‘Easter Monday’ by Cynthia Erlandson The Society April 18, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . Easter Monday Luke 24: 13 – 35 With hearts eclipsed by Friday’s three-day night And eyes still blinded to their master’s face, They hear his sermon, senseless that his light Has thrown the flames of...
‘The Prince of Peace’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 17, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . The Prince of Peace He braved each gouging lash and bruising blow Till scourged and bludgeoned flesh was raw and torn--- Paraded in a crown of thorns to show This phony King of Jews was ripe for...
‘Easter 2022’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 17, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . Easter 2022 In silence, night retires with a yawn— Its starlit labor blessed by God’s, “Well done.” And as the weary world awakes to dawn, The auric radiance of the risen sun Illumes a garden where...
‘Sunrise at the Hollywood Bowl’ by Brian Yapko The Society April 17, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . Sunrise at the Hollywood Bowl A sleepy son, a father who mourned still. Their first time greeting Easter since she died. When illness came, Anne said her fondest will Was that their boy know God. John set...
A Poem for Good Friday: ‘Support the Current Thing’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 15, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 39 Comments . Support the Current Thing Don’t ponder on the horrors of our age. Don’t thumb through all those dusty history tomes. Don’t dally in the dazzle of a sage. Don’t chew on clues and muse like Sherlock...
A Poem for Those Who Have Suffered Abuse: ‘Via Dolorosa’ by James A. Tweedie The Society April 15, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Via Dolorosa for those who have suffered abuse. Where does one go to forget? Where does one go to erase Memories filled with regret? Nightmares of shame and disgrace? What does one do with the pain Abusers...
‘Sepulcher’ by Brian Yapko The Society April 15, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . Sepulcher Jerusalem is built of prayer and quarried stone, From yearning, heartache, sacred scrolls and ancient bone--- The shuls, the mosques, the churches, every ancient room. And as a bride prepares with...
‘Annunciation’ by Jeffrey Essmann The Society April 14, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 2 Comments . Annunciation It’s not really an angel but a voice, Less heard than sensed, an urgent undertone That murmurs in the place where I’m alone And all my fears with longing there alloys. It whispers that I...
A Reading of ‘The New Colossus’ by Emma Lazarus The Society April 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Video 7 Comments . https://youtu.be/PguXX2PRzvI . CREDITS Poetry: Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) Voice-Over: Katy Mantyk Photos/Footage: “Unveiling the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” by Edward Moran, 1886...
The Flowers’ Easter Debate: A Translation by Margaret Coats The Society April 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Translation 28 Comments . The Flowers' Easter Debate Palm Sunday is the Flowers’ Easter, the day when they honored Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem. As they did not need Good Friday’s bloody atonement for sin, the flowers were...
Three Poems on Thinking, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle 36 Comments . Birdbrains a villanelle “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions.” ---Carter G. Woodson If we just parrot newspeak without blinking And push...
Sibylline Sonnets for Passiontide, by Margaret Coats The Society April 3, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 36 Comments . (See an explanation on what Sibyls are here.) . The Tyburtine Sibyl The Tyburtine sibyl has the iconographic attribute of a hand, indicating her foreknowledge of insults suffered by Jesus. Not from my...
‘Uncle Sam’s Tomb’ by Phil S. Rogers, after Coleridge’s ‘The Knight’s Tomb’ The Society April 2, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 5 Comments . Uncle Sam's Tomb after Samuel Coleridge's "The Knight's Tomb" (see below) Where will the grave of that great figurehead be, That leader of free men and symbol of might, That vision of justice in our country...
‘Woman’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 1, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 25 Comments . Woman For years I’ve known exactly what it means To own the weight and wonder of my sex--- The crimson flow of knowledge in my teens, The curve and swell---my spell---the heady hex That lures love...
‘The Short-Lived Triumph of the Junior School’s Health & Safety Officer’ by Shaun C. Duncan The Society April 1, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 22 Comments . The Short-Lived Triumph of the Junior School's Health & Safety Officer The children wait in line to sanitize Their grubby hands before their morning class. The teacher guards the door, and none may...
Russo-Ukrainian War Poetry: Share Yours Here The Society March 29, 2022 Culture, Poetry 35 Comments . Share your poetry on currently unfolding Russo-Ukrainian war in the comments section below. We received a large response on our first post of poetry on Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, and poets...
On Climate Change: ‘The End Is Near’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society March 29, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry, The Environment 49 Comments . The Simplest Way to Save the Earth The simplest way for us to save the earth Would be for women to stop giving birth. For when there are no longer any mothers We’ll solve the problem of too many...
Three Poems on Language by Joseph S. Salemi The Society March 28, 2022 Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry 20 Comments . The Hypodermic For a poet, the pen is merely part Of the apparatus of addiction. He emulates the frozen fly in amber Watching eons come, roll by, and pass. As motionless as veined quartz in a stone, He seeks...
A Poem on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Inability to Define a Woman, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society March 25, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 147 Comments . https://rumble.com/embed/vvm2wt/?pub=4 . Identity Crisis I used to think my body was all woman, My fruitful womb refused to be dismissed. But now I’m not so sure I’m even human--- I’m not a fully...
Respected Irish Poetry Journal Publishes Ridiculously Faked Woke Poetry The Society March 25, 2022 Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry 9 Comments . From The Burkean: Icarus magazine currently holds the reputation of being Trinity College’s — if not Ireland’s — premier poetry journal… with contributions from Seamus Heaney and John...
Two Poems on Cosmetics, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society March 25, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 14 Comments . Sold I. Summer Honey Crush Soft, silken lips shone from her screen last night. She saw them, plump and ripe, as smooth and lush As velvet peaches kissed by Sol’s delight. If her smile blushed in Summer...
Henry Olunga Reads Susan Jarvis Bryant’s Poem on Toxic Masculinity The Society March 24, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Readings 20 Comments . https://youtu.be/LRxFaGgdazE Our Worthy Sons dedicated to Samuel by Susan Jarvis Bryant Our worthy sons should never be ashamedOf who they are and who they’re meant to be.For far too long men’s gender...
A Poem in Honor of Bishop Athanasius Schneider, by Karen Darantière The Society March 24, 2022 Culture, Poetry 3 Comments . Ode to Salmon, the Episcopal Fish a poem in honor of Bishop Athanasius Schneider No birdsong greets the chilly damp of dawn In dreary gray autumnal cloud-filled skies, As rosy salmon swim upstream to...
‘Dispiration’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie The Society March 22, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 19 Comments . Dispiration I have nothing to say, Not a thought in my head. If I needed to pray There would be nothing said. Just a large empty space And no functioning brain, With the mouth on my face Filled with nothing...
‘The Street Cop’s Choice’ and Other Poetry on the Police, by Brian Yapko The Society March 20, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Triolet 32 Comments . The Street Cop's Choice Thanks for coming home to help me choose. I know my kids will always have my back. Today was rough. By now you’ve seen the News--- Such blatant lies! They’ve tied me to the...
‘Dueling Violins’ by Tamara Beryl Latham The Society March 18, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 11 Comments . Dueling Violins Yanni, Karen Briggs and Shardad Rohani live at the Acropolis in 1993 Anticipating each half-note he brings to life, her fingers stretch to find the grooves. Perfection springs, as sound is...
A Poem for Saint Patrick’s Day: ‘Slàinte!’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society March 17, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 26 Comments . Slàinte! Today we’ll lift the Lenten limitations And don our Gaelic garb of kelly green. Bonhomie and glee and lush libations Will flow at dawn and dusk and in between. We’ll pluck a harp and pick a...
Share Your St. Patrick’s Day Poetry (with Music by Jeff Eardley) The Society March 17, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 15 Comments . Happy St. Patrick's Day! Share your St. Patrick's Day Poetry in the comments section below. While writing and posting, enjoy an Irish medley of songs, “Chief O Neil’s” followed by “The Red-Haired...
‘On Sighting a Marsupial’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society March 14, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 16 Comments . On Sighting a Marsupial "Serve with: Turnip greens" —Joy of Cooking Opossums are so ugly that it isn’t clear Another of their kind would find one good to look At. Matted fur and hairless tails do not...
Two Poems for White Day, by Margaret Coats The Society March 13, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Love Poems, Poetry 20 Comments . Two Poems for White Day On White Day, March 14, men in Japan present white gifts to women, in return for the chocolates they receive from women on Valentine’s Day. White Day began in 1978 as a commercial...
A Poem for Daylight Savings 2022, by Norma Pain The Society March 13, 2022 Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . Time Is of the Essence The powers that be in their ivory tower, Make important decisions for sure, While the rest of us mortals surrender our power, We conform… we adapt… we endure. I refer to the...
‘A North Indian Summer’ by Rohini Sunderam The Society March 11, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . A North Indian Summer They ask of me to write a sonnet fine In praise of Summer and her pretty dress, But I hail from a place of different clime Where Summer’s heat knows best how to oppress. She raises...
Three Poems on Jewish History, by Brian Yapko The Society March 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau 43 Comments . The Arch of Titus The Arch of Titus was constructed in 81 AD by the Emperor Domitian to commemorate the victory of Titus and Vespasian, over the Jewish rebellion in Judea. The arch depicts the triumphal...
‘Hermes, The Artisan’ by Cheryl Corey The Society March 7, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 6 Comments . Hermes, The Artisan Hermes, son and messenger of Jove, Surveyed the coast, where often he would rove, And found a tortoise beached upon a cove. He took it home and made a turtle soup— The shell, he...
‘Young Strongbow’: An Anonymous American Ballad Presented by Jack DesBois The Society March 6, 2022 Culture, Music, Poetry, Readings, Song Lyrics 7 Comments . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAv09XqwAY . Young Strongbow anonymous American ballad (Words in parentheses are alternate lyrics suggested by other extant versions of the song.) To Dartmouth’s...
‘Yet Another Exhibition Opening’ by Shaun C. Duncan The Society March 5, 2022 Art, Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . Yet Another Exhibition Opening "Art is the pleasure of a spirit that enters nature and discovers that it too has a soul." ---Auguste Rodin Although this bourgeois slum is flush with cash, No decent man could...
‘Ex Nihilo Is a Joke’ by Phillip Whidden The Society March 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 3 Comments . Ex Nihilo Is a Joke “. . .it starts with an empty universe” ---Stephen Fry, Cosmos, vii An empty universe is paradox. In such a boundless space there’d be no time. Among all other blanks there’d be...
‘Justification’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society March 3, 2022 Culture, Poetry 20 Comments . Justification He smashed the windows, grabbed the wares, With rage against society That made him free of any cares Or thoughts of impropriety. He stole until his pockets filled The chance of apprehension...
‘Seeing the Light’: Three Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society March 2, 2022 Culture, Pantoum, Poetry, Triolet 43 Comments . Seeing the Light by Susan Jarvis Bryant . I. Peace Be with You… a pantoum “Peace is possible, truth at all costs.” ---Martin Luther The churchyard cat is terrified The belfry bats are numb with...
A Poem for Mardi Gras Travelers, by Ben Broussard The Society February 28, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Memento, Homo… "There is no architecture in New Orleans, except in the cemeteries." —Mark Twain If we should go to New Orleans We’ll see our share of raucous scenes At Mardi Gras soirees and balls With...