Poetry

So many lasers stroked the night, the sky simply purred and burst apart. We held our breaths, but not from fright - the fireworks had launched their start. like mad housewives and activists, the missiles screamed their courses out. And yet we were amazed and pleased when globe-sized dandelions shout...

Squinters The curious the contemplators the ones who concentrate on the littlest details. The most beautiful thing about them is how they space out and their attention is unattainable. While the others dismiss things as useless activities the squinters wish to figure out the world and how we revolve around...

  We left the Port of Joy so long ago, And ebbed so much the while and knew no flow, But still another strait we headed to. Whatever we did, wherever we steered All things led to one place, to that placed veered, As if forever condemned to be there....

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated. There were many hundreds of submitted poems and many good works and poets who had to be left out. Thank you! ***Winners should email their mailing addresses to [email protected] to receive their prizes.   First Prize ($500): Ron L. Hodges, Garden...

Sedona (A Rhupunt) Deep shadows fade Red rock cascade To purpled jade— Sun sparks ignite. Stone sentries stare Sightless through air At treadless stair Spanning the height. No mortals dare Enter the lair Or linger where Spirit meets sprite. This shrine of stone And bleached white bone Hides secrets shown...

The Gathering Upon the 400th anniversary of the founding of the town of Virginia in Ireland Oh town of the Virgin Queen I hear you call me back To your ancient Way of Woods following Vikings track Your castle is long gone But your market house still stands Four hundred...

Night vision: a process Of the unconscious mind That the poet uses In order to find An acceptable first line Still divested of meaning Wanting only to sing These words forward leaning More words stimulating Which then will define Whether the poet’s craft To make right choices By listening carefully...

Spread twig fingers. Shed your leaves. Those that linger: They may grieve When comes the winter But, come spring New buds splinter, New blooms bring That grow and swell Concentric bands That breathe and dwell Upon this land. Plumb the darkness. Glory light. Show us far less Than you might....

Father and Son I. The Modern Daedalus I want you to carry yourself with pride: Stand up straight, with your shoulders back; don’t slouch; and yet, also, don’t let hubris deride you. Be humble. Get off that cushy couch I only could afford by working hard, from the ground up....

Based on the real account of a doctor involved in the Chinese Communist Party’s harvesting of organs from innocent living Falun Gong practitioners   In a bloodstained room on the darkest night, Four ghastly men enter, draped in white, Though dripping with sweat their spirits are cold, Ready to feast...

ATLASUSA “Material of this sort is best read aloud.” – Frank Fortky The postal gurus are creative and clever. Our Massachusetts-Pennsylvania family Brought forth a Maine addition – MA & PA, and ME. Per partly pluperfect plus purely preposterous purpose, State names will be spelled with two letters forever. Of...

On the Perception of Human Beauty Can there be a myriad of flaws so bold As to boast their cracked imperfections? Could it out do our high expectations? Is there an art form so wrinkled and old From the stress of keeping a tight hold On the skirts of cultures...

  An autumn breeze blows swiftly through the air, And plucks the tree leaves from their humble roots. Amidst the cold a group stands in the square, Its people warmly dressed in hats and boots. Each face is filled with peace and harmony, As soothing music drifts throughout the sky....

Updated: April 26, 2024 10 Greatest Poems Ever Written An Ambitious "Best Poems" List Limited to Poems Originally Written in English and of 50 Lines or Less by Evan Mantyk What is poetry? What is great poetry? The poems below answer these questions. From least greatest (10) to greatest greatest...

The band struck up for the comical clowns! They all sported wigs, red noses, and frowns And from painted mouths uttered sad cries. Then the fools threw water and custard pies In riotous ribaldry: mad, bad, and bold! The laughter and fun began to unfold; The children giggled; a vast...

. . Blue and Gold Michigan, Michigan: Kings to go forth, Kerothen, Kerothen, songs to the North, Ice scattered pond with a trout flipping high, Geist of beau monde, with a shout to the sky. Out from the frozen of winter and wrought, Stout from the chosen, and rendered and...

Tender is the night shared in close caress With candied kiss and floral purr, no less. The pristine perfection of unclaimed time Drenches air with an ephemeral chime. Considering not money as pay off, The gift of work may be just a day off; Precious moments of leisure, free to...

October 29, 2015: China renounces its 35 year old one-child policy, but strict controls continue despite the change.   The Party rules our wombs, with Orwellian coercion– forced abortion, sterilization. Infant girls cry from tombs. What if a one and only were to suffer an untimely death? Shido shido shido-...

1 it shows many sides but usually 2 — can boil & bluster & end in a stew — can be clear as crystal & cut a sharp view — or narrow to nothing but be taken as true 2 it holds symbols & keys & opens up views —...

When Fairies Stop Hiding It's at the end of the day, but it's not over just yet- It's time for young fairies, to grow wings and get wet. Sneaking out to the sky, while the sun descends down- Creating color for rainbows-before the rains hit ground. Dusk is their favorite...

Hints from the Moon (Monday) Beginning with zero, hints from the moon Going through phases, ripe in the womb; Time out of nothing, pared in the night, Planet of sorrow tilting to light; Retrograde motion, surf pushed & pulled, Full moon to crescent, new moon to full… Lifting & lowering...

“Red Wall” by Kunlun Zhang: This painting records the personal experience and internal turmoil of the artist, Professor Kunlun Zhang. Professor Zhang was imprisoned in China for three months, during which time he experienced physical and mental torture, including brainwashing. The two white Chinese characters mean "persecution."   Cascading strokes...

Forested deep purity Dusted with a winter's glow; Crystalline perpetuity Takes its place in nature's show. Fresh sunlight plays with diamonds soft That glisten as they sing In silent awe that drifts aloft A peaceful offering. Great ice sheets yield to spring's sweet kiss And snow gives way to rain;...

Images of beheadings and men in orange jumpsuits Haunt me when I wake The black hooded vigilantes in the desert Push my heart into the bellows of despair I imagine my male cousins under the hoods Shazan, Farhan and Arshad Who came here in the eighties With taxi driver and...

Free me from wars? Make my debut? Oh, Mr. Handsome G.I. Joe— your face and a blanket won’t do. Sift flour from Mama’s ashes, melt glue from Papa’s bones. Knead them into dough— free of wars, rising for my debut. Am I marble pale and girlish thin enough for you—...

A news report here provides some background on China Radio Like Radio Free Europe, Which popped the wax Plugs from deafened Soviet ears, And warmed their sterile souls With tales of liberty, China Radio wafts as pleasant song Through the ears of benighted Europeans, Australians, Canadians, and Americans, Especially Americans...

The rustic minuet's small step has since been swept away by all the modern pop and pep and fizzle of the day. One of the first to introduce it into music's lair was Frenchman Jean Baptiste Lully of Louis' court and care. That king first danced it at one of...

Laments of the Oppressed My great country, please let me be, What I think and say should be up to me, The world cannot be so controlled, You don't have to block every single road. It isn't something bad we seek, To have good virtues when life is complete, Abandon...

Updated January 9, 2020 A Quick Sonnet Guide.  A traditional sonnet should have... 14 lines. X Rhyming. The most common is the Shakespearean rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. These 14  letters represent the sonnet's 14 lines and the same letter means those lines rhyme with each other. The more...

This poem was inspired by Shen Yun Performing Arts.   Bleak and somber is the flavor du jour; Modernism pervades all spheres of art; Artists lacking virtue make it a bore, People wait for a refreshing restart. A booming strike! The gong that evil fears, Pulses race, while excitement fills...

Ode on a Children’s Cemetery Plot 1. Behind the soul-gorged cemetery ground, We discovered a plot of yet more dead, A trim, verdant patch cradled all around By a low brick wall, like a toddler’s bed. Sunken in the grassy earth, broken lines, Glossy black, marked where all the children...

Beneath the Mask Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. -Oscar Wilde A mask is worn to hide one’s face from the surly light of day but if you open up your mind, you’ll see...

Two young brothers are left at home, All by their lonesome selves, The older one notices a new toy, Sitting high up on a shelf. He climbs up and brings on down, What he believes is a toy gun, He thinks about the games they’ll play, Boy this sure will...

Secure the yoke and bind the crown. Steady the mouth and tongue for sound. The morning breaks. Our sight is found. The bell is hung. Let’s gather round. Now strike the lip for their renown. Each hammer swing is coming round with darker wind, with darker sound. The bell is...

When You Have Reached the Bottom By R. Lee Ubicwedas When you have hit rock bottom, you have nothing left to lose. You gain experience and wisdom that you now can use. You have a choice how to react when you have fallen down. Forced to confront the hard things,...

The Apprentice of the Dead He painted the lines of the country road. He painted the leaves: saffron and gold. He painted the canopy, round the mere, all rubicund this time of the year. He painted the trees, without any bark. He painted the swamp, pickerel-dark; the cattails, herons, the Berkshires east, the Katerskills west,...

  The warmth of daylight’s veil is cherishingly cast Upon the sacred walls of ancient Angkor Wat, Whose temple towers show grand myths from ages past, With timeless lands of gods to fading matter brought. Enthralled by its distinct yet unassuming grace, The heirs to transience, while on the sixfold...

The wind was high that horrid day. The wind blew long and high, and I heard three strange women hum-humming as they came through the harvest rye. I watched them in my childish way. I watched them with surprise, their sighs sent cold into me thrum-thrumming that day the wind...

  Political Banter Once again it’s that time of year, When political banter seems the rage. When otherwise normal people, Try to come off as some worldly sage. I have friends who are really nice folks, Any other time of the year. But, once they start with the political rants,...

The God Morpheus vs. The Little Baby Kuppy You'd think in such a fight - no contest To be sure - immortal gods happen not To happen, but have always been best And around to give humans their best shot. That's it - perhaps complacency, the sense That once in...