Culture

. 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...

. Life Under the CCP for Amy 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...

. 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...

. Easter! by Rosario Previti (1882-1967), from Italian by Joseph S. Salemi Why your bitter torment on the cross, Martyr of Golgotha, if the world on which You poured your blood in agony remains Savage and...

. Praise Him for the lightning in the gale,For balmy winds, for crystals in the snow.Wonder at the gaudy peacock’s tail,Observe how huge the elephant can grow! The turtledove, the maculate giraffe,The...

. Sonnet 181 Jesus had suffered more than we can tell, But when released, His soul at once aspired To save the just, whom their long wait had tired. See Him descend to Limbo’s dreary hell In search of those...

. I’ve had a nightmare! Let that just man go! You’re right that he’s done nothing wrong. They’re wrong To want him dead. No, nothing you could write Above his head could possibly undo Your guilt....

. Behold the Queen of Heaven weeping, seeping __Tears that rend her heart and ours. As one __Who mourns she grasps and clasps the seeming-sleeping, __Pierced, and bloodless body of her son. A body void of...

. She burns to bear his burden (take the weight) But he is far beyond her guiding reach. Beyond her soothing arms, he meets his fate. Her heavy heart has nothing left to teach… For these are not his first...

. The Lovely World Behold the frozen, flaxen fields at morn– The tall grass shining on the hills of clay Which sunlit wisps of winter frost adorn In dazzling white, as for a bridal day. An air of holy...

. Sue was the star of Central High. In girls’ athletics she excelled. Her competition would just sigh. The best of it she ably quelled. Track, swimming, wrestling, volleyball— No other girl could match...

. A Box of Chocolates is like Life: (That Mrs. Gump she got it right.) You  never know just what you’ll get, so take a chance: Jump in; don’t fret! Life’s Bittersweet---both dark and light--- but...

. Ode to Hidden Splendor I heard your rolling croon beyond my vision Blooming in the balm of winter’s breeze--- A...

. The candlelight was dim and spare And Claire was there, lost in prayer And slightly swaying to and fro (She dances for Him, this I know) And I do swear that she did glow--- Whence comes this light? He does...

. The Parting of the Sea Salvation in the parting of the Sea, Its churning waves pierced by a knife of cloud And split in two allowing us to flee Egyptian swords! As one astonished crowd We ran with haste into...

. “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” ---Exodus 12:13 As you have commanded, the blood to The lintel and the doorposts of my heart Has been applied. Because I’ve done this, through Your...

. The fire roars and spits within the square Blazing angry red. The rabble looks With savage joy; their whooping lards the air. Such glee to see the burning of the books! One man stands apart from the hot...

. Don’t you love the Oxford Dictionary?  When I first read it, I thought it was a really really long poem about everything. —David Bowie A dictionary is an indispensable Companion on the journey through...

. A kangaroo visiting from Australia beholds the kangaroo court attempting to impeach President Trump for the second time and, taking the current kangaroo judge’s momentary absence as an opportunity, dresses...

. Grain If the future were a famine And tomorrow were a blight, Would we close our eyes today in Light of Future’s tragic sight? If the future were a famine And eternity, disease, Would we leave our fields...

inspired by the late John Whitworth’s “The Examiners”  Through the burst of youth and giggles in the balm of budding spring, __You are there. Through the seal of something...

. A touch of wit is worth its writ in gold. We miss you, John, for being ever bold. You spoke your mind or, rather, wrote it down with learning lightly worn, and played the clown. Your loyal readers...

. “That must have been some cup of coffee!” ---Charles Ellik The coffee spins and I am not the same. The time in which I move is muddy, turns around my breath, and steams. As sunlight came here perfectly,...

. The night before, old furniture And scrap wood set afire Smoke out the winter’s wickedness— An equinoctial pyre Of habits, sins, misfortunes dark, Succeeded by quick work To level boards and flaunt a...

. The Second Roman Empire Those were the days, when Julius Caesar Saw a country and would seize her, And the busty Roman matrons Ran the house and bossed the patrons. Christians, at the least suggestion, Gave...

. Every one of us makes “To-Do” lists to help us on the way So we won’t forget the many things we plan to do each day. Every country has a “To-Do” list as well, and China, too, Here’s a partial...

. This Brave American, Ashli Babbitt “It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands.” —Sophocles, “Antigone” by Usa W Celebride The Democrats stole the election—Ashli Babbitt...

. Lenin It’s late. He walks the lonely corridor in this part of the Kremlin with his cat hammocked in his arm. He stops before the door of every commissariat that’s still aglow and enters into...

. “Wherever books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too.” ---Heinrich Heine  There is diction to spurn and there’s fiction to burn ____If the subject is apt to offend Connoisseurs with...

. A little argument and then they hurt; These liberals are so coy and sensitive. They think they know all forms of decent art, And claim consensus gives prerogative. Their poetry requires subjective...

. Borealis Where Ursa Minor spins about its tail The cold-chill, sabled void of arctic nights Bestirs to life as unseen hands unveil The shifting silence of the Northern Lights. Chameleonesque, the colored...

. Lives There the Man after “Breathes There a Man with Soul so Dead” by Sir Walter Scott* by Roy E. Peterson Lives there the man who won’t defendHis hearth and home from whom intendTo quench his fire and...

. Jelly Guts Rule The book, we’ve been apprised, is most uncool— Young Marco and the farmer by the pool, Wits locked in friendly if serious duel, And Marco sends the farmer off to school. One Dr. Seuss,...

. Oh hail the master puppeteer, Controller of the strings. The altruistic engineer, Sagaciousness he brings. With breathtaking dexterity, He moves us all about. From rich and famed celebrity, To every...

. Around the rearview mirror of my car There hangs a gonfalon of love divine. My talisman, my bright and guiding star, From which both fortitude and healing shine. What is this mighty banner hanging down? Not...

. Advice from Dante “If you hear nostrums* in the market cried, Behave like men, and not like witless sheep.” ---Dante, Paradiso, Canto V Behave like men, and not like witless sheep. The CDC has shown no...

. I heard the harvested remains Of infants coursing through my veins Will save me from the Wuhan Flu--- I’m gonna get some, how ‘bout you? Those babies were already dead, Their blood’s not really on my...

. Bang! “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”---This quote was attributed by John Kennedy to medieval thinker Dante Alighieri  I’m...