Poetry

. Σχολή (Leisure) A Meditation on Horace’s Carmen I.IX You see the glist’ning peak of Mount Soracte, which towers, high with snow, its straining forests bent low and cracking under their wintry...

. . Vanderbilt’s Nemesis Written for Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire who has called out the evils of lucrative transgender surgery on minors at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. They...

. I Sailed Away to Ancient Greece I sailed away to ancient Greece In search of Jason’s golden fleece. I climbed aboard the Argonaut, But could not find the fleece I sought. Odysseus was waiting there And...

. Proposition One Proposition One, written by the state legislature, amends the California constitution “to expressly include an individual’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which includes the...

. Making Apple Butter Once he got the fire good and hot, Old Silas filled the kettle with some cider; and when it boiled down to golden amber, he added quartered apples to the pot. He settled in his chair...

. Critical Failure Failure to launch in every direction; Ran out of fuel before firing the rocket. Time for some long internal reflection; Retool the nav and reschedule the docket. Lost in the black with no...

. The clerihew is a relatively new poetry form introduced by Edmund Clerihew Bentley in 1905. It is usually a single quatrain of light verse rhyming aabb, without a standard meter. The first line usually ends...

. Tower of the Winds Eight winds blowing, bluster overflowing,Buffet all the crevices of earth.Eight winds searching, lustily and lurching,Spawning every misery and mirth. First blows Boreas, minion of...

. Sincerity of the Left The sanctuary cities said: “Undocumenteds may come here, It’s merciless to keep them out, We welcome them with open arms!” “We’ll grant your wish,” DeSantis said, "Take...

. Brain to Heart God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart. —Ecclesiastes 3.11 To dig deep holes for bushes, shrubs— White Hydrangea, Crape Myrtle...

. Never Argue with a Progressive They never tell the truth, except by accident, And when they do, they’ll tell you that they really meant The opposite, so what’s a trusting man to do? Admittedly, such...

. The Good Samaritan Scene: The road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is now three days since a good Samaritan has left an injured robbery victim in the care of an innkeeper. Your wounds are healing? Good....

. Serious Poetry Serious poetry, somber and grim; Dashing, descriptive, with narrative flair. Formal and versified; Rhythmic and dignified; Romance and rhetoric; ribald and prim. Taking you places while curled...

. Equal Schmequal   The traits of men were glibly mocked __By those who thought men strange--- Those who thought the world half-cocked __ And fought for chop and change--- All those who chose to rise and...

. The Tech Addict’s Lament As I take one more hit of electronic cocaine, I snort a fresh shot of noise into my brain And feel the cacophony’s endless refrain Charging at me like a runaway train. I...

. 1960s Soap Operas “Soap operas,” they called them. Housewives watched Them while they sewed or cooked or ironed clothes. At two o’clock each afternoon began The sleazy saga to which mom...

. Green Energy with apologies to Dr. Seuss I do not like green energy Don’t subsidize it, AOC. I do not like it in the dark, My solar panels will not spark. I do not like it with no breeze, Wind generators...

. Sonnet 89 I passed her on the footbridge (underneath, the cars rushing pell-mell to Hades’ mouth). Backwards flowed time then as I scoped her face: lineaments of smack; thin, whorish, thief up for the...

. Elysium O golden hour, soft denouement of day, O mystic time of quietude and peace, When boughs and rushes whisper as they sway, Twirled by the sighing zephyrs’ soft caprice; When, fallen from his...

. A Woodstock for China You sit within a public Chinese bus, And out the window: buildings, concrete, dust, Which all are perfect—life is simply thus. You stare with shining eyes, soft-spoken trust. A face...

. Uncontrolled When my behavior needs to change, __But I can’t make that be, Such lack of self-control seems strange, __And I’m ashamed of me. Sometimes the angst I feel inside __Was planted long ago, And...

. Bergerette by Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), translated by Margaret Coats O shepherdess, my friend,On love alone I live.True love is life’s true end,My heart can comprehend,And therefore I intend_My...

. Lay of the Oak I now recall a lay for you, A Briton’s tale of love made new. A humble knight rode through light morn, Until dark clouds made blue skies mourn. Lost he was soon in a dreadful storm, Fair...

. Vicente el Bisonte (Vincent the Bison)  Vicente el Bisonte used to live in Mexico He said, “I do not like it here, it’s time for me to go. For lunch they give me Bison Chow, Purina mixed with hay, I’m...

. Fire on Ice How shall I serve my anger up to you? Shall I become like one most distant star Burning intensely, far from where you are, Incinerating---infinite degrees Made a mere twinkling to the earthly...

. Ill-used I’ve been ill-used, no other word will do; pristinely packaged, sanitised and new a month ago I stood upon display till someone paid to carry me away. Once home, he placed me in a cup whose...

. Congratulations and Homage to Giorgia Meloni Italy rises up and overthrows The stench of leftist tyranny at last. Rage among the EU’s pooh-bahs grows— They realize that their heyday is now...

. The Last Detail Two cocksure, loud–mouthed lads one day set out, Intent on catching perch. “No,” Jim said, “trout.” The hole they headed for neither one knew: All for adventure, they sought...

. Sex in the English Garden Light, feathery Astilbe Sways gently in the breeze Afraid she always will be Faint fluff beneath the trees Concealing dear Sweet William, Who rings each foxglove’s bell Mid...

. Sentimental Song A pad and pen lie by his side __This moonless night of fall. And though he tries to hush his pride, To only see the tears she cried, His hands refuse to breach the wall, __A pithy line to...

. Cruise Control? based on a real incident in San Francisco on April 1, 2022 (though not an April Fool's joke) A well-mannered Cruise driverless-car Drove light-less, but didn’t get far. Its empty seats...

. The Recollected Dream When midsummer rain is spearing From storm clouds darkest grey That provide no hint of clearing To reveal the blue of day, The scent from marshland grasses Permeates each breath of...

. This photo comes to us from Joshua C. Frank of Texas. Write an ekphrastic poem based on it and post it in the comments section...

. What I Learned from Tolkien The darkness comes and all seems bleak and wrong, My calm is rent, right burdens can’t be borne And Evil holds an iron grip so strong It seems it must prevail. With all hope...

. Milking the System We waited, we have waited, and we wait. Delays continue to increase the cost Of doing business.  Every magistrate Can understand the hours and dollars lost But yet cannot, according to...

. Illusion At times we can’t tell what we’re looking at. It could be this or else it could be that. A beautiful young woman? Or old hag? Do lines run parallel or zig and zag? Two silhouetted faces...

. Carcassonne by Gustave Nadaud (1820-1893) Translated by Joshua C. Frank “At sixty years, I’m getting old, And I’ve been working all my days Not being able to behold Fulfillment of my wishing gaze. I...

. . The Night When most have fled the day and sought their beds Pre-empting stealthy onset of the night; When every corner holds its store of dread And the courage my soul held has taken flight; When my...

. StairWell Canto 10 extract 2 Context: In the 10th Canto of HellWard we met 4 poets condemned to Hell. Now in the 10th Canto of StairWell, we meet another 4 poets stuck in Purgatory. This extract takes us to...

. Wanton Wandering Winds Those wanton wandering winds, my darling fair, Whose western currents comb in several ways And lose themselves within the marvellous maze Of locks luxuriant that you loosely wear; So...