Poetry

. The night before, old furniture And scrap wood set afire Smoke out the winter’s wickedness— An equinoctial pyre Of habits, sins, misfortunes dark, Succeeded by quick work To level boards and flaunt a feast Of charity superb. A work of art, the table stands (Its carpentry concealed); The baker’s...

. The Second Roman Empire Those were the days, when Julius Caesar Saw a country and would seize her, And the busty Roman matrons Ran the house and bossed the patrons. Christians, at the least suggestion, Gave the lions indigestion; Later, Emperors used perversion Like tennis, as a light diversion,...

. Every one of us makes “To-Do” lists to help us on the way So we won’t forget the many things we plan to do each day. Every country has a “To-Do” list as well, and China, too, Here’s a partial list of things that China’s leaders plan to do....

. This Brave American, Ashli Babbitt “It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands.” —Sophocles, “Antigone” by Usa W Celebride The Democrats stole the election—Ashli Babbitt knew; so she went to the Capitol to share her point of view. There she was murdered by a member...

. Lenin It’s late. He walks the lonely corridor in this part of the Kremlin with his cat hammocked in his arm. He stops before the door of every commissariat that’s still aglow and enters into each, although he knows the commissars have gone. Frugality is something he must teach:...

. “Wherever books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too.” ---Heinrich Heine  There is diction to spurn and there’s fiction to burn ____If the subject is apt to offend Connoisseurs with a nose for the whiff of foul prose--- ____The rank stench only oafs will defend. There’s...

. A little argument and then they hurt; These liberals are so coy and sensitive. They think they know all forms of decent art, And claim consensus gives prerogative. Their poetry requires subjective style That craves an “I,” a “me,” a “my” or “mine.” Their views constrained to left side...

. Borealis Where Ursa Minor spins about its tail The cold-chill, sabled void of arctic nights Bestirs to life as unseen hands unveil The shifting silence of the Northern Lights. Chameleonesque, the colored curtains curl In chromic revelry as frozen thunder Twists the rainbowed polar sky a-twirl With melting flames...

. Lives There the Man after “Breathes There a Man with Soul so Dead” by Sir Walter Scott* by Roy E. Peterson Lives there the man who won’t defendHis hearth and home from whom intendTo quench his fire and steal his goods,And leave him starving in the woods. Who won’t...

. Jelly Guts Rule The book, we’ve been apprised, is most uncool— Young Marco and the farmer by the pool, Wits locked in friendly if serious duel, And Marco sends the farmer off to school. One Dr. Seuss, its author, we’ll allow, Here glorified in clever rhyme (and how!) Imaginative...

. Oh hail the master puppeteer, Controller of the strings. The altruistic engineer, Sagaciousness he brings. With breathtaking dexterity, He moves us all about. From rich and famed celebrity, To every down-and-out. When he feels the time is right He drives our limbs to action. Manipulating day and night Gives...

. Around the rearview mirror of my car There hangs a gonfalon of love divine. My talisman, my bright and guiding star, From which both fortitude and healing shine. What is this mighty banner hanging down? Not cross nor tassel, but the soft damask That forms the flag by which...

. I watched as the convening mist rose twisting through the trees; It changed gray shapes and silhouettes, and shattered inner ease. I closed my eyes and bowed my head at shadows dark and gaunt. Poor choices often follow us; a lifetime they can haunt. The murk and shadows preyed...

. Advice from Dante “If you hear nostrums* in the market cried, Behave like men, and not like witless sheep.” ---Dante, Paradiso, Canto V Behave like men, and not like witless sheep. The CDC has shown no evidence That covering one’s face with cloth will keep The people near us...

. . Kismet If I'd been younger, or you not so old, Or we'd met at a different time and place, Would there have been within your heart a space For me, for love to reach and grab ahold? Might there have been such glories to behold As two might...

. I heard the harvested remains Of infants coursing through my veins Will save me from the Wuhan Flu--- I’m gonna get some, how ‘bout you? Those babies were already dead, Their blood’s not really on my head So fill that needle, stick it far--- I’ll leave my conscience in...

. Bang! “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”---This quote was attributed by John Kennedy to medieval thinker Dante Alighieri  I’m polite and I am civil. I am civil and polite. I nod at dullest drivel, My eyes and...

. Girolamo Savonarola Here we are at circus, you and me and all the others, facing each and every way in the Age of Absurdity. Rather alike some Swiftian satire, some Aesopian consequence, some Seussian phantasmagoria where all the world is upside down, facing sideways in slow-motion walking backwards into...

. between friends of 40+ years “Just what about Obama don’t you like?” “I fear his plans will force a big tax hike. His National Labor Relations Board, Makes rulings which leave business needs ignored. He’s thwarted crucial strides in energy. And led the worst fiscal recovery. Plus handouts to...

 . This silver-furred yogi of how to stay fit,  This bespectacled guru of health,  Is a growly voiced sage of nefarious wit;  A hoodwinking master of stealth.  This flip-flopping, truth-chopping, sly hypocrite;  This barefaced disgrace; demon prince of batshit,  Is rolling in ill-gotten wealth.    This fork-tongued ace fudger of figures and facts  Who wove the apocalypse thread,  Has backtracked on data...

. "He has made everything beautiful in its time. . ."  (Ecclesiastes 3:11) The sun shines so brightly on this verdant hill Where I sit in silence so peaceful and still; I've come here alone to survey the fair scene Spread out now before me, so fragrant and green. A...

. The poet has now escaped Hell, and has arrived in Purgatory or what he calls the StairWell. But he seems to have been abandoned by Dante, and has a fresh set of problems to confront. In this first section of the Canto he encounters an unexpected companion to help...

The author of the above poem, circulating online, is unknown. From The Epoch Times (March 2, 2021) "Biden Omits Mention of Dr. Seuss From ‘Read Across America Day’ Amid Concerns of Racist Undertones": President Joe Biden appears to have removed legendary children’s book author Dr. Seuss from “Read Across America...

. Do they still dance on old walkwayswith lowered shoulders, mastered breathand almost martial, measured gazethough one that's bent on life, not death?Will men with class step up and raisean arm and pause: a shibboleththat leading, and not lording, paysrespect---and takes his partner's breath? Do they still dance outside cafeswhere...

. I've battled beside Gilgamesh, the Bull Of Heaven slain by us. I've fought beside Achilles, hot beside a burning hull, And watched as Agamemnon, captured, died. With Oedipus I've lost my vital eyes With insight gained, avoiding my own lies. I've been to Hades too with Gilgamesh, Again with...

. A Teaching Tool for High School English Language Arts or Global History Teachers by Evan Mantyk . Background of Kipling and British India Rudyard Kipling The poet, Rudyard Kipling, was born in British India in 1865 and spent much of his life there. He produced many works of fiction...

. . Who Knew How often I crushed autumn leaves Until I saw a robin drink From one that cupped the fallen rain, And many times too, I did break Icicles dripping from a roof. How often in the spring I plucked A bud before it opened full, Afore the...

Reviewed Book: Mostly Sonnets: Formal Poetry in an Informal World by James A. Tweedie, Dunecrest Press, July 2019 by Theresa Rodriguez As a fellow sonneteer, I felt like I was reading the words of a kindred spirit when I read James A. Tweedie’s Mostly Sonnets: Formal Poetry for an Informal...

. This challenge was conceived by Paul A. Freeman after reading a sonnet in iambic monometer by James A. Tweedie, "Allergies." Mr. Freeman's example is below. Make your own and post it in the comments section below! . An Aging Poet’s Lament by Paul A. Freeman My mind these days...

. . He met her one Summer, the girl of his dreams, A freckle-faced beauty just out of her teens. He chatted her up, and he thought he’d done well, But with these young women, you never can tell. She said she was happy to be on her own, So,...

. . Frankly, There Are Many Ways To Spell Uggly “the Baleks von Bilgen…new coat of arms—a giant crouching under a fir tree” —Heinrich Böll, “The Balek Scales” by Esca Webuilder In the dark ages, lived a tyrant. Gugyl was his name, whose thoughts, though somewhat polished, were untrammeled and...

. The Magpie’s Chorus With sunlight at full power And silence in the air, I sought a shaded bower, A cool drink, and a chair. But then, I heard the trilling Of magpies in the trees Pour out like liquid filling The desiccated breeze. They put on airs and graces,...

. Governor Mussolini Fifteen thousand souls,Killed by the stroke of his pen,For whom no bell tolls. . . Covid Chronicles I saw a naked face today---It nearly took my breath away!I knew the girl and so I asked “How is it, Dear, that you’re unmasked?”. “I’m on the phone, as...

. In Astrophysics, I’m ranked “One,” and Greek and Latin I find fun. All serve me well at Crossword “Times,” with each day’s matrix solved by nine. Most free verse, though? Puzzles abstruse; Augean tasks for “us obtuse.” It’s glossy verse too recherché for even Hercules to slay! But many...

. Eyes on the Prize __What time it is Can be determined only by the Sun. __The choice is his, By whom all duties have been duly done, __To set the pace Whereby all useful progress shall be measured. __In such a race, Ambition and persistence will be treasured __Like...

. A Song of Saint Francis Good friends, I wander vale and hill The Master’s words upon my lip; My only thought: to do His will And sing such Love as makes hearts skip! Rejecting wealth, prestige and sword -- I only live to serve the Lord! God’s blessings are...

. Midday Dreaming The raindrops fall like teardrops from a sad and sodden cloud; Their spattering the sound of some a- doring, cheerful crowd. I touch the cloud with outstretched fingers Lifted to the sky, The rainfall’s ozone fragrance lingers As the storm rolls by. I hear the sound of...

. It feels like a galaxy far, far away,__But it’s just the US of AWhere a woman is canned, her prospective gigs banned,__For refusing to mutely obey. Speech marshals have spoken, patrollers of space;__Even actors must act to save face.Five affairs? No one cares. DUI? Don’t be shy__But for science...

. Of all Creation, who am I Who sins against Thee, Lord Most High? Of all that crawl, of those who creep, No one has ever sunk so deep. Of those who swim and those who fly, Least of them all, this sinner, I. There’s nothing else can go so...

. As a child, they could not keep me from trees And craggy, tangled limbs and aching arms. I loved the camouflage, the filtered breeze, Nose-smacked tang of moss and far-off farms. Grandma's had a crook just right for hiding. I savored hard-won silence in my perch, Nursed calloused hands,...