Culture

. 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 “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 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 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 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...

. 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 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 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 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 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...

. 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 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 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 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...

. 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! 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 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 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 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 . 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 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 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 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 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 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 “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 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 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...

. The Settlers —to my forefathers, and all the intrepid men and womenwho settled the Oklahoma panhandle. Across these barren hills, the cold winds blow,As bitter now as in those days long past,When first...

. Rather Drown Than Hang “He who is destined for the gallows will not be drowned.” ---Russian proverb A lethal thing, the writ of man _that soaks this realm like rain, from the code of Hammurabi _to the...

. Mexican Sestina Perhaps I left because I got too bored, and no one could put sense in my thick head, or talk me out of trekking to the beach by reading newsclips of prolific death by drug cartels or...

. Libra There in my hand I held a crystal vial Of distillation potent, red, and sweet, By which my broken heart was put on trial, And golden apples scattered at my feet. Ask not the name of him who gave to...

. The Magic Trick Another dove spawns from the wizard's hat. A youngster, goggle-eyed, forgets to clap, enchanted by the spell. With every flap this spongy creature makes, he wonders at the skill required to...

. Cloth of Destiny From his jail cell, he preached civility— despite the agony centuries had brought. Proud Rosa occupied a seat; though fraught with risk, that act preserved her dignity. We dreamed of equal...

. Anticipating President Trump’s Golden Age Unburdened from that which has recently been. An era of progress about to begin. Mending the messes afflicting our nation. Ending the slow...

Free People In some sense, free people have no needOf poets to give their speech a better voice.But freedom wanes without great art and heedOf powers that will enslave us with rejoiceIf only given a chance....

. Best of the Windy City Nation’s hub and culture center, O’Hare Airport, millions enter. Stunning architecture sites, The awesomeness of Frank Lloyd Wright; Union Stockyards fed the nation; Second City...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF6v6ES3FMU . This is song was originally a poem published by the Society of Classical Poets in March, 2018. . The Day the Poetry Died Wonder why poetry is in...

. My Soul Is at Home in the Depths of the Ocean My soul is at home in the depths of the ocean; My soul is at home in the cosmos above, Always adventuring, seeking to grow and Wreathing my body in infinite...

. Payday Before the crash, the market looked so strong. I doled out cash and credit, buying in While others sold. But, sadly, I was wrong About this, confidence my greatest sin, And I have duly suffered, if...