‘At the Heart of Division’ by Paul A. Freeman The Society July 17, 2021 Culture, Poetry 30 Comments . Each view deemed inconvenient is a fake, no matter if deep down you know it’s true. When one lot says a colour’s red, I’ll make a bet with you the other says it’s blue. This double-think duplicity...
‘The Western Star’ by Jack DesBois The Society July 15, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings 12 Comments . https://youtu.be/9VRUjxFxQ2A?list=PLfUp4UiBMcEZC4Hgnr33FpijP5W5mRNo6&t=102 “A star!” the wise man shouted, “Look, a star!” forgetting the hour and his solitude, or else too overjoyed to heed...
‘Brimstone’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 14, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé 35 Comments . Brimstone I sniff a whiff of brimstone in the tone Of smooth effusions oozing from his tongue. A lick of sulfur clings like stale cologne To slickest syntax eloquently strung Like lustrous pearls...
Three Poems on Oölogists, by Peter Hartley The Society July 13, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry 33 Comments . A Black-Listed Species The avian community is glad He’s dying out, the mad oölogist. With every species on the British list He always wanted more eggs than he had, And on his checklist those he had to...
‘Riots Everywhere’ by Jeff Kemper, After Hank Snow’s ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ The Society July 11, 2021 Culture, Music, Poetry 28 Comments . The below poem is a memoir of the summer of 2020, to be sung to the tune of “I’ve Been Everywhere,” with apologies to Geoff Mack and Hank Snow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6JSfp6Az3k . I was...
‘Dirge for a Dying Diva’ and Other Sonnets by Lionel Willis The Society July 10, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 12 Comments . Dirge for a Dying Diva Who’s alive now who ever heard the voice That once adorned La Scala and The Met, A native of this land where we forget Artists quicker than books or melted ice? The wonder of her...
‘Sequoia Forests, Plexiglass, and Masks’ by Cynthia Erlandson The Society July 9, 2021 Beauty, Covid-19, Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . This poem is inspired by a column in The Epoch Times written by John Falce, entitled “The Experience of Freedom” The rugged beauty of our land’s terrain Is varied, airy, beautiful, and wide, Reflecting...
‘The Best and Worst of Times’ by Cheryl Corey’ The Society July 9, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . The Best and Worst of Times “It was the best of times, it was …” but how Can anyone forget those words once pearled By Dickens so very long ago; and now, Do we ourselves not live in such a...
A Poem on the Miss Nevada Contest Winner: ‘Disengendered’ by Michael Curtis The Society July 8, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 5 Comments . She is not a she in the Silver State. Never shall be. In the bones of her heart He will ever be he, unwombed by fate, Crafted by lies, makeup, the surgeon's art... __A petal falls, a stem is cut, a...
‘From the Bay of Naples’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko The Society July 8, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 29 Comments . From the Bay of Naples To Titus Caesar and the Senate, Hail! Gaius Pliny brings you news most dire From Naples where your frightened people quail; Vesuvius has turned to molten fire! Pompeii is buried....
‘Hunter Biden, New Millennial American Painter’ by Bruce Dale Wise The Society July 6, 2021 Art, Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . Hunter Biden, New Millennial American Painter “It’s Generic Post Zombie Formalism Illustration” ---Jerry Saltz “a…vaguely psychedelic vibe…Tomaselli…for dermatologist waiting rooms”...
Two Poems on Amber, by Margaret Coats The Society July 6, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 29 Comments . Amber Song I come from amber, Baltic gold, A gem but not a stone, And not a thousand ages old, A girl from pine sap grown, When fully cured, of warm physique And vibrant to the touch, A little sunshine...
A Poem in Memory Johnny Cash: ‘June’ by Mike Bryant The Society July 5, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 37 Comments . June in memory of Johnny Cash (1932--2003) Johnny was no average guy, __The troubled man in black. His life, by evil, went awry, __And loving brought it back. The radio and Mama’s hymns __Filled up his...
‘Fireworks’ by Adam Sedia The Society July 4, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 11 Comments . The roar of battle rends the moonlit skyWith distant thunder as of cannons booming.And bursting, crashing, popping salvos flyAbove the roar, the whirr of rockets zooming. The din deceives, for when it yields...
‘July Fourth, 2021’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society July 4, 2021 Culture, Poetry 30 Comments . Do you know as twilight gleams with showers; Fluorescent flowers, that rocket-red-glare flare, Wowing with their pyrotechnic powers That bloom then boom like bombs that burst in air And spangle white hot...
A Poem for Independence Day, July 4th, 2021, by Roy E. Peterson The Society July 3, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 8 Comments . The Future's Illumined by the Deeds of the Past inspired by a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville The future’s illumined by deeds of the past. Without history into darkness we’re cast To walk aimlessly, to...
Four Poems Possibly Written by Someone Else, by James A. Tweedie The Society July 2, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 17 Comments . On Death and Life not by John Milton Ere Death’s foul fetters drag me to my tombAs fodder for the very maw of hell,Should not my weary, failing soul rebelAnd seek release from sin’s eternal doom? For...
A Planned Parenthood Version of ‘I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General,’ by Julian Woodruff The Society July 1, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlTisI_HSgw . The Head of Health and Human Services after W.S. Gilbert’s “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” We are the very humble head of Health and...
A Poem on Nevertire, New South Wales, Australia, by David Watt The Society July 1, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry 8 Comments . What’s In a Name? Useless Loop is a small town in Western Australia. Nevertire and Come By Chance are both located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. There’s a place I yearn to live in, before...
A Poem for Illinois Poet Laureate Angela Jackson and Other Freestylers, by Joseph Mason The Society June 30, 2021 Culture, Humor, Limerick, Poetry 22 Comments . Ferdinand the Freestyler Angela Jackson is the Poet Laureate of Illinois and Jacqueline Jackson is a poet frequently published by Illinois Times. As I sit here chillin' and relaxin',There's some questions I...
‘Ill Wind’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson The Society June 28, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 20 Comments . Ill Wind The wind, no friend, assaults us so unkindly And suffers nothing to abate its force, Though boys who fly their kites adore it blindly, As if it were a deity from Norse Mythology. For those of us...
A Poem on Father Francis Gloudeman of California, by Margaret Coats The Society June 28, 2021 Culture, Poetry 38 Comments . A Sign of the Spirit Poet’s note: These heroic couplets paraphrase the conclusion of a recent sermon for which the preacher, Father Francis Gloudeman, was expelled by Bishop Alberto Rojas of San...
‘A Prayer from Babel’ by Cynthia Erlandson The Society June 27, 2021 Culture, Poetry 20 Comments . Set forth your true and lively word, O Lord, Amidst this false and deadly earthen tongue With which we are surrounded. For a horde Of men with senseless syllables comes among Us, trampling down your truth,...
‘Nil by Mouth’ by S.A. Todd The Society June 26, 2021 Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . All criticism of me is now hate speech, not "opinion"--- A forced agreement tyranny, for good. A new dominion where intersectionality has purged the vile before Their upturned faces paving our safe spaces...
‘Inevitable’ by Norma Pain The Society June 26, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry 20 Comments . My eyes espied a little bird And in his mouth… a little worm, That screamed a scream but no one heard. To mourn a worm is quite absurd, I guess his life had come to term. That little bird… he sang a...
‘Pride Month’ by Sarban Bhattacharya The Society June 25, 2021 Culture, Poetry 9 Comments . To take a walk each day is good of course, But not in June, beware, for this I know: The youngsters march in rallies loud and hoarse, You might be asked to join their pretty show. If you refuse there is no...
Longfellow’s ‘The Arrow and the Song’ Put to Music by Gunny Markefka The Society June 25, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 4 Comments . Listen to "Arrow Song" by Gunny Markefka, with lyrics from Longfellow. "Arrow Song" is from his album Arrow Songs, which features songs with lyrics from Shakespeare, Blake, Cowper, Milton, Byron, and...
Poetry Challenge: A ‘Raven’-like Poem on the Death of Edgar Allan Poe The Society June 24, 2021 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests, The Raven 32 Comments . Edgar Allan Poe was known for strange and mysterious tales, in poetry and prose. Perhaps fittingly, the circumstances surrounding his premature death at the age of 40 were also strange and mysterious. (Read...
‘A Progressive Englishman Speaks to Jews’ by Damian Robin The Society June 23, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry 8 Comments . In black and white terms, I would say, __You’re all more white than olive, Take Einstein, Rothschild, Proust, Bizet--- __all Western, bourgeois, stolid. Sephardic or Mizrahi breeds, __Hasidic,...
Fairytales in the Age of Transgenderism: Two Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society June 22, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry, Villanelle 22 Comments . Grimm The days of steering princesses from danger With sweet salvation’s life-sustaining kiss From shining-armored knight or regal stranger Are now considered horribly remiss. Young damsels in...
‘Contemplating Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer’ by James A. Tweedie The Society June 22, 2021 Art, Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Homer, Poetry 9 Comments . Contemplating Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer He stands enwrapped in luminous shadowed light, A woven cord of gold across his chest, Voluminous silk sleeves of purest white Contrast the deep-black...
‘When the Statues Were Felled,’ a Rondeau Redoublé by Brian Yapko The Society June 21, 2021 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau Redoublé 32 Comments . When the statues were felled the crass multitude cheered. Historians wept while the rioters yelled. Society crumbled. Debate disappeared. Where fraud gorged on Truth only anarchy dwelled. The protests...
‘McStalgia’ by Tonia Kalouria The Society June 20, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 4 Comments . “Daddy! There’s the big yellow ‘M’!” “May I take your order ple---?” “One Big Mac, Coke and fries!” Dad yells, “and---” “Happy Meal for me!” “Coach” Dad would bus our...
A Father’s Day Poem: ‘Our Father’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society June 19, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau 34 Comments . Our Father loves us, one and all. He lifts us when our spirits fall. He knows the song of heart and mind; He hears the fears of humankind In every earnest, earthly call. He guides us through the grind and...
‘Raison Du Jour‘ and Other Poetry by Gerald George The Society June 19, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry 2 Comments Raison Du Jour Reason is like tea.It’s best at four o’clock,Which is an hour before cocktailsAnd two hours before dark. . . Finding at the Door a Disheveled Man Late on a Sunday Afternoon You don’t...
‘Edinburgh, Scotland, 1978’ by James A. Tweedie The Society June 17, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 15 Comments Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, cameTo bless new student housing on The Mound.Despite his title and his royal name,Despite the Lord Mayor following around, The Scottish students studying nearby,Did not...
‘No Letters’ and Other Poetry by James Sale The Society June 16, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 29 Comments . No Letters "An odd thought strikes me: we shall receive no letters in the grave." ---Dr. Johnson, from Boswell’s Life Of all the things which I enjoy and have To lose them, then, in death, which soon I...
‘The CCP Position on the Origin of Covid’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society June 15, 2021 Covid-19, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry 8 Comments . The CCP Position on the Origin of Covid Point to their part Of the globe, And you’re a racist Xenophobe. . . Conmander in Chief Things are quickly getting better, Many times Joe Biden’s said it. Though...
‘Meeting Petrarch’ by Margaret Coats The Society June 15, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation 10 Comments . Francesco, is it you? Be confident. Sorgue vineyard pathways never were too dusty __For you—plump face and figure lusty. Come nearer; focus my astonishment. The monks and nuns sleep early after...
‘Logic Class’ and Other Poetry by Paul Buchheit The Society June 14, 2021 Culture, Humor, Love Poems, Poetry 14 Comments . Logic Class As class convenes I quickly indicate in clear logician's diction of my eagerness to share my disposition to determine if we're here or there, or if instead we're neither here nor there. A student...
