Poetry

  Persona Assume a work identity, conform And hide behind an urban harlequin, Conceal the tattoo beneath a uniform, Desert yourself and cloak the genuine. The Greeks devised a rich formality, Dramatic masks of frozen mirth and gloom. A shaman’s rites in anonymity Demand an alien spiritual costume. Conceive of...

    Belief and Righteousness Based on Genesis 15:1-18, this poem can be sung to the tune "The God of Abraham Praise" (a traditional Hebrew melody) Belief and righteousness are hallmarks of a man Who walks with God, choosing to follow God’s command. For Abram, trusting God brought great uncertainty....

. Nice Things Done Most of the nice things some people will do,Are done partly for their own benefit too.But even if their motivation’s the latter,When nice things are done, do the reasons much matter? . . A Sense of Belonging With social motivationOne need forever strongIs fighting isolationTo feel...

  The Papal Prayer for Our Planet ---October 1, 2025 Let solar panels gleam in leas. _Let turbines whir and spin. Subdue the rise of roiling seas. _Make exhaled breath a sin. Bring Gaia slayers to their knees _Each time they taint the air. Lord, bless defrosting blocks of ice...

  La Llorona by Manuel Carpio (1791-1869), translated by M.D. Skeen I turned pale when I first heard the story As a child, a mere lamb, still so innocent Of a man of my town, a delinquent Who had murdered his wife Rosa-Lee. Since that time on damp nights dim...

  The Bachelors' Debate When I am put before my friends, around the dying flame, And we have burnt through all our songs that we consider tame, We all decide to sing a song before we go to bed A song about the secret thoughts that swim within your head....

  Angel I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set free. —Michelangelo (attributed) One wonders what an angel does all day. Just sit there, wings slack, staring into space? But that assumes space-time is where she’ll stay. A comrade of the host that fell from grace?...

. The poem "None for All" by Peter Lillios read by the poet Michael Pietrack at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/nHicN7J94Vg Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

  Autumn Air There’s something in the autumn air, Something beneath the mounting chill Of which we’re vaguely unaware Until it says our name, until It softly taps us on the heart. Something beneath the yellowed oaks Intones a hymn in counterpart Whose voice exults but also chokes; Something that...

  J.K. Rowling’s Response to the Assassination of Charlie Kirk If you believe free speech is just for people with whom you agree, then you’re illiberal, and trust in your infallibility. And, if new facts get vilified before they’re heard, then you have missed the awful truth that deep inside,...

Unjust Trade   I. An endless wet: Earth’s gathered sea-salt tears Wept-swept before a rising, darkening gale, As dim horizon fades and disappears Behind a slave ship’s squared tri-masted sail. Her hold full-filled with human suffering, With chain-torn flesh sustained by lice-laced gruel, To serve the needs of cotton, cane...

. Rare Books ---Magdalen College, Oxford, November 1993 From London, westward ho, and slantwise north, I journey into Oxfordshire and see, through outsize windows on the Stagecoach bus, green meadows framed by thick-set hawthorn hedgerows, the spreading canopies of great-trunked oaks, fat-uddered cows serenely foraging, joy-barking collies chasing squirrels and...

  Parroting the Party Line   i. The Chorus of Consensus ---a triolet The talking heads squawk on and on. From dawn the hawks and parrots pound. They harp and hammer---LOUD and l o n g. The talking heads squawk on and on. They shape the sheep---a spellbound throng Ensorcelled...

. Harmony of Design: Form and Worldview in Classical Chinese Poetry by Adam Sedia China’s uninterrupted literary tradition of three millennia is truly one of the world’s cultural wonders. The introduction of traditional Chinese poetry to the West by Ezra Pound and the Imagists sadly occurred with an agenda behind...

. When Helen Keller Met Mark Twain ---a poem about America Date: November 2, 1934, Place: New York City: Madison Square Garden after Helen Keller delivers a speech honoring the Salvation Army. An old reporter recognizes one of the attendees. You flatter me! It’s rare I’m asked to speak. I’m...

  A Letter I came to babysit your cats _‘Round eight o’clock tonight, But things aren’t going as they ought _And… I’m nervous, so I thought It might be good to write. (In my defense, you could have said That I should be prepared, Then maybe I could plan ahead...

. The End of Fred the Thief ---based on various news reports Twenty-eleven was the year When they put Fred the Thief to death So that the tourists in Cape Town Might in more safety draw a breath. A wily gangster throughout life, With some four hundred of his kind,...

  Emily Dickinson: A Brief Synopsis Emily Dickinson Wished Mr. Higginson Hadn’t been so loath Her poems to critique. Higginson, piqued At her rhyme and her syntax, Wished he could toss them Right into next week. Em then dissembled— She loved to seem small, for It lessened the hurt Of...

  And These Two Despots Smile “where organs switch one human to another, where one stays live, and one’s a discard donor.” —Damian Robin While walking side by side at the huge military show, dictators Xi Jinping and Putin, talking to and fro, were caught on a hot mike, discussing...

. A Sonnet upon a Most Ungrateful Gnat Upon my back a spiteful gnat did sting, I cried aloud, and clapped my hand in pain; The knave returned, still buzzing on the wing, As though my torment were his chiefest gain. I struck him down, yet soon there came his...

  St. Philip Neri “Go take a hike out passed the Catacombs of St. Callistus. Celia once was there. Cornelius is and other Popes in domes of ancient stone. Inhale the olive air. Then buy a chicken from a chicken-farm and bring it back to me the way you came....

. The poem "Wisdom and Sway" by Mark F. Stone read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/to8ML6fJq18 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The Limits of Hospitality _While I was working in my garden _A traveler said, “I beg your pardon, But could you tell me where to find a church?” _Said I, “Just look around you, man; _Experience the Masterplan. No earnest pilgrim ever needs to search.” _He said that he...

.   Bleed, Saxon Blood "Þær wæs sang || and sweg samod ætgædere, fore Healfdenes || hildewisan; gomenwudu || græted, giomaenes spell, cwæð þonne se scop, || sumeres þegn" “Then there was song and music together, before Hrothgar’s battle-leader; the harp sounded, the joy-wood’s voice, when the scop sang afterwards.”---Beowulf...

. Modern Blessing May you have five bars upon your phone _And a WiFi signal strong. May your identity stay yours alone _If you click on something wrong. May you never need good health care _Or the assistance of an official, And may you always be two steps ahead _Of...

. Old School ---for an elite British boarding school The rooves are dark and lichen-strewn and damp,the window panes are flecked with drops of rain;a summer downpour’s welling while the stampof lightning flash and thunderclap engraintheir image and their sound. The chapel bellis chiming out the quarter hour, which bringsthe...

. Joyful Warrior ---for Charlie Beloved Charlie will lie in state At rest, beyond the reckless hate That roils the souls of the wicked, massing To mock and celebrate his passing. With nimble mind and agile tongue, Self-schooled, he dared to school the young In what their schooling sorely lacked:...

. Macron, Carney, and Starmer: The Three Stooges Recognize a Palestinian “State” Diplomats and ministers are not known for their brains. They’re slaves to shifting winds of public feeling— Just look at The Three Stooges, and the effort simply strains Credulity. All sane folks are now reeling That anyone would...

. Impermanence There’s uproar in the poplars overhead— A dry wind surging from the sun-struck west, Already hot with power and vastly spread Over these plains and not yet come to rest. Out on a jaunt, I push through weeds and grass. With no fixed goal, I swelter, cough, and...

. We Love You Charlie Charlie, Charlie, Charlie We’re so sad to see you die. Sorry, Sorry, Sorry Couldn’t even say goodbye. Heaven, heaven, heaven Is where you are I’m sure. Evil, evil, evil Is what we still endure. Hatred, hatred, hatred Has left its mark on Earth. Goodness, goodness,...

. Utilization Another person’s misdeeds or their flaws,Are rarely pleasant sights when they are shown,But I try making such ordeals the causeOf seeing and disposing of my own.. . Superiority Although superiorityMay lead to trophies on your shelfOf greater import is to beSurpassing of your former self. . . Knowing...

. Nearly Home The storm now past, the dark clouds drift away, Unveiling tranquil skies at end of day, Whose cheering beams imbue the gathering gloam And my own heart with peace, as I walk home. The hours of labor fled, I heave a sigh, And give a nod to...

. A Century's Divinity Another time, another place, A waft of smoke, a peaceful space, Atop the club---a Deke at Yale, And Vassar maiden, by the rail. Alone they stood, alone they spoke, Postured classic, lass and bloke, A century's divinity, Not far from our proximity. Far from perfect: Mother,...

. Come Away with Me ___I ___Come away with me, ___Birds will never sing ___In the place where we ___View no flower in Spring, Nor behold the sight of any natural thing. ___II ___Vain is it to build ___Brick by brick our dome, ___Nature having willed ___Animals to roam Over...

. Necrosol “The Stutthof concentration camp was located on the periphery of the Vistula Spit in northern Poland, and was in operation from 1939 to 1945 during World War II. A total of 65,000 people died as a result of exterminating living conditions as well as executions… The soils of...

. Monsoon in the Jornada _Months of unwavering stillness, _Parched powder seared by the sun, Pitiless taunts from New Mexico sky, _Tenuous cloud-wisps undone _By defiantly static surroundings _As summer’s assurances wane; Skittering deer mice seek lifegiving shade, _Blearily thirsting for rain. _Jornada del Muerto they called it— _Conquistadors dogged...

. The poem "The Gentler Art" by Maureen Browne read by the poet herself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/DY628snCu4M Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The Pentagon Panama Plan A place in turmoil—Panama_In nineteen eighty-eight—Was where the strongman Noriega_Was busy tempting fate. The Pentagon felt like a dreamworld_Where fantasies were made.Years later the 9/11 plane struck_That office where I’d stayed. Lieutenant Colonels stationed there_Were often called “gophers.”We'd go for coffee, go for errands,_Go find...

. Ode to Antifa Kids who get infuriated, and whose anger’s unabated have one place to find relief, a self-help group that’s called Antifa. They are not discriminating, they accept those advocating hatred for our U.S. nation, those who helped build its foundation. They protest in peace and quiet, in...

. Free Won’t ---Hypothesis in a 2007 study in the Journal of Neuroscience Perhaps it’s false, about “free” will—_A myth we hold as true.What happens when we’re ruled by lust?_“Free” will is ballyhoo. Perhaps instead, we have “free won’t.”_We logically decide;Think “No” to impulse or desire,_Then reason is our guide....