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Poetry
Culture

Disaster Sonnets by Margaret Coats

The Society
March 22, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
37 Comments
. How Many Homes? ---January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires Twelve thousand lost, from stricken memories more Schools, churches, meeting places, shops and homes Of residents and others moved away, Bereaved of...

‘Another Old Myth’ and Other Poetry by Peter Venable

The Society
March 21, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
. Another Old Myth The Ancient One warned Noah's doom was near. Since men possessed with greed kept spilling blood, That cataclysmic rain would soon appear. So Noah built an ark before the flood. No matter now...

‘Vernal Equinox’ and Other Poems by Benjamin Cannicott Shavitz

The Society
March 20, 2025
Culture, Humor, Limerick, Poetry
8 Comments
. Vernal Equinox Germans call this season “frühling.” Spaniards name it “primavera.” Welshmen say the term is “gwanwyn.” Shetland trawlers go with “voar,” so Let’s resolve this with a...

Take a Tour of Poet Gigi Ryan’s ‘Backyard’

The Society
March 19, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
. My Backyard  . The Campfire Elisha loves to build a fire; His dog is near, she loves to watch For birds that she will try to catch. They each pursue their own desire--- One by her leaps, one with a...

‘I Failed’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
March 18, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. I Failed I failed so dramatically most early days I failed horribly in most critical ways I failed to use schooling at each different age I failed in the waste of my talents each stage I failed with some...

‘Reflections on a Visit to Saint Augustine’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
March 18, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
. Reflections on a Visit to Saint Augustine With each step up the old Castillo wall I pray The hurricane will detour east past Grand Bahama. If windborne flooding comes, it can’t be held at bay--- St....

‘St. Patrick’s Day, 2025’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
March 17, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
. St. Patrick’s Day, 2025 While swathed in swirls of green, some raise a glass Of dark elixir topped with sheeny cream. Some twirl through Derry streets and Kerry grass In dreams ablaze with leprechauns that...

‘Simple Simon Responds to Sayings of Captain Obvious’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
March 17, 2025
Culture, Humor, Poetry
16 Comments
. Simple Simon Responds to Sayings of Captain Obvious English literature tends to be wordy. Many tricks are exceedingly dirty. On a bright sunny day the whole sky appears bluish. All the teachers that pray in...

‘A Summer Evening’: A Poem by Shamik Banerjee

The Society
March 15, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. A Summer Evening The sky begins to cloak its face, Removing every streak of red. Above, two weary flyers trace The way back to their bough-held bed. A boy, awash with joy, returns Soil-vested from a...

‘Mussolini’s Minions’: A Poem by Mary Jane Myers

The Society
March 14, 2025
Culture, Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
. Mussolini's Minions ---Segesta, 2012 Entranced, we wander round the temple site.The hot Sicilian sun beats down. I’m frayed,now seek the parking lot's uncertain shade.My brother John’s nearby, though not...

‘Cherry Tree’ and Other Poetry by Shindy Cai

The Society
March 12, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
. Cherry Tree One summer day not long ago a man planted a tree, With tender love and patience he invested energy. He poured his hope and faith into the little budding leaves, For by this time next year he...

Three Poems on War, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
March 10, 2025
Culture, Pantoum, Poetry
14 Comments
. The Core of War a pantoum The trickster charms and arms both sides--- He funds the ally and the foe. His hype unites and it divides. He’s oh so anti… also pro. He funds the ally and the foe. His crimson...

‘Of Elizabeth Bishop’ and Other Poetry by Julian Woodruff

The Society
March 9, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. Of Elizabeth Bishop Ms. Bishop is one able–eyed observer;her vision is acute, that’s plain to see.Staring at her, I doubt I could unnerve her,though from the page she sometimes unnerves me.The variations...

‘An Ode to a Hymn’: A Poem by C. Walker

The Society
March 9, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
. An Ode to a Hymn “Like aught that for its grace may be Dear, and yet dearer for its mystery” ---Percy Shelley in “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” Cathedral with its prayer sings homily _About an ancient...

‘Nishijin Weaving’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
March 8, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
28 Comments
. Nishijin Weaving In the tranquil heartThere is no scattering ofBlossoms once gathered. ―Satomura Jōha, master of linked verse The shining fabrics of nobilityDemand the planning of a pattern first.The...

‘Craft’: A Poem by T.M. Moore

The Society
March 7, 2025
Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. Craft ---a conversation between Beauty and Productivity "You don't have time for this, you know." "Says who?" "That daily checklist down there in your tool bar, that's who says!" "Calm down. You need to...

‘A Token of Espousal’: A Poem on Saint Catherine de’ Ricci, by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
March 6, 2025
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
23 Comments
. A Token of Espousal Sister Elisabetta Dardinelli Speaks Concerning the Token of Espousalof Saint Catherine de’ Ricci (1522-1590) Dixit mihi Dominus meus: Ne timeas, filia: Non rapiet tequisquam de manu...

A Poem for Ash Wednesday, by Jeffrey Essmann

The Society
March 5, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
7 Comments
. Ashes Before the Lenten ashes fade and thin, I might remind myself of those regrets More earnest than a taste for sweets Or bad TV and that my conscience meets With frightening ease at times far greater...

‘The Greatest Time of Fatherhood’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
March 3, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
. The Greatest Time of Fatherhood I know that I’m supposed to say The finest time is now—today. And with all their accomplishments, That would indeed make lots of sense. And yet the greatest time of...

‘We Already May Be in Purgatory’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
March 2, 2025
Culture, Poetry
16 Comments
. We Already May Be in Purgatory The Peterson Postulate "What if this life is just a test so we can become better people?" ---The White Lotus HBO TV series What if God has sent us all to Purgatory? It’s our...

‘Zelensky Gets a Hard Lesson’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
March 1, 2025
Culture, Poetry
67 Comments
. Zelensky Gets a Hard Lesson Zelensky comes strutting, in hope of a payout— Trump and young J.D. are trusting that he’ll Accept their diplomacy’s well-crafted layout Of how the Ukraine needs a...

‘The Vice’ and Other Poems by Gigi Ryan

The Society
February 27, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
12 Comments
. The Vice Worse than the addiction of a smoker, And harder to get over than cocaine, More drawing than to gamblers their poker Is a vice that never ends the game. It’s worse than the attraction of a...
poem/rosenbaum/culture

‘If I Could but Touch His Hem’: A Poem by Rohini Sunderam

The Society
February 25, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
. If I Could but Touch His Hem ---Mark 5:25-34 Forgive me, Lord, you know it’s true That I have prayed twelve years to you, To stop the bleeding and the shame To live a normal life again. And now there is...

‘Trumped by Reason’: A Poem by Warren Bonham

The Society
February 25, 2025
Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
. Trumped by Reason Our elitists loved extolling all their virtues while controlling each dimension of all nations through new laws and regulations. The more burdensome the better, and they held us to each...

‘As Hamas Celebrates Dead Babies’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
February 23, 2025
Culture, Poetry
24 Comments
. As Hamas Celebrates Dead Babies The Bibas deaths... how do I tell this news? A mother and her sons---all blameless Jews--- Killed senselessly. My words seem desecration... For I have not one word of...

‘Chasing COLAs in a Hard World’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
February 19, 2025
Culture, Limerick, Poetry
6 Comments
. Chasing COLAs in a Hard World COLA: cost-of-living adjustment We learned, each time we tried to file a claim, _That dealing with the Demiurge Adjustor _Takes all the fortitude that we can muster, And that...

Five Quintilla Poems by Cheryl Corey

The Society
February 15, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
26 Comments
. Scarlet Pimpernel Amassing clouds—the air still warm; But you, my scarlet pimpernel, You sense that there's a coming storm, Compress your petals, and transform To brave the current's rising swell. . The...

‘Made from Scratch!’: A Poem by Mark Stellinga

The Society
February 15, 2025
Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
. Made from Scratch! An ever-growing-number of our adolescent children are suckled by the biased breasts of prejudice and greed--- born to persons steeped in hatred, keen to fashion soldiers built to fit in...

‘Fifties Country Living’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
February 13, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. Fifties Country Living Sit down with me my children, come! __I'll spin a tale or two About when I was just a kid __in nineteen fifty-two. No cell phones, televisions, laptops, __email, or...

‘Evensong’: A Poem by Peter Venable

The Society
February 11, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
. Evensong The embers dimmed on the Pacific; _The sky a scarlet hue. One might conclude the fire seraphic--- _A seascape brushed by the muse. Some mares’ tails smudged the vista with soot _While gulls...

‘The Clown’: A Poem by Pamela Ruggiero

The Society
February 9, 2025
Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. The Clown I went inside my mind today. I hoped my thoughts would want to play. But all they did was get me down. I saw a large imposing clown. She had some tears upon her face, and tried to lock me in...

‘Reflections on Still Waters’: A Collection of Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
February 7, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. Reflections on Still Waters . Isaiah 55:12 You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace, And a song will break forth from the lands. While the echoes of praise in the hills never cease, And the...

‘Piazza della Signoria, Florence: February 7, 1497’: A Villanelle by Tom Wehtje

The Society
February 7, 2025
Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
20 Comments
. Piazza della Signoria, Florence: February 7, 1497 Savonarola gets up off his knees (much contact with the ground has formed a welt) and lights the bonfire of the vanities. His purpose is to purge the...

‘Lament to the Passing of Paper’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
February 6, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. Lament to the Passing of Paper I learned to write my A-B-Cs and form my shapely 1-2-3s on paper, when I was a lad; but now, since I’ve become a dad, the era of the written word is passing like the dodo...

‘Our National Precipice’: A Poem by Kenneth Horne

The Society
February 4, 2025
Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
. Our National Precipice The time has come for all good men To recognize our nation’s end. We have been silent much too long, Just caught up in a siren’s song. That song, that beckons our demise, Brought...

‘Sonnet 1’ by Saki

The Society
February 3, 2025
Culture, Humor, Poetry
7 Comments
. . Sonnet 1 I felt like trying something new today, And so I put my pen upon a page To mimic Shakespeare's famous olden way— A style which, I hear, was all the rage. So here I am committing fourteen...

‘The FBI—Then and Now’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
February 3, 2025
Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
. The FBI---Then and Now So respected when I was a kid, For the things we all read that they did, It’s substantially altered today--- Now we hardly trust one word they say. . . The Modern Mainstream...

‘Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy’: Poems by Brian Yapko

The Society
February 2, 2025
Culture, Poetry
32 Comments
. Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the...

‘The Untimely Demise of My Dear Uncle Sam’ and Other Poetry by Susan Steele Rives

The Society
January 31, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Satire
6 Comments
. The Untimely Demise of My Dear Uncle Sam I received the somber news __as sun set low today. My beloved Uncle Sam __by death was swept away. It wasn’t on the battlefield that __he met his demise. ‘Twas...

‘Accidents Happen’: A Poem by Shaun C. Duncan

The Society
January 30, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. Accidents Happen We’re told time tends toward catastrophe, And that a butterfly’s ephemeral wings Might quake the sky somewhere across the sea By strange cascades of simple happenings, Arousing thus a...
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  1. Paul Freeman on ‘Double Rondel for Pentecost’ by Margaret CoatsJune 7, 2025

    The word 'hieroglyphics' inspired me. I'm sure Margaret won't mind: Egyptology Limerick In Egypt, the cat hieroglyphic Was noted to…

  2. Mary Jane Myers on ‘Family Values’: Four Poems by Susan Jarvis BryantJune 7, 2025

    Susan I admire your clever wordplay. Love, love, love the exact rhymes and artful alliteration. These wonderful vintage song-forms with…

  3. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Family Values’: Four Poems by Susan Jarvis BryantJune 7, 2025

    Dave, it's great to hear from you and I'm thrilled my poems have inspired you. A little advice from one…

  4. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Family Values’: Four Poems by Susan Jarvis BryantJune 7, 2025

    Frank, what a beautifully musical comment that has brought an extra ray of sunshine to my Saturday! I am going…

  5. Susan Jarvis Bryant on ‘Family Values’: Four Poems by Susan Jarvis BryantJune 7, 2025

    Brian, thank you very much indeed. It's always great to receive the benefit of your fine eye, and I will…

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