Culture

. Reflections on Still Waters . Isaiah 55:12 You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace, And a song will break forth from the lands. While the echoes of praise in the hills never cease, And the trees of the field clap their hands. . 1...

. Piazza della Signoria, Florence: February 7, 1497 Savonarola gets up off his knees (much contact with the ground has formed a welt) and lights the bonfire of the vanities. His purpose is to purge the city’s sleaze. The virgin in that painting is too svelte. Savonarola rises from his...

. Lament to the Passing of Paper I learned to write my A-B-Cs and form my shapely 1-2-3s on paper, when I was a lad; but now, since I’ve become a dad, the era of the written word is passing like the dodo bird. The whisper of the turning page,...

. Our National Precipice The time has come for all good men To recognize our nation’s end. We have been silent much too long, Just caught up in a siren’s song. That song, that beckons our demise, Brought on by fools that think they’re wise. They spend our wealth without...

. . Sonnet 1 I felt like trying something new today, And so I put my pen upon a page To mimic Shakespeare's famous olden way— A style which, I hear, was all the rage. So here I am committing fourteen lines, To document my thoughts dynamically: I think it...

. The FBI---Then and Now So respected when I was a kid, For the things we all read that they did, It’s substantially altered today--- Now we hardly trust one word they say. . . The Modern Mainstream Media Not long ago the mainstream media, Brought facts like an encyclopedia....

. Dead Sea Scrolls Trilogy “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”...

. The Untimely Demise of My Dear Uncle Sam I received the somber news __as sun set low today. My beloved Uncle Sam __by death was swept away. It wasn’t on the battlefield that __he met his demise. ‘Twas long before when men ignored __the counsel of the wise. Through...

. Accidents Happen We’re told time tends toward catastrophe, And that a butterfly’s ephemeral wings Might quake the sky somewhere across the sea By strange cascades of simple happenings, Arousing thus a violent hurricane; Which is to say that no one really knows Just how or why occurrences occur, But...

. The Settlers —to my forefathers, and all the intrepid men and womenwho settled the Oklahoma panhandle. Across these barren hills, the cold winds blow,As bitter now as in those days long past,When first their rustic wagon, rolling slow,Came down a slope against an icy blast, And settled on this...

. Rather Drown Than Hang “He who is destined for the gallows will not be drowned.” ---Russian proverb A lethal thing, the writ of man _that soaks this realm like rain, from the code of Hammurabi _to the law of club and fang. If in your courts I stand accused...

. Mexican Sestina Perhaps I left because I got too bored, and no one could put sense in my thick head, or talk me out of trekking to the beach by reading newsclips of prolific death by drug cartels or government. Not one could change my plans to move to...

. Libra There in my hand I held a crystal vial Of distillation potent, red, and sweet, By which my broken heart was put on trial, And golden apples scattered at my feet. Ask not the name of him who gave to me The dark elixir, nor the price I...

. The Magic Trick Another dove spawns from the wizard's hat. A youngster, goggle-eyed, forgets to clap, enchanted by the spell. With every flap this spongy creature makes, he wonders at the skill required to master such a craft. Last stunt, and then the curtains will unfurl. Dissected in two...

. Cloth of Destiny From his jail cell, he preached civility— despite the agony centuries had brought. Proud Rosa occupied a seat; though fraught with risk, that act preserved her dignity. We dreamed of equal opportunity, and bloody segregation’s end besought. King asked: “How can such justice not be wrought...

. Anticipating President Trump’s Golden Age Unburdened from that which has recently been. An era of progress about to begin. Mending the messes afflicting our nation. Ending the slow California-cation. Money for groceries, and eggs by the crate. Payments to credit cards, never made late. Dining, at times, at a...

Free People In some sense, free people have no needOf poets to give their speech a better voice.But freedom wanes without great art and heedOf powers that will enslave us with rejoiceIf only given a chance. They’re here again,Insidious as ever, they’ll try to seduceAnd lull the hearts of good...

. Best of the Windy City Nation’s hub and culture center, O’Hare Airport, millions enter. Stunning architecture sites, The awesomeness of Frank Lloyd Wright; Union Stockyards fed the nation; Second City improvisation; Lake Shore Drive, no road just like it, Drive or bike or even hike it; Cow that caused...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF6v6ES3FMU . This is song was originally a poem published by the Society of Classical Poets in March, 2018. . The Day the Poetry Died Wonder why poetry is in decline, While not ever writing one lyric line? There is no experience more perverse, Than self-indulgent poems in free...

. My Soul Is at Home in the Depths of the Ocean My soul is at home in the depths of the ocean; My soul is at home in the cosmos above, Always adventuring, seeking to grow and Wreathing my body in infinite love. My soul permeates every stone on...

. Payday Before the crash, the market looked so strong. I doled out cash and credit, buying in While others sold. But, sadly, I was wrong About this, confidence my greatest sin, And I have duly suffered, if my bank Account means anything. For such mistakes I have myself and...

. Magna Lex ---to the choirmaster, a Psalm (19) of David. . I The heavens herald God’s resplendency; The skies above display his artistry. By day the discourse spills like falling rain; Deep verities the night’s dim lights explain. There is no language, not a jangling word, No resonance, no...

. Let There Be Light From beyond, there came the Word—a cosmic “Om”That pierced the void with one colossal bang of sound,Releasing undulating waves of hallowed humThat thundered through the geodesic grid unbound With bursting, brilliant Light! Acoustic alchemyOf Earth’s Creator—names like Brahma, God, Amun.Divine vibration uttered by the DeityFrom...

. Unnoticed and Unknown Unnoticed and unknown, she passes through The homeless strewn along the downtown street. Unnoticed and unknown by people who Drive past in cars where high-end Niked feet Press Prius-powered pedals towards the floor As fingertips—spa-manicured—repeat The beat of music streaming from each door With tap-tap-tap on...

. Three Cascading Endings on Fallen Civilizations I. Everywhere, the sands are endless. Look: A joke is made of all my glory. On Stone once sculpted in my image, my High authority, my grandest works’ Marks, have vanished. On my visage, ye See my ancient sneer. I, who was mighty,...

. My Inner Attorney "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name...

. Two Idylls by Bion of Smyrnatranslated by Joseph S. Salemi . Idyll V Great Cypris stood before me in a dreamy hazeHolding by her fair hand the hand of baby DesireWhose head hung heavily downward, in an earthbound gaze.She spoke thus to me: Herdsman, take him and inspireMy child...

. . None for All Backbones wilt and waistlines grow; Brightness dims as diodes glow. It’s history’s course, a simple fact, Declared with pride—or else with tact. Vigor falters, wits regress; The perspicacious acquiesce. It’s civilized, it’s preordained, This kingdom of the addlebrained. Rhyme is dead—and reason too: They’re obsolete,...

. Healing Hands ---in appreciation of the care provided (free of charge) by the NHS, the National Health Service of the UK, while I was hospitalised as a pain patient. I thank the Lord for healing hands, indeed! For Satan gripped me with his razor claws; In agony, just begging...

. Watch Out! Now, “The Three Little Pigs” is a tale More for cautioning than for amusing: Learn its lessons and you may prevail; Heed them not, and you may end up losing. For we, none of us, live in a bubble Free from entropy, rust, or destruction; Try to...

. The Adoration of the Peacock ---on The Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi The world is a-gawk at a gaudy surprise, for kings walk on foot while the commoners ride, and I, though a Peacock with feathers on high, fold them up and sit...

. Caleb in Canaan  Green fields, walled towns, strong foes, but we are fit To overcome. Forward, I say. It’s ours. These forty days of foraging have fed Twelve spies good fare and knowledge requisite. Let no one claim this promised land devours Its dwellers. Milk and honey flow. Widespread...

. The Shepherd God On Autumn eves when solipsistic stars__Peer down on bloody, towering oaksWhose gnarled, twisted branches create bars__Encaging man in Fortune’s spokes,When groaning wind rustles through sloping eaves__To make one wonder why she grieves Despair parades these things before my eyes__Dungeoning the world with gloom,Obscuring heaven’s vivifying skies__To...

. Topics Over Time At 10 boys talk about the games in which they’ve played. At 14 they discuss the girls and “progress” made. At 16 there’s the homework everybody’s got, At 18 work or college and their future lot. At 25 it’s new jobs or careers presaged, At 30...

. Enduring Sight Our blindest heroes walk among us, here, where legendary blindness gives us sight. King Oedipus still lives, and so does Lear in texts that draw their distant fates too near by pulling us through pages of their plight. Our blindest heroes walk among us, here, though they...

. Americans in Florence Ooo David! Whoa, you’re well-hung! But why a foreskin, underslung? Your left hand, do you hold a sling or dead Goliath's severed thing? Stop giggling, girls, show some respect. You know we all must genuflect before Great Art. Meh, this is slop. C’mon, let’s go, we’re...

. Meditation 4 "Now our Lord bestowed great gifts through small means..." ---Homily on Our Lord (11) "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." ---1 Corinthians 10.31 The glory's in the small stuff, for the small stuff's never small to...

. My New New Year I’m shunning bards of lilt and kilt tonight. My cup o’ kindness guzzled dry by kin Has urged the spurning of that worn-out rite Of seeing lame old, same old new years in… The fizz. The fuss. The toasts. The ghosts. The grief Of echoed...

. A Creation Myth The curtain opens. A million violinsCrescendo. Trumpets blare. A single drumBeat booms. In perfect time, the cosmos spins.The Hero enters, sees what soon must come: A surging wave of life heads towards destruction—Its iridescent droplets all are stars.He shrinks his body down and flies into action,With...

. Nordic Memories They rise with the dawn of fashion Their eyes for new booty are keen, To ride the tide of nostalgia For something that they’ve never seen. Their patrons board the longship, Geared up for the latest craze, They soil and ink their forearms, And dredge up the...