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      Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
      24 Comments
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Poetry

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Poetry

‘Mr. Bluebird’ and Other Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
February 24, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Satire, Triolet, Villanelle
28 Comments
. Mr. Bluebird Your spirit rose before I spied your form. It dulled the winter sting and stilled the storm. Your warming warble quelled the bitter chill--- __A merry trill. I saw you perched upon a leafless...

‘Winter Midnights’: A Poem by Shamik Banerjee

The Society
February 23, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
7 Comments
. Winter Midnights Old numbers on the radio; Through foggy panes, a street lamp's glow; Some aircraft's feebly buzzing sound; Barks of mansion-guarding hounds; A drunkard's wrangle with another, Then quick...

‘Renaissance’ and Other Poetry by Benjamin Daniel Lukey

The Society
February 23, 2025
Beauty, Pantoum, Poetry
9 Comments
. Renaissance for Rob Salminen I am as old as I have ever been, And I've not seen all that I'd hoped to see— But every day my life begins again, And I'm as young as I will ever be. . . Lost and Found a...

‘As Hamas Celebrates Dead Babies’: A Poem by Brian Yapko

The Society
February 23, 2025
Culture, Poetry
24 Comments
. As Hamas Celebrates Dead Babies The Bibas deaths... how do I tell this news? A mother and her sons---all blameless Jews--- Killed senselessly. My words seem desecration... For I have not one word of...

‘Enamoured’: A Love Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
February 22, 2025
Love Poems, Poetry
25 Comments
. Enamoured String me a strand of pure white pearls supernal, Warming my throat as quivering fingers do, Roughened but figuring tenderness eternal, My love is wholly kind, old, young, and true. Swing me sweet...

‘My Heart’s Desire’: A Poem by Susan Steele Rives

The Society
February 22, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
. My Heart's Desire There is one thing that I long for, _and another that I need. One essential to my soul, _the other made of dreams. My heart tries to deceive me, _wants what I can’t have. The Spirit...

‘Howl at the River’ and Other Word-Play Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
February 21, 2025
Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
. Howl at the River Howl at the river, cry me a moon; Blow up on a drum, and beat a balloon; Smirk like a sailor, drink like a prig’ Eat like a football, drop-kick a pig. Jimmy crack rainbow, over the...

A Poem on Wyeth’s ‘Distant Thunder’, by Carl Kinsky

The Society
February 21, 2025
Ekphrastic, Poetry
3 Comments
. At the Ready ---Distant Thunder, Andrew Wyeth (USA), 1961 The coming storm won’t let young Rattler lie asleep, but he’s not ready yet to wake her up. It’s quiet now but the pale sky is turning gray. He...

‘Der Knecht’: A Poem in German by Peter Lillios, with Translation

The Society
February 20, 2025
Love Poems, Poetry, Readings
4 Comments
. . Der Knecht An einem Teich in einem Tal, am Felsenfuß entlang, Da steht ein Mädchen ohne Schal, als Decke nur der Hang. Vorbei bin ich schon hundertmal, mit Gaben und Gesang. Mein Singen ist ihr ganz...

‘Truths Be Known’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

The Society
February 20, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
7 Comments
. Truths Be Known _A cryptical dawning _This foggy gray morning With images drifting about. _Deceptive impressions, _Opaque are the visions, Illusions of Wonder, no doubt. _Then comes a clearing, _All truths...

Wanted: A Verse Curriculum and Pedagogy: An Essay by David J. Rothman

The Society
February 19, 2025
Essays, Poetry
7 Comments
. Wanted: A Verse Curriculum and Pedagogy David J. Rothman discusses the curriculum of the Poetry Concentration in the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Western Colorado University, which offered a close...

‘Chasing COLAs in a Hard World’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
February 19, 2025
Culture, Limerick, Poetry
6 Comments
. Chasing COLAs in a Hard World COLA: cost-of-living adjustment We learned, each time we tried to file a claim, _That dealing with the Demiurge Adjustor _Takes all the fortitude that we can muster, And that...

‘Mistaken Identity’: A Poem by David Whippman

The Society
February 18, 2025
Love Poems, Poetry
12 Comments
. Mistaken Identity I never really found out who you are, I only saw what I preferred to see. I realise now it wasn’t meant to be. I thought you were my one true shining star, My cordon bleu, champagne and...

‘Sophisticated Stupidity’ and Other Poetry by James Bontrager

The Society
February 18, 2025
Poetry, Satire
8 Comments
. Sophisticated Stupidity Preserve the fish, defend the trees_And save the wilting daisies;Protect the coral in the seas_But kill the unborn babies.Such is the logic on displayBy science “experts” of...

On an Attempt to Tie Free Speech to the Nazis: A Poem by Warren Bonham

The Society
February 17, 2025
Poetry, Satire
25 Comments
. Margaret Brennan’s Plan to Stop Genocide “Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide" ---Margaret Brennan, February 16, 2025 on “Face the Nation” Miss...

‘Capacity’ and Other Poetry by Morrison Handley-Schachler

The Society
February 17, 2025
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
16 Comments
. Capacity “This is too big and inexcusably Extravagant, so next time I insist We buy a smaller glass. This one will be Always half-empty,” said the realist. “You say this from experience,”...
poem/rizley/beauty

‘Aged Elation’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick

The Society
February 17, 2025
Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry, Satire
8 Comments
. Aged Elation When reaching that age where you fear getting slow, The advent of faculties starting to go, It’s great inspiration---you can’t ask for more--- To figure out something you couldn’t...

‘Strauss Vater’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko

The Society
February 16, 2025
Beauty, Music, Poetry
19 Comments
. Strauss Vater Scene: Vienna, Austrian Empire: Midnight, October 15, 1844. On this night the famous musician, Johann Strauss, Sr. snubbed the professional musical debut of his soon-to-be famous son, Johann...

The New York Times’ Attack on Shen Yun Is an Attack on Arts and Culture: SCP Editor

The Society
February 16, 2025
Essays, Poetry
14 Comments
. The New York Times' Attack on Shen Yun Is an Attack on Arts and Culture by Evan MantykSCP Editor & President In the last six months or so, the New York Times has completely lost its senses and run a...

Five Quintilla Poems by Cheryl Corey

The Society
February 15, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
26 Comments
. Scarlet Pimpernel Amassing clouds—the air still warm; But you, my scarlet pimpernel, You sense that there's a coming storm, Compress your petals, and transform To brave the current's rising swell. . The...

‘Made from Scratch!’: A Poem by Mark Stellinga

The Society
February 15, 2025
Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
. Made from Scratch! An ever-growing-number of our adolescent children are suckled by the biased breasts of prejudice and greed--- born to persons steeped in hatred, keen to fashion soldiers built to fit in...

‘How Did You Woo Me? ’ and Other Valentine’s Day Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
February 14, 2025
Humor, Love Poems, Poetry
23 Comments
. How Did You Woo Me? Let Me Count the Way You didn’t sweep in on a snowy steedClad in armor buffed until it glittered---A shining knight of bright and mighty deedClutching ribboned gifts on which you’d...

‘My Pensive Valentine’: A Poem by Jonathan Kinsman

The Society
February 14, 2025
Love Poems, Poetry
10 Comments
. My Pensive Valentine Devout Love is not in the offered sweet, nor does Love proclaim in the proffered rose, nor the cliché tucked tight in a bouquet bought sight unseen, not in any of those mundane nudges...

‘Lines for Your Valentines’: A Valentine’s Day Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
February 14, 2025
Humor, Love Poems, Poetry
16 Comments
. Lines for Your Valentines Without you here, my life is like A broken pencil, simply pointless. And if you tell me to take a hike, My legs won’t move, you’ve made them jointless. When I got up today I...

‘Fifties Country Living’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

The Society
February 13, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. Fifties Country Living Sit down with me my children, come! __I'll spin a tale or two About when I was just a kid __in nineteen fifty-two. No cell phones, televisions, laptops, __email, or...

‘The Potentate and the Pontiff’: An Essay by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 13, 2025
Essays, Poetry
18 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Gigi Ryan

The Society
February 12, 2025
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
23 Comments
. 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...

A Poem for the Birthday of Charles Darwin: ‘Dog Eat Dog’ by Warren Bonham

The Society
February 12, 2025
Poetry, Satire, Science
39 Comments
. 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’ and Other Poetry by Shindy Cai

The Society
February 11, 2025
Beauty, Children's, Poetry
12 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Peter Venable

The Society
February 11, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
. 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’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
February 10, 2025
Beauty, Poetry, Satire
39 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Julian Woodruff

The Society
February 10, 2025
Music, Poetry
14 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Shamik Banerjee

The Society
February 9, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
13 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Pamela Ruggiero

The Society
February 9, 2025
Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Margaret Coats

The Society
February 8, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
30 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Warren Bonham

The Society
February 8, 2025
Poetry
9 Comments
. 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’: A Collection of Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
February 7, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
. 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’: A Villanelle by Tom Wehtje

The Society
February 7, 2025
Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
20 Comments
. 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’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

The Society
February 6, 2025
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
. 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’ and Other Poems by Sally Cook

The Society
February 6, 2025
Beauty, Poetry
9 Comments
. 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...
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  1. Michael Vanyukov on ‘Soldier of the Rising Sun’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJune 8, 2025

    A very authentic-sounding exploration of the power of human illusions.

  2. Mike Bryant on ‘Soldier of the Rising Sun’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJune 8, 2025

    Wow, Brian, you have outdone yourself. You have honored this true soldier with this beautiful and detailed remembrance. You’ve captured…

  3. Warren Bonham on ‘Soldier of the Rising Sun’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJune 8, 2025

    I had heard of this story but knew none of the details behind it. This was an extraordinarily well-crafted poem…

  4. Roy Eugene Peterson on ‘Soldier of the Rising Sun’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJune 8, 2025

    I am flabbergasted, first, that you extracted this compelling story from history; second, that you wrote such a detailed and…

  5. Bruce Phenix on ‘Soldier of the Rising Sun’: A Poem by Brian YapkoJune 8, 2025

    Thank you, Brian. A very moving and imaginative response to this strangely inspiring story. Your tenth verse is exquisite! Best…

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