Rondeau

. Lullaby of New Mexico, Part Two Part One can be read here. Duerme Papi---Dad, it’s time to rest. I smooth your blanket here at Desert Sage And look with worry at your wrinkled face. My calloused hand...

. It’s Halloween It’s Halloween, and musty tombs expel Damnation’s brides and grooms; ghoulish creatures rule the night, a ghastly resurrected blight as Satan’s grinning visage looms. Hell’s emptied...

. Everyday Angels  inspired by Guadalupe Amejorado (1955-2021)  They don’t appear in swathes of white   __On scintillating wing.  Their heads aren’t crowned with rings of light.  __They never...

. On Rainy Nights On rainy nights, in pensive thought, I claim the respite I have sought but seldom found on sunny days. Cool drops soothe more than brightest rays in times when life's with trouble...

. In the First Degree Had the bullet’s trajectory veered half a foot to the right, It might not have extinguished the life of this innocent youth Who had just turned eighteen. The Grand Jury moved fast to...

. A Hopeless Rondelet  All trust is dead, Killed by lies in love’s disguise. All trust is dead--- It’s buried in a sigh of dread. Its memory spills from mourning eyes. Can Truth rekindle sunless...

. Quarantined Against the wind, our candles out, The smoke will rise, we have no doubt, Yet in the dark with all our kin, We’ll strike a match and crack a grin, And once alight, our joy will sprout. All...

. The Arch of Titus The Arch of Titus was constructed in 81 AD by the Emperor Domitian to commemorate the victory of Titus and Vespasian, over the Jewish rebellion in Judea. The arch depicts the triumphal...

. Shining Armor The knights roll in. They have a rift to heal--- A rift that stokes the embers of despair. With grit they steer their trusty steeds of steel. They come in peace to seal a vital deal With he...

. Never Again Never again, beneath the sun Would mortal beings come undone. A pledge arose and soared on high--- It warmed the heart and lit the sky The day the force for freedom won. Yet now cruel camps with...

. A Truthful Triolet I want the truth. I want to trust The words that trip from lips that lied. I want all doubt to fade to dust. I want the truth. I want to trust. Truth hurts. Truth heals. Truth's heart is...

. St. Joseph’s Admonition Forget yourself, and do what’s right, Remember how you gained your sight, So do not pause to quench your pain, Your will is strengthened by the strain, But weakened if you do not...

. 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...

. Honest to God a rondeau I do not know why Sarah died; I only know her parents cried Such tears as only parents shed When infant children die in bed— A grief they did not try to hide. At birth a tumor deep...

. read about Geronimo here Geronimo! That is my name; I’ve garnered international fame because I haven’t got TB, or have I? That’s the quandary which has become a running game. Results of skin tests say...

. Heroes Where are they now---the bold who brave The choke of smoke to ways that pave The path to breath beneath wide skies? Where are the ears that hear the cries Of souls they fight death’s bite to...

. The Secret Garden Beyond these ivied walls grows naught but heather Gorse and broom, the moors engulfed by blows Of bitter, wuthering wind and gloomy weather. This haunted land is barren, bleak and old. But...

. Rondeau The rondeau echoes its refrain in a subtle way, just as rain at times will fall, not in torrents, but in a fine mist, the wood fence, weathered gray, resisting the stain of water. So, the reader’s...

. The Lion Who Thought She Was a Zebra a fable East Africa is where this lion’s tale Takes place---a land of rugged plains of grass, Acacia trees with thorns as sharp as nail, And wild beasts of every shape...

. Our Father loves us, one and all. He lifts us when our spirits fall. He knows the song of heart and mind; He hears the fears of humankind In every earnest, earthly call. He guides us through the grind and...

. The Dove Returned The dove returned! The Earth is dry; A golden sun lights up the sky. This ark shall rest on land again Each creature freed from cage and pen, Each yearning bird released to fly! The old...

. A Woke Recipe for Disaster a villanelle Heap fresh and zesty chaos on despair. Rub salt in history’s wounds till hatred sticks, Then sugar discontent with bogus care. Pour rage and scorn on free-speech...

. If He came now, God’s only Son, To save a world that’s come undone Would we continue to defy His truth, to stoke the ruthless lie That claims His name is not the One? His Word torments the twisted...

. 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...

  Where are the leaves that branches bore? They’re falling fast on forest floor, A cornucopia outspread, Of orange, yellow, brown, and red: Reminders of a settled score. Ah this, my gloomy...

  The Church is Locked on Easter Day a rondeau The Church is locked on Easter Day Despite the stone being rolled away. The Christ awakes to greet the poor But they cannot get through the door To go...

  They tried and failed. They’re trying still To steal our freedom; break our will--- The terrorists who torment days With ire and fire and Hades’ blaze. Our bones burn with their evil...

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...

  Foolosophy I know that I know nothing more than you, for neither of us know a single thing of relevance; I opt not to accrue vast knowledge as the price is danger’s sting. All blissful days are built...

Translator's note: The following consists of three poems by Jehan (or Jean) Froissart (c.1335–c.1410), translated not very literally but as far as possible in the original form, with its elaborate repetition...

Doublespeak Denial Rondeau Redoublé “Gender mattered a whole lot less to Shakespeare than it seems to matter to us.” —John Irving If I don’t care for words you have to share (a pitch which...

The Forlorn Hope—Vicksburg 1863 Back in Vicksburg, the town was surrounded With a battle line twelve miles long. U.S. Grant sought to conquer the city, But the rebel defenses were strong. An advance...

The Fall of the Fourth Estate a rondeau The Media: the Fourth Estate* Performed disgracefully of late: Delivering the news askew, Allowing certain viewpoints through To fuel the discontent and...

The Melancholy Snowman Though stony-eyed, I watched the finches glide. The chimney smoke, the builder slide, At night, I gave the constellations words, The House, the Builder, and the Birds. My silver...

  Before the Darkness  a rondeau Before the darkness brings about the night and steals the world’s colors from your sight, paint all your memories in vivid hues. Let not the darkness be the path...

a rondeau Cape Disappointment, battered and distressed, Besieged, beset, by brute-force waves hard-pressed As broad and deep Columbia collides With Chinook-whipped Pacific Ocean tides— Leviathans...

A Life Well Lived a rondeau A life well-lived begins and ends surrounded by the love of friends. The air breathed in and out each lung are signals that songs should be sung, for life’s a blessing God...

The Fall Revisited The implications of the fall are endless in their reach; that lowly serpent had such gall, Eve's failure to beseech. Though what they chose when they did bite that infamous red...

  I Love This Life a rondeau I love this life in spite of all the trying times and every wall I must tear down to find success, although sometimes my happiness is thwarted, slowing to a...

A Rondeau The big corn field was gone today: A machine crouched amid the fray Like a locust after a feast Near the side road facing southeast— Likely to be gone by Sunday. The corn had turned from...