Poetry

. Guitar by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Translated by Joshua C. Frank Gastibelza, the rifleman coming to town, Sang loud and clear: “Has someone seen Doña Sabina around, Someone from here? O villagers, sing...

. CDC: Save the Planet from Poison CO2!! “We used to think CO2 was a harmless trace gas… How wrong we were!” ---Dr. Dillard “Sparky” Barker, SMFS, The CDC’s Second Most Famous Scientist Your...

. Poetry 101 Lecture Today we shall discuss why poems have a poor repute (Though if one dislikes poetry, apology is moot). Let’s take four types of poems with their strong points and their...

. Note: The above photos are of the poet's grandparents, Herbert W. & Evelyn Slater Tweedie in 1914 Wedding Picture; Glacier Point, Yosemite; Top of Pyramid Peak, Desolation Wilderness . 1914 Sierra...

. Sonnet to a Friend It’s you who’ve been a constant in my life from earliest thirst and to this very day. You’ve helped me sail through lassitude and strife, have always kept the ennui at bay. You’ve...

  The Players Legacy: The Saga Begins is a 14-chapter narrative poem that is set to launch on January 21, 2023. This is an excerpt from Chapter 11 in which Vallenbee the Wise speaks to the main character,...

. Fool’s Gold In a febrile jungle region where the threats to life are legion And deflected rays land each on greenness rich as burnished jade Ventured forth a treasure seeker, heeding not a Mayan...

. Gone Are the Days The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young. ---Oscar Wilde Gone are the days—the halcyon, magical days of yore, When you were young and full of marrow in your...

. A Half Century Ago Oh there once was a time in our nation so fair, When the pledge to our flag was in schools everywhere, When young children could safely walk daily to school, And not be attacked by some...

. Halloween---The New Normal The maskless masses mingle on the street Pooh-poohing overreaching, grouchy rules. The granny-slaying, unvaxxed ogres meet As curtain-twitching witches eye these ghouls From...

. It’s Halloween It’s Halloween, and musty tombs expel Damnation’s brides and grooms; ghoulish creatures rule the night, a ghastly resurrected blight as Satan’s grinning visage looms. Hell’s emptied...

. Night Visitor Between the ticking of the clock I thought I heard a haunting knock. I pondered what I thought I heard, "Perhaps the tapping of a bird?" The hearth was warm and so was I, Until a cold draft...

. Are You Prepared for All Hallows’ Eve? All Hallow’s Eve will soon be here--- A time when our two worlds come near. They roam our world for just one night--- And you may fear until it’s...

. Shroud-Eater The undead Shroud-Eater, or mâcheur de suaire, is not as well known as the vampire, but is just as horrifying. He prowls cemeteries chewing on his shroud and his own flesh, attacks persons,...

. Ghouls Rules Out in the middle of Howling Heath Lives a mean old monster with a million teeth, In a mouth as big as a catamaran, To accommodate the limbs of moose and man, And kids that fiddle with their...

. The Modern Prometheus Grrrr! Linden trees with falling leaves infest These ancient mountains. Crimson-faced they scream Like mobs in Transylvanian villages Which brandish knives and torches....

. A Seasonal Concoction He loved to have a cup of coffee in dawn’s dimmest light. It helped clear cobwebs from those heavy eyelids of the night. His narrow pumpkin head could start to gaze with orange...

. The Three Democrats of the 2020 Election after Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1 Scene: Thunder illuminates a 2020 calendar page in an undisclosed conference room where a pot bubbles on an electric...

. The Italian Job a true story “I’m from Pisa,” she cried with a giggle, As she leaned, towering over the man, With the beard, the bald head and the glasses, Climbing out of the janitor’s van. He...

. Everyday Angels  inspired by Guadalupe Amejorado (1955-2021)  They don’t appear in swathes of white   __On scintillating wing.  Their heads aren’t crowned with rings of light.  __They never...

. The Empirical Strikes Back Let’s emulate Liberia with measurements superior; once more we’ll weigh our cereal in ounce and pound imperial. And why not copy Myanmar--- use p.s.i. and ditch the...

. The Polls The polls are looking up right now, __But my faith’s not complete, Because no poll can measure how __The Democrats might cheat. . . The Boulder Field The glacial remnant boulder field, __A...

. Cemetery The grasses, flowing amber on the breezethat speaks to me in verses intimate,are stilled, as if contented to appeasemy meditative spirit, to permitobeisance from afar to monumentsof lifeless stone....

. Storehouse of Memories My memory seems worst of foes when conjuring the times she knows will hurt me worse than fist-thrown blows __and bring hot tears. When memory is best of friends, sweet thoughts of...

. While Reading Burns' 'Stanzas: On the Same Occasion' "Fain would I say" Burns wrote, has me inspired. Perhaps this inspiration’s meant to be a call to listen to a hope desired from Jesus.  Those once...

Playing with Matches "We don’t seek conflict with Russia but we are ready." ---Antony Blinken, March 4, 2022 We don’t seek conflict with Russia but we are ready, make no mistake. The finger that pushes the...

. Meditation Say to yourself at break of day: today I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, proud, treacherous, envious, malicious. All this is because they do not know good and evil. But I know...

. His Pen a villanelle written upon watching the movie Eternal Spring His pen flies back and forth, a righteous flurry That recreates the scenes of saintlike deeds, Giving shape to all that once was...

. A Southern Italian’s Reply to Shakespeare If you compare me to a summer’s day then, Bill, your mind has melted in the heat. Let’s go inside, there’s no one on the street. Just look at how the...

. A Conversation Between the Poor and the Poorer, followed by an Envoi From the book five of the Man'yōshū, this poem is believed to be based on what the author witnessed while working as a provincial...

. What Life Throws at Us A sentiment can sometimes get the best Of me and bring hard logic to an end. I need someone to share my destiny; Perhaps I need to find a better friend. Just why I feel this way is...

. The Trees: A Moment Amongst the trees in such a wood That veils the sky with vaults of green, In sudden joyous peace I stood As nature did in full convene; The leaves and boughs above my head, A narrow path...

. Ambience Oh, what a difference lighting throws __On these autumnal scenes, As back and forth it hides or shows __Drab browns or emerald greens. When cloud conceals the light of day, __The life it also...

. When Orpheus Looked Back I find no peace. I lean upon this stone As wine-dark waves crash on the Grecian shore, My voice and lyre silent as the grave. I have no songs for children nor of war Nor for a...

. Last Words They say I traced my finger in the air Before I died and let the wind erase My final, silent words. Those who were there Had fixed their eyes upon my dying face But found they were unable to...

. John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester: A Restorative from the Restoration by Joseph S. Salemi John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, stands out because of his double-barreled reputation: he was a savage satirist, and...

. Alone Together Narcissus, in the days of old, Fell in love with his reflection. He knew none greater to behold And starved while staring at “perfection.” Now we’re enamored with our phones Reflecting...

. The Red Sea From quite far off we smelled its salt And now stand stunned upon its shore. We stare into the writhing vault Where Moses sees a corridor. It seems there were not graves enough In Egypt so that...

. Asinine to atheist evolutionists When your science cannot put to rights The special wrongs of our divinity, Your exasperation reaches heights That challenge all the laws of gravity. When you talk at us and...

. Ian’s Ire Forecasts: Storm blasts. Cars leave. Clouds heave Endless rain. Flood’s domain. Massive surge. Nature’s scourge. Toy boats heaped up. Homes filled like cups. Millions’ suspect Their lives...