Culture

. Bodie The whistled whispers of a desert wind Drift through the dusty streets and haunted halls Where faded lives...

. Independence Day, 2025 It’s so much more than red and white and blue And stars that spangle banners flying...

. IRL —after G.K. Chesterton’s "A Ballad of Theatricals" (reprinted below) Though all the emails I receive—surprisingly politely read—Although the...

. On the Existence of Two Genders Note: This poem is written in response to the trans-driven push to promulgate...

. Therapy ---After "Help! I Can’t Stop Speaking in Iambic!" by Cynthia Erlandson Help! I can’t stop writing psychobabble!No matter...

. Every Square Inch Her every square inch, her breath, and her voice, In all this and more my soul...

. Rolling the Dice “Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why...

. A Whale is a Whale ---after Ogden Nash While laughing aloud at Ogden's smart rhymes, I was struck by...

. Hope ---in homage to Langston Hughes Hold steadfastly to hopeFor if hope should subsideLife’s a slippery slopeWhere dreams only...

. Dad and I Our sessions last an hour or two at most, for we get through them just as...

. Rodrigo’s Lament The legendary knight El Cid duels with his fiancé’s father. His rasping knavish voice profanes my good...

. New York, New York “Give up Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island too…” (with apologies to Rodgers & Hart)...

. Doctor Subtilis ---Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265--1308) A proud and canny Scot from Duns am I, an infant when...

. Another Species Each time you felt some shame you could confess The sins you had committed, but instead You...

. Six Bitter were the crimson seeds, Beautiful they were to me, Sparkling like ruby beads, In his palm of...

. The Prayer Blanket ---as related to me by my friend Tim Cassar, who recently survived a brain cancer operation...

. Clueless ---a villanelle How can I tell what is and isn’t true In daffy days that stupefy the wise?...

. Salmon Skin _Laid temptingly Upon a china dish, _Poached perfectly, A long, pink flank of fish. _Its scents amaze....

. What Is a Man? “Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child?” ---Jeremiah 30:...

. Shakespeare The Master strolled upon the beach, __And stooped to find Among the shells washed up in heaps, __Mere...

. Florida Beach Vacation 2025 They buried me in pale white sand. _They took away my phone. The mouse was...

. Term Limits Without term limits, nothing prevents the eruption of bribery, graft, and unbridled corruption. Too few of our...

. Boomerang He was a very handsome guy, Cute girls would stick to him like glue, And his interest in...

. Ode to Chronic Pain I curse your name and spit as you supply these diverse proofs that I am...

. Reading in Bed Crowded years from now, and late one wintry night, a certain turn of phrase or trick...

. Durus Frater, Alma Mater Spring forward to where former arch-rivals Fall back on tall stories of the travels They...

. Alotta Lip About my Hip Alotta lip about my hip On paper, phone, computer-drive. The new one at my...

. Samhain Spree Come, gather underneath the horns _That rise out of the east! Come, join the host in revelry...

. An Update for Dylan Thomas’s Aunt "Fie on you, aunt! I’ll show you how To elevate your middle brow,...

. Soldier of the Rising Sun Date/Location: February 19, 1974---Uninhabited jungle, Lubang Island in the northern Philippines. The matter: Believing...

. Double Rondel for Pentecost Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! O fire that warms my soul, You burn within to turn...

. On Twenty Years of YouTube Dull dinner party video clips unshared shaped YouTube’s genesis, or so it’s claimed. Yet...

. The Legend of Zhong Kui Zhong Kui is pronounced like “Jong Quay” One dark and dour winter day His...

. Roads of Potter County Finally Spring has come north here---Always my favorite time of year.Potter will tease you in...

. Lost Ark ---upon reading of the hunt for the Ark of the Covenant It used to be, a life...

. Still Life of a Bouquet Seems wrong to me that flowers die, A live display of borrowed time, To...

. Folk Heroes We’re told to laud our new folk heroes, but they’re made up by woke zeroes. always stirring...

. The Institute of Peace: Constitution Avenue, N.E. The Institute of Peace looks down on LincolnFrom high atop her perch...

. A Taste of Northern New England I’ll never feel at home in Robert Frost’s Vermont—too many deconstructed walls, And...

. On a Raging Storm Storms raged in the eastern U.S. in Spring of 2019. Is it a freak of...