Beauty

. Four Thousand Four Hundred  Miles The shiny willows waved in yellow bloom Inland beyond the spit of dirty sand Where you and I stood, wishing we could zoom Due east and pace that other treasured land Across the broad Atlantic where the trees Were lemons and their blossoms’ scent...

. Many years ago I gave a talk at a scholarly conference at Queens College, C.U.N.Y. My section of the conference was dedicated to contemporary translation, and the bulk of the papers presented were deadly dull rehashes of critical theory (as is usually the case at academic events of this...

. Guilty Thoughts I Through idle thoughts alone if no-one knows, We cannot hurt someone who never will Find out. No victim: none could ever spill The beans. Can we do any harm to those Among our foes we would not if we chose? Then who so harsh to charge us? Who...

. A Song of Thanksgiving The pilgrims long ago faced strong __Attacks on their beliefs, And found a land they could command __Where faith would find relief. They journeyed long but still faced strong __Attacks by Winter frost, And lived to see quite happily __In Spring not all was lost....

. Honest to God a rondeau I do not know why Sarah died; I only know her parents cried Such tears as only parents shed When infant children die in bed— A grief they did not try to hide. At birth a tumor deep inside Her brain was found and...

. First and Foremost We’re human first and foremost: kith and kin. So never judge on looks and looks alone. We’re made of more than just our shade of skin. We’re flesh and blood. We’re brothers to the bone – Yes brothers, as in fellow human souls. Our gender is...

. Three Perspectives from Samos Poet’s note:  The Greek island of Samos, in the region of Ionia, was the reputed birthplace of the goddess Hera, and the scene of her marriage to Zeus.  It was also the birthplace of the philosophers Pythagoras and Epicurus, and it boasted a sibyl.  Sibyls...

. A Knot of Ought Nots A bright blue canoe atop of Mount Crumble, canoes can be tippy; down it might tumble —ought not to be there! The cat in galoshes and plaid underwear eating fish tacos in Dad’s swivel chair —ought not to be there. The Belle of the...

. Circles It seems to me that living comes in circles, That nothing, even this, is ever new, That all that we create is a stale rhyme, A now that cannot cover marks of then. It seems to me that every extant thought Comes back again, as sure as fall...

. Who’s the Villain Now? My poems drip with vitriol and gall,Each stanza driving home a heartfelt curse—A side-effect of drinking alcohol Incessantly.  I lack the wherewithalTo temper my intemperate temper; worse,My poems drip with vitriol and gall Since I’ve become an angry man in thrallTo stiffer drinks and grudges...

. The sunlight is raising A glow from the east For dawn-dappled grazing By somnolent beasts; The flight of a parrot To glistening seeds; And down from her garret, With predatory needs, Arrives a brown kestrel Inspecting the ground For creatures too restful To notice the sound Of air against...

. On the Question of Enes Kanter How do heroes take a stand above the skyline? How face off sharp machinery that spades the earth, Converting humans into demons by the roots— Machines that grind distinctive features off a face To turn men to a twitch of its assembly line,...

. I. The Blacksmith God Forges Scenes on Achilles’ Shield after Homer’s Iliad Book 18 The hammer strikes! And glowing sparks fly out As Earth takes shape and then the flowing seas, The sun, the moon, the wondrous Pleiades And all the constellations round about. The hammer strikes! And now...

. One Miracle After Another A misty morning greeted by the sun Whose dappled rays arouse the drowsing Earth; The grandeur in the web a spider’s spun; A mother’s tearful joy for a safe birth; The giddy pride a groom feels in his bride. Companionship lent by a loyal friend;...

. Nature's War From far beneath the frozen soil the iris pushes high,Extending wide it reaches up to touch the sun and sky. Yet in the greening of the grass, the snows of winter stayas northern winds descend again to keep the spring away. The winds remain and daily howl but spring...

. . The Hireling Shepherd painting by William Holman Hunt This comely wench was Emma Watkins, she Who sat for Hunt in eighteen fifty-two. Too unaffected she, she never knew What lay beyond the brink, beyond the lee Of innocence. Nor could she ever see The fame at second hand...

. Today I feel the stirrings of the Dead In crimson-littered fields where poppies blow. I hear embittered groans and gasps of dread From churning earth neath crosses row on row. Today our freedoms fade along with sense As blinded minds grow ripe to twist and turn. Now glib and...

. From a Classified Location in England Dear Jim---my son---I write from far away. From England, Spring of 1944. June first! That means you’re six years old today! So happy birthday, son! And many more!Please know my heart is with you on this day---You and your mother---as I fight this...

. Colours of War What colour was the war to end all wars?We’ve watched as men, in grainy black and white,go o’er the top to face the chomping jawsof curtain fire and shrapnel’s iron bite.And when the muted thud of gas shells came,the battleground transformed into a fieldof jaundiced mustard,...

. The Soldier Keeps the Wolf at Bay The soldier keeps the wolf at bay So we may never see it. That is why the young today Simply don’t believe it. You say “We see no wolf out there? So why should we believe you?” The wolf is hiding in...

. Imperial Invitation Fair neighbor, come, pass through entrancing gates I made to veil surprises and seclude My masterpiece of panoramic zest, Where autumns yet unreddened bear my mark. The servants disappear at my behest; Accept my personal solicitude: The nature of an emperor awaits. My simple first-built structure quells...

. Robert Jack Eardley was, for many years, Chief Psychiatrist for the U.S. Justice Department. In 2000, he organised a family gathering of thousands with our surname, in the small English town where the name originated. People came from as far away as China and New Zealand. Our home has...

. Bywords Language rang and wedged within our mind. Centuries of words were drawn like swords. A surfeit, rhymes, soliloquies entwined, As singers fingered perfectly rung chords. Linguals clang, the cymbals of the tongue. Vowels, our open mouths fling ahs with ease. Sibilance sees esses struck and sung. Tones lift...

. He was the stream and she the underbrush; The rain that fell upon his upturned face. She was the shadowed glade in evening's hush That memorized the sun, received its grace. She was the sea, and he the wavering shore; Sometimes she was a fragile bit of lace, He...

. Last Rites Let not the Rock of Ages ever break Or send apostate magi to the stake; A golden era favoring good men Will likely never come around again. This world, in winter, is a dreary place, Devoid of pleasure or enduring grace, But still we stagger toward that...

. When summer left and took her warming shawl, The birds towards the south began to fly. The leaves of wizened trees began to dye, As shorter days announced the hues of fall. In town, there is the snore of one at rest; His lawn, pristinely kept, begins to sleep....

. New Day for the Old Dominion "This is what unity looks like" —Glenn Youngkin, Virginia governor-elect Virginians venture toward a vivid day Of family life and work as each sees fit; Next year the cost of living spirals down, The prospects for creating wealth increase, The government goes back...

. A fabled place adrift in history Which makes the spirit ache for what was lost; A masterpiece destroyed in mystery Then resurrected at a crippling cost; A priceless room of amber! A caprice Of luxe and lavish rococo design--- Of shining tiles rich in royal lore Which speak of...

. When I crave from my enclave something to eat (Not apples or peas or muffins or meat) I steady my stare at my pantry’s archive And spot a great lot that’ll keep me alive. In my haste for a taste of the finest cuisine I select my elected morsel...

. Autumn in Vermont October’s maples blaze a way __around a tall church steeple and sugar maples have their say __by raining gold on people. Such leafy vibrance begs to call __all those who wish to see, the winded leaves like waterfalls __that flow so splendidly. Those colored vistas from...

. translated from Russian by Sasha A. Palmer . Prayer God above, King divine! Heal this spirit of mine! Earthly lies drive away Lest they lead me astray— And for Thy heav'nly toll Please give strength to my soul! . . Hopelessness A zeal for happiness by gods was given to...

. . A Vagabond Song by Bliss Carman (1861-1929) There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood -- Touch of manner, hint of mood; And my heart is like a rhyme, With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time. The scarlet of the...

. Glastonbury A deathless tree stood witness while The marshlands round a nearby isle Were drained and bared a hill forlorn; A lonesome tree, long in exile Since Joseph sailed from the Nile— The Glastonbury Thorn. That staff once thrust into the earth Had burgeoned to a blessed girth And...

. How Grim Is the Grim Reaper? How grim is the Grim Reaper? Rapacious and rambunctious; Solemn stalker, soul seeker, Slayer uncompunctious. How dim his lair’s darkness? Capacious, crenellated Wailing walls of starkness; Evil never sated! How slim is our survival? A silver shining sliver Of time from our arrival...

. We Sum total of all life is death, And breath sustains us for a time. We’ll live until we’ve spent God's dime. The meter's running faster still. No matter what we want or will, We’re always in His debt. Some say that life's a losing bet, But we embrace...

. It's raining now in New York City; Yes, I know that's true. For like that dreamer, Walter Mitty, Daydreams take me, too, To fabled places far away Upon a lazy, rainy day Where I can see and do and say What fancy leads me to. So, while I sit...

. Face-to-Face Meeting up, Darjeeling tea, So familiar, you and me. Here’s your cup, you raise it up Do a little "cheers" to me, Joke on "hospital-it-tea," Say, “How healing is a cup, More than a mask, as we sup.” . . Nightmare for Mike Lancaster, a friend who may...

. Men Before Work for Dana Gioia It’s dark and cold. The fleet comes filtering in. They take a breath. They get out of their cars. Half-hidden in a cowl-like hood, their heads are bent like friars walking through the fields. Their coffee cups are hallowed in their hands. The...

. Fright Night This is the night the dead walk in the streets Looking like neighbors’ children, masked In tricks they have been taught to trade for treats That pose the questions spooks are always asked. The six year old rouged like a Main Street Moll Knows better than to say...

. As I look out upon October leaves And brown grass weathered by the autumn sun, I see the shafts of light a bare branch cleaves And so much of creation now undone. I feel the sorrow of a world defeated And wonder if my life reflects the same Cycle...