Beauty

. My Resignation Be still, my Heart, be stiller than the grave. When consciousness dissolves into the sea, This desperate...

. Forever Nine My bare feet merge with weathered, knotty pineAs dripping swimsuit water cools the pier.The day belongs to...

. Graves “Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and have you rise...

. Snowfall: Via Negativa “Less is more.” ---Literary Dictum Out on the highway, snow settles in place Covering the tracks...

. Independence Day? a rondeau Some dared. Some died. With pluck and pride And guts and grit the brave defied...

. Fourth of July Limerick Top left, there’s an oblong that’s blue; add in fifty stars, white in hue. To...

. America Is Not the Same America is not the same. __I do not recognize it. We all know who...

. Evra Our grandma Evra was a trifle difficult. If ever sound advice was needed she’d be there, But quiet,...

. Adams Mountain I gather in from this high place, my shadow sprawled on shivered stone: Dusk drifts down: autumnal...

. First Steps in a New World for Toribio Moras, age 14, Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1908 The young Castilian boy...

. . This Silence. Foremost among my woes: _This silence as it grows, __My mind fatigued from listening for your...

. La Campana Ring, grandfather! And ring for liberty. The bell spoke once and, speaking, croaked and cracked. Our gazes...

. Miracle of the Book Distance was short, but porters would be needed, And sacks were packed with small necessities....

. Psalm 23: King David’s Version When I was just a hungry sheep __and I was lonely, lost and scared,...

. Darkface at Dusk "Death is swallowed up in victory" ---1 Cor. 15:4 At twilight, as I walked in solitude...

. Job’s Rant Job 3: 3-10 . May darkness and death’s shadow claim the day When I was sent to...

. This Is the Choice  The gates of hell Closed from within. No one sends us--- We lock ourselves in....

. Green I’m talking green: the greening ground Of spring and springing hope eternal; The spectrum’s hidden light unbound And...

. The Gallows The trial was quick, the verdict read: “Guilty as charged,” the foreman said. The judge declared the...

. The Straight-Fishing, Straight-Talking Jiang Ziya Far off in time and place but still on this small globe, By a...

. Distant Thoughts from Nearby I need to turn my dog-ears up __and harken to the quietude ____ignored for many...

. The House on 58th Street for my father Salvatore J. Salemi (1913-2008) The house on 58th Street stood right...

. The Test The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' —Jesus (Matthew 22:39, NASB1995) Is...

. The Number 207: The Road to Nowhere Oh once along the Road to Nowhere That used to be the...

. Anesthesia Where was I for that half an hour or so While somewhere deep inside me they explored? The...

. The Moselle Tranquil meandering alluvion, From Vosges pink sandstone hills it percolates In rillets past rich vines in echelon...

. Sonnet When sitting on a swing my cheeks were chilled, I gazed and saw the dawn, a new spring...

. Commodore Perry Opens Japan On July 8, 1853, on the orders of President Millard Fillmore, Commodore Matthew Perry led...

. The “Muse” A sailboat, small, unvarnished wood, her sail a swath, a patch, of red fastened by type-9 yo-yo...

. Quattrocento On the Fresco “Madonna del Parto” by Piero della Francesca, Monterchi, Italy, circa 1460 We file into a...

. Creation From deep within eternity, the soundOf song burst out! As Perfect Fullness stirred,A melody in wisdom wrought, profound,Complex...

. Emptiness “There’s emptiness and then there’s emptiness,” the wise old voice inside me sighing said (and maybe not so...

. Come September a pantoum Ohio State’s your home come September, Though we'll be lonely, stuck as empty nesters. Our...

. Note to a Sloppy Homeowner in response to C.B. Anderson's “Know How to Mow” Increasing rates are musts for...

. To Music Oh, Music, wherein lies your wondrous power To pierce the barren heart and open wide Joy's floodgate...

. We Must Invest in Self-Investigation __If past mistakes were soft cupcakes ____to scoff at and reject and so avoid...

. Elegy "Beauty can pierce one like a pain." —Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks When Mother died, she left me all her...

. America America, vast land of dreams __From sea to shining sea, Where eagles soar and twilight gleams __On Lady...

. With Liberty and Justice for All Old Glory may have stripes and stars, But on those stars and stripes...

. The Great War Ever be their memory, Those interred across the sea, Men who, fighting evil, fell, Who endured...