Beauty

. Captain Francisco Menendez Born a Mandinga, on Africa’s west coast, Where farm and hunting toil supported most, But tribal...

. Authenticity Some skies stark and vivid, But others milky white. Sometimes lovely azure skies, Or pale with fading light....

. On Me I am a simple Eastern bard __Who moseys by the heather That grows in sweeping fields and...

. Lachrimosa As winter pushes fall aside And birds complete their southward flight I sit and watch the water glide...

. The Name We Leave When we first breathe and start to peer, What we will be is still unclear....

. Ipse Dixit I say Cogito ergo sum To the animal here in the room. So how do I know...

. In the Woods by Eduard Mörike (1804-1875) translated from German by Alan Steinle While lying on the grass beneath...

. Poem 101 by Catullus (circa 84-54 BC) translated by Bruce Phenix Conveyed through many countries, over many seas, to...

. Last Visit to the Beach a sestina The beach, untouched by Time throughout the years As millions of waves...

. The Poet’s Good Pen Take up your good pen. Write only words true. Now open your heart--- Your worth...

. Contagious Joy a villanelle You always find a way to make me smile. Like sunlight tracing rainbows in the...

. Vintage Love Love is as a grape when it begins, Unblemished by the bruises and the sins That will...

. When? I’ll love you when the bee has lost its buzz, When wolf and bear have quit their howl...

. I Am the Stone I am the stone The humble stone the barefoot shepherd boy Selected from the muddy...

. The Southern Cross The caravels escaped at last The roiling tides of Bojador And entered tropic seas far past...

. . Nocturnal Litany I “From all malevolence the night employs….” ---James Agee, “Epithalamium” . From all malevolence the night...

. How Septuagenarian’s Cope Past seventy. Age does prevail. __The day is growing dim. I’ve managed through life’s calms and...

. Bedtime Stories in triolets He’d curl her close and hold her tight and let the words dance in the...

. A Temporary Exhibit A million drops of water will be sprayed Across my yard today. And each of them...

. Left Outside The shopping cart, precisely ordered now while searching for those perfect little lines of lights for decorations---anyhow,...

. Sunshine Sun, shine on me—come and stay! Dry my tears, send gloom away. Warm my soul, chilled to the...

. Gawain’s Prayer in the Wilderness …the wildrenesse of Wyrale; wonde ther bot lyte That auther God other gome with...

. Had I held you in the fields of Hay beside The Wye and on an afternoon that cleared To...

. In a Home based on Michael Bunker’s grandmother (b. 1909) as described in his book Surviving Off Off-Grid ....

. A Wing-stroked Spectacle Segmented sets of starlings sharply elevate towards candescent skies, suspend, then circulate in sync. Their wingspans...

. A Blanket of Snow from childhood memories of the blizzard of 1949 on a farm near Bonesteel, South Dakota....

. Unshackling the Spirit I toss and turn at night. I wonder why I’m here. But then with dawn the...

. Learning to Laugh The pathos of a circus clown, with empty pockets inside out, now challenges a small boy’s...

. Another Day How time has wasted, over time, over time. __At least to me, that’s how it seems. Oh...

. The Blue Absorbent Towel . As he fillets my leg and makes a flap above my knee of skin...

. Ambition We’re dipping our toes in the paddling pool __When we ought to be tackling the seas. There’s no...

. Windjam Dry leaves abruptly fell that day— Whirled weathervane communiqué Proposing a quick stroll away Along a narrow inlaid...

. What Time Is It? “What time is it?” he asks of me, __“It’s now eleven o’clock;” “What time is...

. Requiem The notes we cherish most Are gathered from the throats Of those who perished young. The song we...

. A Star O silent sphere of silver-soft-spun light,Thou crystal pearl strung on an airy veilSuffusing bright celestial delightIn snowy...

. Blessings Every now and then when I’m in prayer I feel Your famous joyfulness descend. It doesn’t descend, of...

. On Cats and Love My cat does not explain himself. He knows his reasons. Why must I? He needs...

. To Find a Waterfall The wild forest is a spiritual place. Disbelief does not last there. Halfway through My span...

. Summer of ‘73  It’s sunset and the sidewalk still feels hot. My legs and feet are bare, they do...

. Father after "So Far, So Near," by Christopher Pearse Cranch (1813-1892). Father, maker of all spirit, infinite, You can...