Beauty

Blue and Yellow Barn-Swallows She made a note to note when they arrived. It’s obvious whenev’r they fin’lly do. Over the cows they dipped and ducked and dived. “They have two houses; shouldn’t we have two? I wonder where they stay in Mexico? Or maybe Florida? Or some Texas barn?...

Coastal Shingle There, totem-stacked in paratactic charm, The words cascade: Hay.Shavings.Piglets.Straw. I had not sought a sign from Salt Marsh Farm, But since this was the only one I saw, I turned from what had been my course till then, Meaning, while sun was shining still that day, To give...

Ashamed I will no longer be... Ashamed I will no longer be To write an older poetry -- I have the right to reach for rhyme And make the most of measured time -- While looked upon I am with scorn -- And ridiculed -- as per fashion -- I...

Updated January 10, 2020 Ascending the Phoenix Terrace in Jinling by Li Bai (701-762) Here phoenix roamed four hundred years ago, A sign of the enchantment that once thrived; How empty now, where no more feathers flow, A lonely river is all that’s survived. Lush garden of the grand Wu...

  Cynthia Moon Go drag your white skull before blind seas That tumble dazed to your mono-eyed magic Go string the treadmill tides around the poles And make all starry lovers pale and sick Go tell Neptune when the night is through Charm him too with your waxing and waning...

The Fallen Vestige The fallen vestige of her foliate time: Browned leaves beneath; coarse needles of old pine Once green and pungent; when her nests in spring With peeping chicks, and swaying boughs, would sing. So splendors fade, as does the daily light; Of seed and growth and birth and...

Vespers Lonely broods the moonlit gloom High above the river's flume, Hiding in its dark vault Stars nebulous clouds exalt. The winds are free, the roaring sea Loosed the breeze upon the lea, And bound the sand's serene horizons. Days, in summer-brightened seasons, Rustle like a bee's buzzing bustle Round...

Oh what is the hue? The right shade of blue To color the new morning sky And the green for the trees But, what color’s the breeze? How does one paint but a sigh? I’d paint the clouds white The sun yellow and bright As it kisses the things that...

Retreating Snow Like an old man dragging his long white hair out of the lawn, back toward the forest’s shade, the snow retreats, cornered, and well-aware of time that’s up and warmth it can’t evade… Young blonde Apollo bays this crumbling foe and inch by inch reclaims the tawny grass;...

  Ode to Alexander They say he cried, the great king, when He marched upon his journey's end. To live but once, and yet to know There's so much further man could go. I'm sure twas no one could console That mighty, strong, and broken soul. When worlds and worlds...

"Beauty comes from life well lived." —Wilbur Dee Case They are all looking for a loveliness refined, a beautiful design or feeling of sublime. And there are moments when they find it, and refind it, on their journeys through this world and this time. And they are happy then, so...

Held on April 14, 2014, at Da Tang, in New York, participants read Tang Dynasty poetry, contemporary poetry previously written by attendees, and wrote Haiku. Here are some of the poems:   A Spring Gathering Early spring beings, A pulsing celebration, In the night, they sing. -James Smith   Evening...

I love to gaze into the midnight sky To search the night for planets and bright stars, Caress, with pointing finger, blazing Mars, And blow a kiss to Venus passing by. I wonder and I ponder other beings, Perhaps now casting eyes at Milky Way, Their far-off planet turning into...

O sweet be this soft morning’s song As golden mist on earth descends And skylarks trill an hour long While gently this wild river bends: The daisies rise to kiss the sun Fond lover of dear Mother Earth! For now the war with night is won What better cause for...

A grand council of trees Stood majestic, serene Heavy laden with snow Beautiful and pristine And I felt reverence For such a peaceful scene And awe at the splendor Of a tall evergreen   Kathy Figueroa is a writer and poet living in Ontario, Canada.

  Daybreak As day begins in honey’d light, I watch a flock of geese take flight. They fly formation heading south o’er field and stream, past river’s mouth. Where in that clearing, such a sight, as day begins in honey’d light! There stands a doe with speckled fawn, while muted...

Where Does the Sky Begin or End? Where does the sky begin or end? The sea above, the stars attend? Burn bright, a galaxy anew Not in the sky we see so blue Could paint a line up to the moon Hear melody of nighttime tune Look up into the...

  Waiting for Dawn atop Butterfly Mountain A dilapidated lepidopteran dying atop The Mountain of Butterflies holds out her wings to the darkness — wings as thin as the mist that swirls beneath monsoonal skies — and pictures the tea farm women, who often glow like painted sawtooths dotting the...

The wisp of wind that makes the leaves go dance and play above the browning grass, cannot but stir awake my eyes and ears from trance to sound and sight more fine than can  be bought. Where sun and earth will kiss amidst the trees and light the fronds in...

  Unbroken If I should break myself today Unchanged from every burden bare Determined unafraid to say That I shall find the strength to wear Whatever fortune great or small My maker has bestowed on me. By chance wherever I may fall I forge alone my destiny. Then I may...

  Made (by Imprisoned Falun Gong) in China It's mass production everywhere I look, From toys of plastic hope to airplane parts, And after all the livelihood you took, You're pressing mass production upon hearts By binding hands that never meant you harm, And feet that never trampled on your dreams,...

What’s out to kill us makes us more alive. Let’s go escape with me forget our fear, So run with me my brother lets survive. We just have to get in the car, and drive As fast as we can, racing to the clear. What’s out to kill us makes...

  Instruction The tales of Ovid are a theme that suits The Prince, but will not do for your repute. Avoid lust.  Clients of the better kind Desire the tales that beautify the mind. You may display the human flesh with taste Discreetly in the hands and face.  Be chaste:...

  Research Guideline Throughout investigative history, a basic principle has long held sway: When we unravel Nature’s mystery, complexity’s the first to fall away. Upon one underpinning postulate, succinctly balanced, we’ve come to expect all facts that we’ve observed should always fit, with math that’s both appealing and correct. Proposing...

  Metaphorical Meditation Musings My thoughts, like waves of ocean's surface swells that roll repeatedly, then crash on shore, neglect to find how silent treasure dwells in depths of calmness closer to mind's floor, where winds cannot whip frenzy nor implore illusion's masterful inventions be explored, like coral reefs I...

What wonder! - In the arcs described by wings Aloft and floating on the fair spring air. In graceful glides, parabolas of dare Defying, in ascent, all earthy things. Blue light this, that arises o'er their sails, To waves whose crests on gentle billows soar Across this sea unshadowed by...

  The Rainbow A wave of color binds our sentiments before it fades. For each emotion, is a subtlety in hue expressed, And through life's noble journey, may we add these tints and shades To vivid cast a rainbow in prismatic lightbeams blessed. Ephemeral are the tones of life bestowed...

  Ballet Lesson The flow has ebbed and left a tidal pool. A little tern wades in with webbed feet So delicate they wobble in the cool But keep the balance of this athlete. She moves her slender body, takes the stance Of ballerina on the sandy floor, Performs her...

Sparks from nearby campfires Might be stars of paradise Glimpsed through twilight’s window Too briefly for surmise Of their height above the pines, Their hues - red, green, or gold -– Or mountains seen but dimly Beyond the forest’s fold. Lines of jeweled mountains, Pale as moonlit snows, Shining, reaching,...

  Bounty When apples hang untouched on branches’ bottom, Or beans lie grounded, neither grown nor dead, Or bulbs down-nestle into earth of autumn, Then let them lie! Don’t hurry them ahead. Or when it’s only six o’clock at night Do not despair that no one’s at the door: Your...

  The Persecution of Falun Gong I. Meditating group One clear crisp day at Shanghai In earth’s sunny loop II. What is Zhen-Shan-Ren? Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Refiner of men III. Police arrive there Frosted breath flies from warped mouths Evil spirits flare IV. The days, weeks, and months Spent making dolls for...

It spreads like wildfire when you give a smile. At first you won’t really notice at all, But if you wait patiently for a small while, You’ll notice that each domino will fall. In the smile you see happiness and love, So you smile back even if it hurts you...

Beyond the skies is universal eternity. Nebulous ghosts of dust float around In the black hole of space. A night profound As death itself, as life in its old infancy, Contains a trillion grains of stars inside a galaxy Where suns (beyond the reach of sight or sound) Flare as...

Revised October 18, 2021 A Psalm of Christmas What the heart of the young activist said to the psalmist by Evan Mantyk Tell me not in boring numbers ___About today’s economy, For our consciences grow numb-er ___And then become our enemy. Money’s fake! Just an idea! ___It’s a value agreed to give;...

In darkness, in the mantling of the night, When Earth is calm, and troubling noises cease, I turn with wonder-looking eyes, to please My dulled senses, from the day’s untranquil sight: And first gaze upon heavens lesser light, The moon, who’s beams far into space, she shines; Next to the...

Here is a blonde-marked maple tree: Stands by the road so stolidly While mourners make their floral shrines And in the night a taper shines; But soon the taper will burn out And yet the tree will remain stout; And it will stand for years to come Spreading its leaves...

Whether if my promise be known or not, Of which I spoke when lying on this spot, The weeds have covered up my trail; Their stalks show not the seat that I once made, But mounds still show the meadows where they fade, And here I sat: it is no...

Those Catskill Mountain Climbs I've walked from Ayers rock to Sydney I've seen all those majestic sites I've beheld the peaks of Mt. McKinley And of Everest in all its might I’ve seen the meandering Nile I’ve walked the great Silk Road I’ve beheld the beautiful Fiji Isle And the...

A Sonnet Saluting Lady Snow Snow is a rainfall in frozen repose; Rainbow rich in hues, delicate its shape After lightning strikes; its thunder echoes. There is still tension in each crystal flake. Snow rings down, a chintzy, folding curtain, On worlds still steeped in a dark translucence. It makes...