of Zhang Tianliang How probable is it, however you spin it, __That man has evolved out of nothing? Do I look like a schmuck...

. Images of Darwin, Post-1859 1859: The year the ponderously titled On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle For Life was published. A fat,...

. Mightier Than the Sword?   His Eighties searing splash of fiery ink Scorched the skin of those who won’t allow The flare of feisty words. His weren’t in sync With those of kowtow howls. He wouldn’t...

. Give and Take Mr. Taxman, you’re a peach, Fill your pockets we beseech. Having money is a curse, Please take freely from our purse. We may catch up some time later, Certainly your need is greater. Money...

. Byrd in Flight The surplice-vested, five-part choir, Like sparrows on a five-tiered wire, Gives flight to canticles of Byrd. The flocks of lightweight, living notes Ascend to where celestial thoughts Send...

. . Non Existent One day my body disappeared, __nor could I touch or taste, but I could feel the flood of tears __that filled my missing face. My presence was by no-one known. __Not felt, nor seen, nor...

. Awake  At night I quake and lie awake in bed. My racing mind likes pacing to and fro. My thoughts, they peck and caw just like a crow. I’m in the grip of woe from tip to...

. Tapestry My grandfather Evangelos did trading with the Turks Of pipes and hookahs, hash, and cloths, and skillful carpet-works. A tapestry he gave his wife in Main in nineteen-ten, A secular non-Muslim...

. Byron Swims the Hellespont On May 9, 1810, Lord Byron swam across the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos to duplicate the legendary back-and-forth trips made by the mythical Leander on visits to his lover...

. Deschutes River Reverie The river, swift and shallow, roils its way Beneath the outstretched arms of old-growth pines, Past bank-side willows diamond-dewed with spray, And hillside ferns and thimbleberry...

. Transgender Madness: For All the Children Being Harmed Beyond Repair inspired by When Harry Became Sally by Ryan T. Anderson . I. At age 5: the tomboy I cared not for the Barbie dolls in pink; I chased the...

. Camena Interrupta The measured words of poetryRise round the mystic sphere,Sift through the dirt or sing divineIn strains that soothe or sear. But now the stanzas halt and freeze:Eternity is stilled—The...

. . A Happy 80th Birthday Wish for the Poet's Father I wish for you the golden years Odysseus had Retired from life’s long strife, a sort of Trojan War: The births and deaths were bloody fights, some...

. Ballade of Pride They’re a proud people. —The Frugal Gourmet Of every group whose food he shows, this Doctor of Diet, this Frugal Gourmet, this chef whose goodness simply glows and who doesn’t know...

. After Observing the Working Methods of a Very Important Artist The aging fool stands deep in dirty water, Cradling the carcass of a native fowl To his bare chest like a tired, suckling daughter. He wears...

. Three Literary Smiles . Hemingway’s Oopsy “Up in my room the rain was coming down Heavily outside on the balcony.” I didn’t know if I should smile or frown At such a dissonant cacophony. It’s...