A Poem for Daylight Savings 2022, by Norma Pain The Society March 13, 2022 Culture, Poetry 17 Comments . Time Is of the Essence The powers that be in their ivory tower, Make important decisions for sure, While the rest of us mortals surrender our power, We conform… we adapt… we endure. I refer to the...
‘A White Knight’ and Other Poetry by Phil S. Rogers The Society March 12, 2022 Beauty, Poetry, Triolet 3 Comments . A White Knight a triolet With fires of hope and spirit bright, who will stand up for what is just thence set our country all alight with fires of hope and spirit bright? A hero true, a great white knight a...
‘A North Indian Summer’ by Rohini Sunderam The Society March 11, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 19 Comments . A North Indian Summer They ask of me to write a sonnet fine In praise of Summer and her pretty dress, But I hail from a place of different clime Where Summer’s heat knows best how to oppress. She raises...
Three Poems on Jewish History, by Brian Yapko The Society March 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Rondeau 43 Comments . The Arch of Titus The Arch of Titus was constructed in 81 AD by the Emperor Domitian to commemorate the victory of Titus and Vespasian, over the Jewish rebellion in Judea. The arch depicts the triumphal...
Comparing Translations of Charles d’Orleans, by Margaret Coats The Society March 9, 2022 Beauty, Essays, Poetry, Rondel, Translation 34 Comments . "I Heard Chapman Speak Out Loud and Bold" by Margaret Coats My title quotes “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer,” a sonnet by John Keats. When Keats first read Homer, the voice he heard was not...
‘Captured’ by Lucia Haase The Society March 8, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 8 Comments . Captured As Herbert writes in Love-joy there’s a view of grapes upon a vine. But mine is this- the perfect blooms of summer that renew by our Creator’s hand. Each one its own as you or I beneath a...
‘Hermes, The Artisan’ by Cheryl Corey The Society March 7, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 6 Comments . Hermes, The Artisan Hermes, son and messenger of Jove, Surveyed the coast, where often he would rove, And found a tortoise beached upon a cove. He took it home and made a turtle soup— The shell, he...
‘Young Strongbow’: An Anonymous American Ballad Presented by Jack DesBois The Society March 6, 2022 Culture, Music, Poetry, Readings, Song Lyrics 7 Comments . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAv09XqwAY . Young Strongbow anonymous American ballad (Words in parentheses are alternate lyrics suggested by other extant versions of the song.) To Dartmouth’s...
A Poem on the Proverbial Uptight Librarian, by Joseph S. Salemi The Society March 5, 2022 Humor, Poetry 32 Comments . Prudence Huntleigh, Head Librarian theme of “the proverbial uptight librarian” suggested by Brian Yapko She mans the front desk and she oversees All borrowings, returns, and two-cent fines. A tailored...
‘Yet Another Exhibition Opening’ by Shaun C. Duncan The Society March 5, 2022 Art, Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . Yet Another Exhibition Opening "Art is the pleasure of a spirit that enters nature and discovers that it too has a soul." ---Auguste Rodin Although this bourgeois slum is flush with cash, No decent man could...
‘Ex Nihilo Is a Joke’ by Phillip Whidden The Society March 4, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 3 Comments . Ex Nihilo Is a Joke “. . .it starts with an empty universe” ---Stephen Fry, Cosmos, vii An empty universe is paradox. In such a boundless space there’d be no time. Among all other blanks there’d be...
‘Justification’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society March 3, 2022 Culture, Poetry 20 Comments . Justification He smashed the windows, grabbed the wares, With rage against society That made him free of any cares Or thoughts of impropriety. He stole until his pockets filled The chance of apprehension...
‘Seeing the Light’: Three Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society March 2, 2022 Culture, Pantoum, Poetry, Triolet 43 Comments . Seeing the Light by Susan Jarvis Bryant . I. Peace Be with You… a pantoum “Peace is possible, truth at all costs.” ---Martin Luther The churchyard cat is terrified The belfry bats are numb with...
‘Little to Regret’ by David Watt The Society March 2, 2022 Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry 20 Comments . Little to Regret When Time has stilled my body __Think of me now and then, Asleep beneath the wattle, __Which flowers yet again. And as the summer follows __With rays I cannot see, Let the warmth embrace...
2022 FoFG Poetry Competition The Society March 1, 2022 Human Rights in China, Poetry, Poetry Contests . Introduction Today, the communist government of China, the world’s largest nation, is attacking the basic freedom of thought and belief that have been a cornerstone of human civilization throughout...
‘Pergola’ by Andre Wilson The Society March 1, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 13 Comments . Pergola My vines entwined around your posts and beams of weathered wood the sun had silvered gray. My trunk extends its arms, your trellis teems with viridescent leaves throughout the day. The hungry...
A Poem for Mardi Gras Travelers, by Ben Broussard The Society February 28, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 10 Comments . Memento, Homo… "There is no architecture in New Orleans, except in the cemeteries." —Mark Twain If we should go to New Orleans We’ll see our share of raucous scenes At Mardi Gras soirees and balls With...
‘The Poem that Built a Nation: Finland and the Kalevala’: An Essay by Adam Sedia The Society February 28, 2022 Culture, Epic, Essays, Poetry 13 Comments . The Poem that Built a Nation: Finland and the Kalevala by Adam Sedia Nowhere perhaps is the power of poetry more apparent than in its ability to unite a culture---literally to build a nation. Homer’s epics...
‘Trudeau’s Canada’ and Other Poetry by Norma Pain The Society February 27, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 17 Comments . Trudeau’s Canada Jab them all, Big and small. Small are buffer And must suffer. No opinions, Little minions. Cover traces Of their faces, With a mask, Do not ask. Issue orders Across borders. What the...
‘Beneath the Tide’ and Other Pacific Northwest Shoreline Poems by James A. Tweedie The Society February 27, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 16 Comments . Beneath the Tide The tidal basin ebbs and flows each dayAs if it were a sentient, breathing thing—A pas de deux, a moon-dance interplay—As time and space, in silence, sway and swing. As like a fraying...
‘Salieri on Mozart’ by Brian Yapko The Society February 26, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry 26 Comments . Salieri on Mozart More wine, Signore... Should I say mein Herr? I know! French cognac. Spirits help me share Dark thoughts. Now listen. I take one full year To pen these operas Kaiser Josef lauds; Then you...
Share Your Poetry on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine The Society February 26, 2022 Culture, Poetry 245 Comments . Many poets have been sending in poetry on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Post your poetry directly...
‘Spring’ by Morrison Handley-Schachler The Society February 26, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 2 Comments . Spring The Spring is coming and each day Earlier falls dawn’s curtain grey Before the star-enchanted world Where, in each other’s limbs fast curled, As Venus, our directrix, bade, In many acts our masque...
‘From the Tower’ by Francisco de Quevedo, Translated by Elwin Wirkala The Society February 25, 2022 Beauty, Poetry, Translation 6 Comments . From the Tower by Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645) | translated from Spanish by Elwin Wirkala Retired to these deserts and at peace, and with but few, though learnèd, books beside, I live conversing now...
‘Because He Could Not Jump’ adapted from Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Pig’ by Beverly Stock The Society February 25, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 7 Comments . Poem Introduction Lewis Carroll (who lived 1832-1898 and was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was a master at humorous wordplay and making the illogical logical. His accomplishments as an English writer of...
‘The Pear Pit’ by Leland James The Society February 24, 2022 Children's, Humor, Poetry 8 Comments . The Pear Pit I fell into a pear pitupon a summer’s day.I fell into a pear pitand whiled the time away. How sad will be the hunter,as sad as he can be,finding not a pitted pearbut finding only...
‘Come Winter, Come’ by Cheryl Corey The Society February 23, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 12 Comments . Come Winter, Come Come Winter, come. Lay this body down to rest. A squalling wind is blowing, north by northwest; __And every tree a bower __In Nature’s darkest hour, __And every creature deep __In...
A Poem for the CDC: ‘Unsettled’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society February 22, 2022 Culture, Poetry 40 Comments . Unsettled written upon reading of the CDC refusing to publish data on booster effectiveness I’m niggled and nettled. The science is settled __Yet fails to make sense or equate. My mind is left addled when...
A Love Sonnet by Alena Casey The Society February 22, 2022 Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry 2 Comments . When words are sharp, and clash like iron blades, I swallow swords. I grimace, turn away. You fear I wield a shield, that love will fade, That wordless I our promises betray. Yet iron sharpens iron, I have...
A Poem on Criselda Vasquez’s ‘New American Gothic,’ by Bruce Dale Wise The Society February 21, 2022 Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry 22 Comments . A Working Man and Wife “…aware of the humanity on the other side of the door.” ---Criselda Vasquez They stand before some distant trees, on pavement, amber, gray,a three-door cargo van, a...
‘Bluer Skies’ and Other Poetry by Norma Pain The Society February 20, 2022 Beauty, Humor, Poetry, The Environment 20 Comments . Bluer Skies after Ogden Nash Spring ain’t sprung, the grass ain’t growed, The fields ain’t fit for man nor toad. They tell us that the world is warmin’, ‘Pears to me the world is stormin’. Snow...
Poetry for the Canadian Trucker Protest, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society February 19, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Rondeau, Villanelle 25 Comments . Shining Armor The knights roll in. They have a rift to heal--- A rift that stokes the embers of despair. With grit they steer their trusty steeds of steel. They come in peace to seal a vital deal With he...
‘Everlasting’: A Blank Verse Poem by C.B. Anderson The Society February 19, 2022 Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . Everlasting I must admit, when I arrived in Hell I was surprised. Not, as you might surmise, Because I never reckoned it was real— And surely not because I thought I’d led A sinless life—but owing to...
‘Music of the Contours’ by Phillip Whidden The Society February 19, 2022 Beauty, Poetry, Shape Poems 8 Comments . Music of the Contours part of "A Double Unfinished Symphony" sonnet sequence The way that curls sway lovelier than straight, ..And curving strands of gold set pearls in grace, ....That nuns' bow necks to...
‘The Ugly Child’ by Anna J. Arredondo The Society February 18, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 18 Comments . The Ugly Child Some poems “hit the spot” and please the crowd--- Relatable, well-crafted, poignant, funny--- They beg to be perused, reread aloud; They squeeze tears from the low, perk up the sunny. Some...
‘Gift for the Living’ by David Watt The Society February 18, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 15 Comments . Gift for the Living The life that he led is a memory now, Subjugated by settled existence, With old hunting grounds bearing the imprint of plough And a musket ball hail for resistance— Certain death the...
‘Nuclear Fusion’ by Jeff Eardley The Society February 17, 2022 Humor, Poetry, Science 9 Comments . Nuclear Fusion written upon hearing of the UK's recent fusion energy breakthrough Those white-coated boffins in England, Have been toiling for years, so it seems. To harness the power of Fusion, As the...
‘God’s M.O.’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick The Society February 17, 2022 Culture, Humor, Poetry 10 Comments . God’s M.O. One hundred thousand people at the game, And half might pray to God: “Let my team win!” While for the other team folks pray the same. If I was God it might make my head spin, But that’s...
A Triolet for Joe Rogan, by J.J. Charles The Society February 16, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Triolet 3 Comments . A Triolet I promise not to be the coward Who says "I’m sorry" to Big Tech While Joe Rogan’s overpowered. I promise not to be the coward Who can’t be brave, who can’t go forward; Our tweets are...
‘Flying Home’ by Michael Charles Maibach The Society February 16, 2022 Beauty, Poetry 10 Comments . Flying Home Alas, I missed My flight back Home, After all these years In life I've roamed. I had then raced To make my flight, I thought I had My timing right. But there before My startled eyes The clouds...