Poetry

Fleas with apologies to Joyce Kilmer I think that I shall never see A creature horrid as a flea. A flea who makes a little nest Inside the fur of doggy’s chest; That treats us like a free...

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  Choosing a pet can be vexing and yet it’s important to vet all the choices you’ve got. If you’re in search of a pet who will perch on your silver white birch, it’s the best of the...

  This recording was made by M. P. Lauretta for the Southend Poetry Group in August 2019.   Sonetto n. 7 dal Canzoniere di Francesco Petrarca La gola e ’l sonno e l’oziose piume hanno...

The wind and balmy breeze Blow softly through the trees. All the darkness of the night, Disappears in morning light. The shadows on the ground, They do not make a sound. Birds awakened, singing...

Dodgeball "But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2.16 Sometimes my thought-life is a dodgeball game— except that I’m the only one on my side of the line—and when at length I try to launch...

  This is an abridged version of the original. A reading of the original can be found here. A chilling breeze blew through the trees, which filtered beams of light That danced in play as dying day gave...

  This season’s colours will be brown and gold Fading to sepia, like a photograph. The leaves, still splendid, are already old, Their richness is a kind of aftermath. This, like all seasons, is...

A Treble's Song Is there a thing to match a treble’s song? The joy perhaps of spring-time larks in flight, Or how the migrant birds so deftly throng? What of the mane that speaks the lion’s...

  The skylight lets the nascent streak Of gold inside this darkened room; Some wisp of scent invades therein, A perfumed faith to counter gloom. Those orbs of light cast patterns old, Of...

  Here stand I happ’ly on classical grounds, inspired; the voices speak distinctly in enchanted tone from worlds of today and former times expired. Taking counsel, I leaf through beloved elders’...

Political Voice (A Cento) A cento or collage poem takes bits of poetry from past poets and puts them together in a new order. The below poem draws on the poems written for the political campaigns of U.S....

  Irrelevant If the room is the tomb then the elephant is irrelevant.   Haiku From my heart was shown how very much I loved her— could she not have known?   I have found my...

. Sonnet VI. Fiona Zheng Violinist Fiona Zheng and her father spent part of their lives fleeing communist authorities in China after her mother and grandmother were killed for refusing to renounce their...

Helen Keller (1880-1968) Your eyesight and hearing were gone, yet you felt just as blithe as a fawn ___when you learned that a word ___could stand for a bird or the flowers that bloomed in your...

A breeze came out of the North one day, and cried, "September's begun!" A breeze came out of the North one day, declared, "The Summer is done!" by Jack Ahlers You know the fall air—it is somehow...

Writer's Block I feel like I am plodding through cement; My mind is full of cotton batting. Dull, And dense, and empty-headed, thinking spent On trying to find clarity. To mull About within and come up...

A ball that’s lost should never cost ____A one-stroke penalty. Where now it dwells finds someone else— ____It’s stolen property! When perfect putt lips ‘round the cup, ____No stroke need added...

Sandprints Yes: Life is pleasure, life is grand, __Life is sweet and fleeting; Alike a stroll upon the sand, __Alike a heart that’s beating In measured pace, step after step, __In meter through our...

The Pain of Foreign Occupation The land lay naked under hobnailed boots Of German occupiers in The Hague. The Blitzkrieg had commenced with parachutes And covered sedate Holland like a...

Spoke the Mansion All around be the space of a halcyon day, Some salon where discussion meets wine and croquet; There are salads of crab, on the sun-mottled court For my gracious old neighbor, the...

  I. Is curiosity the bane of man As seeking knowledge often leads to woe? Do only fools pass their allotted span Disclosing some things better not to know? Or is pursuit of truth its own...

In 1937, the renegade Communist Leon Trotsky (real name: Lev Bronstein) came to Mexico with his family and took up residence with the painter Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo. An affair developed between...

A Man for Two Seasons by T.M. Moore I’m in a constant state of readiness for fall. For me, the perfect climate goes from winter straight to autumn, sans the stress of spring and allergies, and all...

  "Progressive" mind accompanies the art Of writing poetry at present time. Great intellectuals from forms depart, And love free verse that spurns meter and rhyme. If poems be composed in such a...

Keeping the Door Ant hordes scurried in purposeful files; Angry, alert, full to demonic marching: They came in batteries to batter: _____But I kept the door. Worms twisted achingly upwards into...

Song of the Crab Nebula in celebration of 50 years after Apollo 11 Long before the first eyes ever saw me __Floating like a ghost upon the night, Long before human minds even feebly __Pierced beyond their...

Of All God’s Living Creatures Of all God’s living creatures only we With subtle artifice create our style Of dress and image, and with painted smile Construct the me we want the world to see. Though...

  Fright and Flight The sleeping farm was bathed in soft moonlight. A quiet evening, peaceful and subdued; When suddenly a single bovine mooed And then a second answered from her right. The pastured...

by Joe Tessitore and James A. Tweedie We are issuing a challenge to all poets to create poems that incorporate word homophones. Call it what you like, but we are calling it a Homophonic Poetry Challenge....

a villanelle Ye let it flow, the bitter brine, let flow! How long you hold it back, those snowy streams! Don't stop their course, until they touch your toe! Your past congealed as solid misery and...

inspired by “The Lady of Shalott” by Tennyson Part I The forests loom at Nottinghamshire. The river oaks still aiming higher, Surround the field where from the byre The cattle trample through the...

Faust Money ___________________________I sold my soul for silver. ___________________________In blood I signed my name. I soon enjoyed the benefits of wealth, success, and...

The Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a traditional holiday that celebrates the Harvest Moon (the full moon nearest the Fall Equinox).    Through Mists of Tears The moon shines...

. Quiet Night Pondering by Li Bai (701-762) A bed before the bright moonlight. Does frost below lie on these halls? I lift my head: the moon is bright. I lower it—my homeland calls! . Original...

  Philosophers of Marxist ilk designed For leveled outcomes, then they slew en masse. It pleased the Nazi socialists to grind Up twenty million lives—hence, Zyklon gas. The Russian cognoscenti...

by T.M. Moore I had just finished teaching one of the adult classes at our church on the meaning of Christmas, using John Milton’s Ode on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity as my text. We examined many...

  Today I strolled upon the shore Where Grandad walked in days of yore; Along its sandy, glossy sheen Where once his imprint would have been. And thereupon I did behold ‘Twas here, when I was...

Originally published here. ALBUQUERQUE, NM — July 27, 2019 — Sonnet 5, a marriage poem from MacKenzie’s Sonnets for Christ the King, has inspired award-winning producer, composer, and vocalist D.G. Hall...

(All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) Haiku by W. "Cured Eel" Sabi I came to the sea. I saw mountains of water. I conquered nothing. *** The fisherman drops his line with bated breath down to a...