Culture

. Judge Not We notice, Signor Alighieri, that You have a rather well developed bent For taking your opponents to the mat And showing them that in the Main Event They will be pinned like insects to a wall To...

. Classical Camouflaged __It begins, like all prose poems today, with a bit of narrated diary, as though it were a tale by Hemmingway, but more self-conscious and less flowery. __It then proceeds to rub the...

. Canzone to the Virgin by Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) Translated by Margaret Coats Virgin beautiful, vested with the sun And crowned with stars, who pleased the Sun supreme So much that within you He hid...

. Jeffrey Epstein in His Cell On nights like this a lesser man might pray; Instead he dreams of islands in his cell And sends his thoughts a thousand miles away To there await the hour of his farewell. The...

. "Gravitas" On the Sack of Rome by the Gauls in 390 B.C. adapted from Livy’s “Ab Urbe Condita,” Book V, Chapters 38-42 The sunset torched the summer sky, __The spectral moon rose round When a shadow...

. 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 our...

. The End Begins a rondeau redoublé Now the end begins, do not despair. It’s meant to be. What better battlecry? It’s time for positivity and prayer. The unjust try to justify... then die. The mighty...

. Servant of the Servants of God Servus Servorum Dei —a title of the Pope A small informal gathering of clergy From satin cassocks down to the discalced Queue in line before the Petrine Seat. There are some...

. Habakkuk’s Prayer after Habakkuk 3:2, 16-19; excerpts of the prophet’s prayer as he awaited certain destruction of his nation, Judah, by the Babylonian armies (6th century BC). My Yahweh God, I raise my...

. A Man’s Retreat A man’s retreat is his garage—a place To keep his vehicle, yes; but also space To store his manly, miscellaneous hoards: The glues and putties; automotive oils, Waxes, wipes, and...

. More than My Queen My Queen has always been a noble force--- A force for good on chilly English days. Her friendly face, her air of grace---my source Of joy in more than crown-and-sceptre ways. I saw her...

. Uvalde I’m struck with news and views today __As youth and truth lie dead. Words bruise me in a mad melee __Of mind-marauding dread. I’m stunned by words, too many heard __To mull...

. Memories of Memorial Day Sad son standing all alone Staring at the marker stone. Father died he never knew--- Died for him and died for you. Widow’s tears upon her cheek. Trembling body feeling...

. Liberty If skies were ever-blue each lustrous day, If moons were in bold bloom each raven night, If life was never fouled by disarray And all beneath the Milky Way was right, __Would we require a tempest’s...

. Race Then and Now Race did not matter, The way we were taught. It never should influence Judgments or thought. Just look at the person, We’re mostly the same, With stereotypes Cause for nothing but...

. You are invited to a reading of exquisite poetry and conversations with the poets.  . Date & Time Sunday June 26, 2022 2 p.m. (New York time), 7 p.m. (U.K. time) Duration: 1 hour . Location Join...

. Karl Barth Platz 1999 Perhaps we walked the same worn cobblestones, Between the same sheer walls, shops clean and trim, Down the same pathways, past the same old homes, And were startled alike by graffiti...

. Sibylline Sonnets for Eastertide See an explanation on what Sibyls are here. The Phrygian Sibyl Speaks portrayed with the resurrection banner or the words “Velum templi scindetur” Jesus, again crying...

. Where Your Treasure Is “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where...

. Nil Carborundum Illegitimi  On dismal days enswathe yourself in rays, Then flash your splash of sunrise with panache. Such zesty citrus, saffron spun displays Will smash malaise with sassy solar dash--- A...

. The Mass Mock-Shock of Monkeypox a villanelle Shun the mass mock-shock of monkeypox--- Force-fed fear declaiming death is nigh. Spurn the ceaseless bleat to lock down flocks. Snub the...

. Actaeon Transformed after Titian and Ovid Like his hounds, the hunter Actaeon in Titian's painting, drawn by some sharp scent, saw the goddess lounge with nothing on her body, on whose limbs the light was...

. Formal Poetry Against Free Verse "Modern poetry  modern verse  contemporary poetry  contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem Plato in “inventing some extraordinarily powerful images of his...

. . Shanghai's Robo Dogs With quick unnatural steps, and side to side Focusing glances, robo dogs preside And prowl the streets. They wear their growls in little Speakers around their necks, their barking...

. Culloden, April 16, 1746 In the Winter of 1745, the Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through my town of Leek on the way to Derby. This was as far as they got before retreating back to the...

. All Are Numbered Moving along the narrow grassy rows Under a sherbet sky, time seems to be The only place where nothing ever grows Or dies, and grass remains, eternally Quite clipped and orderly. It truly...

. The Devoted Angler The river follows on its winding way, And in the angler’s camp above the bank Lilt murmurings arise to greet the day, Appearing now between the rushes rank As rays backlighting flower...

. Satan’s Limericks on the Seven Deadly Sins Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum; linguis suis dolose agebant: venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they...

. Resist Arrest Instead of Arresting Resistance In Denmark, something now is very rotten, As fetid as the food-scraps in the trash That we have, somehow, carelessly forgotten To take outside.  Our mood...

. Patriotic It’s really clever, isn’t it, The words they use to smear us with? They call the righteous hypocrite; It’s just a ruse, veneer, a myth. They’ve tried to make vile racist stick, Then...

. Read by Susan Jarvis Bryant . In This House... In this house... We value science so much we accept that male and female chromosomes exist and gender is not merely a suggestion. In this house... We know...

. Euryalus Describes His Mother In Vergil’s Aeneid, the youthful Euryalus volunteers for a dangerous nighttime raid, asking that his mother not be told of it before he leaves, but that she be cared for,...

. In Honor of Birthing Person's Day In gratitude and thanks I bless the one Who gave me life, who sacrificed each breath; Whose love unbounded warmed me till their death. I praise my dear, beloved birthing...

. A Mother’s Worth A mother’s worth, it glows and gleams in eyes. It beams in grins and giggles sent her way. It echoes at the core of coos and cries. It greets a burst of cheers and fears each day. __It...

. The Canterbury Tales---General Prologue, Lines 1-18 by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) Translated by Evan Mantyk When April’s sweetest showers downward shoot, The drought of March is pierced right to the...

. Mind Games---Three Cerebral Triolets  Propaganda  It wants your mind. It wants you blind. It warps and washes wayward brains. It gains control of humankind. It wants you blind. It wants your mind To cave,...

. A recording of our Christmas and New Year Poetry Reading in December has just been made available. Thank you again to the host, James Sale, and all of the poets and...

. Incense I cast my words aloft this way and that, Imagining they’re incense offered sweet And fragrant, curling in their brief conceit, Their wisps as agile as an acrobat; And think of priests the Covenant...

. The Song of Nina Jankowicz The lies burst ripe and rife today. __Their juice spurts forth with pride. The thirst of those who’ve gone astray __Is quenched by gossip’s tide. My job is drenched in poisoned...

. May Day Note: Maypoles were a feature of ancient Roman festivals to mark the renewal of Spring. The feast days of Saints Philip and James were celebrated by the Church of England in May.   Having hewed a...