Beauty

. Facing a Famine of Fatherhood in memory of Father Peter Carota They say a country road or city street, The pavement, stones, and dirt pressed by his feet, Recall a holy man who passed thereby, But what of paths where bytes of data fly, The fibers, wires, or airwaves...

. Two Summer Villanelles . l. Lone Star Sear The burn and boil is grim for some. I’m red of neck and flushed of cheek. I’m roasting under summer’s thumb. Cicadas thrum and twang and strum Their shrill and tinny, eerie shriek. The burn and boil is grim for some....

. To a Sand Gazelle You must believe the light will carry you, Across the Rub al Khali of your life. Let happy times light up your whole life through. Green oases are scattered through the dunes, It’s true, the empty quarter nurtures life. You must believe the light will...

. Curious Couplets . Goose Lady When driving through a blizzard, Marge Espied a goose, not over large. Determinedly it marched along— One wing dragged as it sang its song And whistled wee wee as it went— A crippled chick, quite innocent. What could she do, or anyone? The gosling’s...

. The Blame Game a kyrielle They rile. They gall. They know it all. These irksome jerks in folly’s thrall Are perilously cretinous. __It’s always Them. It’s never Us.   They grouse and groan. They mope and moan. With spines of sponge and souls of stone These gutless gripers cuss and fuss. __It’s always Them. It’s never Us.  They’re dull of head. Their wits have fled. Their loony lips are spewing dread--- The...

. Conversion The great advantage of the years I stacked up often carelessly And often as a mutineer Against all simple things and dear, Is how I purely now by grace Within the smallest moments trace A curious sublimity. For though I once played beauty false And goodness for a...

. The Forgotten Earl He thought about the sonnets that he wrote; The time he spent composing metered lines Of rhyme, divided into quatrains. He Alone devised the scheme;—but Virgil’s books! If only there was time to translate more Than two from The Aeneid epic poem; A masterpiece about a hero called...

. August. The rose-of-sharon blossoms float like stars Within my reach: I’m lying on the grass Observing sunset fade and twilight pass Between their leaves.  Cicadas sing their airs, A gentle dirge: the summer’s passing, too, With ticks and tocks of crickets counting hours That still remember June’s long days. ...

. The Sky Within The rolling sea becomes a frothy lather When argent Sister Moon calls forth a tide And sooty billows on the skyline gather. A flash of lightning urges us inside Where we observe the phases of our moods, Uninterested in commonplace diversions, And when a shadow of...

. Death Musings . 1 On New Year's Day my body fell as dead Before a frightened child who hid her face From terror's flaunt. Death-taunts delivered dread To this dear child with cold and reddened face Till I woke up astonished by God’s grace. . 2 My dance with...

. The Heavy Launch of the Siegfried Idyll The landing offered just the space required for Wagner and the band that he had hired to play the idyl Cosima inspired, the mother of young Siegfried, whom he’d sired. The able men there present were quite tired from long rehearsal, yet...

. . Learn Now, Learn Now, Young Master ‘Learn now, learn now, young master; You soon will take your test. The books to learn are plenty; You need to do your best; No time to take a rest. Your marriage is awaiting; A house you have to buy. Keep on...

. Key West Rum, reeling, raunchiness, and revelry, Palms, poincianas, palaces of old--- All lie behind; the Morro Castle’s hold Guards old Havana past the sparkling sea A half-day’s sail south from this furthest Key; A torrid gap that spans a war still cold, An ocean’s breadth between two worlds---I’m...

. Henry at Morning Time I’m lost in Greek or Latin, when You break into my life again. “Daddy, look! It’s morning time,” You say, as rays of sun sublime Bring color to the room. The leaves of Philosophes serene Read better in this morning gleam, But I’ll not sit...

. Seaside Retreat Footsteps move slow through shifting sand; A weather-beaten picket fence Encloses beach verbena fanned By sea oats where the influence Of busybody breezes fades. The cottage yard commingles shades Of leafage subtle and subdued; Indoors, the feel of worn brocades Retouches the expectant mood. Bright painted clapboard...

. Formulas for Failure I’ve seen too much of devastating failure, In almost every avenue of life. One might guess lack of skill the main derailer, But that’s not even close to what’s most rife. A bigger reason’s lack of confidence, You must have strong belief that you’ll succeed. A...

. Back to Sleep In very early years, now far behind, When I returned to earth at midnight deep From nightmare scares within my frightened mind, My mother rocked and sang me back to sleep. I hid in bed from monster and from man As blackened shadows seemed to slowly...

. The Sea The sea rolls on, unchanged. Unmarred By earthly wars it stays unscarred. Always as long as man exists, The sea will froth in perfect bliss. When our life is borne away, And sunlit fingers point the way, The sea will simply shrug its shoal, For who shall...

. On Lies and Liars A Double (Petrarchan) Sonnet . “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he...

. Melodious Curlew Melodious curlew mottled brown and bister, No longer raise your crescent-shapen beak Towards the waning moon, to which you shriek That harmony which haunts the twilight’s glister; Your love, though flown afar since last you kissed her Beneath the heathy hills along the creek, Has parted on...

. Via Appia Beneath the pines of Rome, the wrinkled sibyl will croak your future for eleven cents, and with her finger in the dust will scribble predictions of uncertain consequence. But go near, fix your eyes on her immense eyes, clear blue like the Roman sky but colder: you’ll...

. Meditation on the Moon O! think about that strange celestial clump, That ball of dust God found beneath His bed And set it spinning round the Earth instead Of tossing it in outer space’s dump. Its orbit’s but an apathetic slump Of quarters, halves, and shadows dark as lead...

. Balderdash? What are these hidden, unseen things? Do angels, demons, float on wings? Such ghostly shapes the full moon brings! __Our modern minds dismiss. Who twists and turns a shooter’s mind? Who ties the rope a rapist binds? Who wields the axe so many grind? __Is it a thing...

. A Birthday Prayer Dear God, a new year has begun, My thirty-fourth of blessèd life. You’ve given children, lovely wife, And lately, happy, newborn son. We have, by your munificence, Enough intelligence and health, Sufficient store of worldly wealth, A humble, city residence. You’ve sent me teachers, priests, and...

. Panchavati, An Introduction by Maithili Sharan Gupt (1886-1964) translated by Paddy Raghunathan The full moon’s mesmerizing rays Appear to skim the lake and sand, As moonlight, fresh, diffuses over Surfaces of sky and land. The earth transmits a joyous pulse From melodies of green grass blades. On cue, the...

. Stand There comes a time to stand for what you know To be the right, whatever be the cost. Then get you up to speak, or do, or go, To fill some gaping breach, though you be tossed From wave to towering wave, while dervish winds Pull sail from...

. Suiseki Rainfall has stopped; it’s the best time for hunting a stone. Drizzle still dampens debris; Trees put forth roots unobtrusively; mosses have grown; Animals leaving their burrows run free— Sodden land quivers, unearthing examples unknown. Seeking encounters fortuitous, off we proceed, Hillsides with streams our most suitable goal,...

. Insomnia Kyrielle The stars above have gone to bed, their quilt of clouds a calming sweep as moonlight strokes their tossing heads: O lord have mercy, let me sleep! Here in this dark I lie awake. The cliff of slumber is so steep I cannot find a path to...

. The Nation’s Heart The Nation’s heart has passed away, A loving grandmother to all. And now it’s for her son we pray Whom Charles the Third we’ll learn to call. But will he fill that vital space Elizabeth has left behind? For peerless was her poise and grace, This...

. Heavy Excess a plea from the human realm I must flee this land where feelings choke, Unrope attachments that were tied in love. Through halting rites of passport checks I grope. My bulky baggage makes my body slope. I’m strapped to grief, this loss, this toss and turn, This...

. Peace For Our Time "I believe it is peace for our time... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep." ---Neville Chamberlain “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.” ---Winston Churchill. A triumph, yes, a veritable smash! From Munich I convey peace...

. The Billboard a pantoum It’s propped along the route I roll— A squatting square against the sky, Atop a sturdy metal pole, To tell me what new thing to buy. A squatting square against the sky, It blocks the airy, fluffy clouds, To tell me what new thing to...

. Don't Mess with Texas Gals On My Late Life Wife . Don't mess with my hot Texan. She's Texas born and bred. She does not fool with strangers. She'd rather see them dead. They said when she was born She had fire in her eye, The doctor wouldn't spank...

. My Resignation Be still, my Heart, be stiller than the grave. When consciousness dissolves into the sea, This desperate taste will fade with memory Of nothing, undisturbed by bitter wave. Be still, my Heart, be stiller than the grave. And now deep vices and regrets take hold. The taverns...

. Forever Nine My bare feet merge with weathered, knotty pineAs dripping swimsuit water cools the pier.The day belongs to me, for I am nine,With end of endless summer drawing near. My tanned and sunburnt skin soaks in the sun;My heartbeat hastens with adrenalin;My back foot thrusts me forward as I...

. Graves “Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and have you rise from them.” ---Ezekiel 37:13 There was a time indeed when I was dead: Oh: breathing yes, and witty, so I’m told; Yet deep within me wormed a sour dread That...

. Snowfall: Via Negativa “Less is more.” ---Literary Dictum Out on the highway, snow settles in place Covering the tracks the traffic has traced Blotting out edges, disguising the rough Burying the world in heaps of white stuff Obscuring the details of branches rimmed white With down-drifting flakes that fill...

. Independence Day? a rondeau Some dared. Some died. With pluck and pride And guts and grit the brave defied Despotic rule. They stripped the foe Of dominance below a glow Of stars that spangled eventide. With God and gumption on their side, They brawled and bled for kin that cried Beneath...

. Fourth of July Limerick Top left, there’s an oblong that’s blue; add in fifty stars, white in hue. To offset the stars are parallel bars, six white, seven red, straight and true. . . Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir, a crime novel which was taught...

. America Is Not the Same America is not the same. __I do not recognize it. We all know who should bear the blame, __But still we analyze it. The teachers’ unions and the press _  All share part of the shame. Our legal system is a mess __That functions...