The Scapegoat Their memories select the bad, forget The good. Their hypersensitivity And need for higher maintenance won't let...

  Why Did I Kiss You? _I kissed you with no warning. _You softly asked me why. _I said that...

  Bird Song At five a.m. the avian chorus starts So fervently you’d think they had not heard That men...

  Ulysses He stands upon the sandy strand alone. He has been dropped off, stranded, left. A crow caws out...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmgiYCYQqAA     Andrew Benson Brown‘s epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, chronicles the major events of the American Revolution. He writes...

  A Tribute to Scott Adams ---1957-2026 We lost Scott Adams, and his fertile mind. We mourn his passing, but...

  To Once Have Been Immortal A mountain swollen with the impudence of jaunty youth, unfazed by plodding Time, aspires...

  The Bartender He seemed a little out of place when he walked in that night. The bar was pretty...

  The New Satanic Mills "And did the Countenance Divine, Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded...

  Telling by Not Asking I called up somebody I knew back in school, _Beginning six decades ago. Someone I...

  Leak Oh, versifyingʼs worthless unless you know the what and why Of saying something deep and true, or of...

  Shards How unexpected did that moment come; How swift and sudden did that moment pass. A fleeting touch that...

  When from the Damning Writs When from the damning writs of men’s assize I flee the dock of ignorance...

  Mac Modernist All mortal works are destined to decline, And in this fall, doth poetry align, As all inheritance...

  Thomas Paine Publishes Common Sense   London, 1774 A man walked through the door, escaping rain. His shoes were...

  Seven Sonnets of Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo Translated from French and Curated by Adam Sedia Introduction Joseph-Casimir Rabearivelo (1903-1937) was born...

  The Measure of a Woman (or a Man) We’re measured in our mother’s womb by ultrasound to check all’s...

  Encounter with My Dead Father I am holding my father’s hand so white, and in silence we walk up...

  Two Sonnets by Nino Martoglio (1870-1921) translated from Sicilian by Joseph S. Salemi   I. Young lady, you who...

  Wall of Ice I have met an icy barrier On this pleasant journey Life That has tried to freeze...

  King of Poets Salaciously Saul slouches on the throne (Backbiting envy never sits upright) Since David’s victories surpass his...

  Watercolors Before her was a canvas, white as snow. Beside her, watercolors, bright and clean. For hours, she sat...

  Art and Nature The well is deep Where poets keep Their unused words, And sylvan groves Are treasure troves...

  Star of Wonder We read of three Wise Men at Christmas each year Who left home on a journey...

  Yeonmi Park’s Advice to Americans You don’t ever want to be a country that’s like North Korea, where a...

  Caravaggio Light floods the window, spearing glass and Matthew. Leaning forward now, in conversation, he is called. The bright...

  Refrigerator Bird “Say the word for penguin.” Jen Jen waited. Silence. Then I guessed: “Refrigerator bird?” Laughter shook the...

  The Oak Trees Stunned by the sunlight on a winter day, A shock too strong to meet, I turned...

  A Cardinal on a Snowy Day A single cardinal, on a snowy day, Cloistered in a nearby hemlock branch...

  The Mayor’s a Maniac by Susan Jarvis Bryant The zodiac’s off track. The Little Bear is lost. The mayor’s...

  Single Room Cigarette, 17th Floor Yale Club of Manhattan “...the earthly city glories in itself; the City of Heaven...

  Legacy of Light One by one, extinguished stars return to take their places in the fallen night; So long...

  The Swarm "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" From Lord of the Flies, by William Goldring...

  Lament of a Poet Falsely Accused of Using AI A charlatan, a master thief am I, the ghost of...

  A Gift from the South Seven degrees outside. How can it be that clouds float northwards? It’s not arctic...

  New Year’s Peeve   I. Cassandra’s Countdown The Eve arrives in sequin-spangled zing. The clock ticks on as tipsy...

  Homage to Brigitte Bardot ---God bless Brigitte Bardot for her courage and frankness. “And God Created Woman…” yes, indeed—...

  Dearth of Emotional Intelligence Most everyone believes they have the skill To understand and manage their emotions, But some...

    Fireflies Driving down a country road one sultry summer evening, with headlights sweeping through the little clouds of...

  Real Poetry Free verse is naught but prose in guise. No one can tell me otherwise. Confessions, images, and...