Culture

. The Very Best Business by Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863) translated from Romanesco by Joseph S. Salemi First I was a gardener (a disaster), Then a bookseller. I made even less. So did I change my business plan? Oh yes— I turned and became an upper-crust whoremaster. In this, I...

. El Melon There is a maze or map on melon skin Even the blind could read and seek to solve. A little girl watches the housewives, deft, Touching the head shapes swiftly, one by one, Until they somehow know which to select. Sometimes they set it wobbling in the...

. Why Strike? With prices high and living standards low, Our times are like what our grandparents knew. They fought world war; we slave for war abroad And soon will labor through retirement too. We export energy but can’t afford To heat our homes; we’re tired of interference And more...

. Farinelli A thousand thanks, Martini, for your visit. Bologna is a town of balladeers. You’ll love it! Now I wonder, how long is it Since we both quit Madrid? Ah! Twenty years Since I last sang before the King of Spain! And forty since vast crowds hailed me on...

. Lean on Him after Ecclesiasties We labor long beneath the sun. Forgotten soon by everyone. We come from dust and end the same, Depart this life just like we came. It’s all just chasing wind because Whatever is already was, And what will be has been before, There’s nothing...

. Ruben “We have words that speak of the ongoing presence of such privations: orphan, widow, widower. And perhaps the fact that we have no word for the parent who has lost a child is itself a testimony to the unspeakable abiding horror and pain of such a circumstance.” ---Carl...

. Civics 101 Jejune excuses used too many times Do not undo the doer from the deed: A miscreant accused of many crimes Is not the type of model children need. A partisan devoted to a cause Who votes his party, never mind the man, Should not complain when his...

. Eulogy for a Them We gather here to celebrate a him Or her (an it? a they?) and in the end A prophet of the present who could bend Reality to suit their loosest whim. For whatsoever they had been or might Have been, they were their own priority;...

. Screened. I. The Phony Mom a true story Her phone, in hand above the stroller, Blocked her baby from her view. She held it like a game controller, Adoring every pixel’s hue As mothers not so long ago Adored their babies just for being. What more could phony glow...

. Peach Blossom Dreaming Peach blossoms furnish inwrought dreaming room Intangible to fingertips corrupt; __Substantially beyond each tapered petal’s plume Flow fragrances to subtly interrupt The wintry retrospectives of my gloom. On water shields and Long Jing tea we supped, But now beneath peach buds you prate of wine __Poured...

. Born in a Wuhan Lab Newsflash: U.S. Energy Department says it was probably a lab leak. Those men in suits and labcoats thought it worth The lives of millions from their ivory tower To falsify the truth about my birth Lest China lose its influence and power. The masks,...

. Delmon’s Progeny Delmon, also known as Dilmun, is a Semitic culture connected to Mesopotamia that flourished in the 2nd millennium B.C.  Beneath the torrid coastal sun tenacious men these waters rode. They ferry pearls from port to port; each City sings its special ode. Some sing of spice, some sing...

. Bite Your Tongue If you should feel the sudden urge __To put forth your opinions, Letting sundry thoughts diverge __To influence the minions. Just take a moment to reflect __On whether to opine, Or shut-up and inject __Another soothing anodyne. If you should find yourself about __To state your...

. A Woman’s Right Eli Hart's story was highlighted by the Daily Wire here. Come hear of little Eli Hart— His father fought the “family court,” Misnamed misandrists lacking heart. His mind-sick mother got support From "child welfare" workers, who, __Despite his father’s wishes To raise his son himself, just...

. On Hate God hates the evildoer and I can do no less. He gave us ten commandments for evil to assess. He helped identify them—the evil and the bad— And then he brought destruction with every power he had. Sodom and Gomorrah were suffering in sin. God said to...

. Moon Garden Party It’s small and all reserved For plants that love full sun, Edges distinct though curved Refine how moments run Through dainty daisy days Succeeded when they’re done By crazed azaleas’ blaze. The details glow at closer range: Kaleidoscopic shape, spread, height Delight the guests whose interchange...

. Aristotle Abridged* And so we ponder virtue and vice. __We seek the mean, not the extreme. Perplexed, I ask for wise advice: __Why does not vice ever suffice? Excess—restraint—both have a price. __So hard to find the Good between. Quench the fire—thaw out the ice. __How shall I choose?...

. Willy Wonky on the revision of Roald Dahl’s works  The whacky wokester clowns employed at Puffin Are wrecking classics with exciting stuff in. They’re ditching all the derring-do and dark (The spunk and spark and funk and quirk and snark) For noggin-numbing, glum and humdrum dross That doesn’t make despotic critics cross. They’re swapping all that’s riveting and peachy For joyless crap that’s sappy, flat and preachy: Chocolate factories free from nuts and dairy, Aunties that aren’t spongy-spiky scary, Oompa Loompas tolerant and tall, No one ugly, beastly, fat or small. Next will be the...

. The Emerald Queen A Legend from the Future . Part I. Have you heard the old tale of the Emerald Queen? ‘Twas a long time ago when folks would demean Us humans as animals—nothing else more!— Evolved from bacteria found on the floor. They forgot the Creator had made...

. Through the Eyes of Angels Look down upon the Earth as angels might! See seas as insignificant as ponds, Each desert a mere sandbox. From this height Vast forests are a park, the sun a bronze And distant torch! The mountains are like toys Built up from pebbles, rocky...

. Reckoning Will darkness drop again so we may know The thrill and chill of winter blowing, storming, And will we feel death's icy undertow As husks of hell begin their frantic swarming? Will manna rot or will it fall unleavened When Hades' depths start rumbling and yawning? When skies...

. La Sirena At some point they ceased to be beautiful. Even their voices. Bare breasts, bare arms, screams Savage as acid swamped the scholar-priest His reasoned teaching fading from his lips. Bare breasts, bare arms, black stripes across their eyes. The cover granted to anonymous hate. That doesn’t make...

. Troll   "Be like seeds; do not see dirt thrown at you as your enemy, but as ground to grow." ---Matshona Dhliwayo A witch! A witch! Let’s hush the wicked witch!     His spleen slid through the ether like a snake. He hissed his pissy, pietistic pitch. This carper had a vicious thirst to...

. The Times Madness clamours all around me, Brute unreason fouls the air, Rampant passion would confound me— Invitations to despair. Phantoms disperse! For reason’s terse And ancient sway Will have its say, With evidence And common sense For all to judge, That noise and grudge, Through forms well-grounded, Be...

. The Chinese Spy Balloon From that balloon botch I’m most wondering, Why Biden stalled to shoot it from the sky. Was it more fecklessness and blundering, Or might some hidden issue underlie? Did hearing it arrived illegally, Make Joe think the balloon was just a boat, With cargo hoped-for...

. Ageless Not in the golden mists of memory Nor in the colder mists of future years Shall I find love as true as yours for me--- A love so fair it banishes all fears. Your eyes, like sunlight, ever faithful gaze On all we’ve built and are. No clouds...

. Odysseus Begs? He’s leaning on a Pluto niche machine: an ATM, balanced on his good leg— a fresh appearance in an ancient scene— a bandaged hand gropes slowly out to beg. Was he Odysseus, sail raised to breeze, carving current never plied before? Herodotus, or old Diogenes? Or mad...

. Extinction Event The sky burned black the day the giants died. A flaming mountain pierced the turquoise bay. When doomsday comes, the clever know to hide. The thunder woke a mammal safe inside the burrow where our pink-skinned forebears lay. The sky burned black the day the giants died....

. Pastoral Calls—Part 1 of 3 . Best Friends Three boys; best friends at school; now men with wives. Between them, seven children called them “Dad.” They drank, they drove too fast and lost their lives. “They were such good boys, too,” folks said. “How sad.” A hunting trip each...

. Sonnet to a Miracle upon reading the recent news story here.  They’ve named her Miracle, that new born child found in the earthquake’s rubble, still attached to she who gave her life though hers was snatched. A neighbour cut the cord and Fortune smiled upon this dusty innocent whose...

. That's Where the Edge of Darkness Waits Antifascist agitators Sprinkled among demonstrators. Demon leftist fraudulence, Tries to spread the violence. Communistic perpetrators Lowlife scum are your creators. Heard your tired refrain before, Wretched song that we abhor. Chaos is your closest goal So that you can take control. Criminal...

. Today Australia has announced that it will roll out a fifth dose of the Covid shot later this month. . Fat Cats and Lab Rats  The fat cats began with a scam of a plan To shame every pestilent spreader--- Lab rats galore are jabbed sore and then more....

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDSWs61Ye0E . Sonnet XVIII of the Sacred Rhymes by Lope de Vega (1562-1635) translated by Martin Rizley What have I, that you’d seek me as a friend? What interest draws you, Jesus, to my door, All drenched with dew, as you have come before, In winter’s dark, the long...

. A House Divided Against Itself A rondeau redoublé inspired by Dennis Prager's piece here.  In troubled times this will take place: A war of words, a cruel riposte; Deep truths that bleeding hearts won’t face So they destroy what matters most. The past saw children raise a toast To...

. Church Mice a sonnet corona  There is a tale that’s writ in German history. A church was passed each Sunday by a train. Its death-knell whistle blew as it flew swiftly To Hell as stricken souls shrieked out in vain. These yells were muffled by the lusty singing Of...

. Carnivore Picks a Fight and Vegan Responds . CARNIVORE O man vegetarian with lifestyle agrarian, You’ve fallen as prey to a scam! We advise you to eat, every day, ample meat: Fish and beef, pork and chicken and lamb. VEGAN O great busybody, condescending and snotty, Your words are...

. The Snuff Box from a true story told in My Mother by Fr. Bernard Vaughan (1847-1922) When I was just a little boy, My mother served us shepherd’s pie. We thirteen children sniffed with joy, With statue faces, on the sly. But quenching hunger was my goal, So while...

. Media You told us lies, ignored our cries. __Your platforms you abused. You cancelled truth; you damaged youth, __And we are not amused. You took big bites from human rights, __Dissenting voices choked. With their decree Docs must agree, __Or licences revoked. But you can’t hide the great divide,...

. Canto 8: Covid-Priest from The English Cantos Volume 2: StairWell StairWell is the Poet’s Purgatory, and as in HellWard where we met with contemporary challenges such as Brexit, so here in StairWell the Poet, led on by his guides Dante and Virgil, runs into another---Covid.  …With Dante facing a...

. Life on the Farm Daddy’s gone. Is he sleeping? For only the shell remains. I hear the cries of cicadas. I listen to their pain. Momma, why are you weeping? Did Daddy push you away? Her tears rob the cicadas, And we live in silence today. Pain is the...