Poetry

  Scrabble-ism One night I was hangin’ with Len, Eating and watching t.v. All the pizza rolls gone, I then Suggested Monopoly. “That game is all luck!” he then said, Voice revealing some...

By Jane Blanchard On December 5, 1830, Christina Rossetti was born in London to an Italian-English mother married to an Italian poet in exile.  The youngest of four children, all of whom grew up to be...

The first Society of Classical Poets sponsored "Rhyming Poetry Reading" was held at The Tea Garden in Middletown, New York, on December 18, 2016. The open mic featured readings of rhyming poetry by renowned...

  To the Kurdish Women Soldiers With girlish smiles above costumes of war - you dance, sisters; stamp the pallid golden dust to furbellows about your booted feet. Cold light, drab uniforms are aching...

  Witches’ Brew Round and round the seven seas go, In the putrid poisons throw, Double, double toil and trouble, dolphins die and oceans bubble. Extract of mercury, pcb’s, poison waters by...

  Beauty in a Butcher’s Shop By Damian Robin There can be beauty in a butcher’s shop Even when that butcher’s shop’s unclean; And we can make that dirty butchery stop By listening to the...

  Sighs fill the room as Mulan weaves the loom She doesn’t want Father to meet his doom. The Khan needs an army to face the Huns; Father can barely walk let alone run. There’s none to take his...

by Dusty Grein The sestina originated among the troubadours of medieval France's Provence region, and the modern thirty-nine line form is attributed to one of these traveling poet entertainers of the...

  Kitty staring at the tipped fishbowl (whoever felled it left not a hair), With no one home, what was, do you think, The mysterious force that toppled it there? I will honestly say I do not...

  Obi-Wan Bin Laden RIP Let’s remember what God wants: Killing people’s never right, So Obi-Wan Bin Laden then Cannot be a Jedi knight. To make folks free you face them straight...

A rondeau on Shen Yun Performing Arts By Evan Mantyk I love the dance that can exalt The human form without a fault, Demeanor grand, inspiring pose; They’re swift yet seem in sweet repose And all my...

  Ohio State University Attack By Wilbur Dee Case "If you don't like liberal democracy, go to North Africa, the Middle East, or China. Oops." —Waseel Budecir I'm warning you, America, the post on...

  In an Unfinished Honeycomb:  An Old Story As lichen on a rock expands, so you grow in love on the lap of your mother until --- smothering her presence you burst aglow into green adolescence....

Unforeseen Good Fortune’s Heirs Are We There’s little of the Plague that we can find to celebrate except for this small gem – when those who died left property behind it often changed their...

  Dedicated to Falun Gong practitioners who have faced seventeen years of persecution in China. As tempests are blowing, angry waves clash; The foaming sea roars, whilst lightning doth flash. Eternal...

  Wood Nymph A wood nymph knocked on my door last night           her hair was flaxen gold the ivy trailing through my...

  Exhale swift, what crimson breeze; Amber crisp and fuchsia Colors adorn leaves on the trees Their coats of misty rouge. And clap, applaud with festive show Aware not of the scent; The musky...

December—not April cruelest, nor June In moon—must be the most romantic month, Why else make men of snow, or gods of men, Or turn the world virgin-white, life in death? At dusk, a chickadee,...

By Carol Smallwood The triolet is a medieval French poetry form that has eight lines and was introduced to the English language by poets in the 17th century:   1. A 2. B 3. a  Rhymes with 1st...

  Pacific Trash Vortex I don’t care about chemical sludges, I don’t care about plastic debris, the Pacific trash vortex is so far away, that it just doesn’t matter to me. So, the plastic is...

  Christmastime Lush green tree, wet pine scent fills the air. Strings of tiny gems, that plump tree, strangle, Children’s handmade trimmings everywhere, Red and green and bells that...

Who would true Valor see Let him come hither; One here will Constant be, Come Wind, come Weather. There's no Discouragement, Shall make him once Relent, His first avowed Intent, To be a Pilgrim. Who...

By Evan Mantyk I. I’m thinner than most cars you see, I do not guzzle as much gas, And if I ever want to flee, Between two cars I’ll eas’ly pass! What am I? II. I’m in the water but can’t...

Dogs are expected to sit Dogs are expected to stay They receive kicks If they make the boat sway Hong Kong is the dog But, of course, there is no Hong Kong When it comes to the law In China there’s...

Kindness and Stars The gentle touch and splendid gift Intended to restore and heal Is rich enough to move and lift Our souls beyond the grief we feel. Though stars a twinkle only show, Their powerful...

The Policeman By Brice U. Lawseed He dreamed there were ten thousand demonstrators on the streets, a nightmare of the vicious mixed with youngsters sending tweets. He woke up in a sweat, but it had...

  Paris, 13 November 2015 The hiders: cheaters with suicide-belted access to ethereal hiding places — traceless but for grieving faces searching sidewalks. The seekers: police, army, press corps,...

  For Donald J. Trump, on the occasion of his victory   A Citizen arose, and men of blood, With wrists for necks and heads a folded fist, Advanced against him in a scarlet flood Of wrath,...

  Now does a mischief Winter grip our Isle with hands Which, Midas-like, turn all they touch to silvery ice. Thus does our season prove itself more strong than old, Its touch is an enchantment...

A Quick Haiku Guide  A traditional haiku should... 1. Be three lines. The first line should have five syllables, the second seven syllables, the third five syllables. Seventeen syllables total. 2. Contain...

By Ubs Reece Idwal "We reject the president-elect." —protesting chant In Portland, Oregon, four thousand demonstrators came, protesting the election, passions fuming, hate aflame. At first the...

  So Far, So Good One friend fears his father’s Alzheimer fate, another prepares herself for the end while her husband tries not to cry or state she can’t leave, but for her sake he...

  Hiding My Glee (Rondeau) Hiding my glee, lest my spouse see the merriment mulling in me. I’ll deftly deflect our next fight by delaying my lone delight that the winner’s my...

I think we need your help Lord God; Fairly sure we do, Sure as feet upon the sod, Sure as coins be few, We must concede the modern day is dim and dark, unclear, For limits seem so far away, while close...

Can one’s eyes pierce the shroud of time to learn The message of Atlantis drowned in dust? Past Hercules’s Pillars thrived man’s lust For power – now in History’s dark urn, As baneful greed’s...

  Pygmalion at Twilight Like a fiery dawn came we forth unto Our place on pedestals above the dunes Of disappointment – longing dared to paint A fairer portrait, distorted by the wait; A gilded...

By Nostradamus (1503-1566) | Translated by Evan Mantyk   X 76 The great Senate will award the pageant, To one who’s then vanquished, driven out; For adherents, the sound of the...

  Culloden Moor At last they met. No sound. Arrays deployed. It was the perfect day—no haze, no shine. Long minutes lapsed before the bagpipes trilled. By noon it all ran smooth. Forlorn and...

By Sathya Narayana The rubaiyat (pronounced “roo-bái-yát”) is a Persian form of several quatrains. Its name is derived from the Arabic plural of the word for "quatrain," rubá'íyah. This, in turn,...

  Said the Painter Upon the mossy stones I dwelt, I did, and was, and painting felt An arch and angel bend to speak, Their sainted tones my brush to seek. And why such was, I could not say, But...