Poetry

The summary and introduction below is from a newly adapted (UK spellings Americanized and punctuation updated), illustrated, and annotated version of Great Expectations in PDF made free for download for...

. Raking Leaves The blaze of autumn's orange-gold is gone, And now it's time to rake the fallen leaves, __To clear the cluttered eaves, __And face a colder dawn. Those piles and piles of crispy, mottled...

. Solid Rock With open heart, but eyes shut tight, led by our feelings, not by sight, they are the rock upon which we once built the fantasy that the foundation that we engineered inside our mind as thoughts...

. First Pick Flamingo They used to call this player the flamingo; They chaffed and mocked; they were full of bravado. ‘Cause he’s the new kid, they didn’t know his skills He missed three practice shots,...

. A Brief Respite From murky depths, I rise, by duty fetched,And breaking surface in the waking world,I find my horizontal self outstretched,Exposed to view, like some old map unfurled. Upon this couch, I sink...

. Jehu Destroys the Temple and Statue of Baäl "—What did that madman want?" ---2 Kings 9:11 He saw Jehu Destroys the Temple and Statue of Baäl, the print by Maarten van Heemskerck of darkness to appall. He...

. Beryl Spring ---Yellowstone National Park Towering torrents of steam and mist Rise next to the side of the road, Beckoning drivers to park and trudge toward a cloud. Roars like the noise of jet engines...

. The Garden Dense boughs and variegated blooms __That once festooned a garden Are dying as November births __Pellucid forms that harden On them, my attic's roof, and grass. Now every morning when I...

. https://youtu.be/B9aMXFVpFEk . . Andrew Benson Brown's epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, chronicles the major events of the American Revolution. He writes history articles for American Essence...

. A Recruiter Tells It as It Isn’t Your World War One recruitment agent prays he finds you well. Your King and Country says we need you for a dalliance in France. In gay Paris, you’ll get to chat and...

. Feeding the Alligators The orange king of lava tongue has won. He sings a spangled song that rings throughout A plundered land where dreams and gold once sprung. He's here to nourish hope and conquer...

. Homeostasis "When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change."  —Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland In general, everybody wishes things Would stay the same. An endless barbecue Of ribs and...

. The Ghosts of Altamira ---a meditation A herd of prehistoric bison; blood beliefs Depicted in concentric whorls with prints of hands. Stick petroglyphs which hint at ice age births and griefs, And spells to...

. For the Sake of Ten Thousand: A Supplication from New Sodom And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?  Suppose there were fifty righteous…?’” ---Genesis...

. O Lord, Let Me Not Fall O Lord, let me not fall today, I pray, Not in some vague or metaphoric way, As into sin or moral turpitude Or somewhat less than pious interludes. I’m talking, Lord, my face against...

. "Sometimey” People Sometimes he’s quite responsive, Sometimes he disappears. Sometimes he’s downright friendly, Sometimes he switches gears. Sometimes he’s so straightforward, Sometimes he seems to...

. Contra Computerdom I hold this fountain pen with thumb and fingers, burgundy barrel, gold and rhodium nib, Montblanc white-sea-star floating on its cap. German, this instrument, successor to the stylus...

. Simplicity “Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” ---Sir Isaac Newton I smell you in the fresh-mown lawnAs linen billows in the breeze.I hear you...

. Horse Figurine —one inch by one point nine inch, 32,000 to 35,000 years before Giacometti's famous horse   A hallowed tiny horse, but missing legs, Comes down to us impossibly, or near In its...

. HellWard Canto 1: Hospital ---lines 1-92 It had to be---that long descent began: About me images, one century That started, stuttered, showed how poor is man In all things except his savagery. My...

. Elegy for a Cowboy Cousin An autumn wind is stirring strong across the dusty hills, As tumbleweeds leave skittered tracks within the sandy rills. The western sun is slanting deep through breaks in gathering...

. Voting Advice When we vote in each election,few with brains will ever run.So, when we make our selection,we elect a simpleton. When a massive problem’s brewingthat can tear apart the state,since they...

. Guy Fawkes Night Makeover November 5th! To Guy Fawkes let’s be kind--- no burning him in effigy this year. His hanged-and-drawn-and-quartered doom I find excessive; let’s reverse his fate most drear! His...

. Polarities The only certain solidarity among the Self-Reliant is the ease with which their pride in insularity is spoken of like some esteemed disease they welcome to their homes: To seek a cure would be a...

. I. I travel thanks to water, But do not float or sail. More quickly than an otter And have a smoke-like tail. What am I? . II>. II. When at the beach, I soak up sun, Look down on waves (that’s...

.   The Death of the Old Met 1883-1967 Unsinging silence fills the empty spaceWhere once the divas aria-ed and trilledPuccini’s La Bohème before the faceOf audiences eager to be thrilled. And music critics...

. Loose Me! “Loose him, and let him go.” ---John 11.44 O loose me, Jesus! Jesus, set me free from all that binds my soul and blinds my way. Unwrap the shrouds of death that cling to me! Let every shade of...

. Fall Back: Central Standard Time Already it is dark: the falling arc Of each advancing year, when the eager moon, To catch the setting sun, comes up too soon. Full light no longer lingers at high noon, Or...

. Hey Gen Z, There’s a Huge Inheritance Coming Your Way Inheritance? What could it be? __A house? A yacht? A jet? No way. It’s much, much bigger. __It’s called the National Debt. The debt is 35 trillion...

. The Knucklehead Defense If you’ve implied that you have fought in war,but meant your statements more as metaphordesigned so you’ll appear to be less lame,the Knucklehead Defense will clear your name. If...

. Lady Gwyn  I hear the scratching of a claw--- A disembodied monkey’s paw Scraping at decaying bones. I feel a gust of ghostly moans Wuther through my withered heart. It’s time to stir. It’s time to...

. Song of the Spirit After midnight slightly drowsy, Contemplating writing lousy, While the script-score I redacted, Something in my head reacted. Dreamed I heard a stirring curtain, Though my mind remained...

. The Iron Road  Flecked with the dust of snow, the iron rails Lie still and undisturbed beneath a sky Of cloudless blue where eagles freely fly, Their wings outspread to catch the wind like sails. They soar...

. Elisha's Bones II Kings 4:32–37, 13:20–21 Elisha died, the prophet doubly strong In spirit, and his sepulcher was grand, For he had caused a lifeless child to stand And speak, then heard the mother’s...

. Sonnet 83 A thankless task. You churn them singly out. They’re ordered chronologic’ly. And when someone asks idly what they’re all about, you can’t avow a single theme. But then you add as...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zId3BCl6M . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of...

. Passing Through a Graveyard Marred old friends whose breath has passed Are cold friends whose breadth I pass. Some I pray they pray for me. Some they pray I pray them free. Hewn in granite where was...

. Where Babylonic Rivers Flowed after Psalm 137, a lament at the destruction of Jerusalem Where Babylonic rivers flowed We settled down to weep and mourn And mused on Zion, our abode, Our city sullied and...

. Prayer as an Antidote for Unbelief Just imagine if, while you’re entreating the sky, You were met with the wink of a generous Eye. __A very grave disaster it would be __If all there was to your approach...

. The Venetian Doge on the Sack of Constantinople Setting: Constantinople in the Summer of 1204 AD. Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice prepares for bed after an exhausting day visiting Byzantium’s famous bronze...