Beauty

. Behind the Cathedral Master masons made these bastions their own by blending crafts, attaining structural awe; from Notre Dame, to Salisbury and Cologne they dazzled kings and stupefied the poor. The scale envisaged dwarfed the parish churches; kaleidoscopic windows tamed the light, while gargoyles gurned from on their lofty...

. Poems from 'The Still Beloved' ('La Amada Inmóvil') by Amado Nervo (1870-1919) translated from the Spanish by Alan Steinle The poems below are selections from the book La Amada Inmóvil: Versos a Una Muerta (The Still Beloved: Verses to a Dead Woman). This Spanish book was written by the...

. A Poetic Heretic’s Poetry Tips a villanelle inspired by Dr. Salemi's essay "Poetry As The Philosophers Stone" Don’t listen to the howl of highbrow spiel From preachy creatures out to flatten flair. Don’t let the sunbeam-zappers sap your zeal. Don’t bow to scoffing boffins. Never kneel Before a do-it-my-way doctrinaire. Don’t listen to the howl of highbrow spiel. Don’t let...

. La Corona A childhood scene recalled by Trump of his mother, Mary MacLeod Trump, in The Art of the Deal, with a parallel to English-Scottish history.   Two popes, two presidents. Two queens. Recall How Mary, Queen adored Elizabeth. “My royal cousin” she wrote with affection In her too-imitable...

. Rhymeless in Manama My UK friend said, “Rhyme is old, you need to venture free and bold.” My Turkish friend said, “Rhyme's a must, a rhymeless bard deserves no trust.” But I found out I needn't choose I better leave it to my Muse: she knows this poem needs...

. Canyon de Chelly Reflections of a Non-Native Visitor . An updraft from the red-rock canyon floor Blows through the mesa’s Piñon pine and sage As ravens, wings outstretched, in freedom soar Between the distant past and present age. At night, Coyote and the owl seek prey Beneath the Milky Way’s broad arching...

. Spring’s Here! It’s sprung in the branches and springs home to me, It soars through the sap and the buds in the tree. The geese have returned and the flowers and bees Are buzzing with life and perfuming the breeze. The fields are all wet with the fresh-fallen rain,...

. Bach's Amazing Journey In the autumn of 1705, when Johann Sebastian Bach was 20, he set out to travel over 275 miles (each way) on foot from Arnstadt, Thuringia, in the heart of what is now Germany, to Lübeck, near the Baltic coast. He undertook this extraordinary journey in...

. The Garbageman Adrift amid a world that’s lost all rhyme, Where reason reels from first degree assault, It’s little wonder that from time to time One’s inner life can lapse into default. Our former passions have gone absentee And simple griefs cut closer to the bone. The more we...

. The Power of One You think that you're alone. There's nothing to be done. But I say, "You have strength. It is the Power of One." You may have had ideas That you have told to someone. They may have laughed and scorned you. They don't know the Power...

. Newness a sonnet corona for Doris   I watch you view the newness of your world. Your widened eyes are dazzled by the light. Your fists of curiosity unfurl Like flexing wings on chicks who dream of flight. I see you snooze to music in your sphere Wooed by Mommy’s...

. The Ballad of the Heroic Mother a true story A toddler into water fell __And sank as quick as rock. At nine feet deep, she couldn’t yell __Or jump or thrash in shock. Her mother heard the splash portend __Her daughter’s water grave; She dove into the pool’s deep...

. On the Divine Mercy Seven times the just man falls, and rises again. ---Proverbs 24:16 by Eustache Deschamps (1346-1406) translated by Margaret Coats The just man seven times a day offends, Says Solomon’s poetic apothegm. What then of the unjust, who wrongly spends His life in crimes that holy...

. Land and Lake and Sky Here standing by the margin of a lake, I look into its waters, cool and deep, Then scan its surface, glassy and opaque, Rimmed by the ancient hills, sublime and steep. They rise up nobly, shimmering gold and green, Reflecting beams which, on this...

. Why Can’t I Marry My Pit Bull? Why can’t I marry my pit bull? He’d make an incredible spouse, In spite of the dog hair and doo-doo, He’d always be king in my house. He’d listen whenever I talked to him, Of deceit I would find not a trace,...

. Ode to the Turnip Oh, turnip! You’re a vegetable maligned, suggestive of a drunk’s empurpled nose. Baked, or boiled, or steamed, on you I’ve dined, then revelled in a peaceful night’s repose. Your sweet and nutty earthiness when cooked __belies a dull repute--- __though you’re the favourite root on...

. Bend in the River In looking back, a moment since it seems, the river ran, a fawn, leaping, cavorting; and I beside would follow to the sea. The river widened, hurried, running fleet, bright, quickened water rippled, ruffling white; soon I would come to ply the telling deep! But...

. Poet, What Dreamer Thou Art  "I feel more and more every day, that as my imagination strengthens, that I do not live in this world alone, but in a thousand worlds." ---John Keats I’m busy doing nothing, can’t you see? I’m like a bee. I float from flower to...

. An Unexpected Smile inspired by the coronation of King Charles III  Today I woke before the sun had spread Her golden grin across the Texas skies. With childlike zest and joy I leapt from bed To cram my Kentish heart and flood my eyes With coronation scenes from streets I know--- Grand streets that speak of days...

. DoorWay Canto 2, Extract The Poet has gone through the ‘DoorWay’ and entered heaven. Here in the second Canto and in the constellation of Libra he meets his dead grandfather (who was a Libran: 30/7) and his uncle Jim, who died only ten years old and long before the...

. Planets, Gods and Weekdays Alarms are snoozed, and Monday's born. A few more snores as dreams are shorn, And sleep is corked by clanging horn; __The moon's bereft, Her silver day now dimmed and worn __By weekly theft. A remnant fire of Mars appears, Now Tuesday steers earth's working...

. . Sophisticated Lady—Small Town Girl “Sophisticated lady” gropes the table at her bedside, blindly taking random swipes to kill the morning scream That shatters little privacies she shares with no one else, and steals, with full impunity, her one recurring dream. Cursing imperceptibly, she slaps the tiny box wherein...

. The Sonogram Dodona housed the oracle of Zeus, And there the Greeks sought his prophetic aid (Whose force depended on how much they’d paid) In auguries divinely quite abstruse. Beneath his sacred oak they lay diffuse, His priests who’d listen to the serenade As wind among the leaves discreetly...

. Chicken and Andouille Gumbo Try my gumbo recipe From the land of andouille: ½ cup unsalted butter; ½ cup all-purpose flour Melt the butter, whisk in flour, Cook and stir a quarter-hour Till it’s peanut-butter hue. Set aside. This is the roux. 1 Tbsp canola oil, ½ cup each...

. A Requiem for Suzi She fed the birds, she knew them all by name; She cried to see a small dog hurt or lame; She stroked stray cats and even wild ones tamed. __She was wonderful, we loved her. She loved all children, love without a stain: From tip...

. Delightfully Mine Of handsome landscapes I admire, How few were planned to please my sight. High skies of which I never tire Are gifts of light, not owned by right. The borrowed mountainsides I see Beyond the field I cultivate, The sparkling seashore’s fluency, I merely try to navigate....

. Encapsulations “It’s a shame that the tradition of producing small poetic encapsulations of classic texts seems to have died out.” ---Joseph S. Salemi . I. The Way of Peace an alexandroid Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter 23 Obey!  Go do another’s will; __Avoid your...

. La Luna The poet compares the moon to Eve, our fallen but redeemed mother, and the sun to Mary, daughter of Eve and Mother of us all; she celebrates Our Lady’s victory over witchcraft, communism, and Islamism and her continued presence with us in our pilgrim exile. In daylight,...

. The Window Seat “They don’t read poets till they’re dead.” That’s what my wise-guy father said. “They wait till they have gone away ‘fore caring what they had to say. Still if that’s what you really want, To drink from that life’s bitter font, Then who am I to...

. Beatrice Does Not Smile: Canto XXI of Paradise by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns And now my eyes were fastened once again __upon my lady’s face, and all the while __Beatrice __my soul could not another sight retain. She was not smiling. “Were I to smile, __she...

. Awaiting Adulation We all spend our lives awaiting adulations’ late arrival. We’re convinced that’s all we need for our emotional survival. So, we count up every “Like” and then we add them to each “Follow”. Disappointment is a bitter pill that most of us can’t swallow. We sit lost...

. A Novice Speaks to a Guardian Tell me, Oh honoured one, The secret of the Way, Of how to live, to reach the place Of light! . The Guardian’s Reply Kid, train And work hard; doubt The self; gain all you lack To meet the best and worst; and...

. A Picture of Repose A young boy’s seated on a wall that overlooks Capri, an oil painting by Dane Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn, where a rock ridge arises over architextured walls, with arches, domes and towers over roof and mason sprawl. The landscape artist captured a sweet momentary peace,...

. Friendship When was it first struck up? Nobody knows. It’s carried us through heydays, drabs, and falls. An unsown balm, ex nihilo it grows Like capers from the cracks in old stone walls. Previously published in The Lyric. . . Rhyme of History So-called public opinion has forced common sense Into the...

. Art Freezes Time Great art freezes time when a painting is hung. An image of beauty eternally young. Who painted the pictures that hang on this wall? I talked to the soul that had painted them all: “So few are you great ones who wielded the brush, Once painting...

. Restoration of Nôtre Dame One Paris evening seven years ago, We walked the neighborhood of Nôtre Dame, But no café had seats. We settled on A bench with the cathedral as tableau, Congenial scene our hearts cannot outgrow. Could we imagine it might soon be gone, A ruined temple...

. The Little Knight The kitchen door slams open wide; The boy flies through to play outside. His house becomes his castle’s walls; The distant car horns, clarion calls. A stick becomes a mighty sword; The bushes, an invading horde. He charges with his battle cry, Defending home, sword brandished...

. Three Sonnets  by Vittorio Alfieri (1749-1803) translated by Adam Sedia . LXXIV Melancholy, why take your only seat On this, my miserable heart---oh, why? A trembling supplicant, I yet entreat: Oh, when will you relieve my tearful cry? Is this dark pomp of your funereal suite--- Infernal phantasms of...

. Walking Near the Waves When, walking near the waves, with eyes downcast, I look at my reflection from the shore, Which seems to sink towards the ocean’s floor, Weighed down by tears, which into tides have massed; The memory of joys forever past Resurfaces, and brings me back once...

. Parque España, Mexico City I walked until I couldn't walk without at least alighting on a city bench, the first that had a shaded seat, about ten yards from workers digging out a trench to place a pipe to mend a water break. But this was causing traffic to...