Beauty

. Again The bench is near where children play And where she sits to dream and muse. She knows her...

. The Pitcher Plant The insect dances on a pitcher plant drinking deep the fabled honey nectar. The rim affords...

. The School Bell The schooldays weave a maze inside my mind, A maze with streets resounding childish zeal; The...

. To My Brother after John Keats When I have fears that I may lose my sight before I've savored...

. A Mighty Fortress for Diane My eyes ache from the tears still left unshed As I remember all she...

. The Five Ages Beneath rose bower and sweet cherry shade Long since have Saturn’s golden people slept And for...

. Song of the Snow by Amado Nervo (1870-1919) translated by Isabel Chenot How miraculous Nature is! Doesn't the snow...

. Bunker Hill: The Death of Joseph Warren from Legends of Liberty, Volume 2 Dramatis Personae Joseph Warren – Physician,...

. Saint Sebastianus Sebastianus, soldier, pinioned, bleeding, Stands at his lonely and forgotten post Unperceived—no, even unsuspected— By the diseased...

. Homebound They get too old to come to Mass, too sick, Too shaky on their legs or just too...

. The Darkened Hill We drove and found the childhood place where you would run and hide for space away...

. Without a Dad Without a Dad, you are not sure, And never know you could endure The many doubts...

. Venus Sighed Venus sighed and turned aside, tired of seeing people try to feebly mimic Beauty’s pride, too easily...

. The Old Native Chieftain The old native chieftain from forests among __Bright sparkling lakes of the tribe, With death...

. Puffins The puffin’s beak is bright: Quince yellow stripes contrast With chests of fluffy white And wings of satin...

. Unchristian I hope you burn in Hell for nasty things You said to me, but if you don’t, I...

. The Barista’s Hands Surprisingly, she knew my name and used the chance to give a fleeting glimpse and catch...

. Kintsugi  There is an ancient practice in Japan--- Chipped and broken vessels, dear to hearts, Are mended with a striking golden blend. These...

. Foothold Of hearth and home the better part is not the decorator’s art: not tasteful pillows, painted walls, or...

. Symbolic Expression As polar opposites these days,The liberals and conservativesExpress opinions different ways. They rarely ever are in sync,Since Liberals...

. The Hunchback The belfry beckons. Once again it’s time. This is my cross, the task I’m forced to bear....

. In The Beginning We’re stuck in the middle, unsure of the ending but guessing the outcome by how things...

. On Turning the Page of a New Year---2023-2024 The hour-glass is almost void of sand,a rounding of the sun...

. A Prayerful Pantoum for the Perpetually Pessimistic  "We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne."  ---Robert...

. New Year's Eve So swiftly tick the minutes to the close Of these twelve months, this day, and life...

. Anniversary Pastoral for Benedict XVI Trustworthy Shepherd of all shepherds, hear Today’s renewed appeal in concord made For Benedict,...

. An Abandoned Cemetery Pines thinly hid them on the forest floor: huge, useless molars, only three or four upright---a...

. Christmas Medley performed by Jeff Eardley . . Absent Friends The Christmas lights are twinkling on the houses all...

. The Evening The Times Newspaper Turned Into Jane Eyre My life had become like a broadsheet,__The Telegraph, maybe The...

. Common Currency There’s little written that cannot be said in some way that misunderstands or read as was not...

. At The Metropolitan Museum one good reason for the French Revolution Once at the Met, we walked the halls,...

. To One Outspoken for A.B. If I had but a fraction of the zeal That burns in you like...

. Christmas Hallelujah sung to the melody of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen When I hear a song of destiny, Of...

. The Ancient Christmas Tree A Dream Memory . The ridge out the window was blanketed white With snow that...

. The Ultimate Christmas Gift “Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.” ---Dr. Seuss This gift winks...

. Author/Composer’s Note: The noël, Il est Né le Divin Enfant (“He is Born, the Divine Christ Child”) is one...

. . “Even now, in sordid particulars, the eternal design may appear.” ---T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral . Among...

. The Wisemen and the Shepherds after Eileen Duggan The camels’ footfalls over and around Baked dunes, through pebbled streams,...

. Christmas by Force The jostling beast increases the distress Of Mary whose first labor has progressed. Joseph of the...

. Christmas I don’t recall the tree or what we ate With sentiment Dickensian and sweet. The tree was in...