‘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...
‘The Poem that Built a Nation: Finland and the Kalevala’: An Essay by Adam Sedia The Society February 28, 2022 Culture, Epic, Essays, Poetry 13 Comments . 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’ and Other Poetry by Norma Pain The Society February 27, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 17 Comments . 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’ and Other Pacific Northwest Shoreline Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society February 27, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . 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’ by Brian Yapko The Society February 26, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 27 Comments . 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...
Share Your Poetry on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine The Society February 26, 2022 Culture, Poetry 245 Comments . Many poets have been sending in poetry on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Post your poetry directly...
‘Because He Could Not Jump’ adapted from Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Pig’ by Beverly Stock The Society February 25, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 7 Comments . 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...
A Poem for the CDC: ‘Unsettled’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society February 22, 2022 Culture, Poetry 40 Comments . 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 Poem on Criselda Vasquez’s ‘New American Gothic,’ by Bruce Dale Wise The Society February 21, 2022 Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry 22 Comments . 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...
Poetry for the Canadian Trucker Protest, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society February 19, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau, Villanelle 25 Comments . 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’: A Blank Verse Poem by C.B. Anderson The Society February 19, 2022 Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . 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’ by David Watt The Society February 18, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . 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.’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society February 17, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . 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 for Joe Rogan, by J.J. Charles The Society February 16, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Triolet 3 Comments . 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’ by Brian Yapko The Society February 15, 2022 Covid-19, Culture, Poetry 30 Comments . 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’ by Shaun C. Duncan The Society February 15, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . 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...
A Valentine from Geoffrey Chaucer, Margaret Coats, and James A. Tweedie The Society February 14, 2022 Beauty, Chaucer, Culture, Love Poems, Music, Poetry, Readings, Rondel, Translation, Video 21 Comments . 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’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society February 13, 2022 Culture, Love Poems, Pantoum, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé 35 Comments . 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...
A Poem for Ethan Gutmann, by Damian Robin The Society February 11, 2022 Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry 4 Comments . 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...
A Poem on Doping in the Olympics, by James A. Tweedie The Society February 10, 2022 Culture, Poetry 6 Comments . 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’ by Joseph S. Salemi The Society February 8, 2022 Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . 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’ by Jeff Eardley The Society February 8, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 16 Comments . 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...
Poetry Challenge: Write a Classic Movie-Inspired Poem The Society February 7, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests 95 Comments . 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’ by Gail Kaye Naegele The Society February 7, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 18 Comments . 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...
A Limerick on Minnie Mouse’s New Outfit, by Paul A. Freeman The Society February 6, 2022 Culture, Humor, Limerick, Poetry 4 Comments . 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’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society February 5, 2022 Beauty, Covid-19, Culture, Music, Poetry 29 Comments . 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...