Poetry

  Valentine The name of Spring is ever fresh and fair;     Her sound is ever gentle, ever true; The Spring is like the songbird of the air     Who sweetly...

Models for Configuring Friendship A knight for whom the Grail is wholly you; the one who greets you sans your power, might; who never counts the favors that accrue; adheres to you whatever is your...

  The lit brush burns oil on the canvas; Ancient word breathes stories of Atlantis; The silent stone speaks more than us all; Mortal mysteries that hold us in thrall. Throughout the ages, man has...

Xerxes My power does lie In hue of the sky In the refined folds of God’s estate My throne I have carved Of sapphire hard And I crowned it with God’s ark of Jade My hosts of legions Number in...

by Reid McGrath I forewarn you that these are the 10 greatest English Sonnets addressed to or concerning other poets and are not even the 10 greatest short poems concerning other poets. There are innumerable...

So many lasers stroked the night, the sky simply purred and burst apart. We held our breaths, but not from fright - the fireworks had launched their start. like mad housewives and activists, the...

Squinters The curious the contemplators the ones who concentrate on the littlest details. The most beautiful thing about them is how they space out and their attention is unattainable. While the...

  We left the Port of Joy so long ago, And ebbed so much the while and knew no flow, But still another strait we headed to. Whatever we did, wherever we steered All things led to one place, to...

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated. There were many hundreds of submitted poems and many good works and poets who had to be left out. Thank you! ***Winners should email their...

Sedona (A Rhupunt) Deep shadows fade Red rock cascade To purpled jade— Sun sparks ignite. Stone sentries stare Sightless through air At treadless stair Spanning the height. No mortals...

The Gathering Upon the 400th anniversary of the founding of the town of Virginia in Ireland Oh town of the Virgin Queen I hear you call me back To your ancient Way of Woods following Vikings track Your...

Night vision: a process Of the unconscious mind That the poet uses In order to find An acceptable first line Still divested of meaning Wanting only to sing These words forward leaning More words...

Spread twig fingers. Shed your leaves. Those that linger: They may grieve When comes the winter But, come spring New buds splinter, New blooms bring That grow and swell Concentric bands That breathe...

Father and Son I. The Modern Daedalus I want you to carry yourself with pride: Stand up straight, with your shoulders back; don’t slouch; and yet, also, don’t let hubris deride you. Be humble. Get...

Based on the real account of a doctor involved in the Chinese Communist Party’s harvesting of organs from innocent living Falun Gong practitioners   In a bloodstained room on the darkest...

ATLASUSA “Material of this sort is best read aloud.” – Frank Fortky The postal gurus are creative and clever. Our Massachusetts-Pennsylvania family Brought forth a Maine addition – MA & PA, and...

On the Perception of Human Beauty Can there be a myriad of flaws so bold As to boast their cracked imperfections? Could it out do our high expectations? Is there an art form so wrinkled and old From the...

  An autumn breeze blows swiftly through the air, And plucks the tree leaves from their humble roots. Amidst the cold a group stands in the square, Its people warmly dressed in hats and...

Updated: April 26, 2024 10 Greatest Poems Ever Written An Ambitious "Best Poems" List Limited to Poems Originally Written in English and of 50 Lines or Less by Evan Mantyk What is poetry? What is great...

The band struck up for the comical clowns! They all sported wigs, red noses, and frowns And from painted mouths uttered sad cries. Then the fools threw water and custard pies In riotous ribaldry: mad, bad,...

Blue and Gold Michigan, Michigan: Kings to go forth, Kerothen, Kerothen, songs to the North, Ice scattered pond with a trout flipping high, Geist of beau monde, with a shout to the sky. Out from the...

Tender is the night shared in close caress With candied kiss and floral purr, no less. The pristine perfection of unclaimed time Drenches air with an ephemeral chime. Considering not money as pay off, The...

October 29, 2015: China renounces its 35 year old one-child policy, but strict controls continue despite the change.   The Party rules our wombs, with Orwellian coercion– forced abortion,...

1 it shows many sides but usually 2 — can boil & bluster & end in a stew — can be clear as crystal & cut a sharp view — or narrow to nothing but be taken as true 2 it holds...

When Fairies Stop Hiding It's at the end of the day, but it's not over just yet- It's time for young fairies, to grow wings and get wet. Sneaking out to the sky, while the sun descends down- Creating color...

Hints from the Moon (Monday) Beginning with zero, hints from the moon Going through phases, ripe in the womb; Time out of nothing, pared in the night, Planet of sorrow tilting to light; Retrograde...

“Red Wall” by Kunlun Zhang: This painting records the personal experience and internal turmoil of the artist, Professor Kunlun Zhang. Professor Zhang was imprisoned in China for three months, during...

Forested deep purity Dusted with a winter's glow; Crystalline perpetuity Takes its place in nature's show. Fresh sunlight plays with diamonds soft That glisten as they sing In silent awe that drifts...

Images of beheadings and men in orange jumpsuits Haunt me when I wake The black hooded vigilantes in the desert Push my heart into the bellows of despair I imagine my male cousins under the...

Free me from wars? Make my debut? Oh, Mr. Handsome G.I. Joe— your face and a blanket won’t do. Sift flour from Mama’s ashes, melt glue from Papa’s bones. Knead them into dough— free of wars,...

A news report here provides some background on China Radio Like Radio Free Europe, Which popped the wax Plugs from deafened Soviet ears, And warmed their sterile souls With tales of liberty, China Radio...

The rustic minuet's small step has since been swept away by all the modern pop and pep and fizzle of the day. One of the first to introduce it into music's lair was Frenchman Jean Baptiste Lully of Louis'...

Laments of the Oppressed My great country, please let me be, What I think and say should be up to me, The world cannot be so controlled, You don't have to block every single road. It isn't something bad...

Updated January 9, 2020 A Quick Sonnet Guide.  A traditional sonnet should have... 14 lines. X Rhyming. The most common is the Shakespearean rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. These 14  letters...

This poem was inspired by Shen Yun Performing Arts.   Bleak and somber is the flavor du jour; Modernism pervades all spheres of art; Artists lacking virtue make it a bore, People wait for a...

Ode on a Children’s Cemetery Plot 1. Behind the soul-gorged cemetery ground, We discovered a plot of yet more dead, A trim, verdant patch cradled all around By a low brick wall, like a toddler’s...

Beneath the Mask Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. -Oscar Wilde A mask is worn to hide one’s face from the surly light of day but if...

Two young brothers are left at home, All by their lonesome selves, The older one notices a new toy, Sitting high up on a shelf. He climbs up and brings on down, What he believes is a toy gun, He thinks...

Secure the yoke and bind the crown. Steady the mouth and tongue for sound. The morning breaks. Our sight is found. The bell is hung. Let’s gather round. Now strike the lip for their renown. Each...

When You Have Reached the Bottom By R. Lee Ubicwedas When you have hit rock bottom, you have nothing left to lose. You gain experience and wisdom that you now can use. You have a choice how to react when...