Culture

. Imagine Mountains For the Sesquicentennial of Robert Frost's birth (March 26, 1874 – March 26, 2024) "Let chaos storm! Let cloud shapes swarm! I wait for form."  ---Robert Frost, "Pertinax" Imagine a mountain’s patient peaks revert to wave-rinsed shoals of sand, that limestone’s undulating streaks or slate stairs crumbling...

. The Line For Ashes Line is long and moving slowly: Step by step, the high and lowly, Halt and limber, shorter, taller, Young and elder, greater, smaller, Plainer, fairer, pallor, color, Father, daughter, mother, brother Creeping toward the mark of dead then Signed across an offered head, an Ember...

. Deep State Anonymity Ah, the devil. His motive? To deceive __And for us to deny, To dismiss him as simply make-believe. He loves attention. Like All Hallows’ Eve: __Witches and goblins fly As all his demons snicker and high-five. Malevolent plots he rolls up his sleeve! __Incognito and sly!...

. Shades of Vesuvius Seldom does one see horror in a tranche De vie like that in Herculaneum And Pompeii, when a sudden avalanche Of heat and ash ruptured your cranium (After you met your death in frenzied throes), Leaving your brain a shriveled clump of glass And you stiff in a...

. Limerick Perhaps it’s a marketing trick, or else Iceland’s taking the mick; __for what kind of fun __is an Easter Day bun when the cross has been swapped for a tick? . taking the mick: making fun tick: check mark . . Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir,...

. The Whiskey Priest based on The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene I stand condemned because I am a priest, Condemned to die by law here in Tabasco, The last eight years of memories I’ve pieced Together show my life’s one big fiasco, For, stupidly, when all priests...

. We Are Wrong You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt, how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear, when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God....

. Queen Esther's Lot for the Jewish holiday of Purim (“Lots”) Oh, to be taken from home’s holy ways, Delivered to a king uncircumcized, And after one grand night, spend endless days With harem women and men feminized— My living God, let this not be my lot. They say cosmetics...

. March 21st, Saints Cranmer and Bach Archbishop Thomas Cranmer,  burned at the stake March 21, 1556 . Johann Sebastian Bach, born March 21, 1685 . “Upon them hath the light shined.”  ---Isaiah 9: 2 . The shadows of two saints come to my mind As smoke from two extinguished...

. St. Perpetua Eyewitnesses of the atrocity Report that on that Carthage afternoon, Already scourged and gored repeatedly By savage bulls, she fell into a swoon (Of Spirit, so they said), then rose immune To further horror and quite calmly lent Her hand to guide the bloodied sword that soon...

. Words Matter . I. Out of Context Cheats cherry-pick the words that suit their ploy To shame the names of those who disagree With all they say. If counter claims destroy Their idiotic ideology They’ll tangle terms. They’ll mangle mood and meaning. They’ll lift a line from here, a...

. To the Passenger Pigeon As once, upon the Great Plains, thundering herds of buffalo, innumerable, held sway, a genocide befell these dull-plumed birds whose flocks eclipsed the sunlight, day on day, Up from the Gulf of Mexico they flew each springtime, through the gauntlet of the gun, to Great...

. St. Patrick's Day 2024  for an Ireland suffering terribly under the weight of forced migration Where is the one who rid the Emerald Isle Of snakes? Nostalgia hears the hell-bent tread Of gallant feet that trekked the extra mile To free Éire‘s bogs and cobbled streets from dread. As...

. Watching It hardly matters what I’d read (Another plangent exposé Of something solid in the world That bit by horrid bit unfurled Into a source of pending dread), It brought to mind an image grey With time, a moment hid away So long and lost I’d thought it dead:...

. Infernos on the Pages of Literary Journals That one barbaric yawp might just have been All right, but then it ricocheted right down The later centuries.  Literature’s new bin Was made for poetry because the frown From modernism and free verse soon smeared Normality that people thought was sure. The...

. Native Americans Were Swindled Out of Manhattan in 1634 Knowing Eyes—an aging elder, born in Black Bear County Famed for being fearless and the wisest of his tribe— Met with “Diamond-Jim” Van Dyne in 1634, When Jim—a well-rehearsed negotiator—conjured up a bribe! Figuring he could all-but-steal 11,000 acres For...

. His Stories Were His Legacy Ivan, The Barber, 1882-1963 . Covered in a heavy blanket, __he sat and watched the rain; it had been more than thirty years, __damp weather made him lame. He turned his old pipe upside down __against the blowing gale, for Sunday was his day...

. Monica's Consolation for Margaret Coats, who introduced me to St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and his mother, St. Monica (332-387) Caritas, enter! I’m so glad you’re here. It seems that sleep eludes us both this night. I see your need, dear friend. Please have no fear. We’ll talk until...

. For Paavo Nurmi who trained against his stop-watch and in medias rez we begin as the runners approach the penultimate turn. Though their torsos are heaving, the sweat isn't beading—the storm of their pace won't permit it. The coach isn't screaming, he's merely observing: the race is a bet...

. Samson, Tribe of Dan "Dan is a serpent in the path. He bites the horse's heel and causes the rider to fall backward." ---Jacob, Genesis 49 My father, from the tribe of Dan, Taught me, far too well, we can Force the hairpin, serpent curve, Making horse and rider...

. Story Time The father, he sits on the couch with a book, A child in each arm, and one more on his knees; The mother, the same.  All the other ones look Content on the floor; he recites like a breeze. He changes his voice for each character’s lines,...

. Hatching A gelid mass of wings that seethed and surged— A squeamish sight that caught me by surprise— A swarming hatch of termites had emerged A host of queens to mount and fertilize. They sprang from cracks where wood and concrete meet, Where my garage door and my driveway...

. Philanthropaths & Puppets Philanthropath: a psychopath masquerading as a philanthropist. ---the Urban Dictionary . I. So Rose the Puppeteer He pulls the strings of those his treasures bless--- They grovel in the grip of this foul fiend. He’s conjured chaos, stirred up strife and schemed To ruin all the...

. Fed Suffering The True Story of Dai Mingrong . Not merely stale today, her bowl of rice Now tastes like bitter dust. Then, all’s ablur. Her grip grows shaky while her fingers curl... Condemned to suffer, paying virtue’s price: Bad roll! On Mao’s pernicious, weighted dice. The floor receives...

. Do Your Jobs Live up to the Constitution That contains a plain solution. Guard us from invading mobs. Come on Congress, do your jobs. It’s really simple. Build a wall Along the border for us all. Illegal gangs keep causing fear. We need to know who’s coming here. Americans...

. Insomnia, My Sometime Muse She comes to me while I’m asleep,Not with strange imaginings of dreamsBut with fragmented thoughts. It seemsShe thinks they cannot keepBut must be worked upon, upon this hour.While I from Hypnos try to wrestSome morsel of his healing power,Sleep becomes a useless questAnd this vivid...

. Jane Doe These trembling hands are not the first to jostle away unholy grabs from praying hands; you crossed the lines Christ drew in coastal sands before the crowd gathering their stones. __You blamed me for it all. Possessed with fierce rapacity, you blurred the lines—ransacking my temple, breaking...

. The Crimson Creed We know the primal aggregate, Self-molded at the start of time, Before the Big Bang uppercut Made all the cosmic flotsam rhyme. We know that two plus two is five. The world’s alive because of chance… That flash when slime and time arrive And Science blesses...

. The Marble Angel The marble angel stood upon a tomb Erect and at attention, wings outspread, His blank eyes watching through the growing gloom, Like some mute sentry sent to guard the dead. I saw him standing there, sublime and still, While walking through the churchyard in the eve;...

. . Shoveling Out the Blizzard Snow came so thick, the roof makes pops and creaks; downspouts froze solid as cement with ice; while working on the walk, you’ve fallen twice: The cold shines through your clothes and sears your cheeks. . The roof melt overspilled in crystal fans; Ice...

. Anthony Comstock: An Extended Dactylic Higgledy, piggledy, Anthony Comstock, the Toughest enforcer of morals to date, Couldn’t stand looking at nude female pulchritude Due to his stern puritanical hate. Tony sent dozens of persons to prison for Publishing sketches of breasts and behinds— Claimed that all nudity ought not...

. The Taxman Cometh Get out your Number Two and calculate Your taxable income; what, if anything, You owe. The taxman doesn’t like to wait, And government has to fill its money chest. That hated agency, the IRS, Is ammo’d up and willing to arrest. Who doesn’t dread the strongly-worded...

. Peacemakers Islam is sometimes referred to as the Religion of Peace Go on, won’t you bless the peacemakers— The ones who make peace with the beasts. They think that would take them like Meccans Around the black Kaaba in bliss. So mindful and calm, transcendental, And almost forgetting to...

. Captain Francisco Menendez Born a Mandinga, on Africa’s west coast, Where farm and hunting toil supported most, But tribal spats and small jihads maintained For centuries a brutal trade in slaves, This youth was captured by some neighbor knaves And sold and shipped to Carolina, chained. Field labor there...

. . Peaches, Plums, and the Sistine Chapel . . I. Pondering Prufrock   a pantoum  . The women come and then they go As foggy muzzles nuzzle air. There’s talk of Mike and Angelo. Time strides the beach with hoary hair. . As foggy muzzles nuzzle air On tea and...

. Authenticity Some skies stark and vivid, But others milky white. Sometimes lovely azure skies, Or pale with fading light. Some skies gray and gloomy, Yet others black as night. Skies! Their authenticity--- No falsehood to conceal. O, that stormy politics A pure intent reveal, That truth and honor win...

. . Maura H. Harrison is a writer, photographer, and fiber artist from Fredericksburg, VA. She is currently an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas, Houston.  Her works have appeared in Dappled Things, Ekstasis Magazine, Amethyst Review, Solum Journal, Heart of Flesh Literary Magazine, Trampoline, Clayjar Review,...

. You Can't Control Everything You can't control the wind that blows, The destiny of others' souls, Time and tides and what they bring--- You can't control everything. Blame volcanoes for ash and dust, It makes no diff’rence, you can trust. Bees and wasps and hornets’ sting--- You can't control...

. Ipse Dixit I say Cogito ergo sum To the animal here in the room. So how do I know I exist? Well, here’s a provisional list: I doubt, and I fear, and I bleed; I attend to a friend who’s in need. The philosophers think they’re so smart, But...

. Last Visit to the Beach a sestina The beach, untouched by Time throughout the years As millions of waves washed from the sea, As Time transformed me, now no more a boy, Where I would walk each season on that sand, Each decade by my side a different dog,...