Poetry

. Twelve Chaucerian Limericks for Paul Freeman Some pilgrims went riding to Kent, And here’s how the journey was spent: As they traipsed through the dale They each told a tale Of sacred or worldly intent. Some of the stories were clean, And others absurd or obscene. Whether gentle or...

. Critical Race Theory It’s quite amusing when some first Defend it with persistence, Then---feigning that they’ve not reversed--- Deny its whole existence. . . Federal Government Logic The National Park Service says That animals should not be fed, Since it ends self-sufficiency When handouts can be sought instead. Meanwhile...

. Habeas Corpus Of those whose job it is to get results It might be asked: to what infernal purpose? Extortion, threats, felonious assaults, And foul deceptions only scratch the surface Of crimes they’re always willing to commit In order to accomplish what they’re after. Complaints of being roasted on...

. Journey’s End To Adventuresome Children at Bedtime Mountain, forest, stone, and stream all glisten under sun, While golden morn and midnoon beam call children out to run. But after day has had his say, see night ascend her throne; Home to bed and hearth and song, we shut out...

. The Harp  by Gustavo Bécquer | from Spanish by Cheryl Corey Obscured by corner shadows, gathering dust, perhaps forgotten over time—there stands the silent harp. So many hidden notes entombed on muted strings, which like a bird asleep upon a steadfast bough, await the snow-white hand who makes their...

. Three Sisters Clotho When mother sat me down, I feared the worst. Her words, however, offered praise instead. “Your gentle hands are motherly,” she said. “That’s why I’ve chosen you to be the first of three, the Fates, henceforth to spin the thread of life." I sit before the...

. Panic What is this feeling that sometimes afflicts Us with awful intensity and fear? A feeling close to panic, very near To dread, to terror; something that constricts The breathing, chokes the throat and lungs, inflicts Its toll in sleepless nights and days of sheer And utter misery, when...

. Fool’s Gold The gutsy suffragettes gained girls the vote--- One bold soul trampled by a monarch’s horse Grabbed patriarchy by the gloating throat. Her ghost changed every voiceless woman’s course. Their song rang out throughout the universe Till women took the working world by storm And broke the lifelong humble-housewife curse. Now duster-toting blokes are thought the norm. Some barefoot men stood pregnant by their sinks--- Pregnant with a hex-the-sexes scheme, With ways and means to ditch the blues for pinks In plans where man is but a...

. A Spider in My Room In the corner, there's a spider Between the ceiling and the wall. Its legs are long, its body small, Seeing it there my eyes grow wider, Fearing it to be the kind Of spider I’ve been warned about. I swallow back a piercing shout...

. . Bidenflation to the finale of “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie Fuel prices go up Tomorrow Bet your shrinking dollar that tomorrow They will soar! Inflation will rise Tomorrow All the things you shop for Will cost more! The money you slaved To save Is worth less The government’s...

. Tidal Lock for Michael Collins died (Oct. 31, 1930 - April 28, 2021):, Apollo 11 Command Module Astronaut who saw the dark side of the moon Has one brave man's small step dethroned the moon And brought the celestial ineffable down to earth? The TV replays ran all that afternoon When that...

. A Flower for Giannina Milli by Alceste De Lollis (1820-1887) | translated from Italian by Adam Sedia A fragile herb, this blooming flower, I planted with my hand one day; Once more I fed refreshing power Into its bristling barbs’ array; _By me it sprung, by me it grew,...

. Lightning Could Strike Just when hope Is out the door, Has flown the coop, Has said “No more.” Just when "up" You have now "given," Just when life Seems so now riven. In she walks Her smile so easy, Her skin so soft, Her sway so breezy… In she...

. Tamara to Emily for Emily Dickinson We viewed the lighted houses well below, whose roads ran serpentine through mounding snow, zoomed in on walls that formed each hollowed room, then juxtaposed the gaiety and gloom. While crumbs were sprinkled sparsely on the floor to fatten the emaciated poor, the...

. There Was a Free Nation That Swallowed a Lie sung to the tune of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" . https://youtu.be/luLcKkCHWFo There was a free nation that swallowed a lie. I don’t know why they swallowed that lie. Perhaps they’ll die. There was a free...

. Advent Twist "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple . . . But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he...

. Sibylline Sonnets for Advent The sibyls were ecstatic prophetesses active from about 600 B.C. in the Greek coastlands of Asia Minor, and in Greek colonies on the west coast of Italy. A few apparent quotations from their verses exist; we know about them mostly from ancient writers who lived...

. Samode Palace Hotel An erstwhile palace, and all wished to claim a former sultan's, not a servants', room. So we drew keys, for all had paid the same and won two turrets and a vast bedroom. But, best, adjacent to that room there was a tiny courtyard open to...

. So Simple Lies are told to Balkanize, To disenfranchise, federalize, To bloat the vote. An anecdote, A narrative, a false footnote To cast their spell on sheepish folk, Who swell with pride because they’re woke And on the side of all the wise, Those guys and gals that burglarize....

. Maria Montessori Seldom felt hunky-dory. Her vision for education Fell short of inspiring a nation. . King George the Second It has often been reckoned Would have been more fecund Had more mistresses beckoned. . King Henry the Eighth, Defender of the Faith, Would have happily run a marathon...

. The Devil and the Hounds of Hell Over and over in the gloom of night, In degrees of Celsius or Fahrenheit. From deep in the middle of a hard-won sleep, An evil entity begins to creep. A dark, diabolical serpentine, Slithers and simmers along my spine. Travelling slowly up...

. What Is Truth? a pantoum To keep us blind and riven You falsify the facts. You will not be forgiven--- These are a tyrant’s acts! You falsify the facts Promoting news that’s fake. These are a tyrant’s acts--- Our liberty’s at stake! Promoting news that’s fake, You think you...

. We Are in for Another Covid Christmas! We are in for another Covid Christmas: __Lockdown tales of woe. ____Now forbidden to fly his sled __Santa is drenched in dread And Rudolph’s rosy nose has lost its glow. We are in for another Covid Christmas: __Fear is here again ____Cloaked...

. Turn, Turn, Turn I, whose heart is closed and locked, Who turned away when your Son knocked And who, through sin, did turn my soul Into a twisted lump of coal Turn now, Holy Mary, to you. Least worthy, no one can deny, Yet most in need, who more...

. Daphne and Apollo “O foolish Cupid,” fair Apollo mocked. “To think that you, a wanton boy, should dare To think yourself the equal to a man Of arms, or even to a god like me, In putting arrows full into the mark Of warring foes or targets made of...

. Failure to Strive Do, or do not.  There is no try. —Master Yoda We’ve traveled far, or so it seems to those Of us who shy from setting distant goals Requiring passage through unending rows Of thornhedge in a maze that tries our souls. We make what’s easy look...

. Elemental, My Dear Slight air and purging fire, the first my thought, the other my desire. ---Shakespeare, "Sonnet 45" I am of air and fire wrought, though I am drawn to water like a dowsing rod. Carousing through thought’s realm, I am a fly, zigzagging near and far to...

. Passer Mortuus Est, from Carmen 3 by Catullus (84-54 B.C.)| Translated from Latin by R.W. Rhodes My baby's favored fledgling dropped and died,and caused us both to weep; and when we cried,each Venus and those naked putti pouted.The passing sparrow that had lately spoutedthrobbing songs that came and made...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCmLSOndstY . CREDITSPoetry: Robert FrostAudio/Visual Work: Society of Classical PoetsVoice-Over: S.A. ToddPhoto: "Yellow Forest" by Eflon (used under creative Commons License CC BY 2.0); photo of Albert Bierstadt's painting "A Rest on the Ride" (public domain)Music: (1) "Just Chill" by Ahjay Stelino (Mixkit Free License); (2) excerpt from Mozart's...

. The Biden Oil Refrain As President, on his first day, He closed old Keystone down, Then shut off Arctic drilling, Forty-thousand jobs left town. He cancelled key oil leases, Barred new highly needed ones, And then was shocked gas prices saw Inflationary runs. “C’mon man” he begged OPEC, “Please...

. The Gusting Winds The gusting winds, they blow, it seems, more bleakly this December; They bite my cheeks and chill my bones and freeze my aging flesh. As I ascend this windblown hill at sunset, I remember The former days, when springtime’s breezes wafted warm and fresh. How brightly...

100 Days of Dante Poetry Contest Sponsored by the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing with the Society of Classical Poets . . Introduction 100 Days of Dante is a collaborative resource aimed at educating readers and forming new readers of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Through videos that explore its literary,...

. A Shot in the Dark   "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help. " ---Ronald Reagan The experts push experimental science, Big Pharma claims to stave off all that ails While arms are bared in silence and compliance As leaders swear their healthcare never fails. And so we tread...

. The lights went off, for long enough, And in the darkness things got rough, All four quarters gushing red— Some bloody politician's dead, We liked him once, yes, very much, And wanted to have four of such But once the pill he pushed wore off And life collapsed… well,...

. Listening to Bach While the World Falls Apart for Adrianna, Paul, and Beth I Sight isn’t needed---the continuous cracking of all The pillars supporting civilization, is audible. Thunderous crumbling of longstanding structures we thought indestructible Pierces our ears with the harsh horror of sordid disorder: Disquieting societal fortissimos, Scored...

. Where Is God? Along life’s way Problems arise. Some seen before--- Some do surprise. “Why Lord, to me Comes now this pain? Let this cup pass--- Be gone life’s rain!” “What purpose true These hills to climb? What lessons here--- What bells will chime?” Come then our friends To...

. Ruby’s House to the memory of Ruby Elaine Seal Rizley (1896-1978) You knew it when you woke up in the morning and you heard The sound of pigeons cooing just outside the windowpane, And opening your eyes, your childish heart was freshly stirred To see that fading wallpaper around...

. On Mark Twain's Birthday He piloted a Mississippi steamboat, Then panned for gold and sailed around the world. He authored tales of rogues and slavery’s stain But now is damned for all the things he wrote. Because the charge of “racist” has been hurled, The woke think we should...

. A Silenced Voice Cried Out  dedicated to Peng Shuai A voice cried out decrying her assault, Courageously to light the way for truth Against one high up preying on her youth— A Vice Premier accused of this grave fault. Unlocking secrets stored within a vault That no one else...

. Allentown Nights Sometimes the nights were full of evil there. Relentless searchers drove the block most nights, While novices in bushes would prepare As Lady Scarface told them of their rights— Just how to rob with sharpened rattail combs, And countless other petty cruelties— Demanding money, breaking into homes....