Poetry

  How Monkeys Came to Be adapted from a Palestinian folktale Monkeys and people once were one. For monkeys had from Adam come. As Adam's sons in every way, Those monkeys looked like us today. Yet...

  The Gardener at War Throughout our lives we hustle and we slave __To turn our gardens into magic places __Where beauty at its pinnacle erases Our darkest intimations of the grave; But what mundane...

"One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship." ---George Orwell We are the fearsome force for good who’ll overthrow...

  Vera A fine and sunny Summer’s day And now our Vera’s slipped away. Auf Wiedersehen, we’ll meet again; We don’t know where, we don’t know when. A proper looker in the day, A smile to...

  Alike a trusted hand that comes to rest On harried shoulders to relieve the stress, This allemande fulfills its basic quest: Bestowing thorough genial redress. When just too much encumbrance...

  No Epitaph The lies lie heavy on his chest, Striped red, striped white, now tattered vest And soon to draw his final breath--- Who’ll mourn this Son of Freedom’s death? I look around,...

  How wild become the eyes! How fine it is to learn! That the beauty in the sky's Cold torch of perfect pearl, Or in the trunk of the laburnum With those swaying yellow leaves That catch the...

  You had to act, because you heard the voices Within your head. Saint Michael came to you, Saints Catherine and Margaret. But what choices Did you have? You knew them to be true, Not demons or...

  With Sorrow Do I Leave It is with sadness that I write to tell you that I am resigning from The New York Times. ---Bari Weiss, opinion writer, 13 July 2020 With sorrow do I leave The New York...

  Enrobed in blue—enthroned and crowned—her Son, __With proffered blessing, safely in her hands— __The Queen of Heaven reigns on high as one __Who holds in love all those whom she...

on the 21st anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's launching the persecution of the peaceful practice of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999   Hidden in a Flyer by Daniel Magdalen Slowing down my clockwork...

  There’s beauty in the ordinary things like challenges and joys each season brings, the world of work and school, and kids at play between sunrise and sunset every day. There’s awe-inspiring...

  I Make My Way by Joe Tessitore These times, indeed, have tried my soul. With lightening speed, I’ve lost control Of all that mattered in the past--- It drifts, now scattered, in a...

  It's easier to not exist And yet existence does persist. Although I cannot fathom why, I cannot rest unless I try. To wonder why or how or when, Such is the way it's always been. As we orbit...

  An old friend called on me today, past indiscretions to relive. Long decades passed since we had spoke; he hoped ill feelings I'd forgive. We had once been the best of friends but problems...

  Coming Home “Thank you for letting me come home,” she said To me the night she died, and I, tongue-tied, I could not answer her. I should have tried, I know, for tacitly her thoughts I...

  Lockdown Leisure with apologies to W.H. Davies In lockdown life, should I but dare To take more time to stand and stare?--- More time to stand six feet away And gaze upon our world...

Your Smart Device a rondeau Your smart device was strange and new; It learned your voice and habits too; It played the songs you liked to hear; It answered your requests with cheer, And spat out facts...

by Adam Sedia John Dryden In 1688, John Dryden, England’s first official poet laureate, was deprived of that title for remaining Catholic and replaced with the laughably inferior Thomas Shadwell. Dryden...

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The Crowd by Christian J. Weaver The corpses of my former selves Are yawning in the waves. They bob and float like slimy logs; Their fish-expressions gaze With mute surprise at all the rest: It's...

The King Lying lips win praise and fame, And money, pow’r and wealth; They grant great glory for your name But cost the price of self. For once a man betrays his plans To be upright and true, That...

  Editor’s Note: This poem was originally found in The Pebbles and Shells: A Book of Verses ,1909, edited by Donald Fraser. Another version was published in The Good Humor Book, by Robert Rango,...

  Good François Villon, petty thief, Carouser, cutpurse, scholar, sot; Young chronicler of gallows-grief, Escapee from the hempen knot; Depicter of the dregs and lees Of drunken students,...

  Armageddon a tennos on the current socio-political situation by C.B. Anderson Some of my former friends are now definitively leftist; The most intelligent among them are the very deftest At...

  The Strength Within A tribute to Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr. Mike Stroud who, in 1993, became the first men to cross the continent of Antarctica unsupported. The crossing took 93 days. They stood...

  La Ville Lumière—City of Lights, of Dreams, __Of Love: La Ville d’Amour. Whose night is day— __Whose stars are mirrored in the sky which streams __Them back again—La Seine: the Milky...

  Caiaphas To the Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana in defense of Father Rothrock High Priest of Israel’s nameless God __You were, and though came to possess That charge upon the gentiles’...

A Case of Ghosts (Full Fathom Five parodied) In cradling case my fiddle lies, Waiting for the owner’s hand. Strings all slack, its music dies. Yet a not-quite-silent band There conspires to haunt my...

  Summer in Texas She sashays in on scorching licks of flame that singe the sticky fringes of the day. Her blaze, no brazen breeze can ease or tame; she sizzles as she splashes rays our way. Her...

Fallen Leaves You can't stop leaves from falling in the autumn of their lives, And you can't stop bees returning to the safety of their hives, And you cannot stop deception as it flows from your T.V., Or...

The American Revolution: An Epic Poem Chapter I by Andrew Benson Brown   Chapter II: Thomas Jefferson in Hell On July Fourth of Eighteen Twenty-Six, Old Thomas Jefferson was sent to Hell In his...

  All Gone Listening to William Billings' "Chester" I cannot help but weep to sing these words, and by them, lodge my soul with those who sang them many years ago. From their hearts rang both faith...

The winning haiku can be found here Write a haiku on any topic and post it in the comments section below. The haiku must adhere to the traditional parameters of a haiku to qualify (and may be deleted if...

  “Come one, come all, it´s time to ride The carousel of fools! It’s free, it’s fun, just step inside, Get on---there are no rules!” So spoke the barker at the tent To crowds that...

  Summer Concerts The katydids and stridulant cicadas Regale us with their aestival sonatas. At night, surrounded by the song of crickets, We listen just as though we'd paid for tickets. first...

Viral Hair Care After four months untrimmed, my coiffure was ovoid, Well in tune with Aquarian couture. I was starting to look just like Christopher Lloyd In the old movie, “Back to the Future.” With...

  1. Poetry or prose? No one knows. 2. Shan’t waffle, 'tis awful. 3. Shan’t coddle, 'tis twaddle. 4. I can't say it faster: it's an utter disaster. 5. By smidgen or...

  See the St Louis The St Louis sailed from Hamburg in May, 1939. The 938 passengers were refused entry by Cuba’s president, Federico Bru, and by the USA and had to return to Europe, where most ended...

  Back to Normal An Appeal to Pastors I hear it in my conversations and in webinars and on the web: "How long before we’re back to normal? We can’t stand much more of this. It seems so very...