Culture

. Loose Me! “Loose him, and let him go.” ---John 11.44 O loose me, Jesus! Jesus, set me free from all that binds my soul and blinds my way. Unwrap the shrouds of death that cling to me! Let every shade of doubt enlightened be, the gloom of night bathed...

. Fall Back: Central Standard Time Already it is dark: the falling arc Of each advancing year, when the eager moon, To catch the setting sun, comes up too soon. Full light no longer lingers at high noon, Or loiters there long past our long day’s work, But languishes at...

. Lady Gwyn  I hear the scratching of a claw--- A disembodied monkey’s paw Scraping at decaying bones. I feel a gust of ghostly moans Wuther through my withered heart. It’s time to stir. It’s time to start This ghastly party with a scare To widen eyes and heighten hair....

. Elisha's Bones II Kings 4:32–37, 13:20–21 Elisha died, the prophet doubly strong In spirit, and his sepulcher was grand, For he had caused a lifeless child to stand And speak, then heard the mother’s grateful song. A withered elder passed away—erelong The bier was carried forth, with burial planned...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zId3BCl6M . . Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of the American Revolution if he lives to complete it. Though he writes history articles for American Essence magazine, he lists his primary occupation...

. Where Babylonic Rivers Flowed after Psalm 137, a lament at the destruction of Jerusalem Where Babylonic rivers flowed We settled down to weep and mourn And mused on Zion, our abode, Our city sullied and forlorn. In foreign land by poplar trees We placed our lyres. For it was...

. Prayer as an Antidote for Unbelief Just imagine if, while you’re entreating the sky, You were met with the wink of a generous Eye. __A very grave disaster it would be __If all there was to your approach to God __Were, now and ever, for eternity, __Dead fingers pushing...

. The Venetian Doge on the Sack of Constantinople Setting: Constantinople in the Summer of 1204 AD. Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice prepares for bed after an exhausting day visiting Byzantium’s famous bronze Hippodrome horses as they are loaded onto a ship for the journey back to Venice. These venerable...

. The Java Joe Machine My jiffy Java Joe machineAllows me to make only oneCup of coffee when I please,Convenient when I’m on the run. But in the seconds as it brewsI recall my coffee potDripping cheerfully while newsI read. The Post, which I pre-bought So it would on my...

. Senior Village The ambulances come and go. Last night it was the man across The hall, whom I’d begun to know. Another friend, another loss. __I never know, From day to day, who I will see Driven away. They come and go--- The red-lighted emergency Vehicles. It’s sad---although, __Realistically,...

. Homage to Morton of Merrymount To you I pay this homage and devotion: Thomas Morton, Host of Merrymount— You, whose learnèd writing put in motion The court suit that brought Plymouth to account. Yes, Plymouth Bay—that gaggle of fanatics Singing hymns with nasal intonation— Those prim, precisian whiners and...

. S O S Keep the fleecy wolves from bleating. Hold the pack of jackals back. Seize the greedy grubbers eating Scraps from bowls of those who lack. Bar the charlatans from cheating. Quell the yak of quack and hack. Snare the fat cats trick-or-treating--- Stealing sweets and doling flack....

. The Mask Sin wears a Cherub’s mask And beams forth paradise. “Come in, recline, and bask.” Discerning eyes looks twice: The gate shuts like a vice. . . The Strange Case Of Homo Sapiens At my right hand, my fountain pen Waits on the desk by me. A loaded...

. Look Up Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on a world split apart The prophet scorned the academic dress of those who had invited him to their Parnassus of the Ivy League. Why wear their garb, when he intended not to bless them, but to warn, and even to condemn their way of...

. The Night My Father Punched the Cow The night my father punched the cowWas dark and windy, late; and nowHis job was dangling on a row,And he was sick of it, somehow__That night. He broke his hand, and held it tightIn place throughout that fractious night— My mother thought,...

. Apologies at Antoninus Pius’s Table, 155 A.D. . I. Rome’s Glory “Arriving at this feast, how proud I stand that Rome endures to succor those who dwell here in this citadel and those whose hands till soil across the empire that reaps well.” Sharp Aristides spoke to those who...

. Sudan, 2005 ---on the death of Dr. John Garang, Liberation Fighter and Sudanese Vice President Garang is dead! An accident, they say--- his helicopter downed by slanting rain. This man who kept the Northerners at bay no longer lives to temper hatred’s strain. Conspiratorial tongues have lit a fuse...

. Westward, with Columbus The North Atlantic Ocean was awashwith monsters and leviathans, or sowe fearfully supposed, and thought it toshby sailing west, to India we could go. Then Christopher Columbus raised three crews.From Spain we sailed. A westward route we took.For sixty days no terra firma news---we took our tight-lipped...

. Their Principal Principle With their hideous lies and a gleam in their eyes They disable each new generation, For the best route to power in districts gone sour Is attacking the heart of the nation. . . Speak Up! I’m not afraid to be a bit transgressive When I...

. A Roman Noble on Constantine the Great Setting: A villa on the outskirts of Rome, ab urbe condita 1082 (329 A.D.) Cornelia, no. The household gods should stay. Wait till the clothes and furnishings are packed, And then we’ll have the Lares and Penates stacked Inside the wagon. As...

. Peter Pan’s Soliloquy In Never Land, each sunrise brings anew A day of play and laughter to pursue. I meet the mermaids, swim in their lagoon, And dance with Indians beneath the moon. I once fed Captain Hook to Crocodile! Still every time I think of it, I smile....

. Odd One Out Moored to the screen, he barely gets involved In vapid, paltry things his workmates seem To swap their saneness for—magnetic schemes On end-of-season sales—their worlds revolve Around the dernier cri. Apparels solve Life problems; flat discounts project a gleam Upon their cheeks. And he, much like...

. Ghosts of the Watchtower The end-of-summer breeze gives hint with cool caress Of coming autumn gales and forecasts of distress. But who beneath the sun, when halcyon days abound Imagines they will face the storm tide’s rising crest? The tower stretches high above the granite ground So built to...

. The Prestige of the Puppet-Master To be deceived must bring some satisfaction, For all are well aware of the illusion Yet most will play the dupe quite willingly; Indeed, they’ll pay good coin for cheap distraction, Preferring the excitements of confusion To the drab wasteland of sobriety. But let...

. Time For Some Gardening It was time for some gardening. He heard a train go by. Its distant airhorn sighed. There were no clouds up in the sky. He trimmed the grass beside the craggy boulders at the edge. He dipped his shoulders, reaching down. He heard a passing...

. Consequences of Following Advice Advice can come in snappy lines __That have a fun refrain: “Let a smile be your umbrella,” __Though that won’t block cold rain. They tell us that “To err is human. __To forgive is divine.” But to forgive may let errors happen __Yet another time....

. Not the Same Thing Anymore Of most who go to school these days __It sadly must be stated, No longer can they be appraised __As being educated. . . Kids’ Most Common Mistake The most common mistake that young people can make __And some kids sadly do it a lot, Is believe...

. Three Things Alexander Knew “What can you tell me that deserves such excitement, except perhaps that Homer has come back to life?” ---Alexander the Great He conquered the world And it was too small. How? The lessons are clear: He read the Iliad, ignored girls--- Messages were irrelevant. Wow---...

. Political The culture tells us every day that we can’t be political, so Christians nod and meekly pray, but if we’re analytical, when governments stray into what is truly theological, then we should tell them they must shut their mouths if they are logical. We gave an inch, they...

. On the Death of Mike Lynch, August 19, 2024 They say his blood was Irish, with his toothy Gaelic smile. A master of the cyberworld, with features to beguile. A genius of mathematics, powerful and strong. He soon became a billionaire, it didn’t take him long. But then, he...

. The Ram's Horn "A great horn shall be blown, and they that were lost shall come from the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts from the land of Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord at the holy mount in Jerusalem." —Isaiah 27:13 Loudly and long let...

. To Speak Unique From youth we have been urged to stay unique. For boxed-in meetings, we must always be The ones outside the box, must always speak On obscure points. The price of novelty? Discussing common issues we all face, Only to hear the boos, the jeers, the sneers...

. What Mother Goose Neglected to Mention . A Soup Spoon Reflects upon His Past So the dish ran away with the spoon, we were told, __And he treated her well, bless his soul, But he realized, when he was tarnished and old, __That he should’ve run off with the...

. Public Benches Lusty men and randy wenches Making out on public benches Used to be a common sight In afternoon or moonlit night, And single people envied, looking Longingly at two mouths hooking, Fully unaware, no doubt, Such “love” would quickly fizzle out. Yet, today, on public benches, No...

. Downtown Like an iron maze, Clustered close, towers rise, Caging the very sky. Casting their cold gaze Through myriad glazed eyes Apathetically. Beneath, the streets swell With jostling crowds of masks. Their blank stares never meet, Never see, but tell Of cares and woes none asks, Tales left incomplete---...

. Aphrodisiac I. It was past midnight when we met and spoke One rainswept winter Friday. The wet street Stood empty save for us (that clinched the deal). God knows she was no beauty: unkempt, thin, A hard-luck face—but still with youthful bloom And amatory promise. Yes, of course I...

. Let Them Go Children born around the world __some fifty years ago were free to roam and run and hide, __to ramble high and low. The bigger people stayed inside __and never really knew how far the little children went __in search of something new. They found a cave...

. The Chief Baker Responds to Joseph "And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh...

. I Love My Paranoia I love my paranoia That no one else can see. It’s like a loving shadow Surely protecting me. Some say it's a sixth sense, Or liability. Some claim I should release it Because it’d set me free. But I have learned to question What people...

. Something in the Water The swimmer had removed her clothes, __Then turned and gave a wail, For in the dressing room there was __A biologic male. Man’s voice, broad shoulders, 6 foot 4, __With men he could not win. But then the college gurus __As a woman let him...