Culture

. The Shepherd God On Autumn eves when solipsistic stars__Peer down on bloody, towering oaksWhose gnarled, twisted branches create bars__Encaging man in Fortune’s spokes,When groaning wind rustles through...

. Topics Over Time At 10 boys talk about the games in which they’ve played. At 14 they discuss the girls and “progress” made. At 16 there’s the homework everybody’s got, At 18 work or college and...

. Enduring Sight Our blindest heroes walk among us, here, where legendary blindness gives us sight. King Oedipus still lives, and so does Lear in texts that draw their distant fates too near by pulling us...

. Americans in Florence Ooo David! Whoa, you’re well-hung! But why a foreskin, underslung? Your left hand, do you hold a sling or dead Goliath's severed thing? Stop giggling, girls, show some respect. You...

. Meditation 4 "Now our Lord bestowed great gifts through small means..." ---Homily on Our Lord (11) "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." ---1 Corinthians...

. My New New Year I’m shunning bards of lilt and kilt tonight. My cup o’ kindness guzzled dry by kin Has urged the spurning of that worn-out rite Of seeing lame old, same old new years in… The fizz. The...

. A Creation Myth The curtain opens. A million violinsCrescendo. Trumpets blare. A single drumBeat booms. In perfect time, the cosmos spins.The Hero enters, sees what soon must come: A surging wave of life...

. Nordic Memories They rise with the dawn of fashion Their eyes for new booty are keen, To ride the tide of nostalgia For something that they’ve never seen. Their patrons board the longship, Geared up for...

. The Blank-Page Stage I once embraced the blank-page stage, when words would somehow always rhyme, but now my brain shows signs of age, and operates on its own time. So now, I dread the clean-slate...

. Catching Up An hour passes in a second. A month goes by in just an hour. The rosy future that once beckoned Has now become a withered flower. Complaints about the pace of time Do nothing to arrest its...

. Ode to a Christmas Pudding O fragrant orb of dark and luscious depths Made with magic conjured every year By souls who know the spell---those tricky steps That summon plummy culinary cheer, You started as a...

. Stars Voluble Profound and lightless silent night _Lay still with curtains closed. Into unspeaking dark the Word Descended from his regal throne And rose from Israel below, _A supernova blaze Encircling...

. Christmas in Florida I watched him pass! St. Nick himself---Kris Kringle,Who hails from Buffalo, not the North Pole.He waved; I heard bells on his golf-cart jingleAs he sang karaoke rock and roll. That’s...

. A Present Unclaimed Under the tree is a present unclaimed Paper and ribbon and bows, good to go. Who is it for? “Who it’s from” isn’t named. Where is the tag? No one here seems to know! “Maybe,”...

. Make Room, He’ll Come In Have you spent much time wandering, feeling distressed,and upon your arrival, found no place to rest?You can’t possibly know what it’s like till you’ve beenwhere you longed...

. Santa Claus Has Passed Away As is their custom every year, the Men’s Club promptly after class had half the hallway commandeered and cheerfully began to pass out toys and games as grade by grade the...

. Love Broke Through Time On the first Christmas night Love broke through time With pain to Mary and her child whose bed Was straw with ox and ass in nearby stalls. Love arrived in suffering and shame. All...

. A Remarkable Day "He's God in human form!" whispers the crowd In motley clothes and groups of twos and threes Beneath the bulky, partly-aqua sky. As nighttime slowly drops, birds meet the breeze And soar...

. Jupiter Hammon’s Christmas Poem by Michael Curtis 1761 was a slow, yet interesting year for poetry. The imposter Macpherson announced the discovery of Ossian’s Gaelic Epic and the collected works of the...

. Home for Christmas Beneath the sinking skies I ride, a traveler on his way,                     .Through drizzling mist and fading light until the end of day.As skies grow dim and gray clouds...

. The Story the Stars are Retelling ---to the tune of 'Sterling' When burdens are heavy and Christmas is near And faraway star luster barely appears, Tomorrow’s prediction of rain with a chill Won’t drown...

. The Interview “Respect my grammar rules or else,” K said, “This interview will be extremely short. Or better yet, I’ll summon you to court.” My pulse raced. I could feel my face turn red. K said,...

. Dim and Not He carries one white candle in the space Beneath cathedral vaults. He has to hold His hand in front of it so just a trace Of light escapes. The candle’s flame shines gold Yet it is blocked by...

. Full Circle From age to age how long the fray’s been fought Tween those who seek the Truth on sacred ground And those who wish to harness mankind’s thought To what is measured, tested, proved, and...

. The Most Impactful Hate It’s fun now to listen to every Trump haterWho tries to explain how a racist dictatorWas able to win with a new coalitionOf Blacks and Hispanics defying traditionPlus middle and...

. The Wreath Circle of green— What does it mean? Never ending, Ever bending. It’s hope that’s vernal And faith that’s welling For God in-dwelling And life eternal. . Pruning Trees   Now that all...

. Intersubjective Bootstrap If all life is a dream, is it your dream or mine? __And why should our two worlds agree? An answer avails if we’re both The Divine, __At our source, I am you and you’re...

. Let’s Just Say A friend of ours was asked by some reporter how he viewed the war his only son had gone to fight in and had died. His face went limp, his breathing paused his eyes welled up with tears, and...

. The Drift of Dark Days November is a time for us to grieve About the dying of the warmth and light, About the passing of our joie de vivre, As we await the bitter arctic bite. Near-perfect vees of fleeing...

  In Advent Stillness In Advent stillness and its purpled nightsWe turn within and with a solemn gazeConsider well our soul’s more reconditeAnd sundry impulses: the many waysBy which we hamper grace’s...

. Motherly Motives ---of the 5% of American women with 5 or more children The greater good is motherhood. Let wealth be vast and health ideal, These blessings are not understood To be too much. The dear...

. Telepathy Your reticence to speak is no deterrent To my delight to be in your vicinity--- Presence and chatter need not be concurrent; Lack of the latter won’t change my affinity For your dark liquid eyes:...

. Dragons Lost at Sea In salty seas green dragons fly the waves, With plastic scales—a man-made guard from rot. Submerged to sleep in rocky water caves; Bereft of flames they blow and bubble not. A cargo...

. I No Longer See It on Mulberry Street I used to walk home from school each day, then report back to Pop, what I saw on my way. I'd imagine all sorts of things wondrous and neat, in my mind, with my brain, on...

. Notre Dame Re-Opens To touch this holiness we have no right, Nor did we earn the privilege to restore Its grandeur. Bringing anguished hearts to soar, We purge remembrance of one fiery night. No lives were...

. Offerings of the Heart A Symbolic Poem . The songs of Yamato From seeds of healing sprout As offerings of our hearts, And if ever hurt we feel, Swiftly songs arise; Heard by hearts, we heal. For one need...

. Fake Sales “Fifty Percent Off”The store signs all say,But I have to scoff---There is simply no wayThat the clothes I picked outFrom the “sale” in that store,Were---on this there’s no doubt---Ever...

. Meditation on Herbert’s “Church Monuments” "…Mark, here below, How tame these ashes are, how free from lust, That thou mayst fit thyself against thy fall." —George Herbert, “Church...

. Meditation 1 “Grace has drawn nigh to mouths, once blasphemous, and has made them harps; sounding praise.” ---Homily on Our Lord, (1) "Let your speech always be with grace." ---Colossians 4.6 Grace...

. American Espionage and the Soviet Target I was assigned to Russia as an Army attaché— A legal spy who operated every single day. The era of the Soviets was run by KGB. Just one uncareful step and then...