Culture

. False statements spurn. Let’s shut them out completely. Quash so–called free speech. Cancel all you can. Do people think deplorables sing sweetly Or weren’t all guilty since the world began? If vile, white racist attitudes prevail In any form, for any length of time, They’ll just delay the hour that we can...

. When soldiers die,They give two lives.The one they had, And one denied: The spouse not met,The child unknown,The life unsaved,The welcome home, The hill unclimbed,The beach unseen,The books unread,The field un-gleaned, The chance to seeTheir daughter-bride,To guide their sonOn his first ride, The friends not made,The Christmas trees,The job not done,Life’s victories, The end...

. The mystic steed gave chase to red-eyed day, His forelock flying in the morn’s raw gust. Providence, my constant mount with whom I, On hills and shores, through lofty steeps and crags Had foolhardily stole, forgetting Fate In the undead days of my storm-tossed youth, Now strode o’er new...

. “I want answers. I want all the words the poem whispers to be made flesh, to sit opposite me, and to shout out the reason for our existence…” ---Susan Jarvis Bryant on Daniel Kemper’s poem He who is, and always was, spoke light And made our tiny place. That...

. Fostering Faith Will you slip through the system’s wide cracks Like a ball down a driveway’s storm drain? Will you bounce between homes, leaving tracks That they’ll only retrace if you’re slain? See, the case plan is hard to believe When so many are carelessly tossed, Doomed to land...

. Hardship and Destiny to the Class of 2021 The time is now at hand; the bow is bent To shoot you forth across the open sky. And as you think on what these years have meant, You may know where you wish to land, and why. Or else you...

. Will this reclaim the long-lost Muse perched on the tree of I.O.U.’s? Can I now join Miss E. B. Browning as she proclaimed her love---its counting? Her art’s not mine; I know that much. The years sped by---as if by touch! And each day’s love was multiplied until its...

. Signs of the Times “Post-modern” is the “ism” of the land; Reality is hanging by a thread. Objective truth? Rejected out of hand. And God and moral absolutes are dead. Ignore what ancient wisdom had to say; What matters most is how a person feels. And in the game...

. Unintended Consequence The African-American High schooler had poor grades. Folks worried for his future, Seeing little effort made. Some caring people spoke to him, And urged it would be best, If he worked hard to raise his grades For college and success. The youth replied that grades don’t count...

. A Slice from a sonnet by Eleanor Alexander For me, my friends, no graveside vigil keep, With gnashing teeth and sodden handkerchief And grievous howls of outraged disbelief That I, so virile once, am six feet deep. Console yourselves that he is but asleep, This life below a mere...

Originally published in The Epoch Times by James Sale Very recently, I hosted a live online poetry event for New York’s Society of Classical Poets (SCP). I introduced six American poets, of whom two were naturalized Americans, one originally from Russia and the other from England. In introducing them and...

. During the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Tank Man (his name has been reported as Wang Weilin, a 19-year-old student) was arrested for “political hooliganism.” Varying reports suggested he was either imprisoned or executed. In Nineteen Eighty-Nine He crossed the battle line. The world saw courage shine--- He took a stand....

. To the Residents Down Below I am a bookish kind of rat And like each rat before me, I’ve come to the conclusion that There’s few folks that adore me. Although I feel that this is wrong, I try to be pragmatic, I’d like us just to get along...

. Her birthday cake was verily a sight--- A work of art, a sugary-sweet confection, That much to all the revelers’ delight, The baker decorated to perfection. It brought a special twinkle to her eye, To see it topped with flowers freshly-picked, But when the reddest-red she did espy, What...

. On the Greek isle of Tilos are the ruins of the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo. Over them has been built the Church of the Archangel Michael. "Now rot here on the earth that nourishes men. No longer will you live to be an evil mischief to mortals." —Homeric Hymn...

American historian Victor Davis Hanson and Canadian professor Jordan Peterson recently commented on the decline of American universities. Though they did not specifically mention poetry, the mainstream poetry establishment, or po-biz, today is very much intertwined with American universities, making their commentaries below tantamount to an urgent critique on the...

. The enemy has canceled me And yet, as far as I can see, I still exist, I am still here And so resist and have no fear. Theirs is a vile, historic curse, But this time, friends, it will be worse. There’s nothing new in what they say, The...

. Default, to a Fault There are as many deeds I ought to do As there are jobs in urgent need of doing. My task is knowing whether to pursue Them, or, too overwhelmed, to stop pursuing. As numerous as shores that hem the sea Are duties I am constantly...

. To my friends on the wall who fought valiantly,We thank all the dead for ensuring we’re free.Remembrance, though fleeting, is etched on this wall.Above waves Old Glory. You answered his call. With honor you fought, and your life’s blood you gave.Your name’s on the wall, wherever your grave.You knew that...

. R e w i n d... If time could suck the bullet from torn flesh, And pry its steely bite from splintered bone, Stitch tattered life and limb to start afresh, Unbloody muddy trench, uncast the stone; If time could snatch back all each battle stole With hands to...

. “We’re running things now; we are great, you are small.” “You will talk as we think, or you’ll not talk at all.” No longer permitted to utter their Truth, they are banished and exiled--- dispatched with a poof! The land they’re interned in ---called Limbo by name--- is sheltered from Hope but...

. Chaos Abounds What thoughts are left unthought? What is profound? Does any quest of value still remain? So much that once was sacred, now profane, Defines the soul still searching. Common ground May not exist, but seldom is it sought. Reflection rarely yields a different view. Truth comes, it...

. Fallen Arches “Not one change of species into another is on record… we cannot prove that a single species has been changed.” ---Charles Darwin I heard today that Darwin’s Arch had crumbled. Its lid blew off and plunged into the sea. The dizzy heights of Charlie boy have tumbled....

. Moon Song Selene to Endymion Night, for ever, ever night. __Sleep as the Gods would sleep, __Beautiful boy; sleep; sleep; Rest ever in the cool night. I shall smile on you moon-bright, __Lay beside you and weep, __Weep. Gently shall I keep You young, lovely in the night. Shine...

. Today I will be turning seventy, An age I’ll claim with some temerity. I’ll welcome it with both serenity And sober, grave, austere solemnity. I’d hoped to celebrate my destiny By jotting down some lines of poetry. But RhymeZone claims with full-blown certainty, “There is no word that rhymes...

. The Spirit blazes in an upper room; A hundred twenty flames spout sparks to cast Christ’s wildfire on the earth, and make it bloom. The Magdalen, apostle unsurpassed, Conveys her fragrant nard to salve Provence, While Peter and Paul inspire an empire vast. New missioners serve far-flung nations’ wants:...

. May 12, 2021 The weakness of this president’s admin Has put us in the mess that we are in. The winds of war now howl all over the place From Israel to UFOs in space. The hombres cross the border with such ease. The looters feel they may do...

. My count of sheep was off as twilight fell And father’s friend, Ben Ezra’s lamb was gone! I had to find her! Searching past the well I climbed the rocks exhausted but pressed on. Delay could mean her life! She’d failed to heed My shepherd’s call and so risked...

. The State of Art The art world has completely turned around. Now critics blind themselves, or close their eyes, Shout how their contacts and their creds abound, And laud sick rancid leavings to the skies. Admiring excrement (which has been canned, Shown, sold, and showered with the highest praise)...

. Everyone Knows Fog and smoke! Such confusion we’re subject to! So much danger to me and you From the yahoos without a clue! Now we’re woke! It’s high time that we reassess This society’s thorough mess. Toward utopia we will press! . 1. Our experts tell us, “Build back...

. My Texas Tempest Silver Lining  It’s said that during times of heightened pain Your world contracts. You’ll find it’s apt to shrink--- A small domain; no fuss, no stress, no strain--- A place for you to breathe with ease and think; A space for you to drift away and...

. Isolde and the Men of Stone Who could believe, except on ancient trust? The stones grew pliant, yielding into shape When softer nature touched them; human forms Emerged, as marble figures half-begun. —Ovid, Metamorphoses, I, 400-406 Her mind a buzzing hive, Isolde walks On gaping earth. An excavator’s teeth...

. Light Side an interpretation of the apology by the DarkSide ransomware hackers Our motives are mercenary, and apolitical.Putin puts in a good word; we’re good guys!We’re taken aback that we hacked such a criticalline of supplies; it’s a nasty surprise.Now branded as anarchists, worse, analyticalterrorists plotting a nation’s demise,$5...

. The Purloined Lectern by C. Aubre DeWiles It was the fall, November, 2020, in the night. My friend, Earl Dolan Page, and I were chatting in low light. We sat within his little study in his little flat; there drinking wine, au troisieme. That is where we were at. At least...

. The Dove Returned The dove returned! The Earth is dry; A golden sun lights up the sky. This ark shall rest on land again Each creature freed from cage and pen, Each yearning bird released to fly! The old world’s gone. We’ll not decry God’s judgment though we’ll long...

. Two by two, the Uyghur stand in long Lines. They carry nothing to call their own, The final destination, a great unknown, A distant, re-education labor camp, To spend their days and nights in toil For state and corporate masters. Kept as slaves Until---that’s if, escaping early graves, They...

. My erstwhile master taught me well And I supposed I could adjust As did the comrades in our cell, But when he said he’d bite the dust I levied that I’d say goodbye And champion another trust. I should have known he’d testify, “Somebody will betray me soon.” We...

. Unimaginable written in celebration of the 100th birthday on May 16th of the Poet's mother, Marjorie Tweedie, a resident of Walnut Creek, California I have a good imagination. In my mind’s eye, a spotted, black and white carnation’s As tangible as flaming neon-pink Dalmatians; Each one as clear and...

. A Woke Recipe for Disaster a villanelle Heap fresh and zesty chaos on despair. Rub salt in history’s wounds till hatred sticks, Then sugar discontent with bogus care. Pour rage and scorn on free-speech freaks who dare To shower ice on mayhem’s spicy mix. Heap fresh and zesty chaos...

. Apophis Apophis is the name of a near-earth asteroid that passed by our planet a few months ago, a name it shares with the Ancient Egyptian evil serpent god and one of the Hyksos pharaohs of Egypt. Apophis, demon-snake, Foe to truth and light, Coiled at the cusp of...