Poetry

. I don't know why I think things will get better. I'm always holding on to flimsy hope. I've held it since I was a young go-getter before the downward slope. Is wishful thinking printed on our genes? Before...

A version of this interview originally appeared in The Epoch Times by Evan Mantyk A widely published translator of ancient Latin texts, a former high-ranking government bureaucrat, and an incredible poet who...

. At Brighton Beach the seagulls fly, they soar and circle in the sky; they swoop and steal the punters’ chips amidst the backdrop’s sailing ships and underneath the sun’s sharp eye. The lockdown days...

. Leave Our Kids Alone!  “Fauci: Officials Will Decide on COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendation for Children Aged 5 to 11 Soon” ---Epoch Times Headline 9/20/2021 The mask is off.   Come see the twisted...

. The relentless rain sought to admonish those creatures who dared venture out. The wind carried a sorrowful message, determined to generate doubt. A less desperate man would have faltered on reaching that...

. Raise your quill to the sky like a madman’s harpoon— Super tempered in blood and the blackest of wine Is the blade of our mania, flashing and white As a lightning bolt fresh from the night. Raise your...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhNIScHrUOM&t=4s . Biden Blues When I was just a kid,I’d shout and I’d refuse.My mama taught me, be polite,Taught me the words to use:No thank you, Joe; no thank you,...

. El Chapo El Chapo was a criminal, a very nasty bloke. A dealer in Amphetamines, along with Crack and Coke. He plied his trade in Mexico, where guns and drugs are rife. He made a pile of money and enjoyed the...

. California Wildfires to the tune of “California Dreamin’” All her landscape bronzed, Her breezes ashen gray, What can Cali dream on, Despoiled and rechauffée? Never safe, too sultry In her disarray ....

. Cancel Madame Butterfly today! Such racist music cannot soothe the soul. Let’s never show another hate-filled play. The King and I must also cause dismay Since white composers can’t know ethnic...

. The Lyme Brain’s Refrain, or At the Cupboard What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I, what am I, what am I doing? I’m doing something—something I’m doing— But what am I, what am I, what am I...

This challenge comes from New York poet Joe Tessitore. He asks you to use the following couplet in a poem. Post your version in the comments section below: . How very much do I despise The tyranny of fear...

. "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."  ---H.L....

. Regrets and Repercussions Inconsequential are the things we do Sometimes, or things we don’t, we don’t know why. So will we wonder far too late and sigh To think that if we knew we could undo The past...

. “Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.” ---C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology  It’s said that life’s a bitch and...

. Where meagre rains are tinted red From dust the Western winds have borne, The publican to stranger said: “We’re fortunate that here is shorn A class of wool unique in hue— The pre-dyed fleece of...

. Twenty years . . . So long ago as that? When fantasy became reality And falling human bodies turned to splat. Death in living color on TV. Maxwell’s silver hammer coming down On our collective metaphoric...

. Heroes Where are they now---the bold who brave The choke of smoke to ways that pave The path to breath beneath wide skies? Where are the ears that hear the cries Of souls they fight death’s bite to...

. A Summary of Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Notes This play, no doubt to Sophocles’ surprise, When first performed took only Second Prize. Summary King Oedipus of Thebes, both good and wise— Or...

. Future Shock Our newfound World is happy, calm and clean The human factor, countered by machine. Where every thought is carefully processed and value to the Groupthink goals assessed. All individuality,...

. from Eternal Spring Once upon a time in space God contrived the human race, Gave two things to help us cope: One was love, the other hope. Man was destined for a fall, But love sustained him after all. When...

. I This crucifixion hides the anguish. Racked With pain, belied by bloodless hands and feet; Intolerable torments, they compete As muscles in that arching back contract. His hanging head forestalls all eye...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw5AJQgDeQQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt . What can it mean---this swan of black? What cryptic codes must eggheads crack? What will this ebon-feathered thing Of beauty...

. On Lonely Paths On lonely paths I like to walk, beneath pure azure skies, Where white clouds stretch like streaks of chalk, and one lone eagle flies; I watch him gliding overhead and feel as blithe and...

Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2021 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . WINNER . Fog enshrouds the nightWoven in the heavy...

. Sean who passed away this week in Honolulu, Hawaii Although there are a few who’ll grieve and mourn, Who’ll celebrate his life and then move on, The unexpected loss will be hard borne By those who called...

. Most schoolgirls, street-people, attorneys, and Bachelors of Art are aware that Thomas Jefferson composed what is likely the most widely-known, oft-repeated sentence in American history: . We hold these...

. Prayer of the Guilty Poet Before I put these words to ink, Be still, my pen, and let me think. Are they the balm to expiate, Or bomb indeed, to detonate? . . A City Short Make no excuse, I heard a...

. Know How to Mow __You want to raise your rates, you say? __Your crying poor is killing me, __for what it’s worth.  Just yesterday, __when you were blithely billing me __for services you rendered on __a...

. With Coffins at the Dover Air Force Base: 29 August 2021 On Sunday, Biden traveled to the Dover Air Force Base to pay respect for thirteen service members who were slain. But grieving parents of the dead...

. Allgibberish (I Saw a Man Who Wasn't There) after “Antigonish” (“I Met a Man Who Wasn't There”) by William Hughes Mearns Yesterday in great despair, I saw a man who wasn't there. He's on the news...

. WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE. "Select, all ye who write, a subject fit, A subject not too mighty for your wit! Before you lay your shoulders to the wheel, Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness...

“Select, all ye who write, a subject fit, A subject not too mighty for your wit! Before you lay your shoulders to the wheel, Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!” —Horace (65-8...

“Select, all ye who write, a subject fit, A subject not too mighty for your wit! Before you lay your shoulders to the wheel, Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!” —Horace (65-8...

. The starlit sky is filled with smoke ______and men succumb To dread, while folded hands invoke ______to overcome This awful plight; yet prayers heard ______through fervid faith Are breath for Satan....

. The Peach Garden Oath This oath of fellowship is an iconic moment in the first chapter of the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong (14th century), in which the main heroes of the...

. Waking Up (Freedom Doesn't Come in a Can) A Protest Song Written and Performed by Jack DesBois I was lying in my bed, Waiting for the day to start, Waiting for the sun to get me on my way, And I...

by Adam Sedia The life of Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) spans earthshattering changes in history and art. The England into which he was born was a colonial empire stretching across the globe. Horse-drawn...

. Observations of a Former Victim You may think me insensitive or witless, But more and more it seems the case these days, That victimhood is run up on a flagpole, Including in some overreaching ways. Of...

. “Make a decision,” is what me ma said, As she wearily plucked at each feather, ‘Er old gnarled fingers rough and red And clumsily workin’ together. “Yer’ll not get another chance like this, Two...