Beauty

. Nature is bountiful giving to man All that we require, however She can; Food for the table and meds for the sick; Gas for the car that can make our lives quick; The air that we breathe and the water we drink; The wonder of thoughts that our brains...

. FROM DARKEST ANTIQUITY . I. Ancient Ritual A thousand brown feet burn on sand In Pharaoh’s funeral caravan. By many a mirage they pass Of phantom palms and pools of glass. The princess moves as in a trance While joining all the gods in dance, For she on lotus...

. . Love Thy Neighbor Make no excuseIf sheer abuseIs all you giveTo those who live Around you.  OwnThat you aloneMust bear the shameAnd take the blame For having doneTo anyoneThe slightest wrongThat all along You rightly knewOne shouldn’t doTo others.  WhatAre neighbors but Reflected lightFrom what is rightIn open...

. Heartfelt Baptism The morning rain that washes this day clean of yesterday's despair, of last night's sleep, and promises to turn the pastures green by falling gently, penetrating deep, is waking spring in me and in the ground while tapping rhythms on the windowpane that lift my heart to...

. A Pantoum of Wager God said to Satan: Have you seen my servant Job, a man who fears God and shuns evil. Satan replied: You’ve bought him with blessings. Take them away and he’ll spit in your eye. God said to Satan: OK, I’ll take that bet. He’s yours. Have...

. Regret Hangs on Where Opportunity Once Existed There are lots of sad words we lament with such ease,But there’s none any sadder and mournful than these:I regret my decisions, and wish to go backTo that Y in the road where my life went off track. I was foolhardy, reckless,...

. Haiku How long will it last? Butterflies are in decline. Monarch flutters past. . . Nevermore (and Somewhat Less) Beside a little country church, The ravens on the gravestones perch To do, not what you might expect, But are restrained and show respect. All dressed in black, a sober...

. The Shepherd Who Remained in the Fields I had to stay behind to watch the flocks,a sentry against lions, bears, wolves, thieves,and other dangers slouching through the rocksand hills.  No matter how much one believesthe promises of angels, work goes on—and on and on: sometimes life seems to beone...

. The Untrue Artist “The true artist will let his wife starve, his children go barefoot, his mother drudge for his living at seventy, sooner than work at anything but his art” ---George Bernard Shaw I’ve put untapped potential on a shelf much like a book one someday wants to...

. from Legends of Liberty Volume 1 . The Battle of Concord By that rude bridge men formed up double file,The company from Acton in the van.Their bayonets cast beams—reverse sundialsDissecting the empire’s diurnal spanThat cast so many shadows on the globe.Their cartridge boxes rattled with black toxin.Then steel unsheathed...

. My Lips Have Kissed Her My lips have kissed her lips. Now I know why the timid sun arises with each day. I understand what moves the birds to fly and why the trees within the breezes sway. My lips have kissed her lips. I can't deny that it...

. À La Mode In Antarctica The boffins in Antarctica are well Adapted to the climate on the ice. Among the most exclusive personnel, For stylish kit they pay a tidy price. To wow the penguins and to look their best They wear top-flight designer gear. Forget The rest, the...

. Autumn's Hand I reach across for autumn's hand, When leaves begin to ride the air, To walk amid the changing land. Though I have yet some days unplanned, And winter waits to bring her glare, I reach across for autumn's hand. I pine for spring and summer sand, But...

. for DKE We know each guy, and each knows us, No big deal and no big fuss, Tabernacling through this life, Share the joy and bear the strife. So what, amid this toxic day, If one might jaunt into the fray? We stick together thick and thin, And should...

. It’s Fall, Y’all!   Autumn is here and I’m swathed in a sweater, A snug fluffy scarf and warm mittens. My Ugg-cuddled feet have never felt better; These boots are as cute as soft kittens. Autumn is here and it’s chocolate I’m sipping With melted marshmallows galore. Pumpkin-spice candles are glowing and flickering,...

. __Of Helen, Menelaus, war, Achilles, Paris and his treachery, __Of Agamemnon, Troy, and more, I wrote the Iliad and Odyssey. __Of Saracens and Charlemagne, Of Roland and his tragic, fateful day, __Of gallant loss and nobler gain I wrote and oft-performed my epic lay. __From Florence, and all that it hides, I...

. City of Holy Faith The time to weep is over. Turn away From somber matters of this sordid age And turn your pilgrim gaze to Santa Fe--- Garbed in aspen gold and desert sage. The sky’s an ever-burnished turquoise blue, And amber sunlight sanctifies the hills. At night she...

. I don't know why I think things will get better. I'm always holding on to flimsy hope. I've held it since I was a young go-getter before the downward slope. Is wishful thinking printed on our genes? Before we crawl, has nature made it so? To want things right...

. At Brighton Beach the seagulls fly, they soar and circle in the sky; they swoop and steal the punters’ chips amidst the backdrop’s sailing ships and underneath the sun’s sharp eye. The lockdown days have now passed by; face-down upon my towel I’ll lie, my limbs burned red as...

. Raise your quill to the sky like a madman’s harpoon— Super tempered in blood and the blackest of wine Is the blade of our mania, flashing and white As a lightning bolt fresh from the night. Raise your quill to the sky like a madman’s harpoon— Dare the lightning...

. Regrets and Repercussions Inconsequential are the things we do Sometimes, or things we don’t, we don’t know why. So will we wonder far too late and sigh To think that if we knew we could undo The past before it starts, begin anew. How many of us would instead...

. A Summary of Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Notes This play, no doubt to Sophocles’ surprise, When first performed took only Second Prize. Summary King Oedipus of Thebes, both good and wise— Or such, in pride, he thinks himself to be— Packs Creon off to Delphi to surmise...

. from Eternal Spring Once upon a time in space God contrived the human race, Gave two things to help us cope: One was love, the other hope. Man was destined for a fall, But love sustained him after all. When all hope was lost in fear, Love would make...

. I This crucifixion hides the anguish. Racked With pain, belied by bloodless hands and feet; Intolerable torments, they compete As muscles in that arching back contract. His hanging head forestalls all eye contact; And here we see Him, harrowing complete, As Pilate meted out from judgment seat Beyond this...

. On Lonely Paths On lonely paths I like to walk, beneath pure azure skies, Where white clouds stretch like streaks of chalk, and one lone eagle flies; I watch him gliding overhead and feel as blithe and free As he who soars, with wings outspread, in circles over me....

Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2021 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . WINNER . Fog enshrouds the nightWoven in the heavy mistA thread of fireflies ---Joe Tessitore . . RUNNERS-UP in seasonal order . Spring in the hedgerowsMagpies...

. Sean who passed away this week in Honolulu, Hawaii Although there are a few who’ll grieve and mourn, Who’ll celebrate his life and then move on, The unexpected loss will be hard borne By those who called him “Brother” and “My son.” I knew him back when he was...

. Most schoolgirls, street-people, attorneys, and Bachelors of Art are aware that Thomas Jefferson composed what is likely the most widely-known, oft-repeated sentence in American history: . We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable...

. Prayer of the Guilty Poet Before I put these words to ink, Be still, my pen, and let me think. Are they the balm to expiate, Or bomb indeed, to detonate? . . A City Short Make no excuse, I heard a sneeze! Old man, produce Your papers, please!...

. a rondel It's funny how a day can go so slow, and yet a year just simply seems to fly. We blink, and then another one goes by. Those winds of change don't ever cease to blow. Time's raging river has an undertow. So quickly does our hourglass run...

. At the Temple of Yue Fei Behind, a lake unstirring sleeps; Ahead, grey fog and budding leaves. A jade-green pool commands the heart, Beneath the clouds and sweeping eaves. A statue beckons; I respond, And past the present then perceives. While traitors kneel by mounded tombs, A land for...

. Lost and Found I’ve lost myself but in the course, I’ve found a sanctuary glowing, aspen golden. To me, I am the stream to woodland bound upon the forest floor midst boulders olden. My water flows as free as eagles soaring above the watching Adirondack mountains. A hemlock’s flitting...

. The Secret Garden Beyond these ivied walls grows naught but heather Gorse and broom, the moors engulfed by blows Of bitter, wuthering wind and gloomy weather. This haunted land is barren, bleak and old. But here---within the gate---my garden grows Warmed by sunlight bright as marigold! Enchantment! Every mum,...

. There never was a night so long When time went crawling by. The Arctic wind came howling in Across the Nashville sky. The planes had all been grounded With no tickets left to ride. It was wheels out on the highway On the night Hank Williams died. The radio...

. Geese on the Moor On Laddow Moss the April air is cold And still. A single pair of wayward geese We find beside a tarn, their nest of fleece And feather sprigs of springy heather hold Together. Once we found marsh marigold Up here but now its meagre straggles...

. “Come with me, child, past all this camouflage.” “Is there a secret garden there, Grandpa?” “Not quite. It’s just a small, padlocked garage, To keep out the enforcers of the law.” I keyed the lock, and lifted up the door For just the time it took us to walk...

. after “Ballade of the Unborn Child” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox I wrote by hand my lines of verse, __Just lit by reading light; I made no sound, no sign or curse, __And suddenly was fixed with fright. ____Then out in the air on a gossamer wing, ____Came a sigh...

. A burst of laughter slips into an echo past the tinny bells and rattling glass of Joe's, my corner liquor store, the last and first of every day. Arroyo streets are dry of human traffic now, are dry of humans anyway, and through abandoned cars a gust of night...

. Running round ruins of things long forgot, These tried, tiring times---who can make an end? Can read the scroll or seven seals rend? The limpid air is still and full of rot. The sorry dreams of fragile souls are bought And sold for tuppence. My unhappy friend, What plan,...

. If We Knew It All . . . Where do dreams go when we wake up? Where does time go as we age? Why did William Shakespeare make up Plays we still perform on stage? Sometimes questions beg an answer— Questions trite or quite profound. Where is Waldo? Cures...