Culture

. Supernova With no notice, the rockets destroyed festive peace,And a volley of bullets brought death and dismay.Ben ran straight to his car, telling strangers, “Get in!I can take you to town, a safe distance away.” As they raced over roads, on the lookout for foes,He called home with a...

. An Unfortunate Encounter ---27 March 2025 A ragamuffin mob surrounded mewhilst on an errand, walking in the street.They pressed in close, they vied to shake my hand,distracting me---the foreigner. Then onecovertly lit a firecracker andhe dropped it in a pocket of the bagupon my back. They jeered, they squealed...

. On Epic Madness Sing, goddess, of the hate, and killings, on the Earth unleashed, destructive wrath which brings such woe to south, west, north and east, and sends to hell heroic souls, to vile dogs of war, to crows and vultures, scavengers of death, and all their corps. This...

  Alive, Alive-o In Dublin’s fair city,Where the girls are so pretty,There lived an old woman,Who was well known to me;Where she sighed with amazement,At her new knee replacement,Singing, “Cartilege and Muscles,For me are all go.For me are all go, For me are all go,”Singing, “Cartilege and Muscles,For me are...

. Bear Spray My little brother took a dare To pepper spray a mama bear. It seems the spray was much too mild, So I've become an only child. Except for near the polar ice, The bears you'll see are mostly nice When people give them ample space But get...

. The New Headmasters As I sat, that afternoon, upon his kneeWhile he read a “witty” book and I faux-laughedI’m afraid, aged eight, I didn’t really seeWhat was happening: I now feel rather daft.But “frottage,” back in Nineteen Eighty-Nine,In an England run by toffs from public schools,Such as Geoffrey Howe...

. The Ego Lingers Longer Than The Mind The ego lingers longer than the mind, It dares to whisper yearnings of its own: To manifest a will more keen than kind, A shady glow that will not be outshone. We think we know what stirs our minds to act, We...

. Headspace It’s easy to detect folks’ disrespect, And hope your feats will make them feel quite small. But better still would be if the effect, Was not to give them any thought at all. . . The Senior Dating Scene I was, from friends my age, quite shocked to...

. Back to the Greenwood The spring has come to England once again But I am far away and cannot see The blackthorn blossoms blowing in the wind, And blackbirds in the heavens, flying free. The sun, grown potent, burns the standing stones, Releasing things enthralled by winter’s hand, Igniting...

. There’s Nothing to Regain ---on the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam town, in Kashmir, India Their hapless screams over that vale Had failed to cross celestial planes; But found their way beneath my veins To scratch my conscience, growing stale With frozen tears and empathy. The meadows reeked...

. Premonition The sun shines down in undimmed majestyAcross the heavens’ undiminished breadthOn life unsapped, unweighted levityOf loves and laughs untinged with sight of death--- Except for mine. An unseen shadow thrownAs night across the day strikes untold fearIn me of doom unnamable yet known,Unseen but felt, and menacingly near....

. How I Spent My Spring Vacation: Poetry and Photography by James A. Tweedie . It Begins 45 Days Surrounded by the circle of the sea I cruise Atlantic waters, eastward bound, As knot by knot each longitude degree Leads onward towards a world as yet unfound. To Portugal’s fair...

. Heritage I’ve never asked for anything The living soil does not provide. I don’t want cash; I don’t want bling; I only want to stand beside The footprints of departed fathers, Now looking down through time and space To see what son it is who bothers To understand his...

. An Ode to Silay Cathedral bells now toll, And horses march the streets, The crowd has filled the hall, We hear the priest now preach. A lady makes a curtsy To the Lord respectfully. The marble pillars stand, The bougainvillea blooms, The sky azure and grand, The silk dress...

. Medusa's Sisters Medusa lost her head and found renown instead. Her living sisters roared, “And why are we ignored who so much fouler are and deadlier by far? “You’d think that she’d become the pride of gorgondom. Who caused Medusa’s fall? A sniveling man—that’s all. To that galoot the...

. High Society The Cornelius mansion on Park Avenue, New York City, Sunday, August 22, 1886 A derby hat; a fresh, white boutonniereOn my lapel. You just can’t have a newBeau Brummel jacket without something brightTo make the pretty debutantes draw near---The girls who sigh that I’m a Wall Street...

. The Luigi Mangione Act We need to contemplate the true impact of The Luigi Mangione Act. Although we sympathize with those who penned this act, it won’t turn out as they intend. Our health care system shows such signs of stress because it is a bureaucratic mess with pencil-pushers...

. On Shen Yun . I. The land of China. Deep in history That like a river flows with people and culture, Extending into misty mystery. But now this fascinating, gleaming treasure Is buried in the mud beneath the beast Of communism seeking to destroy The goodness and the beauty...

. Voyage Among the Ancients "Tread softly, for here you stand On miracle ground…" ---Lawrence Durrell, "On Ithaca Standing" ( 1937) The Juno anchors, docks. We disembark. Each landfall’s an Odyssean surprise. Uncanny myths have left their canny mark. These islands are ruin-studded, rocky, stark. To wander is to feel...

. Two Lyrics by Philodemus of Gadara translated from Greek by Joseph S. Salemi . V.124 Summertime has not yet cast off her buds Nor has the grape bunch turned to purple for you, The one near bursting with its maiden bloom. Already the young Cupids are at work Whetting...

. Stone’s Point of View They brought Him to the tomb and rolled me into The right position to seal in the dead, And there was nothing I could do to undo The suffocating sense of loss and dread. The bloody face they wrapped in finest linen Retained a look...

. Easter Couplets Easter’s more than just about eggs and bunnies;More than what you may have read in the funnies. Short and sweet, (although I can’t guarantee it),This is what it’s all about, as I see it: Jesus died and rose again—or he didn’t.What the Bible says is true—or it...

. Who Are You and Who Am I ---a villanelle Who are you and who am I That you fill my life with light And for me you chose to die. I have fallen from on high, I am foolish, you are wise, Who are you and who am I?...

. Emmaus We barely saw he’d joined us as we made Our way along the road, so sad, afraid, So utterly confused by what had come To pass, so unsure as to what was rumor And what was true. And we were near struck dumb To hear the fellow didn’t...

. In the Garden of the King In the garden of the King I sit beside a crystal spring. The Tree of Life shines up above Fed by God’s eternal love. The Rose of Sharon is in bloom Freely giving sweet perfume. Friends and loved ones everywhere. The King is...

. Holy Saturday "Call the Sabbath a delight." —Isaiah 58:13 His weary, soulless body needed rest, Not only pierced and physically exhausted, But racked with mental pain, the scourging test Of misbelieving judgment that accosted The Word, yet found its wandering ways the best. Disciples treating Truth as an impostor...

. Crucified  She pondered horrors of the modern age. He thumbed through piles of dusty history tomes. She craved the timeless wisdom of a sage. He chewed on clues and mused like Sherlock Holmes. He scrutinized the motives in Ukraine. She grappled with the rabble on the jab. She mapped...

. Unless . . . As un-sun darkness swallows up the day, And quake shake rends an empty Holy Place, God’s grief-strewn Via Dolorosa way Leads to a cross and Jesus’ death-stained face. For here at Calvary creation cries, As ageless faithful saints and martyrs rise To watch with wide...

. Good Friday Rain I wake and hear the rain cascade. Its cleansing drops roll down my pane; They soak the garden, bathe the glade, Refresh the grass, and swell the grain. Stretched out in bed, from stress aloof, I lie in peace, content to hear The pleasing patter on...

. . Lament for Clairac by Théophile de Viau (1590-1626) translated from French by A.Z. Foreman Sun-hallowed walls where I once loved Phillis, Sweet places where my soul knew charm and wonder, Today, beneath our wrecked roofs, just a piece Of a high-handed army's bloody plunder. Altar cloth vaporized, great...

. Poetry Legacy Superb is her poetic contribution, Unique in its design and execution. She hopes the work is widely loved and lasting— With love beginning prior to her passing. . . Restricted Lane He sees her every several days, _They talk a bit each time. As soon as she...

. "But Fruits Are Not Concealed in Them" ---Friedrich Schiller, "Breath and Depth" We hear the ancient rule: The fools think they are wise; The wise know they are fools… But who knows their own lies? The lights or shades inside Will clear or smudge the lens. However much we...

. The Hermit Curses Sharp sunrises cut white streaks on the plain, whet edges on black soil, where all at once the spirit clefts from matter, and my gains recoil when I recall your face. Not front or profiled, but the back—like some long cursed outlander on the road you...

. Curb Appeal . I. You really couldn't find a better plotOn which to build a house. The yard is rimmedIn masonry. The hedge is neatly trimmed;Without a doubt, a perfect corner lot.  There's something everywhere you look to pleaseThe eye: the mailbox post; the shrubbery;The blooms; surrounding woods for...

. Druthers I’ve never warmed to the absurd idea That I should lean toward being what I ain’t. I’m more inclined to move to North Korea Than hanker to become a martyred saint. I want to live an unencumbered life And have some say in making my own rules; I’ll...

. Ovechkin Beats Gretzky He’s the greatest at one task, it’s putting biscuits into baskets. He scores goals from awkward angles after making dekes, and dangles. He’s a hockey fan amazer, wearing blades sharp as a razor, that ensure he skates with style on past each stationary pylon. After picking...

. Cantarella Wine Rome. 1501. Lucrezia Borgia hosts Bishop Giovanni Cavalieri of the Republic of Siena. He is visiting Rome as the leader of a faction of priests intent on pressing the Church to address allegations of materialism and clerical inchastity. Cavalieri’s positions are threatening to Pope Alexander VI---Lucrezia’s father...

. Strange Blindness: A Play in Two Acts . Prologue Joseph and Jesus knew that perfect timing---and not plain, unforeshadowed proclamation---would show the deepest truth about life’s drama.Its plot twists often need a drawn-out commafor characters who need some preparationbefore they can perceive the play’s full meaning. . Act I...

. Hannah Duston She looms there, immortalized, in bronze gone blue, a puritan woman with crude hatchet cocked. Her stare is as cold as the New England dew, the blood of her captors still slick on her frock. Kidnapped and beaten, through the snow she was led, the head of...

. Spring Bloomers ---a triolet A lick of spring has kissed the air Whispering of skimpy knickers--- It’s time to toss thick underwear. A lick of spring has kissed the air. I’ll hurl my hat, let down my hair As chill will thaws and fever flickers. A lick of spring...