Poetry

. Autumn I find myself possessed among the red (The maple) and the yellow (oak); possessed Of some distinct yet subtle joy inbred So deep within me, there so dear impressed Its merest hint the whole world...

. A Ballad of Bellport In stockings and slippers, A dress to her knees, She scans the horizon And takes in the breeze. She glances to Heaven, Peruses the seas. Reports of a mishap Have filled her with...

. The Java Joe Machine My jiffy Java Joe machineAllows me to make only oneCup of coffee when I please,Convenient when I’m on the run. But in the seconds as it brewsI recall my coffee potDripping cheerfully...

. Senior Village The ambulances come and go. Last night it was the man across The hall, whom I’d begun to know. Another friend, another loss. __I never know, From day to day, who I will see Driven away....

. Not So Grand Poo-bah Middle brother with lesser brain, Descended from the killer Cain. More grasping man you never saw, Believes he is the Grand Poo-bah. He flew down south to get his Dad, But he was not a...

. The Force of Dreams I dreamed of you last night.  I dreamed and dreamed, Yet more, as if there never had been dreams In me before.  Reality it seemed Had never been reality.  Green dreams Of Eden never...

. Homage to Morton of Merrymount To you I pay this homage and devotion: Thomas Morton, Host of Merrymount— You, whose learnèd writing put in motion The court suit that brought Plymouth to account. Yes,...

. Contemporary Logic Tattoos were blanketing her skin, Pierced everywhere, objects put in, Eyelash extensions, purple-haired, “I love my body,” she declared. . . Stolen Land I heard two liberals talk at...

. The Good Life What is the good life that God is providing? What is the good life He seeks to impart? How can I know that I live in God’s favor? How can I know that I’m close to His heart? If in my life...

. S O S Keep the fleecy wolves from bleating. Hold the pack of jackals back. Seize the greedy grubbers eating Scraps from bowls of those who lack. Bar the charlatans from cheating. Quell the yak of quack and...

. The Mask Sin wears a Cherub’s mask And beams forth paradise. “Come in, recline, and bask.” Discerning eyes looks twice: The gate shuts like a vice. . . The Strange Case Of Homo Sapiens At my right...

. Look Up Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on a world split apart The prophet scorned the academic dress of those who had invited him to their Parnassus of the Ivy League. Why wear their garb, when he intended not to...

. Skellig Michael a remote island off the Irish coast A whispered, whistled wind resounds the echo Of the circling gannets’ raucous cry. While far below, the white noise, sea surge surf Collides with barren...

. The Night My Father Punched the Cow The night my father punched the cowWas dark and windy, late; and nowHis job was dangling on a row,And he was sick of it, somehow__That night. He broke his hand, and held...

. The Walk Whether you call it a walk or a run, some animals tread on the water for fun, to flee, chase their food, or show off for their mate. Grebes, doing a dazzling dance for their date, slap their lobed...

. Tattered I watched a butterfly today, grappling with the barbarous breeze. She was suspended and entrapped under a canopy of trees. Her tattered wing was on display, a tragedy for all to see. Descending...

. Mother Government We modern people don’t believe that pointless rituals relieve the crushing angst felt deep within, that we once thought was caused by sin. But Mother Government has shown to all of us...

. The Waste Land: 2028 You said you loved her---everything about her---Her color, accents, laugh, that she was woke.Her joy outweighed all duty and was louder!America, you said, should go for broke.You...

. Apologies at Antoninus Pius’s Table, 155 A.D. . I. Rome’s Glory “Arriving at this feast, how proud I stand that Rome endures to succor those who dwell here in this citadel and those whose hands till...

. To Melody, on Her Wedding Day And now the hour has come for you to fly, To leave your early nest and take the air For vistas yet unseen (though God knows where He’ll take you, as He knew in days gone...

Old Chestnut I’m the spirited girl with the chestnut hair, Common countenance pale, smile occasionally stressed, High forehead and wide, sculpted jawline square, A pert single chin, curving neck...

. Washington’s Armor Under a watchful sky, a thick, long snake Was slithering: red regulars and blue Virginians groaned while dragging banners to stake In Fort Duquesne; brown wagons splashed its crew Of...

. Sudan, 2005 ---on the death of Dr. John Garang, Liberation Fighter and Sudanese Vice President Garang is dead! An accident, they say--- his helicopter downed by slanting rain. This man who kept the...

. Three Death Musings . 1 One day the conqueror worm will conquer me And therewith render life the Joker's joke. Ensuing laughter will then posit the Arch-ruse and waft away the Joker's smoke As I emerge a...

. Westward, with Columbus The North Atlantic Ocean was awashwith monsters and leviathans, or sowe fearfully supposed, and thought it toshby sailing west, to India we could go. Then Christopher Columbus raised...

. Their Principal Principle With their hideous lies and a gleam in their eyes They disable each new generation, For the best route to power in districts gone sour Is attacking the heart of the...

. A Roman Noble on Constantine the Great Setting: A villa on the outskirts of Rome, ab urbe condita 1082 (329 A.D.) Cornelia, no. The household gods should stay. Wait till the clothes and furnishings are...

. Peter Pan’s Soliloquy In Never Land, each sunrise brings anew A day of play and laughter to pursue. I meet the mermaids, swim in their lagoon, And dance with Indians beneath the moon. I once fed Captain...

. To the Autumn Birches The languid light of waning day Glares undiffused by any cloud, Still strong, defying its decay, Then breaks on a dark colonnade— Oak, ash, and beech—a somber crowd Of mourners...

. Odd One Out Moored to the screen, he barely gets involved In vapid, paltry things his workmates seem To swap their saneness for—magnetic schemes On end-of-season sales—their worlds revolve Around the...

. It Must Be True In The Jungle Book Kipling describes the “Bandar-log”—the monkeys of the Seeonee Jungle—whose scatterbrained chatter is epitomized by their slogan, “We are great... We are the most...

. Ghosts of the Watchtower The end-of-summer breeze gives hint with cool caress Of coming autumn gales and forecasts of distress. But who beneath the sun, when halcyon days abound Imagines they will face the...

. The Meaning of Pearl Necklaces Most pearls are prized because the luster of Their loveliness lies held in shapely spheres— Though never perfect.  Given with a love Strung out on strings of strength to...

. Consideration in Friendship In The Inferno Canto Twenty-Nine, When Dante pauses, looks with longing for His uncle’s son amid the suffering line Of falsifiers---Virgil, growing sore, Asks brusquely if he...

. The Prestige of the Puppet-Master To be deceived must bring some satisfaction, For all are well aware of the illusion Yet most will play the dupe quite willingly; Indeed, they’ll pay good coin for cheap...

. Time For Some Gardening It was time for some gardening. He heard a train go by. Its distant airhorn sighed. There were no clouds up in the sky. He trimmed the grass beside the craggy boulders at the edge. He...

. Carcinoma The NHS, though poised and calm, Have so far done no hurt or harm, Towards this cancer on my arm. They saw it there a month ago, And told me it would have to go; Since then I’ve sat and watched...

. Consequences of Following Advice Advice can come in snappy lines __That have a fun refrain: “Let a smile be your umbrella,” __Though that won’t block cold rain. They tell us that “To err is...

. Political Musings . While bumbling Biden’s basking on the beach, The Donald’s dodging bullets in the breach. . Abortion this, abortion that—it’s 24/7; But not a word about the smash and grab at...

. Not the Same Thing Anymore Of most who go to school these days __It sadly must be stated, No longer can they be appraised __As being educated. . . Kids’ Most Common Mistake The most common...