Beauty

. Autumn Twilight Full moon. Crickets singing. Scarlet sky.Long past summer solstice; now the sunDescends before the short day’s work...

. The Introvert Sequestered in an abstract mood,Replete in blissful solitude;Behind the veil of scenes overtYou’ll find the pensive introvert....

. Libra There in my hand I held a crystal vial Of distillation potent, red, and sweet, By which my...

. On Bill Mahrt’s Retirement as Choirmaster of the St. Ann Choir (June, 2024) W e all should thank our...

. I Will Awaken the Dawn The birds have yet to echo Their songs across the trees, The sun has...

. True Love On a hill far away, a true love waits, In a place of weathered, broken gates. And...

. Another Crossroads I have a rendezvous with destiny.It’s at the crossroads of Straight Street and Main.With cardboard sign, that...

. The Magic Trick Another dove spawns from the wizard's hat. A youngster, goggle-eyed, forgets to clap, enchanted by the...

. Cloth of Destiny From his jail cell, he preached civility— despite the agony centuries had brought. Proud Rosa occupied...

. Anticipating President Trump’s Golden Age Unburdened from that which has recently been. An era of progress about to begin....

Free People In some sense, free people have no needOf poets to give their speech a better voice.But freedom wanes...

. Stones for My Parents I didn’t want to come. How sad it sounded To kneel beneath a hazy sun...

. Whoever Am I? Preface to His Poetry .by Prudentius (c. 4th century AD)translated by Margaret Coats If I see...

. The Hectic Life _Sometimes we get discouraged _With life and all its fuss, Its raucous moments speeding by _Like...

. Death Is But a Passing A death is but a passing from one world into another, A change of...

. Pearls or Swine? Pray show me how to tell a pearl from swine. I have a thirst for sanity...

. Best of the Windy City Nation’s hub and culture center, O’Hare Airport, millions enter. Stunning architecture sites, The awesomeness...

. Elusive Illusive Art Where are the pure, illusive works of artthat bubble upward from the deep unknown?Where in this...

. A Pleased Jaques ---after a soliloquy in Shakespeare's As You Like It At first there is the infant, grinning...

. My Soul Is at Home in the Depths of the Ocean My soul is at home in the depths...

. The Lemon Tree We leave the house, the nurtured lawn is gone; The garden still resembles lifeless works Of...

. Out in the Open The slanting rain comes on and on! The cold drops blear and blur the sun...

. Magna Lex ---to the choirmaster, a Psalm (19) of David. . I The heavens herald God’s resplendency; The skies...

. Let There Be Light From beyond, there came the Word—a cosmic “Om”That pierced the void with one colossal bang...

. Emergent Occasions “And even angels, whose home is heaven, and who are winged too, yet had a ladder to...

. Three Cascading Endings on Fallen Civilizations I. Everywhere, the sands are endless. Look: A joke is made of all...

. Winter Night A full moon fills the sky with lustrous light And gives the vault of heaven in the...

. . None for All Backbones wilt and waistlines grow; Brightness dims as diodes glow. It’s history’s course, a simple...

. Healing Hands ---in appreciation of the care provided (free of charge) by the NHS, the National Health Service of...

. Happy ---for B.K. A ground to play, a set to swing, A slide to slide, a bell to ring:...

. The Adoration of the Peacock ---on The Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi The...

. Bollical Dogs I have a complaint! T.S. Eliot hogs All the fun with his stories of Jellicle Cats! So...

. Caleb in Canaan  Green fields, walled towns, strong foes, but we are fit To overcome. Forward, I say. It’s...

. The Shepherd God On Autumn eves when solipsistic stars__Peer down on bloody, towering oaksWhose gnarled, twisted branches create bars__Encaging...

. Topics Over Time At 10 boys talk about the games in which they’ve played. At 14 they discuss the...

. Oh, the Days Oh, the days of poop and vomit! My best dress had drool upon it While I...

. Meditation 4 "Now our Lord bestowed great gifts through small means..." ---Homily on Our Lord (11) "Therefore, whether you...

. My New New Year I’m shunning bards of lilt and kilt tonight. My cup o’ kindness guzzled dry by...

. December 31 __Another year _Gasps out its dying breaths. __Oh, do not spare _Any further Death’s ___Swift hand _From...

. Lines Written in a Time of Illness My body is weak, and this reflects my soul,Who baser pleasures is...