Culture

. One Fate Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 Shall I portend, and shall I explicate What eyes can see themselves, ere they go blind? The moral and sagacious of mankind Know not a whit what destinies await, For to the hand...

. Prayer Of people who pray, Routinely or not, He wonders what the case is. Are they of belief Prayer has an effect, Or touching all the bases? . . Opinions in Fact Some folks voice opinions So...

by Michael Curtis When next you float down the Yangtze River through Jingzhou City, likely you will notice Guan Yu, God of War, looking rather ambitious, rather restless; at 190 feet in height, a bit...

. "I Lived and languished.” —Andrei Platonov by "Weird” Ace Blues Last year we learned th’ Empire struck back with fierce synergy. The populace was pummeled by the techno-tyranny. O, Obi Wan...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5FdfL8sVRM Like Abelard and Heloise Like Abelard and Heloise This woman has the gorgeous mind. Her touch of tenderness and ease Calms the ravages I find. Her cheeks are one...

. written while walking out my front door You weren’t born with that thing on your face, So look in your mirror and see the disgrace Of a coward whipped into his or her place--- Your dignity’s vanished and...

. Vaticination  Sibylla says, Fear archers of immunity! Beware the vanguard shock troops sharpening double tongues, Whetted with grave authority To weaken hearts and spew contagion into lungs. They bend...

. The Tale of Governor Do-as-I-Say-Not-as-I-Do-som It’s funny how Democracy In many states now colored blue Produces rank hypocrisy, A birthright of the privileged few. And there we notice Gavin...

. We’re poets first-and-foremost and agree that meter, rhyme and rhythm oft are spurned; the plethora of poetry we see is free verse and should frankly be returned to sender if an emo, teenage brain or...

.  Brush with Shame In reference to “Couple accidentally paints over $500,000 artwork,” Ben Cost, New York Post, 4/3/21 The whole world over they are in a stew: Our artists and creators share the...

. Themistocles Athens, Greece, 483 B.C. “Barbarians loom upon the coast—dark clouds. Athenians see them, but don’t think they’d pour Their cataclysmic flooding on our shore. They only hear the nearby...

. This poem is commemorating the peaceful appeal of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners for freedom of belief, in Beijing, on April 25, 1999. The appeal ended when practitioners left after being given empty...

. The gaffe-prone Duke of Edinburgh has died, who asked if native Aussies still chucked spears and told some Brits they’d end up slitty-eyed for living in Beijing too many years. Yet what a gap this man of...

. Martyred daughter of a libeled Czar, You for whom St. Basil’s bells have rung, Condemned to die dishonored and unsung, Yet gentlest of the Romanovs by far In silent black-and-white forever young. It...

. Bardolatry He boasted an iambic ear, That playwright with insight, Shakespeare; Yes, Measure for Measure He’s given much pleasure With Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. The Bard’s jealous...

. A Eulogy for Justice It looks like we got justice for George Floyd Because of the techniques that were employed. But what about the life of Ashli Babbit? Shouldn’t justice be a constant habit? The Floyds...

. A Chemistry Lesson There was a time she pined to be a boy, Around the age of six or maybe eight, When centipedes and beetles were her joy And skinning knees in trees, her frequent fate. There was a time she...

. The Odyssey of a recovering patient of the Orthopedic and Spine Specialists (OSS) hospital in York, PA; January 2019. (My hospital experience could not have been better. Surgeons, nurses, aids, therapists,...

. . On a Starred Night derived from a George Meredith poem On a starred night, Prince Lucifer uprose; From smoke and stink and howl of the distraught And sulphur stench and brimstone, change he sought. Garbed...

April is National Poetry Month. On this occasion, take words about poetry from a famous poet, or anyone else you deem fitting, and turn them into a quatrain (four-line poem). Below are four examples from poet...

. Sestina 276 On the night of April 14-15, 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students were kidnapped from a high school by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria The dream was vivid, sickeningly...

. How to Write a Formal Poem(That Doesn’t Seem Like One) abandon capitals at all times. TrustYour sense for sound but, please, avoid rhymes. ChooseA rhythm you can readily adjustAnd phrase what you mean so...

. Horace, in your guide to painting poems, Bid a poet paint in synchrony. Carve, in sandy caves where writers roam, Ships ensconced in loam and birds at sea. Horace, sir, you broke me at hello. Genius, wit...

. Dillard “Sparky” Barker Is a Doc at CDC. He’s announced a market- Driven cure for you and me. Helicaps—not beanies Are the answer to our prayers. The downward blowing breezes Now defeat all virus...

. Is poetry that’s free as free as all That?  Surely it’s the poet who is free Or not.  He makes the choice to make a sprawl Of words (and punctuation?) dribblingly Straight (straight?) along the...

. Though many scores were lost, those that remain May well be thought the richest heritage Ever bequeathed by one blessed human brain: Incomparable gems on every page, Now reverently passed from age to...

. Dear President Biden You act as if you were elected To spend my great-grandchildren’s money. By spending trillions you’ve infected Each one of them with debt gone viral, And I don’t think it’s wise...

. Isaiah 5:20---Uncancellable They often call good evil, And call the evil good. Misclassifying basics? One wonders how they could. With light for darkness put, And darkness put for light, Seems schooling,...

. excerpted from the sonnet sequence Philip, Prince of Greece and Great Britain He wore a white gold crown wherever he Was living, Denmark, Greece, and also here In Scotland and in England.  Like a spree Of...

. Tribute to 19-year-old Kyal Sin, known as "Angel," a dancer, taekwondo champion, and first-time voter who was killed during the protests against Myanmar’s CCP-backed military coup Remember her proud,...

. When all guns have been banned,__When all rifles are taken,When your words have been censored,__When your life has been shaken--- When all schools fear the state,__When our history's erased,When all...

. The House That Fauci Built by Dr. Weslie Ubeca Within the U.S. government, he was the highest paid He sighed, denied, and p-lied; he was a yo-yo on display. Like Doctor Faustus, Doctor Fauci, sold his soul...

. Our neighbours bought a sheepdog: a heeler brindled blue, And all was well (or so it seemed) until his faults showed through; For when it came to penning sheep, he lost a large amount, And bit the hand...

. Cherry Blossom Viewing Like someone else, in unaccustomed dress, I choose that silken smoothness graze my skin __As fragile branches effloresce, Revealing vernal consciousness within Of transient white or...

. We stick to what we know, what we can touch, Hold in our hands; unable to foretell What lies ahead, denying Time with such Abandonment, pretending we are well Aware of the truth, we close our eyes To...

. Ballade of Prayer to Our Lady (in the voice of the poet’s mother) by François Villon (1431-1463), from French by Joseph S. Salemi Lady of Heaven, who holds earthly sway And reigns as Empress of the...

. Rededication The sullen days of winter Remain a galling splinter Within my thickened skin, So let the games begin! Though I’m inclined to focus Upon the blooming crocus, The loom of April fills My mind...

for Xiaoyao Yin and her UK family Loud thumps were more than company; __front door as thin as any. Mum walked across the noise to see __each thump enlarge to many. Then clumps of feet clacked on our...

. If He came now, God’s only Son, To save a world that’s come undone Would we continue to defy His truth, to stoke the ruthless lie That claims His name is not the One? His Word torments the twisted...

. “The strife is o’er, the battle won”—18th c. Hymn As hapless hope and hopelessness collide The mid-day sun looms black above the cross; A dies irae bearing bitter loss Where life and death each...