Poetry

. Memento Belli _My father had mementoes of the war; _he kept them in a box above his clothes, _where also hung a uniform he wore _when he was someone in that time ago _till trauma came, caused by the weight...

. The Plagiarising Poet A young lad sat in class—geography— Bored and in a peaceful reverie. The school bell blared, the teach showed indignation, “The bell does not free you!” she yelled in...

. On the Dine-and-Dash Phenomenon In restaurants, we dined but didn’t pay; we gourmandised, then upped and ran away. An appetiser, main course and dessert, we wolfed them down until our bellies hurt. The...

. Flamingo The S-curve of that sinuous neck,The stern black tip of that great bill,The blue eye with which we must reck-on like a gaudy monarch’s will. Not Disney’s giddy croquet bird,The one which lolls...

. Just Like That No special words, no passionate embrace; No gazing, full of meanings, soul to soul. Just casual talk, not even face to face; Just mundane filling each of them their role. Perhaps they did...

. Four Letter Words My dad was smart, my dad was wise; He crossed his t’s and dotted i’s. His grammar skills were without taint. And he did not say y’all or ain’t. He taught an English class to...

. Ora Pro Nobis pray for us The dead die when we living let them die; We breathing clasp to hearts our breathless dead; We pack them fresh-embalmed on icy beds. In silent rooms they speak our names. They...

. Reward for How You Live from Italo Calvino’s Italian folktale “Gesù e San Pietro in Friuli” One night, while traveling on a mountain road, two wanderers came upon a small abode. The vagrants, Jesus...

. The Ghost Girl One sunny May, I ran to play, __When I was twelve years old, Upon the hill.  I miss her still— __A girl with curls of gold In ribbon ties, big sky-blue eyes, __And waving, dark-red...

. The Snare Drummer’s Plight The highlight of the evening is Bolero. The snare drummer begins the famous beat, the marrow of the land of the torero. The players, who have sprayed themselves with...

. Some Words to Catholics about Bergoglio God only knows what’s left to say— Most Catholics drift from day to day, Like refugees in war or flood, Half-starved, or weltering in blood From wounds that fester...

. The Day the Roofers Came He fled the day the roofers came. His fur was fluffed and frizzy. He whizzed across the busy lawn so quick it made me dizzy. The slam and clang and hammer bang had left him in a...

. A Precious Wife Is Like Fine Wine A precious wife is like fine wine, made mellow with the years, Aged in a barrel made of smiles and laughter, sighs and tears. Though time may etch its lines upon her once...

. Periodicity Springfield, Illinois, May-June 2024 All our town has caught cicada fever. Seven broods emerge, the selfsame time. This fluke converts me to an awed believer in nature's odd propensity to...

. . Five Rose Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke translated by Alan Orsborn . The Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), writing in both German and French, penned 24 French poems about roses that were...

. Sidetracked Life’s troubles come in all varieties,From nagging aches that barely raise a frown,To fearsome packs of deep anxietiesThat, given half a chance, will drag us down. Much worse is when assaults...

. A Formalist Poet at the Open Mic Part III: Something in the Rafters by Daniel Kemper I wander into the incandescent glow of the poetry center and Patrick is muttering as I walk in the door. He’s wiping...

. A Sonnet for My Son on Father’s Day You coo her name in buoyant notes of joy Then watch her toddle, tickled by her grin. She spies the bug-eyed crab---her leggy toy In Daddy’s hands all set to twirl and...

. A Sonnet ---for my father, an avid gardener and feeder of wildlife, who recently underwent hip surgery No one shall intervene this afternoon. The well fed squirrel squats upon his branch; The chipmunk chills...

. The Doctor An expert in each area, this man's The doctor for all things in disrepair— Tea kettles, doorknobs, hafts, electric fans... His fingers soothe their maladies and wear. No institute or training...

. Mates of the Greats Gauguin the banker thought Painting while married was Quite a nice hobby And so did his wife. But then in Tahiti Paul met with a sweetie And lived on papaya The rest of his life. Pity...

. Distant Thunder Oppressive heat in heavy air; Oppressive light from summer skies; White clouds glow with a garish glare, __Menacing as they rise; Oppressive stillness reigns: no breeze Rustles the leafy,...

. Home Run Oh my God the play we made, And, really quite efficiently. We had two billion pawns we’d played, Lost sixty million… two or three. It’s almost none, percentage wise. Well worth the...

. Ozymandias after Percy Bysshe Shelley More solitary than an orphan’s reachThat vigil, that the shifting peaks repel,A site of none left even to beseech---Less ruthless now, where only fragments dwellNor...

. Meeting Xu Zhimo by Margaret Coats Three Chinese girls behind me in the line Escape King’s College Chapel evensong; They show a phone, ask where, at once decline Sought-after seats, to rush away...

. . Download "Longfellow's Bridge" on your favorite music app HERE. . Longfellow’s Bridge (Lyrics) lyrics by Gunny Markefka, inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem (after lyrics) I stood on the...

. I Hear the Distant Thunder I hear the distant thunder rolling__Across the nighttime sky.Incendiary lightning strikes__Of fire are drawing nigh.If I can keep on writing, it__May be by candlelight.I must...

. . Little Boy Blue . Original Version Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn, The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn. Where is the boy who looks after the sheep? He's under a haystack, fast...

. . Driven from Their Homes Deported and despised. Compelled to leave. 900,000 driven from their homes With pain enough to fill one-million tomes--- And yet they are forgotten. Will none grieve? . Morocco,...

. The Latest Gender Identity He’s fat, but he identifies as skinny, Insisting everybody call him “Mini.” He now, of course, considers “slim” his gender, And must henceforth be referenced as...

. Cape Canaveral’s Pioneers Asleep I wonder if the lights across lagoon Waves, little though they are, the lights and waves, Portend some goodness underneath the moon Like new moon light on marble...

. The Universal Horoscope and Zodiac Twelve figures in the blazoned zodiac Set by the gods in their unchanging track Spin in a regulated, yearly round Until an infant’s primal, wailing sound Puts an end to...

. The Song of Everlasting Sorrow Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi (772-846) wrote this poem about Tang Emperor ("Son of Heaven") Xuanzong (685-762) and his famous concubine and former Taoist nun Yang Guifei, who is...

. In Spring 2024, UK poets Jeff Eardley and Peter Hartley crossed paths with American poets James A. Tweedie and Margaret coats in England. . . The Day That I Met Jim by Jeff Eardley The rain was horizontal...

. Winter into Spring Sonnet The garbage dump outside the town is white as winter’s snowfall claims the castoff chair from autumn’s cluttered leavings, hid from sight in drifts, the broken dinette set left...

. Book Reviewed: Legends of Liberty Volume II by Andrew Benson Brown, Bard Owl Publishing, March 2024 by Theresa Werba Andrew Benson Brown has created a continuation of his Revolutionary War historical mock...

. Admonition It is a form of madness To long for days of yore. And bitter is the sadness O'er those who've gone before. Now we, ourselves, must wander The dark Stygian shore And cross the river yonder, But...

. Poetry Is Warfare A poem is the writer’s battle pleaAgainst asceticism’s barren call.Truth and beauty (air that poets breathe)Needn’t acquiesce to Adam’s fall.A poem with its structure,...

. On the 80th Anniversary of D-Day Humanity once more is under threat,when eighty years ago a Western frontwas opened up at Normandy to getanother foot in Europe’s door, then hunt down fascists who...

. Today My Brown Sedan Is Two Today, my brown sedan is two, But I behave as if it's twenty, So freezing by a showroom's door, I scan the models—new; aplenty. And busy with an old dollop Of mud, there goes...