Poetry

. The Inca Kings Who stole the kings? Even Pachacutec's mummy now is gone from Lima's hospital display of Inca royalty—the T-Rex of them all, ferocity turned brittle bones and shrunken body in a sack, worthless to invaders seeking gold. The wisdom of the panther run amok, hapless Incas lost...

. An Ode to Letters We cannot be sure what the future will hold, But I doubt this prediction will fail. That no one will ever unearth in an attic An old treasure trove of email. . . Outvoted In my marriage I have noted That when all is said...

. “Di pensier in pensier, di monte in monte” by Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) __From thought to thought, from mountain to mountain, Love guides me, and every path in which I’ve strayed is hostile to a life of tranquility. __But if a stream or gushing spring, like a fountain, patters on...

. From Parthenope’s coast each to his post, Beseeching eyes upraised with steady gaze. That night would nature’s cruelty erase A city from the broiling earth and roast The dying with the lying dead. Utmost The pain, the choking pyroclastic haze Whose toxic clouds cloak rivers all ablaze, Each supplicating...

. with reference to Macbeth V,5 . So bleak and dreary, like a stormy day, The world a whirl of whorls of endless rain And wind, with crash and flash from out the fray As cannonades exchange defiance and disdain. Our foe an alternate reality That spews forth pyroclastic ash...

. after Matthew 2:1-12 From distant regions of the east they came, Wise Magi, searching for a royal son, Into Jerusalem with single aim: Determined, they, until their search was done. “Where is this little one, now born the King, The ruler of your citizens, the Jews? His rising star...

. Fools sneered at his rightful place; __“He isn’t our leader” they said. They labeled his traits a disgrace. __En masse, they demanded him dead. They screamed that his term was treason __And fought with a madman’s might--- ____Will they blind my fair mind till resigned to false reason? __They...

. I asked the Lord, “Please tell me, where's the outrage From those who claim to love the cause of right? Why aren't more people going on the rampage To battle dark deception with the light? A nation has been stolen, and the thieves Mock all who would expose their...

  This ode concerns a wealthy gent, To London Town, one day he went. He’d paid to see an Opera, But got more than he bargained for. For as he reached the City wall, He stopped to take a cell phone call, Whilst crawling gently to the curb, So residents,...

. Biden Kneels Before the Red Beast by Damian Robin from a scenario of Evan Mantyk On silver-smoke-screen in mid air __the Red Beast’s horde has beckoned. Its full face groomed, a beauty rare, __but breaking up each second. And through each giant flick’ring smile, __a hint of mad, like...

Selected by Beverly Stock ---From Liver Pills to stuff that kills, and makes it smooth to die, The last is not their mission, though, and yet within their power, But if you’re sick--go to them quick, or you may rue the hour, You kept on monkeying with fate, and deemed...

. Away with loneness--he whose winter bites, who haunts the wasted wilderness and shores, born in thunder on the misty moors; who, bred by wolves, with howling fills the nights. But bring his smooth browed sister Solitude, decked with autumnal charms and plenitude; with contemplation's brimming horn of flowers, and...

. . Hunting My father strides ahead of me.His khaki cap is all I see,beside the barrel of his gun.We’re hunting upland quail that runfrom us in loose community. The way is one that he knows best:zigzag downhill through scrub foresttoward a catch-pool where birds might drink.Young, quick to fire,...

  Dear Edgar, __We’re sorry our response has taken so much time, but it grieves and pains to tell you that you’ve missed our paradigm. __While past works were droll and erudite ---nay, frighteningly “sublime!”--- we just couldn’t help but notice, Ed, Alas! This thing shows rhyme!     Tonia...

. . The Rub   I’ve had a taste of wonder and I cannot give it back. I’ve seen each deep state blunder and the swamp’s heart dipped in black. I’ve witnessed this great country as it’s getting back on track. And now, to put it bluntly, we are under...

  . Old doors to opportunitiesare gone, so, not one opens.Enticements that were there, just tease,no keys, just slot-less tokens. Lost gains are gone, missed chances gone,mistakes abound like raindrops . . .And storms you walked into are gone.Don’t fret regrets, then pain stops. For who needs doors to handle joy?To...

. . Ode on ​Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Ganymede and the Eagle Bending down in offering, a Boy extends a shallow bowl; Craning neck of eagle dips, the Child foresees his coming role. Swept from earth to heaven’s cheers, What held your heart with world below? Now countless days will turn to...

  . O hail you lied-to, baffled Yanks,__false-fed with sick afront’ry,If only rigging votes were pranks__not killing your good country. I know you're in the midst of it,__the bin bags full of ballotsThat bulge their plastic 'til they split__and tumble over pallets Stacked with further postal votes__that Deviants would buryWith...

“Pride Goeth . . . .” “How dare you, sir! Your libel will not stand!” The words flew out across the now-hushed room. “Retract your vile lies or face your doom! “Repent or you shall die by my own hand!” A single calf-skin glove was raised on high. “My honor...

. Long the shadow that it casts, Christmas present, o’er our pasts. In its darkness made to bask, Mumbling carols through a mask. Oh, the distance we observe. No resistance, gone our nerve. Cowering in abject fear, We no longer gather near. Through the mail, gifts we exchange. Can it...

. Anno Domini 1348 ‘Tis thirteen months since those twelve ships of death Docked in Messina bearing vicious plague From the Black Sea. The fevers, rasping breath, The frightful buboes, tortured minds gone vague... The panic of the masses makes it worse. All kindness dies as fools seek sword or...

. The Burden of Truth Our founders feared and could foresee that politics might come to be far more intense than mere debate of means to best perpetuate the liberty they'd given birth unparalleled in all the earth, secured by selfless sacrifice of those becoming precious price. Thus, knowing pure...

  adapted from a Filipino folktale __Once, when the sun was at its height, A dragonfly thought she’d alight Upon a branch. The air was hot, And she fatigued. So, on that spot, Under the shade of foliage blessed, The dragonfly judged she would rest. __As with her wings she...

. The leaves may shine with colored gloss, But they will fall, forever lost. In this false world, what soul, I ask, May hope in timelessness to last? Today I cross these mountain depths With no vain dreams or drunkenness. . Original Japanese いろはにほへと　ちりぬるを わかよたれそ　つねならむ うゐのおくやま　けふこえて あさきゆめみし　ゑひもせすん Iroha nihoeto  ...

  This is the day for manifesting soul To flesh, for making contemplation real; Incorporeal yet real and whole Advancing to some heavenly ideal. Not such transcendence as annuls the Earth Or disregards Creation as a dream. We live awhile, then fall into our birth Past death into a luminescent...

. Freezing in a Winter Wonderland  to be sung to the melody of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" I am cold. Are you listening? On my nose, ice is glistening. Why must we roam? I wanna go home. Freezing in a winter wonderland. Gone away is the feeling in my...

. The Night after Christmas You better not cry. “Deplorable” might be how best to putit, just to underscore the gravityof chores that border on depravity,begriming Santa’s uniform with soot. A chimney’s not an option for the Chosenif any other path is close at hand,and empty hearths are not the...

 . To miss the mark, to lose my way,to choose the dark, on Christmas Day. No star I see, no Virgin Birth.No joy for me, no peace on earth. But for a wretch like me He came,to fetch me from my sin and shame. So by His manger, now I...

. Wake up and raise the blinds, to see the light, The colors; hark, the carols, feel the cheers Emerging, from within this Holy Night. Hear choirs of hope, in spirit, ‘mid your plight, While you can’t see the star. Would one, in tears, Wake up and raise the blinds...

  Christmas trees and Christmas carols, Christmas lights and reindeer, too.Christmas cards and Christmas presents, wrapped with paper, bows and glue.Christmas bells and Christmas cookies, Christmas ornaments galore!Spending money—is this all that Christmas means?  Or is there more? Is that all that Christmas brings us? Things to buy and things to...

. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer---A Sonnet Poor Rudolph was a reindeer with a nose resembling a bulb of bright red hue. The other reindeer laughed and said, “It glows like Santa’s after knocking back a few.” They called him ‘Scarlet Schnozz’ and wouldn’t play or socialise with Rudolph till a...

X The play of the breeze brings the music of childhood, The tinkle of laughter as light and as clear As were our voices when singing in Wildwood The day before Christmas—the best time of year. The songs that we sang told of sleigh bells a-jingling, Snow-laden branches, and manger...

.   The hills that Joseph meditated on were black and just a bit like elephants, but if somehow they counterpointed dawn, there was no sign of its deliverance. “Beloved, my beloved, how?---and why!" Against her tenderly-appearing age, a crowd of raging thoughts must have cried out, though Joseph, being...

My day dredges through its habits like chicken wings that flop through flour, like tame lettuce-nibbling rabbits, so to say, lacking brainpower. Rote nothings wasting useful hours. I need to force feed, briefly sleep, skip the laundry and flush the shower, and pray the lord my mind to keep.  ...

. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” ---Albert Einstein If I put forth a single vaccine questionAbout a jab that’s whipped up in a flash,And ponder on my shot-or-not position,Why should my reputation hit the trash? I’m called an...

In This Post Christian Era “For he nil falsen no wight, dar I seye, That wol his herte al hoolly on him leye.” ---Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Love Unfeigned” In this post-Christian era I believe; In this New Age, where One who rules the stars Does in the Seventh House the...

_ I How will I know you or will you know me?When every bird has hurtled to the ground,When every whale and every fish has drowned,And every beast, engaged in killing spreeHas eaten every one that cannot flee;When all our merchant ships have run agroundWhose crews, surviving tidal wave have...

. . The Rape of Lady Liberty In Memoriam: November 3, 2020 by Patrick Henry Redivivus They did the awful deed within the dark--- Brute men with beastly hearts, as black as coal, And blinded minds, like vicious dogs that bark Then bite the hand that fills their feeding bowl....

I set up my beloved theodolite And slowly, gently, aimed it at the moon, Then focused sharply on the lovely site, Which put its fragile eye piece well in tune. As always, it was truly great and thrilling; It tends at first to take away one’s breath. I’d even say...

. Still   “Many eyes go through the meadow,  but few see the flowers in it” ---Ralph Waldo Emerson  I aim and shoot with fierce alacrity   As artistry unfurls before my eyes  In all its charismatic clarity:  The  gauzy  glint of scudding dragonflies;A butterfly’s sartorial gaiety  Caught wafting in kaleidoscopic   skies.  I wonder at  God’s windfalls  on the wing  And...