Culture

. To the Passenger Pigeon As once, upon the Great Plains, thundering herds of buffalo, innumerable, held sway, a genocide befell these dull-plumed birds whose flocks eclipsed the sunlight, day on day, Up from...

. St. Patrick's Day 2024  for an Ireland suffering terribly under the weight of forced migration Where is the one who rid the Emerald Isle Of snakes? Nostalgia hears the hell-bent tread Of gallant feet that...

. Watching It hardly matters what I’d read (Another plangent exposé Of something solid in the world That bit by horrid bit unfurled Into a source of pending dread), It brought to mind an image grey With...

. Infernos on the Pages of Literary Journals That one barbaric yawp might just have been All right, but then it ricocheted right down The later centuries.  Literature’s new bin Was made for poetry because...

. Native Americans Were Swindled Out of Manhattan in 1634 Knowing Eyes—an aging elder, born in Black Bear County Famed for being fearless and the wisest of his tribe— Met with “Diamond-Jim” Van Dyne in...

. His Stories Were His Legacy Ivan, The Barber, 1882-1963 . Covered in a heavy blanket, __he sat and watched the rain; it had been more than thirty years, __damp weather made him lame. He turned his old pipe...

. Monica's Consolation for Margaret Coats, who introduced me to St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and his mother, St. Monica (332-387) Caritas, enter! I’m so glad you’re here. It seems that sleep eludes us...

. For Paavo Nurmi who trained against his stop-watch and in medias rez we begin as the runners approach the penultimate turn. Though their torsos are heaving, the sweat isn't beading—the storm of their pace...

. Samson, Tribe of Dan "Dan is a serpent in the path. He bites the horse's heel and causes the rider to fall backward." ---Jacob, Genesis 49 My father, from the tribe of Dan,Taught me, far too well, we...

. Story Time The father, he sits on the couch with a book, A child in each arm, and one more on his knees; The mother, the same.  All the other ones look Content on the floor; he recites like a breeze. He...

. Hatching A gelid mass of wings that seethed and surged— A squeamish sight that caught me by surprise— A swarming hatch of termites had emerged A host of queens to mount and fertilize. They sprang from...

. Philanthropaths & Puppets Philanthropath: a psychopath masquerading as a philanthropist. ---the Urban Dictionary . I. So Rose the Puppeteer He pulls the strings of those his treasures bless--- They...

. Fed Suffering The True Story of Dai Mingrong . Not merely stale today, her bowl of rice Now tastes like bitter dust. Then, all’s ablur. Her grip grows shaky while her fingers curl... Condemned to suffer,...

. Do Your Jobs Live up to the Constitution That contains a plain solution. Guard us from invading mobs. Come on Congress, do your jobs. It’s really simple. Build a wall Along the border for us all. Illegal...

. Insomnia, My Sometime Muse She comes to me while I’m asleep,Not with strange imaginings of dreamsBut with fragmented thoughts. It seemsShe thinks they cannot keepBut must be worked upon, upon this...

. Jane Doe These trembling hands are not the first to jostle away unholy grabs from praying hands; you crossed the lines Christ drew in coastal sands before the crowd gathering their stones. __You blamed me...

. The Crimson Creed We know the primal aggregate, Self-molded at the start of time, Before the Big Bang uppercut Made all the cosmic flotsam rhyme. We know that two plus two is five. The world’s alive...

. The Marble Angel The marble angel stood upon a tomb Erect and at attention, wings outspread, His blank eyes watching through the growing gloom, Like some mute sentry sent to guard the dead. I saw him...

. . Shoveling Out the Blizzard Snow came so thick, the roof makes pops and creaks; downspouts froze solid as cement with ice; while working on the walk, you’ve fallen twice: The cold shines through your...

. Anthony Comstock: An Extended Dactylic Higgledy, piggledy, Anthony Comstock, the Toughest enforcer of morals to date, Couldn’t stand looking at nude female pulchritude Due to his stern puritanical...

. The Taxman Cometh Get out your Number Two and calculate Your taxable income; what, if anything, You owe. The taxman doesn’t like to wait, And government has to fill its money chest. That hated agency, the...

. Peacemakers Islam is sometimes referred to as the Religion of Peace Go on, won’t you bless the peacemakers— The ones who make peace with the beasts. They think that would take them like Meccans Around...

. Captain Francisco Menendez Born a Mandinga, on Africa’s west coast, Where farm and hunting toil supported most, But tribal spats and small jihads maintained For centuries a brutal trade in slaves, This...

. . Peaches, Plums, and the Sistine Chapel . . I. Pondering Prufrock   a pantoum  . The women come and then they go As foggy muzzles nuzzle air. There’s talk of Mike and Angelo. Time strides...

. Authenticity Some skies stark and vivid, But others milky white. Sometimes lovely azure skies, Or pale with fading light. Some skies gray and gloomy, Yet others black as night. Skies! Their...

. . Maura H. Harrison is a writer, photographer, and fiber artist from Fredericksburg, VA. She is currently an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas, Houston.  Her works have...

. You Can't Control Everything You can't control the wind that blows, The destiny of others' souls, Time and tides and what they bring--- You can't control everything. Blame volcanoes for ash and dust, It...

. Ipse Dixit I say Cogito ergo sum To the animal here in the room. So how do I know I exist? Well, here’s a provisional list: I doubt, and I fear, and I bleed; I attend to a friend who’s in need. The...

. Last Visit to the Beach a sestina The beach, untouched by Time throughout the years As millions of waves washed from the sea, As Time transformed me, now no more a boy, Where I would walk each season on that...

. Quilting the News Lots of people still don’t know __that what’s portrayed as “news” is often pieced together to __promote the crafters’ views. Like sculptors with a block of clay, __the crafters...

. . February 14, 2024 A heart of burning love, an ashen cross Converge today: the marriage of two kinds Of love. The feast day is St. Valentine’s--- Which, this year, intersects Ash Wednesday: Eros United...

. Ash Wednesday Valentines by Charles d’Orléans (1394-1465), translated by Margaret Coats . I. Who’s there? Who comes so early, who? “It’s I myself.” Saint Valentine, you! Why turn up now at...

. I Am the Stone I am the stone The humble stone the barefoot shepherd boy Selected from the muddy river bed; The stone which fit inside the sling he made As soon as he was given leave by Saul To fight for...

. The Southern Cross The caravels escaped at last The roiling tides of Bojador And entered tropic seas far past What any chart described before--- __An unknown world to cross. Strange southern seas! Unending...

. . Nocturnal Litany I “From all malevolence the night employs….” ---James Agee, “Epithalamium” . From all malevolence the night employs To haunt our ragged hearts and weary brains With bitterness...

. Love Sonnet The glint of summer’s evening leaves a glow upon her cheek, so soft and plain and fair— the glister of the twilight hours show the rosebuds, luminescent in her hair. And all the earth now...

. The Austrian Non Placet Comes in Time (Recess at the papal conclave in Rome, August 1903. One cardinal speaks to a small group of his allies) Two ballots done already. I perceive Things are not going our...

. The Screaming Screed and Stench Sister Cindy, Brother Jed, Before the cellphone, rumor spread, "They're speaking on the Common, dude, Their testimony's waxing crude!" Pioneer, the sawdust trail, Jed and...

. Babel There was a time when all the world one tongue Among its peoples shared, and language preened Itself with fluffed-up thoughts that oversprung The bounds of things as yet quite unforeseen. Man set about...

. Paradise Island Some years ago, from cliff top and from shore,a flock of birds that never touched the skylooked out upon an ocean ship that borea biped crew from whom they could not fly.These creatures,...