Culture

. The Poem that Built a Nation: Finland and the Kalevala by Adam Sedia Nowhere perhaps is the power of poetry more apparent than in its ability to unite a culture---literally to build a nation. Homer’s epics...

. Trudeau’s Canada Jab them all, Big and small. Small are buffer And must suffer. No opinions, Little minions. Cover traces Of their faces, With a mask, Do not ask. Issue orders Across borders. What the...

. Beneath the Tide The tidal basin ebbs and flows each dayAs if it were a sentient, breathing thing—A pas de deux, a moon-dance interplay—As time and space, in silence, sway and swing. As like a fraying...

. Salieri on Mozart More wine, Signore... Should I say mein Herr? I know! French cognac. Spirits help me share Dark thoughts. Now listen. I take one full year To pen these operas Kaiser Josef lauds; Then you...

. Many poets have been sending in poetry on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Post your poetry directly...

. Poem Introduction Lewis Carroll (who lived 1832-1898 and was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was a master at humorous wordplay and making the illogical logical. His accomplishments as an English writer of...

. Unsettled written upon reading of the CDC refusing to publish data on booster effectiveness I’m niggled and nettled. The science is settled __Yet fails to make sense or equate. My mind is left addled when...

. A Working Man and Wife “…aware of the humanity on the other side of the door.” ---Criselda Vasquez They stand before some distant trees, on pavement, amber, gray,a three-door cargo van, a...

. Shining Armor The knights roll in. They have a rift to heal--- A rift that stokes the embers of despair. With grit they steer their trusty steeds of steel. They come in peace to seal a vital deal With he...

. Everlasting I must admit, when I arrived in Hell I was surprised.  Not, as you might surmise, Because I never reckoned it was real— And surely not because I thought I’d led A sinless life—but owing to...

. Gift for the Living The life that he led is a memory now, Subjugated by settled existence, With old hunting grounds bearing the imprint of plough And a musket ball hail for resistance— Certain death the...

. God’s M.O. One hundred thousand people at the game, And half might pray to God: “Let my team win!” While for the other team folks pray the same. If I was God it might make my head spin, But that’s...

. A Triolet I promise not to be the coward Who says "I’m sorry" to Big Tech While Joe Rogan’s overpowered. I promise not to be the coward Who can’t be brave, who can’t go forward; Our tweets are...

. Reflections on a Visit to Salem I wander down a haunted, cobbled street And watch the sun rise red above the sea. The maple leaves have turned to red as well. October’s come and Salem is replete With...

. The H.R. Manager's Toilet Break At ten-fifteen he sits upon His porcelain panopticon And stares into his tiny screen. He clears his bowels and fills his spleen With bile he milks from boundless...

.   https://youtu.be/3XWcnISYGSE . Rondel for Saint Valentine's Day by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340–1400) | modernized in the original lyric form by Margaret Coats Now welcome, springtime, with your gentle...

. Aspects of Love . I. Unrequited a rondeau redoublé Tonight, my eyes are open and aware. The kiss I trusted was a lustful lie. I’m letting go of love that isn’t there. My heart holds dreams no...

. As a Matter of Course for Ethan Gutmann, pioneer in investigating organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party Of course, you are a wanted man __on Party databases— So too are you a wanted man __by...

. At What Cost? In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, And a wicked man living long in his...

. The Crucifixion of the Serpent And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. —Numbers...

. Aromatherapy This tale concerns an English Lass, Who signed up for an evening class, “There’s money to be made” said she, “I’ll try Aromatherapy.” So, every Winter, Wednesday nights, She headed...

. Write a poem that casts a fresh eye over a classic movie---any form, any length, any mood. This challenge comes from the lovely Susan Jarvis Bryant. Her example is below. Post your movie-inspired poem in...

. The Agony and The Ecstasy I beg among the lonely hours__oblivious to time and spaceand pace beneath the Sistine towers__where pigments paint my puzzled face.Why call me to divine commission,as if I am the...

. And so, Minnie Mouse will impress in pantsuit and flat heels, no less. __But what of the vision, __of Mickey's transition in heels and a polka-dot dress? . . Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of...

. Ode to Joy My final symphony---my best by far!--- Which crowns a challenged life of brilliant works. Vienna’s finest came! Some from afar: Nobility, musicians, Prussians, Turks. A triumph! Yet it made my...

. The terms eenee, meenee, mainee, and mo can be found in Rudyard Kipling’s “A Counting-Out Song“ from Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, published in 1935. I knew the last five lines of the...

. Ottawa Ho! In the days of yore, it is written, All the dreamers would dream of the sea. __But the sailor’s way __Has become passé— It’s the trucker’s life for me! How I long for the open...

. Those Who Go Down to the Sea in Ships a poetic paraphrase of Psalm 107:23-30 The men who go down to the sea in their ships, Who sail on the water and pursue their trade, The sound of the sea echoes back from...

. Abortion “My body, my choice” All her life that seemed best, And especially where There was rape or incest. But as early as twelve weeks A fetus feels pain, And in just eight weeks’ time Facial...

. Plum Blossom Blessings The pine, bamboo, and plum are winter’s friends, Yet plum trees bloom to overcome the chill And herald spring. Resilient health extends Throughout my struggling mind and body...

. The Blood of Revolution  The blood of revolution fills my veins; Of those who fought to sever tyrant’s chains, Of those whose voice of freedom wasn’t kept Silent as enslavèd justice wept. Of mothers...

. Tel Shikmona Mosaics here surprise: you wouldn’t know, tramping on thistles, dry late-summer stubble and tripping over rubble, stumbling, slow, that this rough trail leads to the long-ago till...

. Sir Percival A quiet desperation lives within my soul: to find the Holy Cup, the Grail; to touch something beyond this mortal pen, and taste my God, His blood, from Cross’s nail. I am not worthy, this I...

. Never Again Never again, beneath the sun Would mortal beings come undone. A pledge arose and soared on high--- It warmed the heart and lit the sky The day the force for freedom won. Yet now cruel camps with...

. Bach in Heidelberg for Marjorie Bach’s chorus didn’t leave us much to say After the Easter Monday concert in The Holy Spirit Church. Taking our way Over the Old Bridge seemed like we’d just...

. The Attempt to Curse J.K. Rowling Once upon a time the stars aligned To strike a writer bound for King’s Cross Station As if by magic with this happy thought: Suppose a boy to his surprise should find He...

. The Demons of the Night All since she left me I have lived in fear Of creatures dwelling in the shadows here, And all around and pressing into me With pallid faces I can scarcely see. For they are hooded...

. The Two Corteges by Joséphin Soulary (1815-1891) | translated from French by Hadyn Adams Within a church two groups of people met: An infant’s funeral cortege, the first: A woman followed, her heart fit...

. On the Cost of Doing Evil I care not if the sky burns red and human flesh is seared. I pray that all souls will just rot as many long have feared. I wait for when the birds don’t fly and locusts take the...

. Toasting Burns    His words ring out from windswept glens. __They lilt from lapping lochs. I see love through his red-rose lens; __I hear the midnight clocks In castle nooks chime Auld Lang Syne __As...