Beauty

  Vocations Always there are things we should be doing; Others, though, are better left unfinished. Also, there are ends well worth pursuing; Likewise, goals that leave a wight diminished. Everybody wants to be successful Launching some sublunary endeavor, Or to be a mild receptive vessel Filled with God’s amazing...

  The Immigrant As his ship now departs to cross over the sea, He looks back as he fondly remembers The dear family he leaves, the quaint house by the lea, And two eyes that once sparkled like embers. For the passion he saw in those eyes, like his own,...

  after Chesterton's "Lepanto" Note: Cahaba Run is a river in Alabama Dogs dash in black and tan through clouds of briar and bush, All sprinting, unrelenting, such no city man could hush. They cast a shadow long, a gait that’s wide, a bellow deep, And stir awake all creatures...

Ego Feci Hoc A man, I was, of flesh and blood and bone, Nine-hundred years ago, I lived and died; A Norman mason skilled at cutting stone, An honored trade in which I took great pride. Eleven-Hundred Anno Domini Was when I was appointed to depart From home and family...

  The Reindeer The reindeer winter-cries in vain for his lost mate His cry turns brittle frosty-mist, ascends the clouds. His hooves make run, his antlers gouge the whited shrouds That veil the trees. He stops. The land is desolate: A savagery rests still and wild---the trees are stark The...

  On the PBS TV Series 'Bob Ross, the Joy of Painting' I float, as happy as the clouds, Upon a sea of liquid white. Whilst cherishing this time allowed, This interval of pure delight. He speaks to me, as if I’m there. I answer back, I don’t know why,...

Retired K-9 When I was young, you kept me in a cage. But as I got a little calmer, older, Sometimes you’d let me ride in the front seat Shotgun, with my paw upon your shoulder. It wasn’t just for toys and treats, you know— Sniffing out drugs and shells,...

What if I do compare you to a rose Or summer’s day or beauty like the night, Or drone of how I’d sit and drink a coke With you instead of viewing every sight This world can give?—the seven wonders are No wonder without you. Or should I count The...

  Brave, brave, Charlotte Corday, took upon herself to slay that man of revolutionary violence, Jean-Paul Marat. On July thirteenth in ninety-three, the convent girl from near the sea, stabbed Marat to death in his bath, before he could attempt to flee. Brave, brave Charlotte Corday. Appalled by all the...

  When springtime has come to the high mountain ranges The melting of snow bares the landscape to changes; And creatures awaken from seasonal slumber In valleys below, where snows never encumber The passage of feet between tussocks still growing Through long months of winter—the season of slowing. Then, kangaroos...

  While Sitting by Her While sitting by her sometimes I would eye Her dextrous fingers plying to and fro While unbeknown to her, as she would sew And crochet, knit and stitch and satisfy Her urge to work for charity, defy Approaching death with kindness. So although She had...

  The harvest of an ancient past can waft to mind as we enjoy a measured taste of last year's blend. The darlings who were chased down vineyard lanes, who drew us to come after her with earthy murmurs, birdsong-laughter, raised eyebrows, whose fondling fingers traced the swelling fruit, whose...

  To write of love, or speak of other things Like life or death, or such philosophy As might stir up an eager mind, which brings It to a bold, enriched reality: Oh, perfect, lovely forms! With such delight The poet and the reader can obtain A revelation of new...

…anulbaṇáṃ vayata jóguvām ápaḥ. Weave ye the singers’ work without a knot. —Rigveda 10.53.6 Those pale cream swaths of handmade linen, brought From Sicily around 1905 Lay in our rag drawer over sixty years. We kept them for whatever simple needs Arose from time to time in household tasks: A...

  Ethics Lesson 101 by Caud Sewer Bile Kenosha, Portland, Oakland. Minneapolis, New York: Don’t blame their Democratic mayors; they don’t have a cork. Chicago and Seattle, Albuquerque, Denver too: Don’t blame their Democratic mayors for their points of view. Don’t blame Antifa for the riots, nor blame BLM. Don’t...

In the first World War, taking and holding the high ground was everything. The battle of Messines Ridge, in Belgium, took place June 7-17 1917. It took 81 years until the Irish Peace Park was unveiled there to acknowledge the sacrifice of combatants from the whole island of Ireland during...

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival and corresponding to the Harvest Moon in the West, falls this year on October 1.    Lanterns in the Autumn Dark Mid-Autumn's guests head homeward, in the night, Beneath the sphere that mirrors daytime's glow. In silver hues of air, distinct...

  Postponement I disappoint some folks of whom I’m fond, But I, in turn, am irritated by The nebulous assurance that beyond This life, in mansions somewhere in the sky, I’ll have another chance to tell them why I found myself unable to respond To constant pleas. A rain gauge...

  Odyssey of Theodicy It is a strange fact, clearly biblical— In this case God’s will is most puzzling: At times, He moves mountains with miracles, But may not remove the cup of suffering. A daughter wrecks her car—climbs out unscathed; A son, stroke-struck, breathes out—and then is dead. Our...

Reflections of an Aging Moon Great brassy stalks of varicolored horns Blow notes to keep the bees awake at noon. Immersed in gaudy zinnia’s stippled forms, They dance and flit, in homage to the moon. Among the varied shapes and hues, a muse Cavorts in blue-strewn, stuff-crimped marigolds More crimson...

  The winds of time will cease to blow, The shining moon will cease to glow, As history comes to an end; Eternity waits 'round the bend. The books and minds of all mankind Will over time, be left behind. What we find important today Will soon not matter anyway....

  Dream on the Horizon I sail the ocean toward the setting sun to find my dreams that hide within the sky. And I will travel till my days are done, to live just one before I say goodbye. I search for fantasies within the clouds and pray that one...

  Castles in Our Heads The old Italians once long held The mind as ordered hall; And in their arm-chair coffers swelled A wealth beyond recall. Each room was filled with hint and clue To trigger thought and mind— Around the halls like sprinkled dew Shone truths like gems refined....

  A Lesson Learned from Trump “We are all equal in the presence of death.” ---Publilius Syrus (100 BC) Today I learned a lesson from the one Whose acid tongue has beaten down the best; A man whose biting slights can’t be outdone Laid every cutting quip and barb to...

Supreme Farewell As every king and peasant must, A justice stands before the Just. We bid farewell to Sister Ruth, Who trembles now before the Truth.     Joe Tessitore is a retired New York City resident and poet.

  “In the Midst of Life We are in Death.” --Book of Common Prayer, The Burial of the Dead In sure and certain hope, we toss The soil in, and bless the dead. The final sentences; that pause Of awkward length, when all our breath, Suspended, makes a short-lived sheath...

  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 to holy Mass and pray. Lay folk are told, at home...

  Lucrative On the Laundering of Drug Money As commodities go, you are harmless enough Whether tendered in coin or in crinkly stuff. But without you it seems that the world will not turn Men consort with the devil your favour to earn. They will cheat and deceive, yes, and...

Weave a circle round him thrice, __And close your eyes with holy dread, __For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise. —Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” Sam Coleridge smoked opium. Ho hum. If that’s what fueled the fire in his pupils I think Sam would have been a...

  When Logos lived within the heart of man, Then beauty bloomed and flowered forth at will--- And every house was built upon a plan; Order’s essence, captured and distilled. Then Lucifer, in all his hate and pride On gazing at the beauty of the saints--- To numb the pain...

  Losing It He staggered round his living room in stunning disbelief As for the very umpteenth time, he’d gone and lost his teeth. He cried, “They’re in here somewhere, I must search and search” but then He couldn’t find his spectacles so he had to think again. He sat...

For Nantes Cathedral Ravaged by Arson in July 2020, a Tribute  This holy place, where the enthusiasm of builders was succeeded by doubt following catastrophe, then hope expressed in restoration, is it not the symbol of the Church of Christ, and of our own history? – 2015 cathedral brochure Saint...

. Poet's Note: The Venerable Bede tells us that in the 7th century Caedmon, “having lived in a secular habit till he was well advanced in years, had never learned anything of versifying.” Leaving a celebration because he feared having to sing, he spent the night in a stable where...

  No Longer There I wonder if a change has come about. No longer do I feel that she is there As physical a being in her chair To me as I to her. My words ring out And they receive no answer but they flout The silence of the...

  Before the plague I never knew my hands. The need to purify the human touch has turned my vision inward, but though much is taken; much remains---in human hands, the same, yet not the same. The bleak demands, that we remain impersonal, in such a time, to save the...

  We Siblings Three Attempt to add the hours we have shared: One hundred thousand, maybe thousands more? Our paths conjoined for several years before We struck out on our own and even dared Imagine we would chase our dreams beyond The borders of our joyful, sheltered lives. But now...

  Backyard Bliss I hear hope’s song fill skies today __In trills beyond my door. Her citrus kiss burns through the grey __As martins dip and soar. Their purple sheen in lemon rays Is testament to summer’s gaze--- __It warms me to my core. And as I’m drawn to step...

  The Angels’ Share Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God’s ways to man. — A.E. Housman When whisky’s aged in oaken casks, some ullage Should be expected, for it’s only fair That higher beings...

rhymes written after reading Simon Barnes’ blog post "Barn Owl in the Snow" Across the marsh, white passing over white, The silent hunter flies then loses height Descending to a favoured perch to stand And view with icy gaze an icy land. Stray snowflakes catch my fancy, frivolous But never...

  The potato blight and resultant Great Famine struck Ireland from 1845 to 1851. Potato crops didn’t recover until 1852, by which time at least one million people had emigrated to escape poverty and starvation. A further one million people perished during this period. Meanwhile, Australia experienced a gold rush....