Poetry

. The Potentate and the Pontiff by Joseph S. Salemi I have often argued that the formalist techniques of traditional poetry are ideologically neutral, and can be made to serve any agenda or cause. I still...

. Moments Matter When my daughter was just three __I took her to the zoo. She laughed and smiled and had a blast __And I myself did, too. My friends said, “Why did you do that? __She will not recall The day...

. Dog Eat Dog As cells get divided, if outcomes are guided _completely by rolling the dice, the fit must survive so their genes stay alive, _while the weak pay the ultimate price. So students of Darwin, say...

. A Grain of Sand A grain of sand got lodged into __A little seagull's eye. He spluttered with indignant rage, __"Now I can't even fly!" And so his eye grew worse and worse, __The seagull shrieked and...

. Evensong The embers dimmed on the Pacific; _The sky a scarlet hue. One might conclude the fire seraphic--- _A seascape brushed by the muse. Some mares’ tails smudged the vista with soot _While gulls...

. A Bogus Bishop’s Prayer My prayer is not pitched heavenward _To fall upon deaf ears. It’s lashed to Earth for greater good. _It cashes in on tears. It's feathered several nests for years--- _I'm...

. Leoncavallo Fumes at the Premiere of Puccini’s La Bohème, 1896 Damn Giacomo Puccini and his little La Bohème. How dare he bring this sentimental clap–trap to the stage? Especially after hiring me to...

. Another Winter Another winter's growing old. __Another spring is coming. Another hive, gripped by a branch, __Will make its endless thrumming. Another smile's to soon emerge __From pastel white...

. The Clown I went inside my mind today. I hoped my thoughts would want to play. But all they did was get me down. I saw a large imposing clown. She had some tears upon her face, and tried to lock me in...

. On the Porch The roof and eaves, low walls or none, slim railings, Contrive a sense of shelter customary. Worn floor between front steps and door betokens Minutes or hours of ease preliminary. The aura...

. Splendid Majesty "I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works."---Psalm 145:5 I tried to meditate uponthe splendor of Your majestyand rose each day before the dawnto...

. Reflections on Still Waters . Isaiah 55:12 You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace, And a song will break forth from the lands. While the echoes of praise in the hills never cease, And the...

. Piazza della Signoria, Florence: February 7, 1497 Savonarola gets up off his knees (much contact with the ground has formed a welt) and lights the bonfire of the vanities. His purpose is to purge the...

. Lament to the Passing of Paper I learned to write my A-B-Cs and form my shapely 1-2-3s on paper, when I was a lad; but now, since I’ve become a dad, the era of the written word is passing like the dodo...

. A Summer Hour A burgeoning bush, some butterflies, Low wooden steps, warped, faded, rise Amid the calm of idle talk— The blur of shadows on the walk. Sometimes a passing, random thought Within winged...

USAID USAID Mission Statement: On behalf of the American people, we promote and demonstrate democratic values abroad, and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. We are funding a world that’s more...

. Concerning Snow ---a conversation between Beauty and Necessity “Well, there you go again.” “What's that?” “Come now, don't act so innocent. You see that plow out there, defacing what it took all...

. Classic Case History Though I was blind, it wasn’t hard to see That blindness was a gift at least as good As any other. People seeing me As someone less insightful than he should Have been were blurry...

. The Judge Addresses the Defendant "Living in America is like serving in the army; ninety percent of conduct is prescribed by law and the remaining ten percent by the esprit de corps." —Albert Jay Nock Of...

. Our National Precipice The time has come for all good men To recognize our nation’s end. We have been silent much too long, Just caught up in a siren’s song. That song, that beckons our demise, Brought...

. . Sonnet 1 I felt like trying something new today, And so I put my pen upon a page To mimic Shakespeare's famous olden way— A style which, I hear, was all the rage. So here I am committing fourteen...

. The FBI---Then and Now So respected when I was a kid, For the things we all read that they did, It’s substantially altered today--- Now we hardly trust one word they say. . . The Modern Mainstream...

. Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the...

. The Grindstone The grindstone spun as fiery sparks were sprayed,for even iron broke against his force,and by his edge the blunt became the bladea king would hold upon his charging horse. The stone was proud...

. The Best Poems of 2024: Winners of the 13th Annual SCP International Poetry Competition Judges C.B. Anderson, Susan Jarvis Bryant, Margaret Coats,  Evan Mantyk, Reid McGrath, James Sale, Joseph S....

. First Place ($200 Prize) "The Shepherd God" Jane Schulert, 11th grade student at Redeemer Classical School in Indiana . Second Place "To Speak Unique" Caroline Chen, 14-year-old in Irvine, California . The...

. Forecast One to Two Inches Within the snow’s approach I sense a hope Connected more to memory than truth. It fails to fall within the narrow scope Of solid message; seems instead a trope For something...

. The Untimely Demise of My Dear Uncle Sam I received the somber news __as sun set low today. My beloved Uncle Sam __by death was swept away. It wasn’t on the battlefield that __he met his demise. ‘Twas...

. Accidents Happen We’re told time tends toward catastrophe, And that a butterfly’s ephemeral wings Might quake the sky somewhere across the sea By strange cascades of simple happenings, Arousing thus a...

. The Discharge of the Woke Brigade ---after Tennyson Half a mil, half a mil, __Half a mil onward, __All from the Treasury ____Filched the encumbered. __‘Forward, the Woke Brigade, __Mooch till the end!’...

. The Settlers —to my forefathers, and all the intrepid men and womenwho settled the Oklahoma panhandle. Across these barren hills, the cold winds blow,As bitter now as in those days long past,When first...

. Rather Drown Than Hang “He who is destined for the gallows will not be drowned.” ---Russian proverb A lethal thing, the writ of man _that soaks this realm like rain, from the code of Hammurabi _to the...

. 1. A rainbow diced to tease unhurried brains __With rotating rows of parallel planes. What is it? . 2. With no known cure, this blight Bends down what was upright Makes distant things draw near While close...

. Wisdom and Sway Life was tranquil and calm, not a care, not a qualm, in a town not too near you, but not far away. It was led by a mayor, a powerful player, a grandiose mayor with wisdom and sway. We’d...

. Snow Sonnet Where silent flakes of whiteness fill the air And cutting winds of winter come to rule The bitter storm of new year strips all bare With iciness at once perfect and cruel. We drift into an...

. The Great Rub-off Norm and Zip, in mismatched chairs, __were sipping tea and talking, when Desi, their loyal hound, said, “Listen, __you’re shedding like me!” (How shocking!) Norm spat out his...

. Mexican Sestina Perhaps I left because I got too bored, and no one could put sense in my thick head, or talk me out of trekking to the beach by reading newsclips of prolific death by drug cartels or...

. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Silently beats an invisible clock. Night turns to day, day turns to night. Following a metronome nowhere in sight. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Sixty seconds make a...

. Autumn Twilight Full moon. Crickets singing. Scarlet sky.Long past summer solstice; now the sunDescends before the short day’s work is done.Last light and fast-invading violet vieTo shape inconstant...

. The Introvert Sequestered in an abstract mood,Replete in blissful solitude;Behind the veil of scenes overtYou’ll find the pensive introvert. You may not find him center stage,The Hercules of any age;But...