Poetry

. 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...

. Three Things Alexander Knew “What can you tell me that deserves such excitement, except perhaps that Homer has come back to life?” ---Alexander the Great He conquered the world And it was too small....

. Remnants of the Spring Lupine, Paintbrush, remnants of the spring Color summer’s browning meadows, splashing Renoir dots and drabbles along freshing Snow-fed streams whose whispered burbles sing Odes to...

. Political The culture tells us every day that we can’t be political, so Christians nod and meekly pray, but if we’re analytical, when governments stray into what is truly theological, then we should tell...

. Riverside Park—Labor Day An ambling river. Just a wheeze of gentle breeze. My soul aquiver. . . Desert Only sand and dread. Sunset looms in bloody red. Buzzards overhead. . . Chatter Throngs of...

. On the Death of Mike Lynch, August 19, 2024 They say his blood was Irish, with his toothy Gaelic smile. A master of the cyberworld, with features to beguile. A genius of mathematics, powerful and strong. He...

. A Translation of the German National Anthem and a Musical Setting for the Tune “Austria” Some months ago, I jotted down a tune that carried a hint of familiarity. The notes bore a resemblance to the tune...

. The Fool Astrology has always left me cold (As cold, at least, as interstellar space); The lines along my palm can only trace The rate at which my hand is growing old. My observation of the Ouija board Says...

. The Ram's Horn "A great horn shall be blown, and they that were lost shall come from the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts from the land of Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord at the holy mount...

. To Speak Unique From youth we have been urged to stay unique. For boxed-in meetings, we must always be The ones outside the box, must always speak On obscure points. The price of novelty? Discussing common...

. Autumn Reversed Once snowflakes have recrystalized,__they rise from where they fell;in Earth’s alternate universe__it’s early winter’s knell. The frost unfreezes, rain unfalls,__leaves littering the...

. Plowing Plain plowing cultivates delight Of partnership with animals: Two horses and a man unite To draw behind them crows and gulls Feeding on worms in furrows found As a plowshare tears and turns the...