Beauty

. A Fitful Veil A wanton wave of pallid hail descends from ashen skies. Its drifts are carried through to every nook and peak by lofty winds; abundant, jutted, powdered sheets imbue terrains with bright white hues, as structured flakes display arrays of lustrous reveries. This frigid reign persists. A...

. The Light Under the Door for GGG, in lieu of roses On school days, dark on winter mornings, my mother rose Before us all and in her quiet way imposed Rough order on our little world. I’d lie listening To kitchen sounds—the kettle filled, the openings And closings, porridge...

. Rudolf Hess Deputy Führer found strangled at Spandau Prison, August 17, 1987 Odd winter whirlwinds occupy my brain With telepathic messages I cherish. Dynamic years! Mein Führer cannot perish When august frenzy storms my mind’s terrain, But fever may mean poisoned food. I sensed it. These Allies once starved...

. Sapphire Space and Eden Green "...and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself." ---Exodus 24 "I saw a new heaven and a new earth" __---Revelation 21 O Son of God, this ground...

. Glimmers Alone in rumination, distant dawn Eludes the desperate aching of my eyes, My senses blunted by a cheerless pall, Upon a cratered landscape, dazed hope lies. . Unbridled chaos there for all to see In unrelenting waves from every side, Strong breakers pound the ever-shifting shore And leave...

. The Emmaus Highway Each day we wake up and we walk to Emmaus, escaping what has, and what may yet dismay us. Returning each evening downcast and defeated. Arising again as this loop gets repeated. We start every journey with thoughts that are clouded, and inch down the highway...

. He Knows Our Hearts The Sunday flocks who sing as glory pours Through fancy glass as lusty organs play, The loner bowed in prayer behind closed doors, The lonely who have lost their will and way--- __He knows our hearts    ____He hears our call   ______He loves us...

. Who Believes in Easter Anymore? "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God . . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God...

. Peter’s Story a villanelle I’m standing by the Sea of Galilee And Jesus calls for me to come along With James and John, the sons of Zebedee. I’m with Him as He sets the prisoners free, Feeds the hungry, and instructs the throngs. I’m standing by the Sea of...

. Once Once he was finally dead; once just a piece Of meat nailed to the planks of scabrous wood; Once suffering had done all that it could To him before it ceded him release; And once it seemed that evil no surcease Or reasonable limit understood And thereby the...

. Stations of the Cross . I. Pilate Why, Pentheus, Cambyses, why, Why, Antony, in days gone by, Did you the sons of gods defy? __Well, I your madness share. __Barabbas I shall spare __And must the dread abide __Of Jesus crucified. . II. Disciple  Hence leads the long and...

. The Lilacs on Good Friday Tumult of noontide long ago dismissed— The rent veil unremembered, and the sun Relit, though shrouded in a new eclipse Of rainswept sky. The garden seems to shun That spectral agony of blood and bone; Consigns itself instead to placid sleep Untroubled as the...

. The Lamb “And suddenly there was with the angel a heavenly host saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” ---Luke 2:14 The lamb looks up and sees a light, a star Or something heavenly, a highness like A lamb’s best dreams.  He...

. Distress Signals an extended villanelle Distressing times are coming round again, And all the talking heads now flap their jaws To say it isn’t if, but rather when.— There is a dearth of good upstanding men, And far too many convoluted laws; Distressing times are coming round again, As...

. Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus I think this velvet dinosaur is fine. Please wrap it up. Does this store still take cash? On Tuesday when my daughter’s son turns nine, This T-Rex really ought to make a splash! Young Jack will throw his arms around my shoulders And then he’ll holler...

. Imagine Mountains For the Sesquicentennial of Robert Frost's birth (March 26, 1874 – March 26, 2024) "Let chaos storm! Let cloud shapes swarm! I wait for form."  ---Robert Frost, "Pertinax" Imagine a mountain’s patient peaks revert to wave-rinsed shoals of sand, that limestone’s undulating streaks or slate stairs crumbling...

. The Line For Ashes Line is long and moving slowly: Step by step, the high and lowly, Halt and limber, shorter, taller, Young and elder, greater, smaller, Plainer, fairer, pallor, color, Father, daughter, mother, brother Creeping toward the mark of dead then Signed across an offered head, an Ember...

. You Do You God’s willing to let you do you despite the fact it pains Him to since you’ll go where you should not go, and do much worse than stub your toe then, when you do, you’ll curse His name although it’s you who you should blame. You’ll ask how...

. The Whiskey Priest based on The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene I stand condemned because I am a priest, Condemned to die by law here in Tabasco, The last eight years of memories I’ve pieced Together show my life’s one big fiasco, For, stupidly, when all priests...

. Queen Esther's Lot for the Jewish holiday of Purim (“Lots”) Oh, to be taken from home’s holy ways, Delivered to a king uncircumcized, And after one grand night, spend endless days With harem women and men feminized— My living God, let this not be my lot. They say cosmetics...

. Change Scrub the rock with glacial ice until the granite’s smooth and bare. Let the river cut through earth until it leaves a canyon there. Let volcanic lava flows raise islands from the trackless sea. Let the wind carve window rocks through which the world’s eyes can see. Earthquakes,...

. March 21st, Saints Cranmer and Bach Archbishop Thomas Cranmer,  burned at the stake March 21, 1556 . Johann Sebastian Bach, born March 21, 1685 . “Upon them hath the light shined.”  ---Isaiah 9: 2 . The shadows of two saints come to my mind As smoke from two extinguished...

. St. Perpetua Eyewitnesses of the atrocity Report that on that Carthage afternoon, Already scourged and gored repeatedly By savage bulls, she fell into a swoon (Of Spirit, so they said), then rose immune To further horror and quite calmly lent Her hand to guide the bloodied sword that soon...

. Words Matter . I. Out of Context Cheats cherry-pick the words that suit their ploy To shame the names of those who disagree With all they say. If counter claims destroy Their idiotic ideology They’ll tangle terms. They’ll mangle mood and meaning. They’ll lift a line from here, a...

. Sanderling What saffron stylus could but trace the rusty scallop of the dancing wing, what sculptor’s chisel sharpened to the quick could cleave the charcoal pencil of the beak that stitches grievance in the frigid spume, a thousand flashing furrows every yard? In greed it snouts along the sandbar’s...

. Choices Some lovers only give the rose, __Some only choose to take, Although the florist keeps a bunch __For every partner's sake. The sun has risen for our town __And also for your city. While you say it's a scalding morn, __We say it's warm and pretty. The Lord...

. Serenade Down dash the splashlets of rain to the ground; Streams from the eaves full and fluent resound. Guests gaily chatter, and clatter their chairs, Readying notes for melodious airs. Whistling hot water for brisk blended tea Promises canticles coming to be. Porcelain cups clink and clang tuneful scales,...

. For Dorothy I have at times sat silent in this chair And furtively cast looks about the room Admiring, or to jot a mental note Of someone’s beauty—eyes or shape or hair. But you were silent also, and my stare Evoked from you no comment or a glance. There...

. His Stories Were His Legacy Ivan, The Barber, 1882-1963 . Covered in a heavy blanket, __he sat and watched the rain; it had been more than thirty years, __damp weather made him lame. He turned his old pipe upside down __against the blowing gale, for Sunday was his day...

. Monica's Consolation for Margaret Coats, who introduced me to St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and his mother, St. Monica (332-387) Caritas, enter! I’m so glad you’re here. It seems that sleep eludes us both this night. I see your need, dear friend. Please have no fear. We’ll talk until...

. For Paavo Nurmi who trained against his stop-watch and in medias rez we begin as the runners approach the penultimate turn. Though their torsos are heaving, the sweat isn't beading—the storm of their pace won't permit it. The coach isn't screaming, he's merely observing: the race is a bet...

. Bowing to Power Although they might Not do what’s right, The very strong Are never wrong. If you complain, You’ll feel the pain That’s coming to A town near you. . . Domestic Finances Awash in situations less than stable, We struggle on as best as we are able,...

. Samson, Tribe of Dan "Dan is a serpent in the path. He bites the horse's heel and causes the rider to fall backward." ---Jacob, Genesis 49 My father, from the tribe of Dan, Taught me, far too well, we can Force the hairpin, serpent curve, Making horse and rider...

. Story Time The father, he sits on the couch with a book, A child in each arm, and one more on his knees; The mother, the same.  All the other ones look Content on the floor; he recites like a breeze. He changes his voice for each character’s lines,...

. Sunday Morning Flock of Starlings He saw, while driving down the roadway, off 288, a flock of starlings at the electrical substation gate. It was on Sunday morning, and with serious intent, they dropped down from a murmuration, in precise descent. In҇ a dazzling swirl of undulations—unambiguous— with closing wings,...

. Original Smile Fossil remains show nothing of the first Facial flourish dimpling a human cheek. Was it some reflex as a female nursed Her young one, charmed by its whimpering squeak? (Or her initial invite to the male?) Whatever the details of the episode, The impact must have been...

. To Catch The Wind after Tennessee Williams "We Have Not Long To Love" I want to catch the wind __this windy day, as all encompassing __it comes my way. It blows beyond me to __a hill?  a tree? then up into the sky __away from me. Though there’s another...

. Insomnia, My Sometime Muse She comes to me while I’m asleep,Not with strange imaginings of dreamsBut with fragmented thoughts. It seemsShe thinks they cannot keepBut must be worked upon, upon this hour.While I from Hypnos try to wrestSome morsel of his healing power,Sleep becomes a useless questAnd this vivid...

. I Am with You You are with me, this day, and I’m with you; in spirit and in memory we meet to celebrate and joyfully to rue my span, which in the bounds of Time was fleet. Although I’m gone from places I was known, I will remain an...

. The Nymph by Luis de Góngora y Argote (1561-1627) translated by Alan Steinle As morning sunlight first began to show, a nymph went out to tread the verdant plain. Although she plucked some flowers for a chain, her feet inspired many more to grow. The air began to warm...