Poetry

. First Steps in a New World for Toribio Moras, age 14, Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1908 The young Castilian boy set sail, alone, and sought to build a life across the sea. Adrift, so far away, you had no throne, and...

. . This Silence. Foremost among my woes: _This silence as it grows, __My mind fatigued from listening for your voice; Amid the constant buzz, The thought of what once was--- __Your gaping absence overwhelms...

. Virgil Recalls Meeting Beatrice: Canto II of Inferno by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns . The light was failing and the air embrowned, __relieving every creature of the...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 5 Parts I & II: Why Amanda Gorman Is Not a Poet / Building a Renaissance  If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to...

. La Campana Ring, grandfather! And ring for liberty. The bell spoke once and, speaking, croaked and cracked. Our gazes bathed its iron in gold hazes As Hebrews treasured tablets their sin split. Its silent...

. Miracle of the Book Distance was short, but porters would be needed, And sacks were packed with small necessities. I wrapped the Gospel book and then proceeded Along the rowan-bordered road with ease. Only...

. Incensed For days, drawn draperies of fire, pinned close by dry pines, needled us with smells of smoke so thick it stung our eyes and burned our nose and made us run to see if flames arose from lightning...

. The Number 44: The Cookery Class Now, this is a tale of a cookery class; It happened in Battersea early one March. The teacher was Jane who though barely thirteen Already sought fame as a culinary...

. Le Bal Des Ardents for Joe Salemi On 28th January 1393 in Paris, Queen Isabeau of Bavaria, wife of the mad King Charles VI of France, held a ball which became the scene of a terrible tragedy when four...

. Psalm 23: King David’s Version When I was just a hungry sheep __and I was lonely, lost and scared, You somehow found me, fed me, led me, __showed me just how much You cared. When in the valley with its...

. Pillar of Salt “By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah... Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire...

. As Orwell Warned The Right now gets censored to silence, While schools and the media teach, That speech from the Right equals violence, And Left violence merely is speech. . . “When I Was Your...

. South Vietnam Warfare . Northern Jungle The rat-tat-tat of machine gun Split through the mist of morning sun. The sympathetic Montagnard Were blown apart from near to far. The boom of friendly howitzer Made...

. The Adventures of Verb At six, I had a dictionary Where I would meet a man named Verb, Superb and quite extraordinary, In every definition’s blurb, Right at the finish, did while doing, For example:...

. Darkface at Dusk "Death is swallowed up in victory" ---1 Cor. 15:4 At twilight, as I walked in solitude Along a country lane, unpaved and worn, Past gloomy fields, of springtime’s verdure shorn, My...

. Even the 49ers Don’t Play There Anymore Is San Francisco slip-sliding away? Old Navy, Nordstrom, Saks, the Gap, have all Closed stores—with Hilton in default—as they Abandon a once-thriving downtown...

. Job’s Rant Job 3: 3-10 . May darkness and death’s shadow claim the day When I was sent to bear the curse of earth. May clouds blot out the night that gave me birth And drown it in the densest...

. In Extremis ---from the Western wilds Here at the most attenuated ends Of America’s arterial transport map, Where pavement stops, dissolves to native dust, I find I’m mostly mindful of defense: Where...

. This Is the Choice  The gates of hell Closed from within. No one sends us--- We lock ourselves in. . The gates of Heaven Are open and true, Welcoming souls who Choose to walk through. . This is the...

. The Deluge From Heaven came the rain; On Earth the waters swelled To wash away each stain The eyes of God beheld. Each structure man had made Of metal, wood, and stone Cut down by Water's blade, Save for...

. Reviewed Book: Laughing Matters: Poems with a Wink and a Smile by James A. Tweedie, Duncrest Press, 2023 by Theresa Werba This collection of humorous poetry by the excellent James A. Tweedie is more than a...

. Green I’m talking green: the greening ground Of spring and springing hope eternal; The spectrum’s hidden light unbound And animation of all that’s vernal; The pulsing new-found energy Of green,...

. Pharaoh’s Dream Redux “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and...

. The Gallows The trial was quick, the verdict read: “Guilty as charged,” the foreman said. The judge declared the man would hang, the leader of a robber gang who stabbed the sheriff with a knife, and made...

. The Straight-Fishing, Straight-Talking Jiang Ziya Far off in time and place but still on this small globe, By a river with his beard and stick and robe, A sage thought on a kingdom’s end that war might...

. Runway Ready An Anorectic at a Playground . Scrawny, lean and teen Miss Annie sat upon her bony fanny, straddled ‘cross a teeter-totter, filling up on Fibre Water. From above, bungeed a spider, claimed...

. Distant Thoughts from Nearby I need to turn my dog-ears up __and harken to the quietude ____ignored for many years, __and contemplate my solitude, ____expressing through my tears Incautious songs that made...

. The House on 58th Street for my father Salvatore J. Salemi (1913-2008) The house on 58th Street stood right by A cemetery—Calvary by name. Looking out our windows we could see A high stone wall,...

. The Test The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' —Jesus (Matthew 22:39, NASB1995) Is every trial just a self-created test? Perhaps we do not grow until we have been...

. The Number 207: The Road to Nowhere Oh once along the Road to Nowhere That used to be the Uxbridge Road You’d board and pay the tuppenny bus fare And go where milk and honey flowed. For this was then a...

. Anesthesia Where was I for that half an hour or so While somewhere deep inside me they explored? The body’s secrets mine so far outsoared, I’d been sent off someplace I didn’t know. And “sleep”...

. Fracture Mechanics Dams, bridges, tunnels, buildings and the like Are often structurally sound for years If not centuries, whereupon men’s fears Creep up on them abruptly in a spike In degradation...

. Emptiness I search for you in every face I see. True love should last forever and a day: Its book not closed until all chapters end. You walked into my life then walked away: There is no laughter left that...

. The Moselle Tranquil meandering alluvion, From Vosges pink sandstone hills it percolates In rillets past rich vines in echelon To cradle villages of varied traits. Saint Castor limns a linear regime, Both...

. Fifth Glyph This glyph, in British talk, occurs most oft--- most common, too, writ down within our books. Twixt ‘a’ and ‘z’ it’s fifth, not sat aloft but low and unassuming in its...

. Sonnet When sitting on a swing my cheeks were chilled, I gazed and saw the dawn, a new spring day. I knew those colors soon would fade away, But for a moment, time had slowed and stilled. The sky was...

. Commodore Perry Opens Japan On July 8, 1853, on the orders of President Millard Fillmore, Commodore Matthew Perry led four American ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to pierce Japan’s isolation...

. Lord, Give Me Serenity Lord, give me serenity To deal with lunatics, Especially the ones Who are found in politics. Help me to stay calm, And keep me honor bound, But take them to perdition Wherever they...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 4: Poetry in the Age of AI If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the...

. All That’s Left Is Yours based on I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris The bride walked the aisle to her husband-to-be, __Who gently took hold of her hand. They started their vows, all to hear and to...